YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Purchased from the income
of the bequest of
WILLIAM ROBERTSON COE
Honorary M.A. 1949, for
material in the field
of American Studies

£1^14,/^^

CUKniJM, 1 nomas, statesman, d. m uouruuu
county, Ky., 29 July, 1794 ; d. in Washington, D.
C, 18 Dec, 1865. In 1798 his father, Matthias, re
moved to what is now Lebanon, Ohio, and for
many years represented his district in the legisla
ture. The son worked on the home farm till he
was about twenty years old, and enjoyed ver>
slender educational advantages, but began the
study of law in
1815, and was
admitted to the
bar in May, 1818.
His ability and
eloquence as an
advocate soon
gained him an
extensive prac
tice. He was
first chosen to
the legislature
of Ohio in 1833,
serving seven
years, and was
chosen to con
gress in 1830]"
from the Miami
district as a
w^igr-«f which
party he was
an enthusiastic
member. His
wit and eloquence made him a prominent member
¦of the house of representatives, to whieh he was
re-eleeted by the strong whig constituency that
he represented for each successive term till 1840,
when he resigned to become the whig candidate
for governor of Ohio, and canvassed the state
with Gen. Harrisonj^4dressing large gatherings
in most of the~ti6unues. He was unsurpassed as
an orator on the political platform or before a jury.
At the election he was chosen by Hi,00p nniijnrit^r,
¦Gen. Harrison receiving over 33,000 in the presi
dential election that soon followed. Two years
later, Gov. Corwin was defeated foLgovernor by
Wilson Shannon, whom he had so heavily beaten
in 1840. In IS'M the Whigs again carried the
¦state, giving its electoral vote to Ms^Qlax, s-nd send
ing Mr. Corwin to the .LT. S>-sgnate. where he made
in 1847 a notable speech against the war in Mexi
co. He served in the senate until Mr. Fillmore's
accession to the presidency in July, 1850, when he
was called to the head of the treasury. After the
expiration of Mr. Fillmore's term he returned to
private life and the practice of law at Lebanon,
Ohio. In 1858 he was returned once more a repre
sentative in congress by an overwhelming majority,
and was re-elected with but slight opposition in
.1860. On Mr. Lincoln's accession to the presi-
dSicyTie^vraslOToint^dlninister toTgexico, w5ere
he remained until -the arrival of Maxim-iiMrwteir
he came home on leave of absence, and did not re
turn remaining in Washington and iSraotising law,
but taking a warp'-iwtaKtSain puBii?5.tnTio jopm
,?~igE^=Mg^^S.te^<ajevgj J'490uua: 'aSa^oo puistJaqnitiq
~jo 'papTsajd ;s"ag b-BA ajf •gS8T ui/ie^MsM'

[d
uosjapuv Xq paurapio sbm. puB feil'Bua^Xqsaja; puB]
-jaqrano eq; ui 'pa;saia;ui erauoaq aq 'eassauuaj,
01 Suiojg -qoJnqo pdoostdg; ^uB^sa^oj^ aq; uj
siapjo' aJt^; o; Suipua;ui 'XSoioaq; paipn^s 's.to9j£
^¦BjaABS joj poqos Suiqaua; aa;jB 'puB 'gxgT m Xmq
-91PP^M ^"B pa^'Bup'BiS SUA an -gggt '^inp g^Jiuex
'uouBqarrm Tj06iTte£L1^P ''H

SPEECHES

THOMAS CORWIN,

WITH A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE.

EDITED BY ISAAC STROHM.

DAYTOIT, OHIO:
WM. r. COMLY & CO., PUBLISHERS.
1859.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859,
By JOHN P. COMLY,
In the Clerk's office of the District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
STEREOTVPED AT THE FRANKLIN FOUNOERV, CINClNNATt, 0,

ADVERTISEMENT.

The frequent application for copies of one or more
of Mr. Corwin's speeches, and the wish often ex
pressed that all his reported speeches could be
obtained in a single volume, induced the publishers
to collect and print them in their present form.
Beginning with Mr. Corwin's first effort in the Legis
lature of Ohio in 1822, and continuing through the
period of his services in both Houses of Congress,
this volume contains every speech delivered by him
of which a record has been made. To these we
have added the only one of his addresses to a public
society that has found its way to the printing-office,
and^so has been preserved.
Mr. Corwin, we believe, has never written out a
single one of his political speeches lefore its delivery,
and no appeals from his friends, however strongly
made, have thus far induced him to prepare any
for the press, after the people had heard them
from his own lips. Perhaps no more welcome addi
tion could be made to the libraries of the scholar,
the politician, and the masses of the people, than the
book which we now offer to the public.
The Publishers.

(iii)

CONTENTS.

PAGE
MEMOIR,  7
SPEECH IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF OHIO,
AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISHMENT,  51
MASONIC ORATION, DELIVERED AT HAMILTON, OHIO,..;  6S
SPEECH IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, UNITED
STATES, ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS,  94
REMARKS ON PRESENTING MEMORIALS UPON THE SAME SUB
JECT,  160
REMARKS ON THE CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN,  165
SPEECH ON THE SURPLUS REVENUE,  173
SPEECH ON THE CUMBERLAND ROAD BILL,  217
REPLY TO GENERAL CRARY,  253
INAUGURAL ADDRESS, AS GOVERNOR OF OHIO  282
REMARKS IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE, ON THE ARMY
BILL, IN FAVOR OF GRANTING BOUNTY LANDS TO" SOL
DIERS IN THE MEXICAN "WAR,  305
SPEECH ON THE MEXICAN "WAR,....  .^^^^^^... 32fi
INCIDENTAL REMARKS ON THE " THREE MILLION BILL,"  389
REMARKS ON THE TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF OREGON,.. 393
SPEECH ON THE CLAYTON COMPROMISE BILL,  404
DEFENSE OF JUDGE MoLEAN,  462
REMARKS ON THE ACTION OF OHIO, IN' REGARD TO FUGI
TIVES FROM LABOR,  471
ON THE BILL FOR THE RELIEF OF Wm. DARBY,  474
SPEECH AT IRONTON, ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES,  477
(V)

MEMOIR

THOMAS CORWIN.

If we were to judge from the apparent facility with
which modern biographies are written, it would seem to
be the easiest thing imaginable to make a hero, and to
surround his deeds, trivial though they may, in reality,
be, with all the charms of romance. Incidents the most
common-place are made to appear striking in magnitude
and importance; and not a circumstance in the life of
the individual whose acts are thus to be registered, but
assumes a character and importance truly astonishing
The writer of this has little ability, and still less
inclination, to indulge in such an inflated, or rather
inflamed style of portraiture, nor does the subject of
the present sketch need it; and in preparing a memoir
of the distinguished man — a collection of whose speeches
is now offered, in a convenient form, to the public —
he simply desires to present such facts as will, in some
degree, gratify the curiosity natural to the reader.
To note these, in the history of a living statesman, is,
when properly considered^ an ofl&ce of some delicacy.
But, however averse the writer may be to studied lauda
tion, he will nevertheless not withhold anything true
and deserved because it may appear eulogistic. The
(7)

8 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN.
limits which he has prescribed to himself compel him
to be brief; and he will leave to a later period, and for
abler pens, the grateful labor of a more extended biogra
phy of Thomas Corwin.
The Corwin family originally immigrated to the
American colonies from Hungary, and, it is said, are
traceable to the celebrated Matthias Corvinus of that
country. Several branches of the family subsequently
settled in Kentucky, where, in the county of Bourbon,
on the 29th day of July, 1794, the subject of this Memoir
was born.
In the autumn of 1798, his father, Matthias Corwin,
removed to what is now "Warren county, Ohio, and set
tled on a small farm near the present site of Lebanon,
in that county. He served for many years in the Ohio
Legislature, after that portion of the North-western Ter
ritory became a State — a part of the time presiding as
Speaker of the House, distinguished for the dignity and
impartiality with which he discharged the duties of that
ofiice. His name, in that capacity, is still to be found
attached to many statutes yet in force. He was one of
the associate judges of the Court of Common Pleas for
"Warren county, an office which he held at the period
of his death, in 1829. 'No man was more esteemed in
the community in which he lived than Judge Corwin.
He was one of the most respectable and honored men
in the State, in his day, and is remembered by his
neighbors as a faithful member of the Baptist Church,
and as a public officer of unimpeachable integrity.
Thomas Corwin's early education was obtained under
such limited advantages as were common in a newly-

MEMOIR OP THOMAS CORWIN. 9
settled country. " The first school he entered," we find,
in an article published in 1840 by his schoolmate and
kinsman,* "was in- the fall of 1798. It was a low,
rough log-cabin, put up in a few hours by the neighbors
who formed the little settlement, and stood on the north
bank of Turtle creek, about half a mile west of the place
where the town of Lebanon now stands." That school
was then, and only for a short time, taught by the late
Judge Dunlevy. Nothing like a regular and 'continuous
school existed in that vicinity until the year 1806, when
the Rev. J. Grigg commenced one under more favorable
prospects in Lebanon, that town having then been laid
out about three years, and numbering some forty or fifty
families. During the two years Mr. Origg continued his
school, Thomas could only attend through the winter
months, his services being required at home during the
busy farming seasons. "It was here, however," continues
his kinsman, "that Thomas completed most of his college
education." An elder brother, Matthias, had been desig
nated by their father for one of the learned professions,
and was supplied with a good collection of books for his
preparatory studies. Thomas availed himself of these,
and made such use of them during his leisure hours as
proifited him vastly in his self-education in maturer years.
In the autumn of 1812, a sudden call was made for
troops to join the army on the northern frontier, in the
war then pending with Great Britain. It was just after
the disgraceful capitulation of General Hull; and in the
derangement of the plans of the "War Department which
it occasioned, the supplies of provisions for the American

*A. H. Dunlevy, Esq.

10 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN.
soldiers fell short. Here was a demand on the patriotism
of the citizens of a then sparsely inhabited country, and
it required prompt action on their part to furnish the
necessary sustenance upon so sudden an emergency. The
elder Mr. Corwin, in view of this pressing public need,
determined to send his team to aid in the benevolent
work of supplying food to the suflrering army, and
Thomas, then a lad of seventeen, volunteered to be
teamster. Returning from the frontier, Thomas continued to
labor, as he had previously done, upon his father's farm,
until some time in the year following, when he received,
while driving the team, an injury upon his knee, which
rendered him incapable of pursuing active physical labor.
During the tedious months through which he was com
pelled to nurse this wound, he again had recourse to his
brother's books, to which "he betook himself with in
tense application, and" (to quote again from the article
to which we have referred) "before the crack of his
wagon-whip, and his shrill voice at the plough, had died
away in the ears of his neighbors,
' He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one.' "
Soon after this he entered the office of the Clerk of
the Common Pleas Court, then in charge of his brother
Matthias; and, in the year 1816, he commenced the study
of law under Joshua Collett, Esq., who was afterwards
successively president of that judicial circuit, and one of
the judges of the Supreme Court of the State. Mr.
CoEWiN was admitted to the bar in 1817. He at once
took a commanding position as an advocate in the courts
which he attended, and was looked upon as a leading

MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN. 11
spirit by his brethren of the legal profession. Of his
achievements in this as well as in every other sphere in
which his talents were called into active play, the writer
may have further occasion to speak.
Mr. Corwin's career as a public man began in 1822,
in which year he was first elected a member of the lower
branch of the General Assembly of Ohio. In this body
he served for a short period only; but his course, as a
representative, "was characterized," observes a writer in
the American Review, "by the marks of independence,
uprightness, and eloquence which have given him so
much distinction since."
On retiring from the legislature, for an interval of
several years Mr. Corwin devoted himself assiduously to
the practice of his profession, which had then become
extensive and profitable, and was retained long after his
public duties, to which, as will be seen, he was subse
quently called, engrossed so much of his time and atten
tion. In 1829, he was again returned to the Legislature
of Ohio, under circumstances much to his credit as a
man worthy of public confidence. In that year, for the
first time in the history of the elections in "Warren
county, an attempt was made to choose members of the
General Assembly as mere partisans, and a "Jackson"
ticket was nominated. But the idea, among the staid
yeomanry of that district, in those days, of selecting
legislators merely because they were the adherents of
this or that man for the Presidency, so outraged the
people's sense of propriety, that, without regard to the
divisions in sentiment which had theretofore existed, they
determined to rebuke that attempt. Mr. Corwin (much
against his inclination) and Ex-governor Morrow, con'

12 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN.
sented to be the candidates of the people, and were
elected by decided majorities.
In 1830, he was first returned to the Congress of the
United States. Although before that time he had been
earnestly solicited to be a candidate, he had always
declined, from term to term, in favor of others for whose
hopes and aspirations he entertained a tender regard.
The district was then composed of "Warren and Butler,
and contained, as was shown at previous elections, a
decided majority in favor of General Jackson, to whose
elevation to the Presidency Mr. CoRWiN had always been
opposed. But such was the personal popularity and
admitted merit of Mr. Corwin, that he was enabled to
overcome this partisan opposition, and he was elected
by a large vote. He was re-elected to each successive
Congress until 1840, when, in consequence of his nomina
tion for Governor, at the great mass-convention held at
Columbus, on the 22d February of that memorable year,
he resigned his seat, to take eft'ect in May following.
During the campaign of 1840, he became extensively
known as an effective public speaker, and to his efforts,
perhaps, more than to those of any other man in the
Union, the unexampled majority of General Harrison, in
November of that year, may be attributed. His majority
for Governor was so much greater than was ever before
attained by a successful candidate in a strenuously con
tested canvass, that it proved a sure precursor of a still
larger one for the veteran of Tippecanoe.
Mr. Corwin served but one term as Governor, his
former competitor, through a diversion in favor of an
ultra anti-slavery candidate, having led him, in the con
test of 1842, by a plurality of some five thousand votes.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN. 13
In 1844, he was placed at the head of the Clay elec
toral ticket, in Ohio. Soon after the meeting of the
State Legislature in that year, he was elected United
States Senator by that assembly, both branches of which
were then, for the first time in a series of years, com
posed of a majority of opponents to the Democratic
party. Mr. Corwin took his seat in that highest legisla
tive council in the world, upon the accession of Mr. Polk
to the Presidential chair, in 1845, and served until July
22d, 1850, when, at the invitation of President Pillmore,
he entered upon the duties of Secretary of the Treasury.
After the expiration of that administration, in 1853, and
until the fall of 1858, he attended to his professional
duties in his law office in Cincinnati, maintaining his
residence permanently in Lebanon, among his old neigh
bors, comparatively aloof from the political questions of
the day. But men like Mr. Corwin are never uncon
cerned about the workings of our political system, nor
uninformed as to the various phases which such topics as
interest the people are constantly assuming. Assenting
to pressing solicitations from various quarters, and under
a deep sense of a citizen's obligations to his country
while he has any hopes of being useful, he permitted
himself to be a candidate for a seat in the Thirty-sixth
Congress, as a representative from his old "Warren county
district, and was, of course, triumphantly elected.
Mr. Corwin, as will be perceived in the preceding
summary of the principal dates and events of his history,
ivithout the advantages of what is called a liberal educa
tion, has attained a degree of eminence which it is the
fortune of few men to reach without adventitious aid.

14 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN.
Modest and unassuming men rarely make mucb advance
ment in the road to fame, unless, as in his case, the fire
of true genius, and the possession of real merit and
worth, are unmistakeably evident. These in him were
observable at an early period of his life. At the age
of fourteen, his "latent talent for effective oratory, by
action, emphasis, and gesture," was exhibited in the part
he took in the school exercises of his time. Though to
this happy faculty of ready eloquence is doubtless to be
attributed his rapid strides to distinction as an advocate
at the bar, "he was even more distinguished," writes his
friend, "for his keenness of discrimination. This always
prevented him from using any authority not strictly in
point, or any item of evidence that could be turned
against him." This discrimination, rather than his
eloquence, some think, was his forte, though the latter,
on occasions when he would be excited in the progress
of a trial, "was, perhaps, unequalled, in his day, at the
bar of Ohio."
Mr. Corwin exhibits, when addressing a jury, all that
opulence of legal and miscellaneous information and
philosophic reflection which are the result of a life of
application to books, and close stud}' of human nature.
No one can more readily or more delicately sweep every
chord by which the sympathies of the heart can be
touched, or find a more direct avenue to whatever feel
ing, passion, sentiment, or prejudice it may be necessary
to reach to obtain consent to his reasoning. The infinite
humor playing in his countenance, and ever anticipating
the utterances of his eloquent tongue, but adds to hi^.
power to overwhelm with ridicule any unfortunate posi
tion taken by an opponent; and, though this sometimes

MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN. 15
is calculated to divert the auditor from the more pon
derous logic he uses, it carries with it, nevertheless, an
undercurrent of sound argument, which does not fail to
convince. All his varied acquirements he uses whenever
it may be desirable to give strong probability to a merely
possible fact; and he brings up the known to prove the
unknown by a masterly comparative course of illustration.
During his brief career in the Legislature of Ohio,
Mr. Corwin distinguished himself by his opposition to
the passage of a bill proposing to resort to public whip
ping as a punishment for petty larceny. A law inflicting
such a penalty for like offences had been in force, for a
few years, in Ohio, at the beginning of her State gov
ernment, but it was repealed. The increase of such
misdemeanors, in a portion of the State, had induced
the attempt, on the part of some of the members, to
procure its re-enactment. It was contended, by* those in
favor of this code, that for the crime of theft no pun
ishment was so appropriate; whipping seemed to them
something inseparable from stealing — it was the obvious
penalty due to the offence. The tax upon the people of
some of the counties, for maintaining the culprits in
prison for such periods as the laws prescribed for minor
offences, had, from their frequent commission, become
burdensome ; and the disgrace attached to the penalty
which it was proposed to revive, it was argued, would
prove to be a more economical as well as a more effica
cious remedy. Mr. Corwin's remarks upon this question
show not only the repugnance to such means for correct
ing evil entertained by a person of refined sensibilities,
but also a profound knowledge of the objects and prin
ciples of law, as well as an intimate acquaintance with

16 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN.
the motives of human action. The bill was ultimately
defeated. As a representative in the popular branch of the
National Legislature, Mr. Corwin was industrious, and
faithful to the trust reposed in him by his constituents;
and his course "was that of a careful, thoughtful, con
scientious man. His appearance in debate was rare, but
always effective. The announcement of his name was
an assurance of profound stillness in the House. That
stillness continued while he occupied the floor, except as
it was sometimes broken by demonstrations of excite
ment, such as wit, argument, and eloquence like his
must occasionally produce." * Though our National
Legislative literature is by no means meagre, further
contributions from Mr. CoEwm would have been a most
welcome relief to the folios of heavy essays, written and
plodded over, with anxious care, for days and weeks, by
members at their private apartments, to be " read " in
committee, to few listeners, at the first convenient oppor
tunity. His remarks on the Surplus Revenue, criticising
the report of Mr. Cambreling, is a masterly effort, deliv
ered without time for preparation, and upon the sugges
tions of the moment. His well-remembered reply to
General Crart is another of those happy impromptu
speeches; and is unapproachable for overwhelming sar
casm and ridicule, and its abounding good humor. This
speech was delivered in committee of the "Whole on the
Cumberland Road bill, on the 15th of February, 1840.
At the next sitting of the House (Monday, the 17th),
Mr. Corwin again spoke — this time to the question

* American Review.

memoir of THOMAS CORWIN. 17
before the House — and entered into the constitutionality
of Internal Improvements by the General Government.
The reporters failed to write out his remarks, expecting
him to prepare his speech for publication from their
notes, and alleging that they could not do him justice —
so fully were they impressed with the able manner in
which he had treated the subject. This, however, it was
not convenient for Mr. Corwin to do, from the multi
plicity of duties and engagements then demanding his
attention ; and hence one of the best of his congressional
speeches has never been given to the public.
"When canvassing the State as a candidate for Gov
ernor, in 1840, Mr. Corwin's power to sway the masses
as a popular orator became widely known. " The
"Wagoner Boy," as he was familiarly named, from the
circumstance of his driving his father's team with pro
visions for the army, proved a rallying word of that
campaign. A gentleman,* who had been spoken of for
the nomination at the same time, thus addressed the
thousands assembled at Columbus on that occasion, when
Mr. Corwin's name was announced as the candidate
selected :
" "When the brave Harrison and his gallant army were
"exposed to the dangers and hardships of the north-
" western frontier — separated from the interior, on which
"they were dependent for their supplies, by the brush-
" wood and swamps of the St. Mary's country, through
"which there was no road — ^where each wagoner had to
" make his way wherever he could find a passable place,
"leaving traces and routes, which are still visible for a

* General C. Anthony.

18 memoir of THOMAS CORWIN.
" space of several days' journey in length — ^there was one
" team which was managed by a little, dark-complexioned,
"hardy-looking lad, apparently about fifteen or sixteen
"years old, who was familiarly called Tom Corwin.
" Through all of that service he proved himself a good
" ' whip ' and an excellent ' reinsman.' And in the situa-
"tion in which we are about to place him, he will be
"found equally skillful."
This was received with great enthusiasm. There was
a happy coincidence in the object accomplished by the
wagoner candidate for Governor, and the achievements
of the military candidate for President. It was to succor
the army under the command of the latter, that the
former performed his humble though honorable mission.
There was much in it to touch the sympathies of a
grateful people ; and it is not surprising that the popular
heart should have responded in song, as it did, during
that exciting campaign.
Among the spontaneous effusions of that contest, is a
tribute to Mr. Corwin, published in the Dayton "Log-
cabin," and adapted to a popular air, by his friend and
admirer, the late John W. Van Cleve, of Dayton — a
gentleman of fine talents and varied accomplishments.
Though somewhat foreign to the purpose of this sketch,
the first two stanzas may be given as a reflex of the
sincere regard felt for Mr. Corwin by his early acquaint
ances and friends:
"Success to you, Tom Corwin!
Tom Corwin, our true hearts love you!
Ohio has no nobler son,
In worth there's none above you;

memoir of THOMAS CORWIN. 19
And she will soon bestow
On you her highest honor,
And then our State will proudly show
Without a stain upon her.
"Success to you, Tom Corwin!
We've seen, with warm emotion,
Your faithfulness to Freedom's cause,
Tour boldness, your devotion;
And we will ne'er forget
That you our rights have guarded;
Our grateful hearts shall pay the debt,
And worth shall be rewarded."
The office of Governor of Ohio, though a position of
dignity, did not afford much scope, limited as were its
duties and patronage under the constitution then exist
ing, to exhibit the talents for which Mr. Corwin is most
remarkable. He is himself reported to have facetiously
remarked, that the principal duties of the place were
"to appoint notaries public and pardon convicts in the
penitentiary." It may be observed, however, that, in the
exercise of the latter prerogative, he acted in accordance
with that humane reformatory spirit for which he has
always been noted. As in his capacity of legislator he
had been decidedly opposed to the degradation of the
whipping-post, so, as Governor, he did his utmost, con
sistently with the purposes of justice, to remove from the
punishment in the State prison the stigma of its disfran
chisement; and he made it a subject of special inquiry
to ascertain the habits and deportment of a prisoner
during his confinement. "Whenever these evinced a
degree of reformation, and a desire to lead a better life,
Governor Corwin would sign his pardon, to take effect a

20 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN.
day or two before the expiration of the term for which
he was sentenced; thus restoring the released convict to
all the franchises which he had previously possessed.
This course, laudable as it was, subjected him to the
animadversion of political opponents, who, without ap
pearing to appreciate the motive, represented it as an
attempt to thwart the administration of justice; and was
used, among other things, to his prejudice in the contest
of 1842, when, as has already been stated, he failed to
be re-elected.
In his inaugural address, delivered before the Legis
lature on the 16th December, 1840, speaking in relation
to the division of legislative power, under the Constitu
tion, between the General Government and the States,
he remarks :
" On all subjects of this character, prudence and
"patriotism alike demand that both parties should for-
" bear, if possible, to enter the field of conflict in pursuit
" of a questionable claim of jurisdiction. That spirit of
" concession, so powerfully operative in the formation of
"the Federal Constitution, should always be invoked by
"those whose duty it may be, either as officers of the
" General or State authorities, to fix its true interpreta-
"tion. "When we regard, however, the invariable ten-
" dency of power to reach after still further and more
" extended dominion, and when we consider the obvious
" advantage which the National Government enjoys in a
" conflict with a single State of the Union, arising from
" its greater wealth and patronage, and by consequence
"its superior influence over public opinion, it becomes
"the obvious duty of the State Legislatures to watch
" with vigilance, and, on all questions not within the

MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN. 21
"province of the judiciary, to assert, in a peaceful yet
"resolute tone, the claims and powers of the weaker
"party." Governor Corwin's annual messages to the General
Assembly may be regarded as model documents of the
kind. Such matter as he deemed it essential to treat
upon, is presented in a clear and perspicuous style; and
he never lengthened his remarks to the extent to which
many similar State papers are too often elongated. They
are principally confined to matters pertinent to State
legislation, and do not argue national politics; though,
incidentally, the policy of the General Government is
courteously and freely commented upon. The following
extract from his first annual communication to the Legis
lature, exhibits the deep interest he has always felt in the
cause of moral and intellectual improvement, as well as
his just appreciation of what constitutes good govern
ment. Seldom do we find in executive messages a pas
sage combining so much truth and sound doctrine, and
so happily expressed:
"It is in times of profound tranquility, when the
" people are undisturbed by the tumults of war, that the
" duties of enlightened patriotism invite us to the grate-
"ful task of giving depth and permanency to our free
" institutions. It is only at such periods that a common-
" wealth can hope to deliberate calmly and successfully
" upon systems of policy, calculated to stimulate industry,
"by giving it legal assurance that it shall be protected
"in the enjoyment of its acquisitions; to strengthen
"general morality by laws which shall tend to suppress
"vice and crime in all their forms; to give energy and
"independence of character to all classes by measures

22 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN.
"which will promote, as far as practicable, equality of
"condition, and thus establish rational liberty for our-
" selves, and give hope of its countenance for ages to
" come. " Of measures which contribute to these ends, edu-
" cation, comprehending moral as well as intellectual
"instruction, is of the first importance. Under a con-
" stitution like ours, which imparts to every citizen the
" same civil rights, education must remain a subject of
" vital interest in reference to the general welfare of the
" State. If we are to trust the lessons of history, we are
" brought to the conclusion that government is, and
" always has been, the most efficient of all the causes
"which operate in forming the character and shaping
"the destinies of nations. "Where the right of suffrage
"is so unrestricted as with us, government is necessarily
"the offspring of all the people, and will reflect the
"moral and intellectual features of its parent with un-
" varying fidelity.
" If the operations of the most profound thinkers had
" left us in doubt upon this interesting subject, the familiar
" history of the last century alone has furnished numerous
" and melancholy proofs, that no people, to whom moral
"and intellectual culture have been denied, are capable
" of achieving or enjoying the blessings of rational liberty,
"founded upon any system which tolerates popular
" agency in the conduct of public affairs. So profoundly
" impressed vsdth this great truth were the framers of our
" constitution, that they did not leave it to the judgments
"of the future to decide. They did not allow the subject
" of education to remain in that class which might be, in
" after times, adopted or rejected upon the doubtful test

MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN. 23
" of expediency. They incorporated it into the Constitu-
"tion. In the 3d section of the 8th article of the Con-
" stitution, it is expressly declared, that 'religion, morality
" and knowledge being essentially necessary to good gov-
" ernment and the happiness of mankind, schools and the
" means of instruction shall forever be encouraged by legis-
" lative provision, not inconsistent with the rights of
"conscience.' In the schools, the encouragement of
"which is thus enjoined as a proper subject of legislative
"provision, it is apparent that the makers of the Consti-
" tution intended to combine moral with intellectual
"instruction. All experience and observation of man's
"nature have shown that merely intellectual improve-
" ment is but a small advance in the accomplishment of
" a proper civilization. "Without morals, civilization only
" displays energy, and that the more fearful in its powers
" and purposes, as it wants the restraining and softening
" influences which alone give it a direction to objects of
" utility or benevolence."
At the Whig State convention, held at Columbus, 0.,
in January, 1844, over whieh Mr. Corwin presided, he
was tendered a unanimous nomination, and urgently
solicited to permit the use of his name a third time as
a candidate for Governor. This he declined, in a speech
which will be remembered during the lifetime of many
of those who were present on that occasion. It was one
of those grand efforts which leave their impress upon
the auditor, but which, like too many others from the
same gifted orator, was not reported and preserved. At
a subsequent stage of the proceedings of this convention,
the late venerable Ex-governor, .Jeremiah Morrow, who
was present as a delegate, submitted the following sig-

24 memoir of THOMAS CORWIN.
nificant and complimentary resolution, which was adopted
with a vociferous acclaim from the assembled masses :
" Besolved, That in Thomas Corwin we recognize a
"patriot, a statesman, an orator, a man of the people,
" and a champion of their rights — a man whom Ohio is
"proud to call her own. "We esteem him, and we love
" him." " This resolution," (we quote from the published pro
ceedings,) " and the enthusiastic call of the vast multitude
"which surrounded him, again brought forth a response
"from Governor Corwin, who, for an hour and a half,
" enchained his audience in breathless attention, or called
"from them deafening shouts of applause. [Who is
"there of this convention that will not carry with him
"to the grave a vivid recollection of the noble, manly,
"and patriotic sentiments that were uttered by him on
" this occasion, and of the scorcbing sarcasm with which
"he overwhelmed the pretended friends of the people,
"who, in the name of democracy, were attempting to
"subvert our free institutions?"]
This convention, as the reader has already been
advised, placed the name of Mr. Corwin at the head
of the Clay electoral ticket, for the success of which he
did yeoman's service throughout the State.
His election, the ensuing winter, to the United States
Senate, as successor to the late Judge Tappan, again
placed Mr. CoRwm in a position favorable for the exer
cise of his powers as a debater; but for a time he seemed
as chary of obtruding his remarks upon the attention of
that body as he was while occupying a seat, some ten or
a dozen years previous, in the other branch of Congress.
He did not participate prominently in the discussions

MEMOIR OP THOMAS CORWIN. 25
until our country was involved in the war with Mexico.
His first remarks of any considerable length were made
in behalf of the soldiers in that war, and in able advocacy
of their receiving bounty land. The debate on this sub
ject came on while the bill for the increase of the army
was pending, and was continued at intervals during the
consideration of that bill. In the course of it, he answered
some olgections of Senator Benton in a style peculiar to
himself, and the no slight discomfiture of that great
Missouri statesman. Such pithy sentences as the follow
ing, as Mr. CoRwm would utter them, in answer to the
treasury-saving arguments of that distinguished Senator,
would be felt by him with more than ordinary force :
" Sir," said Mr, Corwin, " shall we drive a Jew's bargain
" with our soldiers ? Shall we give a definite value for
" their patriotism ? Shall we count every groan ? Shall
"we give value for every drop of blood? Shall we pay
"so much for a soldier's life? so much as a compensation
" to the women and children who have been made widows
" and orphans by the war ? Shall we give them an esti-
" mated sum as value for their loss ? "
It is noteworthy that Mr. Corwin's remarks upon
this subject were commenced nearly a month before
the delivery of his great speech on the Three Million
bill. Had they been spoken afterwards, they would
have borne the seeming aspect of an attempt to smooth
the ripple he then raised in the current of his popularity
by his bold denunciation of the war. His sentiments in
favor of rewarding the men who have to bear the brunt
of whatever results from the action of a nation's rulers,
fortunately, therefore, can not be attributed to any such
motive. But even the liability to which a less auspicious

26 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN.
moment for their delivery would have subjected him,
never would have deterred a man of his moral courage
from giving them utterance.
The speech on the Three Million bill, or "Mexican
"War Speech," as it is best known, has been compli
mented by some of the greatest minds in the civilized
¦ world. The concluding portions of it have been quoted,
again and again, as among the finest specimens of
American eloquence. That speech, for bold assertion
of truth, regardless of the unpopularity of the senti
ments enunciated, has seldom, if ever, perhaps, been
equalled in any legislative body, in any nation.
It is one of the inconsistencies of human nature to
yield often what is known to be right to a fancied expe
diency ; and it is not surprising that many who cordially
approved of what Mr. Corwin then said, should have
objected to its promulgation. The opponents of the
party with which Mr. Corwin then acted, seized upon
the strong and emphatic language used by him, and
distorted it to suit their own purposes. Many of his
ardent and devoted admirers regretted, at the time, that
he did not leave much of it unsaid, and not thus, by
taking the unpopular, though they doubted not, correct,
side of the question, voluntarily injure his prospects for
a higher and more successful future, to which they hoped
and believed he was rapidly tending. It was natural
that the mere politician should thus view it. Mr. Cor
win's more chary compeers, though they must have been
equally imbued with the truth he spoke, were " wiser iu
their generation;" and, as the world goes, may have
snatched a portion of its temporary successes by pru
dently inclining to a temporizing policy. But, however

MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN. 27
that may prove to be in the end, who is there now
among his friends and admirers, or anywhere in a Chris
tian land, that does not commend the honest expression
of his conscientious convictions, upon a subject so fraught
with great consequences as then were likely to flow from
the prosecution of that war? His course then (observes
a writer) " marked him before the nation and the world.
"He has dared to think as his conscience bade him — to
" think and speak boldly what he thought. His enemies
" may denounce him as a traitor, and his friends reproach
" him for imprudence ; but thinking men of the present
"times can not but honor his manly independence, as
" posterity will assuredly commend the virtue that is dis-
" played in it." * * * "In his opposition to appro-
"priations for a farther prosecution of the war, he
"certainly, at every risk of disadvantage to his personal
"influence, took the highest ground of opposition to
" executive misrule ; and, whether right or wrong in the
"judgment which marked his course, he has won a
"reputation for integrity and firmness of which any
"statesman of the age might well be proud."*
After the termination of the Mexican war, the dis
position of the newly-acquired territory furnished the
fruitful theme of contention which the opponents of the
war anticipated. The question as to the power of Con
gress over the territories, in regard to the institution of
slavery, then became the exciting one, which has ever
since so largely occupied the attention of the National
Legislature, and caused the disintegration of political
parties as they then existed. Mr. Corwin's speech in
* American Review for September, 1847.

28 MEMOIR OP THOMAS CORWIN.
the Senate, on the 24th of July, 1848, enters deeply into
this subject; and he discusses the powers of Congress
with the ability of a profound constitutional lawyer, and
well-read statist. Upon this subject there has been appa
rently a marked change of opinion among certain poli
ticians since that period. Mr. Corwin, however, now
holds to the same views which he then held — at that
time entertained almost unanimously by the opposition
to the Democratic party, and now the principle con
tended for, with but few exceptions, by the opposition
in all the non-slaveholding States. Upon the speech
to which the writer refers, the Louisville Journal then
remarked :
" In the speech on the Compromise bill, Mr. Corwin
"has displayed, in an eminent degree, all the great
" features of his massive mind. The oft-repeated sophis-
" tries of slavery, the formulas that have passed from
"mouth to mouth among those who love to be deceived,
" those paltry, rickety things that seem to be heir-looms
" of perpetualism, are trampled into dust by Mr. Corwin
"with as much disdain as Mirabeau spurned and tram-
"pled on the formulas of royalty. "When did falsehood
"ever receive a quietus more effectually than this men-
"dicant plea of the ultras for more slave territory, on
" account of their worn-out lands ? "
The same article from the Journal contains the follow
ing highly-wrought eulogy :
"A leading feature of Mr. Corwin's character is
"devotion to truth; and he follows her paths with the
"enthusiasm, the spirit and the fortitude of a martyr.
" In the worship of that heavenly essence, he discards all
"personal considerations; he never seems to pause to ask

MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN. 29
" what may be the personal consequence of anything he
" may feel required to do — it is enough for him to learn
" where truth marks the line of duty, to secure his obe-
" dience. "This trait of Mr. Corwin was eminently displayed
" on the Mexican war question. His lucid mind as clearly
" saw the consequences of his course upon that question
" as his experience now feels them. He deliberately sur-
"veyed his ground, and duty made him brave the fires
" of persecution and the anathemas of party. It would
"be as easy to make a slave of Mr. Corwin as it would
" be to make him a demagogue. He stood up before the
" country as a man who dared to do what he considered
" right ; he made no appeal to the aura popularis ; he
"felt the spirit of the ancient sage expressed in the
"sentiment, 'I love Socrates, I love Plato, but I love
" truth more than either.' "
5jC y^ y^ ^j^ t^ ?|S 3|^ jji 3j5
""While reading the debate, we could not but feel
"that Mr. Corwin towered in the Senate like a giant
" amfong pigmies. Every one that couched a lance with
" him seemed to be ridiculously small. "While following
" his great mind through the intricacies of this subject, we
" felt that we were in a blaze of light, and we could not
"but remember Ben Jonson's description of truth. "We
"seemed to stand in the very presence of that glorious
"figure, whose
" ' Spacious arms do reach from East to West,
" And you may see her heart shine thro' her breast;
" Her right hand holds a sun with burning rays;
" Her left, a curious bunch of keys,
" With which Heaven's gates she unlocketh, and displays

30 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN.
" A crystal mirror hanging at her breast,
" By which men's consciences are searched and drest;
" On her coach-wheels Hypocrisy lies racked,
" And squint-eyed Slander, with Vain-glory backed.
" Her bright eyes burn to dust, in which shines Fate;
" An angel ushers her triumphal gate ;
" Whilst with her fingers fans of stems she twists,
" And with them beats back terror, clad in mists :
" Eternal unity behind her shines,
" That fire ajxi water, earth and air combines.
" Her voice is like a trumpet, loud and shrill,
" Which bids all sounds in Earth and Heaven be still.'
" There is not a man in the country who can strip a
" subject of its verbiage more effectually than Mr. Corwin.
" "With a keen and bold eye, and a steady hand, he dis-
" sects the sophistries and false logic of the advocates of
" error, and he follows falsehood through all its doubling
" and involutions with a practiced skill, which no in-
"genuity can elude.
"Nothing seems to escape his eye in analyzing an
"untenable position. His powers of sarcasm are great,
" and they sparkle amidst the strength of logic like gems
" that deck the brow of purity and beauty."
In the briefer remarks of Mr. Corwin in the Senate,
he is not less effective. An instance of this, showing at
the same time the utter absence in him of those narrow
ideas of public economy so frequently evinced in the
defeat of meritorious claims, while huge speculations are
winked at, is to be found in his remarks in favor of the
bill for the relief of "William Darby. This relief was
proposed in consideration of valuable geographic informa
tion availed of by the United States from early surveys,
made by Mr. Darby, of the south-western boundary. In

MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN. 31
advocating this claim, Mr. Corwin admirably contrasted
the disposition of the Government to reward leaders of
military expeditions, which drive off the Indians, "ele
vate" the American fiag, and carry the "American eagle
into lands where he never soared before," with its tardy
inclination to compensate the achievements of science, and
labors in the less exciting walks of peace, from which it
derives equal profit and advantage. His defence of Judge
McLean against the animadversions of Senator Foote
upon sentiments expressed, as a private citizen, by that
able and worthy jurist, is in that cool, good-humored
severity of style which delights an audience while it
tortures the victim at whom it is aimed.
As the head of the Treasury Department, Mr. Corwin
pursued, in the main, the line of policy which prevailed
while that branch of the Government was under the
direction of his immediate predecessor, Mr. Meredith.
His first annual report to Congress upon the finances of
the country, was presented on the 17th December, 1850.
In this communication he recommends:
1st. A change in the ad valorem system ^imposing
specific duties on all articles to which they may be
safely applied.
2nd. If thef'fystem of specific duties should not be
adopted, then the home, instead of the foreign, valuation
should be introduced.
3rd. If neither of those, changes should commend
themselves to Congress, then the rates then prevailing
should be increased upon a variety of articles, which
might bear such increase with a salutary effect upon
trade and revenue.

32 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN.
The following extracts embrace some of the arguments
adduced in favor of the foregoing recommendations:
" The ability of the country to discharge every obliga-
" tion upon it, if aided by wise and timely legislation, is
" unquestionable. If ample provision shall be made for
" the prompt discharge of annually accruing liabilities,
" the public faith, as it has been hitherto, will be main-
" tained, and the public credit continued on such a basis
"as to insure an advantageous and speedy extinguish-
" ment of the public debt.
" The system of ad valorem duties, however well
" adapted to many articles of trade, when applied to all
" without discrimination, restriction, or safeguard, has
"been proved by the experience of this department to
" be subject to many and strong objections. Its tendency
"is to cherish a spirit of overtrading, greatly injurious
"to the industry of our own country in all its depart-
" ments, and, in its final results, fatal to the revenue.
" Considering this sy.stem only in its operation upon
" revenue, it is believed that the experience of the most
" enlightened commercial nations of Europe has proved
"it to be impolitic and unsafe.
*********
"The primary object to be kept in view in levying
" duties upon imports, is admitted to be revenue. It is
" equally well established, as the policy and duty of the
" government, so to discriminate in the levying of duties
" as, without falHng below the necessary amount of rev-
" enue, to give the greatest encouragement possible to all
" the industrial pursuits of our own people. One feature
" of the law of 1846, in the opinion of this department.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN. 33
" is opposed to both the controlling principles just stated.
" I have reference to an equal or higher rate of duty on
"the raw material than upon the manufactured article
"of which it is composed. Sueh provisions certainly
" take from the manufacturer and artisan that encourage-
" ment which the present law doubtless, to some extent,
" was intended to afford, and also check the importation
"of the raw material to a degree detrimental to the
" revenue. " The constant fluctuations in prices, and consequently
" in the duties, under any unrestricted ad valorem tariff,
" give to the act of 1846 that most objectionable feature,
"instability. These variations, giving a high duty when
"least required, and low duties when prices are ruinous,
"tend to an excess of importations, and subject all the
"products of labor in our own country to the frequent
" and enormous fluctuations in the markets abroad,
"arising from the disturbed condition of those nations
" with whom our foreign commerce is chiefly carried on.
" Under the present system, duties are highest when the
" article imported is highest, and when the purchaser
" and consumer can least afford to pay the duty ; and
"lowest when the price of the article wanted would
"allow a heavy additional duty to be levied on it.
" Thus, if an article costs ten dollars, a duty of thirty
" per cent, would compel an addition of three dollars ; if
"that article falls in value to five dollars, then is the
"duty reduced one-half.
"That can not be a wholesome system of taxation
" which follows the consumer in his purchases, increasing
"his burden when prices are high, and taking it off as
"prices fall, and his ability to bear it increases. If
3

34 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN,
" applied to articles of subsistence, it would operate as a
"heavy tax upon bread in a year of famine, increasing
" with the intensity of the evil, and gradually disappear-
" ing with the return of abundance."
*****
" Our revenue, as already stated, must be mainly
" dependent on duties on imports. Those imports from
"abroad can only be paid for by exports made up of
"the products of our labor in all its varieties, or in the
"precious metals. If our imports shall exceed the value
" abroad of our exports in any given year, to the extent
" of such excess do we create a foreign debt. If this
" operation be repeated for only a few years, it is obvious
" that it will effect the withdrawal from us of a quantity
"of the precious metals equal, or nearly so, to the amount
" of the accumulated debt, bringing with it bankruptcy
"in all departments of business, consequent inability to
" purchase foreign goods, and thus, for the time, causing
" a ruinous depression in the receipts into the treasury.
"It then becomes equally the duty of Congress and the
" interest of the people, if possible, so to regulate imports
" as to confine the importations into this country to an
"amount about equal to such exports of our own as can
" find a market at remunerative prices abroad.
" The bare statement of the foregoing well-established
"laws of trade would seem to furnish a safe guide in all
" legislation on the subject.
""Whilst importations should be secured in amount
" sufficient, at practical rates of duties, to supply the
" wants of the treasury, such duties should be adjusted
"in a manner to affect favorably all industrial pursuits
" at home. If duties on the necessary importations should

MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN. 35
¦' have the effect to impair the ability of the mass of the
'¦ people to purchase and pay for foreign goods, then
" importations to that extent must cease, and by conse-
" quence the revenue to an equivalent amount would be
" diminished. "It is believed that our own experience has shown
" that our exports can not be greatly extended, as some
" have supposed, by low duties upon foreign goods in
" our ports. It is a fact within the observation of all,
"that merchants and ship-owners are ever vigilant and
" alert, with all the knowledge that interest can impart,
" and all the skill which experience can supply, to send
" abroad any and every product of this country which
" can anywhere find a profitable market. These agencies,
" which are always active, extend our export traffic, at
"all times, to the utmost limit of advantage to the pro-
" ducer or carrier. If, at any tim«, a given article of
"export should be carried beyond the foreign demand,
" reduced prices, the invariable result of oversupply,
"bring loss upon all concerned. If a foreign article
" is in like manner forced upon our own market beyond
" the required supply, the effect of reduced prices, while
"it inflicts often ruinous losses upon the importer from
" abroad, is felt by those engaged in producing the like
" article at home in consequences tenfold more injurious,
" as the reduction of price in our own market extends
"to and affects the entire labor of the whole country
"which may be employed in such manufacture or pro-
" duction. Thus, while the injury is temporary and
"limited in its effect upon the importer, it is often
'• lasting and widely extended upon the labor of our own
" people. "We see and feel it in the sudden breaking up

36 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN.
" of establishments not yet sustained by an amount of
" capital which can afford to encounter temporary sus-
" pension of sales and reduced prices, or not yet worked
" with that skill and economy which long experience
" alone can impart. In such instances, labor is suddenly
" withdrawn from a diversity of pursuits, and driven to
" production in a limited sphere. This again brings an
" oversupply of whatever may be produced by the com-
" mon employments, while, in the end, it leaves the
"market of the article, whatever it may be, the pro-
" duction of which has been abandoned at home, at the
"mercy of the foreign supply alone.
" The result, in the end, to the consumer, is invari-
" ably a rise in the price of such article; and, there being
" no competition with the foreign producer, he has pos-
" session of the market, and of course supplies it at the
"highest price whieh the demand will give him. His
"prices and profits, unchecked by competition in such
" cases, continue to rise with the increasing demand and
" diminishing home supply.
" The operation and effect of these laws of labor and
" trade, it is believed, have been frequently and palpably
" exhibited in the history of our country. It is from
" such experience that the general principles upon which
" our tariff laws are based have become the common
"opinions of the people. Hence the almost universal
"impression in our country prevails, that, in assessing
"duties on foreign merchandise, such discrimination
"should be made as will have the effect of producing
" all articles which can be manufactured at home in such
" quantity, if possible, as to raise up two markets for the
"purchaser and consumer — the home and the foreign —

MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN. 37
" each competing with the other, so that he may not be
"left to the mercy of one, and that the foreign one,
" alone. "The happy indirect effect of such legislation upon
" the labor, and consequently on the permanent pros-
" perity, of our own country, is not the greatest, by any
" means, of the blessings it confers. By giving diversity
" to the occupations and industrial pursuits of the people,
"labor is rewarded, the ability to consume foreign pro-
" ducts is attained, and the wants of the national treasury,
" dependent entirely upon duties collected upon foreign
"imports, are amply supplied. "While the great end,
" that of a competent revenue, is thus surely reached by
"this policy, a larger amount of exports is, at the same
"time, obtained towards paying for the required im-
" portations. " Our exports, as the commercial statistics will show,
" are made up mainly of cotton, rice, tobacco, breadstuffs,
" and provisions. These are the products of the soil, and
" are shipped to foreign ports without more labor, as an
" element of price, than is necessary to fit them for market
" in their first and simplest condition. Our statistics dis-
" close the fact, also, that breadstuffs and provisions, of
" which we can produce a larger surplus than any other
"people, form comparatively a small addition to our
"exports, particularly in years of plenty abroad.
" These articles, in the production of which so large
"and interesting a portion of our people are engaged,
"can not find a market abroad at sueh prices as the
" farmer can afford to receive, except when famine or war
"creates a foreign and exceptional demand.
rfC ^ ^ *7r "^ ^fi "T^ "Tr "t*

38 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN.
" "When it is remembered that a very large proportion
" of the citizens of this country are engaged in the busi-
" ness of farming, and how much of the permanent wealth
"and true glory of the republic depends on their well-
" being and prosperity, it would seem to be the dictate
" of enlightened selfishness, as well as a duty of patriot-
" ism, so to mould, if possible, the laws regulating trade
" and revenue, as to furnish for them at home a perma-
"nent market, with remunerating prices. As no such
"market can be found abroad, it may well suggest the
" inquiry whether legislation, in providing, of necessity,
" for revenue, shall not, by encouraging a diversity of
"employment in our own country, secure the only safe
" and sure market for our farming productions which
" can be obtained."
Mr. Corwin's administration of the Treasury Depart
ment continued less than two years and a half, during
which period the majority in Congress differed in its
views of financial policy from those entertained by the
executive branch of the government. It was, therefore,
not a favorable time for the adoption of the foregoing
suggestions. The infiux of the precious metals from the
gold region, then recently acquired, stimulated the im
portations of foreign merchandize, and revenue from
imposts continued to flow into the national, treasury.
Although to Mr. Corwin the illusiveness of this pros
perity was apparent, and the establishment of a more
healthy system of national finance much to be desired,
the existing policy remained unchanged. A large surplus
over the annually accruing liabilities of the Government,
remained in the sub-treasury vaults when his successor
became invested with the management of the fiscal

MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN. 39
department, in 1853; and this plethoric condition con
tinued until, in 1857, a very general desire was mani
fested to lessen the income from duties upon foreign
imports. It is, perhaps, less owing to the changes then made
in our revenue regulations, than to the natural conse
quences of the "overtrading" against which Secretary
Corwin admonished Congress, in 1850, that the treasurj-
has since suffered a collapse, and that an executive of a
different political school favors, to some extent, the adop
tion of specific instead of ad valorem duties.
Mr. Corwin, in his professional practice since his
retirement with the administration of President Fill
more, has, on frequent occasions, shown his wonted skill
in combatting evidence before a jury, and his forensic
powers at the bar. The public press has given meagre
representations of some of these later efforts; but they
fail to impart to the reader anything like a correct idea
of his style of eloquence. Even for the most expert
stenographer it is difficult to report him fairly; and in
every attempted synopsis, he suffers from the good inten
tions of the person who volunteers to make it. Still
more, in his political speeches, is he victimised by the
newspaper reporter. The latter will most likely fold his
arms, and listen to the genial humor and sprightly wit
with which his remarks generally abound, and, in the
enjoyment of such a treat, will omit to take note of the
profound knowledge he displays of what true statesman
ship should be. Indeed, it often seems as if the "world"
of his admirers were the least appreciative of Mr. Cor
win's real merits, and that they have acquired a habit of
looking only for entertainment in his speeches, instead

40 memoir of THOMAS CORWIN.
of listening to the profundity of a philosopher, and well-
read, deep-thinking statesman.
Among the prominent men of the day, there are few
who appear before the pubhc on great occasions as
orators, who have not previously written out at length
the remarks which they intend to debver, or who are
not attended by competent reporters, looking carefully to
their fame as public speakers. It is not unusual for the
press, ere the speaker has warmed his seat in the rail
road train on his homeward way, to be busy throwing
off' copies of the oration, glowing with eloquent words,
the utterance of which, an hour previous, stirred no soul,
nor kept awake an impatient auditory. Such is not Mr.
Corwin's habit, nor have his speeches this lack of effect.
It will surprise many, no doubt, who know his reputation
as an orator, that a single volume should embrace all his
reported speeches; but he has never taken any pains to
perpetuate any that he has delivered. This is no affected
modesty on his part — it results from the utter unselfish
ness of his nature. He has been known to keep back
from publication one of the few written addresses that he
ever delivered, out of regard for the feelings of a gentle
man who feared that his address on the same occasion
would, in such event, appear to disadvantage. Though so
many of bis extempore efforts are thus lost to the reading
public, the memory of them will always linger with those
who were so fortunate as to hear them; and to this
recollection of the masses, wherever he has spoken, is to
be attributed the permanent hold he has upon their
affections. The mere mention of his name brings up a
volume of what they have heard him say — at the bar,
defending criminals, or at political gatherings, indulging

MEMOIR OP THOMAS CORWIN. 41
in satire against demagogues. One can scarce converse
with any person acquainted with him, who will not
cite some occasion when Mr. CoRwm excelled all other
speakers; or some important law-suit, in which he carried
the jury with him; or who does not remember some of the
familiar anecdotes (many of them apocryphal, no doubt)
with which his name is connected.
There is one characteristic common to all Mr. Corwin's
political addresses, and that is his earnest exhortations to
the proper and unfailing exercise of the elective franchise.
He never fails to admonish the people that they have
the power to make and unmake rulers; and that the
evils in government, which they are so apt to charge
upon the executive and other elective officers, are the
results either of their own remissness in refusing to vote,
or in their not taking pains to vote intelligently. He
babitually warns the people that a neglect or disregard
of the privileges they enjoy — among which none can
exceed this right of suffrage — may, as history has proved
it will, end at last in their losing them.*
* Upon this topic, Mr. Coewin spoke with great effect, at Dayton,
Ohio, on the 30th September, 1858. The Journal of that city thus
notices that portion of his speech :
"The close of Governor Corwin's speech was one of the most
"thrilling eloquence' and power. He appealed to the people to exer-
" cise the reason and the conscience which God had given them to
" decide how they should vote. The power conferred upon the voters
" of this nation was a tremendous power. It was one, for the faithful
"exercise of which, or the failure to exercise which, they would, as
"he believed, be called to answer at the great day. It was a power
"all potent for good or for evil; and as the Almighty, in his provi-
"dence, had given men brains to think, and consciences to teU them

42 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN.
The extract which follows gives a fair analysis of Mr.
Corwin's oratorical powers :
" As a public speaker, Mr. Corwin is gifted far above
" the ordinary standard of parliamentary experience. His
" manner is perfectly self-possessed ; his thoughts flow
" forth in the most lucid forms ; his language is in the
" purest taste — always strong, though frequently in a
"high degree erratic. In all his efforts, whether ofthe
" more elaborate or of the lighter kind, he fixes attention
"in the outset, and holds it, unbroken, to the end. It is
" evidently one of the secrets of his power, that he knows
"the right from the wrong, they could not hope to escape a fearful
" reckoning for negligence or unfaithfulness.
" He said that as he had traveled through the country, and beheld
" the ohuroh-spires and school-houses, it seemed to him inoomprehen-
" sible how, with the advantages of education and of instruction from
"the pulpit, there could be a generation of men who would disregard
"the lessons of experience and the teachings of history so much as to
" fail in the giving of an intelligent and patriotic vote.
"Governor Coewin proceeded, with a glowing eloquence of words
" and a sublimity of thought, to draw from sacred history the most
"pointed exemplifications of the duty made imperative by the divine
" command, to give heed to the things which make for the peace and
"honor and glory of our common country. The hand of the Almighty
'¦ was as plainly to be seen iu the interposition in our behalf during
"the revolutionary struggle, as it was in the rolling of the waves of
" the Bed Sea over the hosts of Pharaoh as they were pursuing the
"Israelites. We could not hope to escape the fate of the 'chosen
"people,' in whose history was so terribly fulfilled the words of
"prophecy, unless we appreciated our blessings, and struggled to
"preserve our birthright; and yet the history of man seemed to be
"the same in all ages. Three thousand years ago, when the Almighty,
"by a miraculous exercise of his power, had brought the children of
" Israel out of their Egyptian captivity, we found them, when it might

MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN. 43
" when he has exhausted a subject, and where to stop.
" He is so clear in his conceptions, and exact in his
"arrangement of them, that he never repeats himself;
" and hence never offends, as do many of the best
" speakers, by occasional indications of a want of
"thorough understanding of their own minds.
"In the mixed walks of eloquence, when under the
" excitement of a great subject, and a grand and respon-
'.^ sible occasion for the discussion of it, Mr. Corwin often
" exhibits powers which could hardly be excelled. He
" has moments of intense strength, in which he seems to
"rise, unconsciously, high above his own ordinary level,
" and to wield, with almost superhuman power, the
" grandest thoughts ; setting them forth in the sublimest
" images, and clothing them in the most beautiful forms
" of speech. On occasions that properly admit of the
" application of the highest jiowers of wit, his efforts are
" unrivalled. His quick perception of the weak points
" of an adversary's position, and, if open to ridicule, his
" ready association of them with the most grotesque forms

" have been supposed that the wonder of the miracle was still impress-
"ing them with its awful grandeur, worshipping a golden calf!
"The prophet Isaiah, in denouncing the sins and the punishment
"of Judah, had said: 'The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his
"master's crib; but Israel doth not know — my people doth not oon-
" sider.' The people did not 'consider'^ — they did not think. Every
" man should break away from the trammels of party — he should
" think — think for himself — and so discharge his duty, as if knowing
" that upon him alone rested the responsibility of faithfully and
"honestly acting for the welfare of the twenty-six millions of this
" nation — as if he were the only man who had a vote — as if he were
" possessed of despotic power, and his will was the law."

44 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN.
" of exposure, give often, even to his grave speeches, a
"force and influence which the severest logic would
"utterly fail to give. The amiable and gentlemanly
"temper, moreover, with which he exerts these high and
" even dangerous powers, saves him from all hazard of
" giving personal offence in the application of them, and
" it is proverbially said of him, that the object of his
" satire is usually among the most entertained of those
"who listen to it. The treat is too rich to be quarrelled
" with, even by the victim whom it would annihilate.
"But, after all, the most striking and captivating
"feature in his speaking is, that he allows no doubt in
" his auditory of the entire sincerity of what he is saying.
" It is a man uttering great and important truths, under
" the impulses of deep conviction, and not a mere declaimer
" or advocate, who would produce effect for an occasion.
" And this great feature of Mr. Corwin's speaking, which
" stands out so prominently in every speech he makes,
" no matter what the audience, the place, or the occasion,
"is the necessary result of that self-culture which, in his
"habitual studies, keeps the watches of an honest and
" conscientious heart in constant company with the labors
" of a clear, serene, and self-poised mind." *
Not only is Mr. Corwin eminently distinguished for
his happy faculties as a public speaker, but he is unsur
passed in conversational powers. He is the centre of
every social circle in which he may happen to mingle,
and the most sprightly, as well as the most profound,
are prone to give ear to the "wisdom and the wit"
which then pass trippingly from his tongue. His char-

* American Review.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN. 45
acter, personal, professional, and intellectual, is well
drawn in the same article from which the preceding
extract is quoted.
" Mr. Corwin's private life, from boyhood up, has been
" marked by the strictest virtue and the most stainless
" honor. His professional career, as a part of it, has been
" distinguished for benevolence and justice. His social
" qualities are of the highest order, and impart the hap-
"piest influence upon all who are so fortunate as to
" enjoy the advantages of them. Few men excel him in
" colloquial power, or in the range of intelligence to
" make it the most attractive. His life has been one of
"laborious study, and his mind is highly charged with
"useful learning and well-digested principles. He has
"read much, and with careful discrimination — applying
" the most careful thought of his own mind in the specu-
" Iations of others. However, his opinions on all subjects
" are uniformly his own. No man is more unpretending
" in his attainments, or more modest in exhibiting them ;
" but, at the same time, no man can be more decided in
"resisting the prescriptions of mere authority. His mind,
"in its philosophic spirit, is formed mainly upon the
" principle of self-reliance ; and he values and uses learn-
" ing as a means to help him think rather than to supply
" him with thoughts. It is, however, high proof in favor
" of the principles of any party or category with which
"he may sympathize and act, that they have been
"thoroughly thought out by him from their simplest
" elements, and finally adopted by him as ascertained
"truths, he allows no mere party reasons for his con-
" victions, and wants no party aid for their support."
Mr. Corwin rather unexpectedly became a candidate

46 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN.
for the Thirty-sixth Congress; but, at the same time,
that fact was hailed with delight by the voters in the
district who, nearly twenty years previously, had the
privilege of casting their ballots with his name at the
head. Nor was his re-appearance in public life less wel
come beyond the limits of his district or State. Men
possessing his physical and intellectual vigor, with the
advantages of ripe judgment and large political expe
rience, are deferred to as counsellors and guides in the
weightier matters of the nation. His election -was chron
icled in different quarters of the Union, as a disposition
on the part of the people to avail themselves of the
services of their best men; and that evidence was thus
given of the conservative feeling which, in this free
Republic, is cherished by its citizens, even at times when
the most ultra radicalism seems to prevail. Thousands
greeted him again at the hustings, and listened eagerly
to the manly and independent expression of his views
upon the topics of the times.
He now occupies the proud position of one who is
chosen as a national legislator, not strictly as a party
man; for he expressly dissented, in his public speeches
during the canvass, from some of the views entertained
by many of the party whieh elected him.* That he can
* Upon the subject of the powers of Congress in relation to the
Territories, he is reported to have spoken as follows, at a meeting
near Byron, Greene county, Ohio:
"The right of Congress to make all needful regulations for the
"Territories he considered indisputable, and he would attach some
" such rule as the Wilmot Proviso to every Territory on its organiza-
"tion. He knew the advantages of it in the results of the Ordinance
"of '87. Congress bore the same relation to the Territories -as a guar-

MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN. 47
have it truly said that he entered upon this trust un
trammelled, is alike creditable to himself and the liberal
and intelligent constituency that proffered it to him; and
it presents to the country at large an instance of inde
pendence on the one hand, and of toleration and confi
dence on the other, worthy of all commendation. '
Since his election to Congress, Mr. Corwin has min
gled freely in the discussion of political questions. He
was a delegate in the Republican State Convention, at
Columbus, Ohio, which nominated, as its candidate for
Governor, "William Dennison, jr., whom he accom
panied through a portion of the State in the canvass
which has recently* terminated in that gentleman's
election. Mr. Corwin's addresses, during this last campaign,
manifested an earnestness and energy calculated to im-
"dian did to his ward. As a member of Congress, he would act as a
"faithful guardian, bring up the Territories 'in the way they should
"go,' and counsel .them 'never to depart from it.' But when a Terri-
"tory was emerging into a State, it was becoming 'of age.' He could
" do no more than point out the benefits of its early training, and if it
"chose to deviate from his teaching, he could only regret it. It was
"then, as the minor become of age, its own master. Congress having
"passed an enabling act, permitting it to make a constitution and set
''up for itself, could not, he thought, consistently refuse it admission
"into the Union on account of a clause in its constitution, when we
" had in the Union fifteen States with similar constitutions. If we had
" no power to turn out States on that account, we should not keep them
" out. Here he read from the remarks of John Quincy Adams — good
" authority with the most ultra anti-slavery men — on the admission of
"Arkansas, showing that in this view he only re-affirmed what that
" eminently wise statesman uttered."
* October, 1859.

48 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN.
press the public with the importance which the result
would have upon the issues of the day. The doctrine
of " Popular Sovereignty," as promulgated by a dis
tinguished leader of one political school, furnished, upon
some of these occasions, a theme for him to exercise his
characteristic power of dissecting opinions, and of show
ing the incongruities and inconsistencies of these modern
theories, as compared with the well-established and (for
more than half a century) generally received views of
the constitutional powers of Congress. He adduced,
with telling effect, the fact of the earlier administrations
agreeing upon these powers, with entire unanimity; that
among such men as Calhoun, J. Q. Adams, Crawford,
and Wirt, of President Monroe's cabinet, there was no
difierence of opinion upon a question which, in these
latter days, is sought to be interpreted into something
dissimilar to what it meant during that " era of good
feeling." Mr. CoRwm, whenever it seemed called for during the
recent canvass, advocated, with his accustomed ability
and decision of purpose, the duty of maintaining the
supremacy of the law; and discountenanced any other
mode of redress for the real or fancied evils under which
the citizens of the non-slaveholding States labored, in
consequence of the reprehensible features in the act for
the reclamation of fugitives from labor, than that which
the people of a republic can peacefully and effectually
apply by the exercise of their constitutional powers.
The obligations of good faith required that each member
of this confederacy should fulfill its part of the compact.
There was a safe remedy for whatever of political incon
venience we temporarily endure, and laws of our own

MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN. 49
making, as we must admit all our laws to be (through
our own selected agents), it did not become us to violate.
He also reiterated, in these more recent political ad
dresses, his views, previously entertained, in relation to
our system of providing the revenue necessary to carry
on the Government, and illustrated the beneficent opera
tion of such impost duties as afforded protection to every
branch of American industry, without imposing burthens
upon any class of producers. The effects which would
be produced upon free labor by a resort to direct taxation,
he failed not to depict in vivid colors,
"While deprecating, as he did, the virulence of party
spirit, he admitted, in view of the imperfectibility of
mankind, the necessity of the existence of parties. But
his great aim, during the canvass, appeared to be to
further the action of the people upon what he conceived
to be safe and correct principles, without an exhibition
upon their part of ultra partizan proclivities. To his
efforts, it is not to be doubted, much of the conservative
element in the opposition to the party now in the ascen
dancy in the General Government, was brought into
active and practical exercise in favor of the candidates
of that opposition in Ohio, and to its consequently
triumphant results.
But, however this may be regarded, Mr. CoRwm has
discharged simply what he conceived to be his duty —
occupying the relation which he does to the common
weal of the Republic. The sincerity of his motives no
one who knows him will question. The sentiments he
has avowed find their response in the hearts of all true
men, who will neither submit to any violation of the
rights of their own States, nor countenance a wrong in-
4

50 MEMOIR OF THOMAS CORWIN.
flicted upon any other portion of this confederacy. They
have been adopted from reflection upon views long-cher
ished and calmly considered; and they will bear the test
of a comparison with the doctrines taught by the framers
of our Constitution and their patriotic contemporaries.
In conclusion, it may be remarked, with full confi
dence, that in the part which it may yet be Mr, Corwin's
fortune to take in the active official affairs of this Gov
ernment, he will continue to exhibit the high-toned and
independent course which has hitherto marked his politi
cal career; that he will always be found, in voice and
vote, in favor of the leading measures of national policy
which he has heretofore so fearlessly and eloquently
advocated; and that no motive of mere expediency, or
party finesse, will swerve him from the course whieh a
conscientious conviction of duty points out to him as the
one for a devoted friend of his country and its true
interests to pursue.
L S.

SPEECHES

THOMAS CORWIN.

AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISHMENT.
[In the House of Representatives, in the General Assembly of
the State of Ohio, December 18th, 1822, upon the bill to introduce
public whipping as a punishment for petty larceny, Mr. CoRWiN
addressed the Committee of the Whole as follows :]
Mr. Chairman:
I never rise to offer my opinions to this house
without feeling a powerful impression of the many
embarrassments which I am obliged to encounter.
This, sir, does not originate from a servile dr'ead of
your criticism, or the consequences of declaring thus
publicly and to the world the honest convictions of
my heart. No, sir, it arises from a more natural
and a more honorable cause ; it proceeds from that
deference which is due, and which we almost instinc
tively pay, to age and experience, and a conscious
ness that I am wasting the time of this house in
vain, when opposing my arguments and judgment
to the well-formed and authoritative opinions of my
(51)

52 speeches of thomas coewin.
venerable friends. Under these circumstances, I do
assui'e this committee I should have considered my
duty discharged by a silent vote upon this bill, had
not my professional pursuits frequently compelled me
to give a careful and often painful examination to
most of the subjects involved in its policy.
In the prosecution, and sometimes in the defense
of criminals, I have had frequent opportunities of
viewing and considering the occult and secret sources
of crime, more distinctly than I possibly could had I
been an unconcerned observer. I will venture to
assert, that there is not, in the whole circle of society,
a situation so favorable to the discovery of the true
nature and causes of crime, as a practice at the bar
of a court of criminal jurisdiction. There you may
behold, as from an eminence, the whole area over
which we are now about to pass. Here you see one
class of mankind, whose orbit seems to have been
fixed and revolutions all performed within the regions
of vice. Others again, of more equivocal character,
who, without any settled system of action, or deter
mining force of disposition, have been impelled for
ward in a wild and eccentric direction, and occasion
ally and accidentally passed within the hemisphere
f)f crime. "With these advantages, I would hope not
entirely unimproved, I have formed an opinion on
the subject opposed to the principles of the bill,
w^hich all the very able and ingenious arguments
of the gentlemen on the other side have not induced
me to relinquish. I shall not differ with the gentle
man from Highland [Mr. Collins] as to the great

AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 53
objects of criminal law. By imposing certain penal
ties upon the commission of specified offenses, it is
intended to reform the convicted culprit, and by the
example of his punishment to frighten others from
the yet untrodden paths of iniquity ; and thus, by
operating upon that principle common to all, an
aversion to pain and privation excite in the mind
a thorough abhorrence of the crime which is thus
necessarily connected with misery. All these point
to the great and primal object of both divine and
human government — the preservation of right, and
the promotion of human happiness. The scourge,
uplifted by the first section of the bill, is brought
forward as an auxiliary in this great and benevolent
work. About the ends to be accomplished there can
be no difference of opinion: the adaptation of this
instrument to the accomplishment of these ends is
the only subject of dispute. But, sir, when we con
sider the variety of considerations necessarily con
nected with the subject of crime and its punishment,
and that each of these is to be carefully weighed in
the balance of judgment, and the proper weight and
value assigned to each, before a correct result can be
had, it is not surprising there should exist an honest
difference of opinion as to the means by which thc
grand object in view is most likely to be insured.
I am satisfied, if the gentlemen who advocate this
bill would examine themselves closely, they would
find that considerations very remotely connected with
the true principles of criminal jurisprudence, have
contributed very powerfully to the establishment of

54 SPEECHES OP THOMAS CORWIN.
their present opinion. I am confirmed in this belief
by the reiterated arguments of the friends of the bill,
drawn from the expensiveness of the system at pre
sent in force. Your present mode of punishment,
say they, must be abolished ; the expense is intoler
able, and can no longer be borne by the counties. Let
us examine, then, for a moment, this arg-ument, and
see whether its intrinsic weight is such as to give it
the first rank among the reasons for abolishing the
old and adopting the new law now proposed. It will
be admitted, that the first and main designs in adopt
ing any system of criminal law, are to reform the
criminal, and by his punishment, to deter others
from imitating his conduct, and committing similar
crimes. This admission is sufficient of itself to show the
comparative weakness of all arguments which pro
ceed from a calculation of costs. It surely requires
no argument, to prove that the money expended in
procuring the punishment itself, can have no effect
in producing those consequences, for the sake of
which you are alone warranted in passing any law
upon the subject; that is, the reformation ofthe cul
prit, and the security of your right, by holding out
the terror of his example to others. For instance,
would a post and whip, which should cost five hun
dred dollars, have an effect upon the criminal or soci
ety, in any respect different from one equally strong
and powerful, used in the same manner, which should
not cost the tenth part of that sum ? The punish
ment is alike severe in both cases ; the effect upon thc

AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 55
criminal himself and upon those who witnessed his
punishment, would be precisely the same in the for
mer case, which costs five hundred, as in the latter,
which costs but fifty dollars. If the price, at which
the punishment can be procured, is the first and most
important consideration, then the gentleman, to be
consistent, should abandon the measure now proposed,
for many systems of punishment may be devised,
much cheaper than even the swift and summary ven
geance of the whipping-post and the scourge. This
\'iew of the subject may enable us to form something
like a correct estimate of the ¦.argument of expense so
long and so frequently urged. Still, sir, I would not
be understood to argue, that in the enactment of a
law of this kind, we should pay no regard to the
expense which will be incurred, in carrying that law
into effect ; but I would show, by these remarks, that
this argTiment can only be made effectual, when it is
proved in support of it, that the operation of the law
i.s so expensive as to bear no reasonable proportion
to the good effects resulting from it.
There are some among us, I believe, who are in
favor of the bill upon the table, who are, neverthe
less of opinion that fine or imprisonment is a pun-'
i.*bment more appropriate to the crimes we are
enacting upon. They tell us they detest and abhor
the vile and bloody instruments with which they
propose to arm our courts, and that they do not
expect their property will find a more efficient pro
tection from these agents than it has formerly expe
rienced from fine and imprisonment; that they are

56 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
willing to adopt a law which they believe to be wrong
and impolitic, with the hope of reducing the taxes,
and relieving the existing burdens of the people. Sir,
the people have required no such sacrifice at your
hands ; they have not petitioned you for relief ; they
have not prayed you to redeem them from this griev
ous oppression — ^this "Egyptian yoke." Gentlemen
have mistaken the clamors of a few selfish individ
uals for the voice of the State. If it were true, as
has been represented, that the cries of the State had
resounded from one extremity of it to the other, they
would have been heard* within these walls in the con
stitutional mode; your tables would have groaned
beneath the weight of their petitions. The people,
sir, are not idle, or inattentive to their interest, nor
are they so selfish or avaricious as to sacrifice the
general interest, honor, and prosperity to such sordid
and pecuniary considerations. Ask yourselves the
question, would you not rather sacrifice the pitiful
sum that would be drawn from your own pockets, to
pay this item of expense in the administration of the
law, than to introduce these ornaments of the slave-
driver into your temples t>f justice ?
The whipping-post and the lash are indeed beau
tiful appendages to the public buildings of your coun
ties ; and when the traveler, attracted to your shores
by the fame of your unexampled growth, in every
thing which marks the character of a great and
enlightened State, shall inquire of you the use of
that post which occupies a station so commanding
among the public buildings of Ohio, what answer

AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 57
will you give? You must tell him the truth; and
you may inform him, that it is a deity that is wor
shiped by the seven hundred thousand inhabitants of
Ohio ; that his peculiar attributes and qualities, are
a love of money, and a thirst insatiable for human
blood ; that his voracious stomach is regularly, three
times a year, gorged with his favorite drink, drawn
ft-om the veins of your citizens by the appli-cation of
whips and scourges. Complete the story if you .can,
and tell him that for this he saves in your pocket
from five to ten cents a year!!! But, sir, I will dis
miss this point, and proceed to consider what is in
truth a much more importalit branch of the present
subject — ^the nature and effect of the punishment
itself. The dispute now is between the stripes on the
bare back, as proposed in this bill, and the fine and
imprisonment of the old law. In the view which I
propose to take (in a few words) of these two modes
of punishment, it will be necessary to keep steadily
in our sight, the nature and character of the person
upon whom the punishment is to act, and the ends to
be accomplished by its infliction. Here I would use
the very instance produced by the gentleman from
Highland, in support of the bill, guided by the uner
ring laws of human nature: let us test this example,
and let experience decide whether the conclusion I
shall draw be true or false. Let then the person be
an old offender, hackneyed and trained in the ways
of wickedness: by an habitual communion with de
pravity, his sense of shame is destroyed, and his love
of reputation extinguished; his crimes shall have

58 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
fixed upon him the abhorrence of all who knew him,
and broken every tie which once held him in a state
of social existence. Such a being, it is argued, can
only be punished by the infliction of stripes; the
blunted sensibilities of such a wretch, it is said, can
only be roused and acted upon by the tremendous
apparata of vengeance, furnished forth in the first
section of the bill. This, sir, is a conclusion which I
can not admit; my mind directs me to a result
directly opposed to the one at which my friend has
arrived. I shall very readily admit, sir, that persons
may be found approximating very nearly at least to
the character described. ¦ Suppose him bound and fet
tered to the whipping-post; imagine, if you please, all
the playmates of his childhood, the companions of
his youth, and the graver acquaintances of his riper
years, to be present surrounding the place of his sup
posed disgrace, and punishment. "What, sir, to such
a being as we have imagined, would this be, or what
effect Avould it have? Would he be overwhelmed and
dismayed at the frown and disdain of the multitude ?
No, sir ; aware of this, he would arm himself with
triple insensibility. Lost to all sense of shame, he
looks upon their scorn and abhorrence with muscles
unmoved, or a smile of contempt. Bankrupt ia char
acter, and with no desire to redeem a ruined reputa
tion, he looks forward to their future detestation as a
thing with which he had long been familiar, and
about which he is utterly indifferent. The whip,
then, as the gentlemen have argued, is the only pos
sible enemy with which he is to contend — he has

AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 59
nothing more to arm himself against but the lash.
The surrounding multitude, all the parade and prepa
ration of the scene, are idle pageantry to him; and
if he can but harden his nerves, and fortify his flesh
with the proper degree of insensibility, he can endure
with equal stoicism and unconcern the severest cor-
l^oral pain that human ingenuity can invent, or
human power inflict. If it can be shown that man
(when it is necessary, and when properly schooled for
the purpose,) can endure with comparative ease the
severest corporal pain, then I think it is fair to con
clude that this would be the case in the instance
before us. Be assured, the old and well-practiced
criminal has not been such a careless observer of
human events, as not to have anticipated the proba
bility of punishment and prepared for its arrival;
and when he sees the bustling and eager crowd
assembled for the very purpose of beholding his
humiliation and feasting upon his torment, you need
not be surprised if all the energies of his depraved
and hardy nature were called into action to disap
point the still more brutal expectations and desires
of the mob.
Hard as this triumph of our nature over pain (its
natural enemy) may seem, thousands of examples
could be produced to prove it an object of easy ac
quisition. Look to the history of the Indian tribes
of America, when the vanquished warrior unfortu
nately survives a battle in which his tribe has been
beaten, and himself made prisoner. The conquest
is not complete until the victor chief has exerted his

60 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COEWIN.
system of torture upon the captive. The excellence
of this scheme of cruelty is made to exist in the
length of time it will continue its severity, without
destroying the sensibility of the victim. Yet such
is the power of human nature, when fully exerted,
that malice, when she has exhausted all her inven
tion, is often disappointed of her wish, and obliged,
at last, to behold the unconquered son of the desert
standing amid his torments, with as much ease as if
he were reposing upon his own native hills, breathing
the fragrance of the wild flowers of the desert, and
surrounded with all that could soothe the soul and
gratify the sense.
So it will be with the old, the stern and obdurate
malefactor. It would be found impossible to inflict
stripes upon him with such severity as to produce
any effect upon him at the time; of course, as to
himself, the effect, if any, must cease to operate 'the
moment he is discharged: But, sir, what impression
will those receive who witness this impotent attempt!
The answer is obvious. The abhorrence of his crime,
and the terror of its punishment, are all lost and for
gotten in the admiration created by the fortitude and
indifference of the culprit under the influence of the
scourge ; and the whole transaction leaves no impres
sion upon the mind of the beholder, except that he
had witnessed an unavailing attempt by an ofiicer to
inflict a severe punishment upon a convicted villain,
¦who obstinately and triumphantly resisted all his
power. Loose your criminal from the post, and in
,an hour after all this has happened, you shall find

AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 61
him celebrating his victory in drunken revelry with
his licentious companions.
But, sir, it does by no means follow that there is
no punishment which can have the wished for effect.
Yes, there is a punishment by which he may be
made to suffer: meet him, oppose him in the very
principle which pronipts and urges him to the perpe
tration of crimes. A love of abandoned company,
and an aversion to the labor and confinement of
honest pursuits, have impelled him to seek a live
lihood in the violation of your laws. Let him know,
then, that, in the pursuit of his favorite enjoyments,
the moment he passes the prescribed limits of the
law, he shall forfeit the very boon he seeks. Show
him that he must exchange his wild and erratic inde
pendence for the chains and bolts of a prison ; that
his favorite companions must be forsaken for the deep
solitude and tenfold horrors of a dungeon. Here he
shall be deprived of the wild and spirit-stirring plea
sures which enabled him to avoid reflection upon his
crime. If it be possible, by human agency, to reform,
and punish a being such as I have described, they
are to be expected under circumstances like these ;-
cut off from all his once-loved pursuits, and deprived'
of all external objects of reflection, he is compelled.
to commune with his own mind. The sounding
scourge and hissing snakes of his offended conscience^
drive him, in desperation, to that open sepulcher—
the naked human heart. Then, and then only;- dbes
the conscious mind become its own awful world"; and'
the hardened wretch that a short time befora bid

62 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
defiance to all the terrors of penal justice, now, alone
and subdued, cowers and sinks under the weight of
her retributive vengeance,
" In pangs ttat longest rack and latest kill."
Surely, if there be punishment against which our
nature can oppose no adequate force ; if there be
terrors which can arrest the hand of wickedness in
the half executed crime, they are to be found in the
darkness and loneliness of solitary confinement — ^in
the dungeons of a jail.
Now, sir, let us turn, for a moment, to another and
very different character, but one who may often be
the subject of that punishment now proposed for our
adoption. He shall be one who has acted not from a
fixed and resolute disregard of moral obligation or
social duty, but rather from a thoughtless impetuosity
of disposition, which frequently hurries men, other
wise virtuous and honorable, to the commission of
crime. He may be one who has acted under a strong
and imperious necessity, I will suppose him to be a
young man. He may be the pride and only hope of
his humble but respectable parents ; but, in an un
guarded moment, or under the influence of strong
and uncontrollable necessity, he has done a deed
which brings him to the whipping-post Need I pur
sue this description further ? Need I ask the vener
able gentlemen to place themselves in the situation
of such a father? Is there a man upon this floor
who could see the back of such a stripling bared to
the inhuman scourge? No, there is not one; the

AGAINST CORPORA!. PUNISHMENT. 63
mover of this bill could not, its best friends could
not, endure such a sight. Where, then, is the influ
ence of an example which none can behold — ^which
no father would permit his children to see ; or what
•kind of law, I ask, is this which, in its operation,
violates and outrages the first, the original, the best,
the fairest attributes of our natures? If the sherift'
should do his duty on such an occasion, he would
bring down upon him the execration of all who knew
him; if he fails in his duty, the law is a mockery
and its administration a farce.
"What effect will this have upon the offender him
self? Will he be reformed by your punishment?
No, no one will pretend it; because it is a kind of
punishment calculated to stimulate the angry and
vindictive feelings of the soul, and not to subdue the
depravity of the heart. Loose your victim, and again
driven out from among men, he goes forth a desperado,
a wretch, prepared "to war with men and forfeit
heaven." There are many other views which might be taken
of this subject, against the policy of the law, but I
fear I shall weary the patience of the committee.
There are, however, some further objections to this
bill, which, in justice to my own feelings, I can not
omit. All writers on the subject of criminal law
agree, and the common sense of every man will con
firm the opinion, that the certainty of punishment
should be regarded more than any other considera
tion, in the enactment of a criminal code. Will this
o-rand primary object be obtained by the passage of

64 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
this bill? I answer, it will not. If you tell me this
punishment is more severe than fine and imprison
ment, and therefore preferable, I answer that, in pro
portion as you increase the severity of J|ie punish
ment, so in proportion do you diminish the certainty
of its infliction; courts will be more scrupulous and
technical in motions to arrest judgments and to quash
indictments ; juries will not convict for an offense so
readily, where the punishment is cruel, as when it is
more lenient. Here, again, I must appeal to the ex
perience of every gentleman who has been at all
conversant with the courts of justice, fpr the truth of
this remark. But, sir, there is a better reason than
this. I stUl believe that public opinion revolts at
the idea of this species of punishment, and I will
defy any man, however strong and cogent the proof
may be, to produce a conviction, in five cases in ten,
where the punishment consequent upon the verdict is
odious and detestable to the jury. Your offenders
would here see the opinion and sympathies of the whole
community perpetually engaged in their behalf, and
acquittals would take place where gniilt was manifest.
Thus, sir, is the first great consideration (a moral
certainty that punishment must and will succeed
crime) lost sight of in the bill. This is of the very
last importance — crime and punishment, in the ad
ministration of justice, should be linked together like
cause and effect. But they are disjoined far as the
poles from each other, and a conviction, with many
juries, would be almost beyond the limits of proba
bility.

AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 65
But I am told there is a saving alternative for
these cases ; the court may whip, fine, or imprison,
or all, if they choose. I answer, juries will not trust
their verdict to the mercy of the court. They Avill
argue thus: "We may, by finding the defendant
guilty, be the means of carrying him to the whip
ping-post; we can not tell what the court may do, we
will rather acquit than risk the consequences which
may follow a conviction."
This alternative, which the gentlemen resort to as
the salvation of the bill, is to my mind one of its
most objectionable features. It is a fact well-known,
that some counties in the State will never, under any
circumstances, resort to the whipping-post, while they
have any alternative left; it is equally certain that
in some circuits you would seldom hear of fine and
imprisonment, and all would be whipped. In this
way we should produce this strange phenomenon in
jurisprudence; a general law made for the whole State
alike, operating in one part of the State in a way and
with tendencies widely different from its oj)eration in
another part of the same State. If it be true as
contended, that the whipping-post is to moralize, re
form, and christianize wherever it goes ; and if it be
true that the present system encourages vice, frauds,
and pampers crimes, what kind of population shall
we have in Ohio? Where whipping prevails, we
shall behold a pious race, strictly observant of all the
mandates of the decalogue, and full of the wisdom
that "exalteth a nation." But where fine and im
prisonment are the punishment, vice, unbridled and
5

66 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COEWIN.
lawless, must riot upon the peace of the country,
cursed with all the crimes that are a "reproach to
any people." There will be, in the circuit protected
by the whipping-post, none but Israelites without
guile; pass but an ideal boundary, and in the adjoin
ing district now you have but devils incarnate. This
motley and discordant population must be the result
of the operation of this law, if there be that wonder
ful difference in the modes of punishment which is
contended by the friends of the bill.
Permit me, sir, to ask one question more, and I have
done. Under the administration of the old law, have
we not experienced all the good order and social
peace that can be expected in the best regulated so
ciety; has there (since the adoption of that system,
which is, I believe, about six years) been an increase
of crime beyond the increase of population? There
has not. Who can ®r will deny this. But, sir, if
there had been, it might be accounted for upon prin
ciples different from those which grow out of an in-
sufiicient law upon the subject of crimes.
Within the time I have named, a regular army
has been disbanded and let loose among us; all that
was vicious, depraved, and licentious in that army,
has been poured in upon us, and mingled its corrup
tions with the elements of society. Yet with all this
to contend with, your old law has struggled through
the conflict, faithful, efficient, and adequate to the
purposes of its creation. Do not suppose that I am
detracting from the merits of the brave men who
sustained their country's honor, glorious and untar-

AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 67
nished, throughout the struggle to which I have
alluded. No, sir ; I believe they would have carried
your eagle in triumph round the globe, had they
been commanded to do so ; yet, sir, the melancholy
truth is still the same. The army is not a school
of morality ; it is not a place where the peaceful vir
tues are taught or practiced. Let it not be forgotten,
that this very kind of punishment has been disused
and forbidden in the armies of a Bonaparte.
Yet this fugitive from the dominions of a military
despotism is to be naturalized and made a citizen of
Ohio. I will present one case for the consideration of
the military gentlemen of the house. Suppose an
old soldier, with whom you had fought and bled,
should become the subject of this punishment; un
used to the arts and avocations of peace, he has
stolen a trifle, and is brought to the post. While
stripping for the sacrifice, should you behold upon
his rough and manly bosom the scars which speak
of his bloody and heroic deeds at Orleans, at Chip
pewa, or at the Thames — ^is there an American arm
that could be raised against him ? If there be such
a wretch, he must have a heart harder than adamant,
lower than perdition, blacker than despair. Sir, I
must sit down. I ought, perhaps, to pursue the sub
ject further, but I must give place to those whose
years entitle them to a greater share of the indul--
gence of this house.

MASONIC ORATION.
[Delivered at Hamilton, Ohio, June 24, 1826.]

Fellow-citizens and Brethren:
The pleasure which I should feel in having been
distinguished by your confidence on this interesting
occasion, is much impaired by the humiliating con
viction that I shall not do justice to your humblest
expectations. The particular cause of this painful
embarrassment must be obvious to that portion of
this numerous assembly, which belongs to the Ma
sonic family. The anniversary which has called us
together has been celebrated by us, for many cen
turies past, with sacred and undisturbed punctuality.
You will therefore at once perceive, that all the
topics which are naturally suggested by the occasion
have been essayed and exhausted by the highest
order of mind which a succession of ages could pro
duce. The path prescribed to me, is not only strewed
with the fairest flowers of speech, but it is cultivated
and adorned on every side, with the rich creations of
the most exalted intelligence. Thus situated, the con
spicuous position to which I have been called by the
kind partiality of my brethren, would be appalling
indeed, were I in the presence of an audience unac
quainted with my pursuits in life, and my humble

MASONIC ORATION. 69
pretensions in public declamatory address. To these
considerations I feel it due myself to add, that my
pi'ofessional engagements, for several months past,
liaA'e been such as to preclude even the possibility of
presenting you with any production, however brief,
characterized by study and preparation. These
remarks are not submitted from any servile fear of
your criticism, for I have not the vanity to believe
that the brief and undigested observations I shall
make will be deemed of sufficient importance to ren
der them the subject of either censure or applause;
but they are offered in justice to the fraternity whose
humble organ I am, that you may not form a hasty ¦
judgment of Freemasonry from what you may chance
to hear from me under circumstances so unfavorable
to a fair development of her principles. There are
doubtless many present who would be gratified to
know the particular reasons which induce us to
adhere with such rigid exactitude, to the celebration
of this day as a Masonic festival. This natural curi
osity may be gratified by a few obvious considera
tions. We have assembled in accordance with a very
ancient usage among Masons, to offer our public
homage to the memory of St. John the Baptist. The
propriety of perpetuating the memory of striking-
events and illustrious men by anniversary celebra
tions, can be inferred from the practice of every
nation in every age of the world. In the early stages
of human association other means were employed
to insure this noble and beneficent purpose. A

70 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
pyramid of stone, a misshapen tomb, with traditional
narratives transmitted by hereditary piety from age
to age, served to inform the unlettered savage of the
gratitude he owed to the hero of his tribe, or the law
giver of his nation, whose memory otherwise, the
ever-rolling current of years had overwhelmed in
oblivion. The Romans wisely preserved in conse
crated temples, lasting memorials of the founder of
their empire, and the enlightened Greeks, availing
themselves of the art of sculpture, perpetuated ih
marble the sages and heroes of their race. Thus did
the early benefactors of nations live for centuries
beyond their natural existence, and continue to make
salutary impressions upon succeeding times. Modern
anniversaries, sacred to the memory of those whose
virtues have created eras in the history of man, have
this end in view, and subserve in a higher degree the
same valuable design.
For these reasons, as often as the wheels of time
roll on the nativity of John the Baptist, as Masons
we are taught to separate our thoughts from the
cares that waylay all our paths through this world,
and concentrate our reflections upon the exalted
qualities which characterized this extraordinary man.
He, our traditions inform us, was an active and firm
adherent to the grand tenets of Masonry, and our
Masonic injunctions require us to revere him in the
double character of an inspired servant of the most
high God, and a devoted supporter and patron of our
ancient institution. By this custom^consecrated by
time, approved by reason, and sanctioned by the

MASONIC ORATION. ¦ 71
holiest aspirations of the heart — we hope to superin
duce in our lives and conduct a closer approximation
to the virtues which marked the character of our
patron saint, in whose life we are taught to believe
the pristine beauties of brotherly love, relief, and
truth shone forth in efiulgence unfading, without a
cloud to shadow^ their radiance from an admiring
world. The most careless observer will see, at a
glance, the striking difference between this and almost
every other public festival known to the present age.
We do not assemble to immortalize the achievements
of a conquering general, or to rejoice at a fortunate
victory over the contending foe. We meet to com
memorate the reign of peace, and cherish those re
tiring virtues of the heart that shun the glare of
public show, and extend to the afilicted and obscure
their unseen beneficence. Hence, in our public exhi
bitions, there is nothing to excite the strong emotions
of the soul. The wild tornado that levels whole
cities with the ground, and whelms your navies in
the devouring seas, impresses the mind with a horror
that time can seldom efface ; while the common air
that keeps the mysterious machine of life in motion,
and is everywhere diffusing health abroad, scarcely
excites a passing thought. The lofty mountain, whose
lone summit is robed in volcanic flame, arrests the
imagination with an intensity that no object, however
pleasing, can divert; while the extended plain, whose
humble shrubs and flowers and fruits bring abun
dance and happiness to all around, is seen without
emotion, and passed by without a single reflection.

72 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
But in a much more important particular is this
anniversary distinguished from those of a political or
purely national character. If we assemble to com
memorate the achievements of a general, who by
slaughter and conquest has contributed to national
renown, the cannon's roar, and the victor's trophy
necessarily associate with them the memory of em
battled fields and conflicting hosts. Is the banner
of victory displayed, imagination sees in its train
"famine, sword, and fire crouch for employment."
Do we gaze with rapture upon the laurel that en
circles the conqueror's brow, the noble ecstacy is
repressed when fancy beholds it crimsoned oyer with
the blood of the slain, and grasping with its tendrils
the cypress that weeps over the vanquished, perhaps
the generous foe. Even on our own national festival,
whose annual return reminds us of our happy deliv
erance from a foreign yoke, the angry remembrance
of a hated and vindictive foe mingles in our most
. fervid gratitude to heaven, and stains it with the
black hue of revenge. Far different are the feelings
which the recollections of this day inspire. The
emblems displayed by us speak only of the peaceful
triumphs of virtue over vice, and indicate a charity
and good- will as wide in their desires and action as
the globe itseli Delineated on the clothing we wear,
is the temple of Masonry. Behold its ample diihen-
sions ! Its indestructible foundations extend from
north to south, and sweep from the farthest east to
the remotest west. It tells you that her expanded
portals are open to receive the just and upright in

MASONIC ORATION. 73
heart of e^'el¦3" tongue and clime ; that the arms of
jNIasonic charity inclose within their fostering em
brace the entire famil}- of man. Turn your eye to
that star — -it is emblematical of that which guided
the wise men of the east to the birth-place of the
Redeemer. Contemplate, for a moment, those par
allel lines — one of these represents St. John the
Baptist, the harbinger of the long-promised Messiah.
How richly instructive the reflections, and how
sweetly accordant to the impulses of Christian piety
are j;he emotions which these exhibitions are calcu
lated to wake up in the mind and heart; the obstrep
erous note of the battle-song is still, the shout of
A'ictory is hushed, while the soul, attuned to harmony
and peace, breaks forth in the cherub strain that
announced the advent of the Savior, "Peace on earth
and good-will toward men." Another striking char
acteristic of our symbols is the ancient date to which
they evidently refer. They remind us that Masonry
existed in times long gone by. That temple would
indeed seem to assert the origin of Masonry to be
coeval at least with Solomon, its illustrious builder.
Upon this subject it may be observed, that the
time when Masonry began to exist is a matter of
small importance, when compared with its true ten
dency and design. Yet since this is a point upon
which there is much curious speculation among men,
and about which there is some contradiction and
more conjecture among those distinguished for their
knowledge of ancient history, I will, in passing, sub
mit to your consideration some facts which bear upon

74 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
this much contested point. In doing this, I shall
unavoidably notice some things which will show the
moral character of Masonry, and the use which ¦a
mysterious providence, in ancient times, has made
of our Order. History is not silent in regard to the
ancient existence of Masonry, though from the very
nature of this society, its identity could not be dis
tinctly traced along the track of time, and made
public by historical record.
It has never been denied that Masons are to be
found in almost every country which has been .^sub
jected to modern discovery. Nations who have had
no intercourse whatever with each other, differing in
language, manners and laws, have seen their subjects
meet for the first time, and recognize each other to
be members of the Masonic fraternity. In every
quarter of the globe, however, the grand features of
Masonry are found to be the same. This is true in
regard to tribes and countries where letters and the
arts are extinct, and where commerce and modern
improvement have as yet made no impression upon
the national character. This remarkable coincidence.
which, I believe, is admitted by all, remains to be
accounted for. To this end let me direct your atten
tion to the very few facts which I am at liberty here
to state. We are informed by a writer whose intel
ligence and veracity has never been questioned, that
most of the Tyrians who had been employed by Solo
mon in the erection of the temple at Jerusalem, after
the* completion of the building, returned to their
native country. We learn from the same source that

MASONIC ORATION. 75
about this time, many of the Jews who had been
engag-ed in building the temple, migrated to Phoeni
cia, a country of which Tyre was at that time the
principal city. This Jewish colony, for some cause
left unexplained by the historian, was oppressed by
its neighbors, and became weary of its possessions.
In these difficulties they flew to their friends for
relief. The Tyrians who had labored with them upon
the temple at Jerusalem, mindful of their sacred obli
gations, which seven years' mutual toil, and the inter
change of all the kindly offices which their fraternal
connection had induced, furnished their Jewish breth
ren with ships and provision. They took their depar
ture for a foreign land. If they, as workmen at the
temple, had been invested with secrets not known to
others, there can be no doubt but they preserved and
carried them wherever they went. They left Tyre,
passed the straits of Hercules and finally settled in
Spain. They bade a final adieu, not only to their
adopted country, but doubtless they bade a last fare
well to the land promised as a heritage to them and
their posterity forever. In this mournful pilgrimage,
if they possessed the secrets, there can be no doubt
but they carried with them the sacred symbols of
Masonry, and in the land of the Gentile erected the
altar and lighted up the lights of the Order. Strabo,
whose general accuracy is surpassed by no author of
his time, informs us that about one hundred and
ninety years after the Trojan war, which would be
about fifteen years after the completion of the temple,
a colony of Jews from Palestine made a permanent

76 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COEWIN.
settlement on the western coast of Africa. From
these three points we follow the march of Masonry
throughout the world. In all the countries settled
Ijy emigTation from these, or connected with them by
alliance and commerce. Masonry is found, her signs
the same, her mystic word the same in all. The
most rational conclusion from these premises would
seem to be this, that Masonry had its origin from
some common source far back in the annals of the
world ; and from the ceremonies and emblems of the
Order, that source could be no other than Solomon,
the king of Israel. It is also clear that Masonry
began in the erection of the temple at Jerusalem,
that temple designed to preserve the unadulterated
worship of the only living and true God. These
remarks can only apply to the six first degrees of
Masonry. Let us ascend to the seventh, and see if
there be nothing in the "Royal Arch" to show that
this last had its origin with those great and good
men who built the second temple upon Mount Mo-
riah. There are a variety of facts derived from
sacred history all tending to ,show that from the
death of Solomon to the completion of the second'
temple, the Pentateuch or five books of Moses were
very rare, and that at one time, at least, they were
believed to be entirely lost. Josiah, a prince remark
able in history for having restored the true worship
of God at Jerusalem, reigned in Judea about fifty
years before the Babylonish captivity. During his
reign it is stated as a remarkable fact, ^'¦that the book
of the lato was found hy Hilkiah the Priest in the hmse

MASONIC ORATION. 77
of the Lord.'''' That this was the only copy then
known to be extant, is rendered certain from the joy
expressed by the King at the event. We are told
that when it was read to the good King, "he rent his
garments," such were his transports in knowing that
the sacred legacy of Moses was still in possession of
his divided and afilicted people. From this time
until the days of Ezra, a period of about one hundred
and seventy years, we hear nothing in sacred history
of the books of the law. The ark, it is well known,
with the law and the covenant, always remained in
the temple. As these were objects of sacred regard
and religious veneration with the Jews, so, doubtless,
they would have been most valued by Nebuchad
nezzar, had they fallen into his hands when Jerusa
lem was sacked and the temple destroyed. Had
they been captured by him and carried with the con
secrated vessels to Babylon, and there preserved, so
important a fact could not have been overlooked by
the sacred historian. But, from the silence of his
tory, all doubtless supposed the law and the testi
mony to be forever lost; such, however, was not the
design of Heaven. Where then do we next hear
(after a silence of one hundred and seventy years) of
this sacred deposit.
The learned and proverbially accurate Dr. Prideaux
assures us, that after the second temple was finished,
there existed an association of men at Jerusalem, who
had certain secrets unknown to the rest of the world ;
that Ezra was the chief of this society, and that he
was with his brethren many years engaged in tran-

78 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COEWIN.
scribing the books of the law. Another historian,
speaking of the same society, tells us that the Hebrew
name by which they were known, signifies tradition.
These facts would seem to establish two important
particulars ; first, that there was then extant but one
copy of the book of the law, it being an object of
such great importance to increase the number; and
secondly, that Ezra and his brethren who were
engaged in this sacred duty, having secrets unknown
to the world, and a name corresponding with a grand
feature of Masonry, "Tradition," were Royal Arch
Masons and practiced the rites of the "sublime
degree." From these facts it would appear, that
Masonry, reviled by ignorance, and persecuted by
prejudice, was at this time the humble means em
ployed by divine providence to preserve the only
revelation as yet received from God.
The sacred temple had stood for four hundred
years, the only altar not contaminated with idola
trous sacrifice. There within the "Holy of Holies"
the law and testimony in the heaven-appointed
custody of the Levite had safely reposed: but the
conquering Chaldean came, Jerusalem is laid waste,
the lofty columns,' the porticoes and brazen pillars of
the temple yield to the devouring flames,'' and sink in
undistinguished ruin; the consecrated vessels are
borne away in triumph, and the house of Israel is
carried captive to Babylon. The law and the testi
mony are heard of no more, the feast and the
sacrifice, the priest and the altar, are alike forbidden
and hateful to the heathen oppressor; the captive

MASONIC OEATION. 79
Jew hung his harp upon the willows and wept by
the streams of Babylon. When they believed the
ark and the covenant between God and his chosen
people were forever lost, no wonder they mourned
for the desolation of the city of David and exclaimed:
"When I forget thee, oh Jerusalem, may my right
hand forget her cunning!" After his long captivity,
when he again returned to the land of his fathers,
how did the soul of the pious Jew glow with gratitude
to those, who had preserved the law and the testi
mony from the devastation of war, and the ruin of
time, and again deposited the sacred book in the
house of the Lord. When we take into considera
tion only the few meager facts, thus slightly sketched,
we should suppose the pious Christian would pause
before he denounces this unoffending Order, to which
the best men have adhered for many ages past;
surely the polite scholar, and the learned antiquarian,
should hesitate before they join a censorious and ill-
judging world in the assertion, that Masonry is the
offspring of a barbarous age, that it is calculated for
no great attainment, and has subserved no valuable
design. If the ancient history of our Order is illustrious for
having participated in great events, it will be found
that its career in modern times is not less so, for
having furnished a remedy for evils which could
find no redress in any other of the institutions of
man. A very brief retrospect of the history of our
afflicted race will show a necessity for the establish
ment of a society having a sublime and pure morality

80 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
for its ethics, and a scheme of benevolence toward
man, enforced by penalties distinct from the common
obligations of social or municipal law. The earliest
records of man are replete with the history of his
cruelties and crimes. He was indeed created upright
in the image of his God, but alas how brief is the
season of his continuance in his primitive state.
Scarcely had the first family taken its social . form,
when the blood of Abel ascended to the skies, a
melancholy witness to the apostasy of man, and a
sure presage of his future career. Hence the faithful
historian, from Adam to the deluge, and from thence
to our own times, speaks only of tribe warring with
tribe, power conflicting with power, till some warlike
butcher, more fortunate than his peers, has brought
contending communities and tribes within the grasp
of his sole domination, and compressed them into
one bloody mass, subdued and inert, upon which he
exerts his uncontrolled dominion. Religion, it is
true, held forth her persuasives to virtue, but in the
estimation of thoughtless men, her rewards were
valueless, because they were postponed beyond the
term of his mortal career. Her dreadful penalties
appalled him not, because they were to fall on him
hereafter, and he hoped by amendment to avoid their
infliction. The destinies of the world seemed to be
committed to man, and he used his power only for
the purposes of destruction. War, cruel and relent
less war, in e^ery age has deluged the peaceful earth
with the blood of its inhabitants, and imbittered it
with their tears. Government and jurisprudence, it

MASONIC OEATION, 81
is true, in modern times, have done much for suffer
ing humanity. But, so various are the characters of
men, so complex the structure of society, and so
diversified the crimes with which it is afflicted, that
the wisest statesmen have given up the task as hope
less, and submit patiently to endure evils which their
u.tmost sagacity can not prevent. Treachery in
friendship, hypocrisy and deceit, and ingratitude
that sin denounced by savage and civilized man,
must still go unpunished. In despite of all political
regulation, power will sometimes accumulate in the
hands of the few, and the weak are subjected to its
licentious sway. We still see oppression in some
shape, pursuing its victim with the eye of the eagle,
and the vulture's appetite. The philanthropist, with
all his ardent desires for the happiness of his species,
looks on in hopeless impotence. Here Masonry
interposes ; power, wealth, and all the adventitious
aids of fortune create no preference in her choice;
she receives the sufferer within her walls, and throws
the segis of her protection around him. If the purple
of majesty, as has been the case, finds its way into
the lodge, the monarch sees and confesses that his
regal diadem is of no more value than the sordid
rags of the beggar. Here all meet on the level of
perfect equality. The brow of power unbends its
haughty curve at the well-known sign, and the frown
of anger gives place to the smile of conciliation at
the "mystic word." There all are taught that stern
perseverance in upright and virtuous life, can only
give pre-eminence to one man over another. Thus
6

82 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COEWIN.
instructed and' qualified the Mason goes forth from
the lodge with new motives and added obligations to
-rectitude of life. However humble and unambitious
his fortune or name, he goes forth with confidence.
If he is "just and true," that confidence is never
deceived. The fidelity of Masonry is universal, he
shall not be forsaken. To whatever clime he
wanders it is still the same, the language of Masonry
is universal, he shall be recognized as a brother. No
matter how adverse his fate, the charity of Masonry
is universal, if worthy, he shall be relieved. Shall
I be told that these are the fanciful theories of a
creed that wastes itself in idle boast and empty
show? Was the immortal Warren, the fated martyr
of Bunker Hill, the patron of hypocritical profession!
Could the mighty soul of Washington stoop to
hypocrisy, or be delighted with idle pageantry!
Could the philosophic Franklin, who encountered the
tempest and disarmed it of its bolt, be pleased or
satisfied with boastful pretensions and ceremonious
frivolity! Surely there is no American so base, as
will not answer no. Yet Washington, Franklin, and
Warren, bore their united testimony in our favor, by
both profession and practice, while they lived.
These three undying names, while they confer
immortal renown upon the American character,
shed also a halo of glory round the altar of Masonry,
where they were often pleased as Grand Masters to
preside. These things I have thought it my duty to
say of a society of which many of your friends are
members, not as a formal defense, but that Masonry

MASONIC OEATION. 83
may be judged by what she truly is, and not by
ignorant assertion, or malicious conjecture.
Permit me now, my brethren, in a few words, to
solicit your attention to some of the prominent duties
which our principles teach, and our penalties enforce.
You have come together for the avowed purpose of
offering your public testimonial to the virtues of one
whose life, in our Masonic instruction, is constantly
held forth as a model for every Mason's imitation.
Temperance, that Masonic virtue so often neglected,
and so solemnly impressed upon us in our lectures,
was the most striking feature in the character of
John the Baptist. Seeing, with prophetic vision, the
important station he was to occupy in accomplishing
the designs of his Master, he possessed a moral
courage that raised him to an elevation of soul equal
to the task. He appeared in the world among a
people adverse in their habits to the abstinent, self-
denying life he lived. The long and well-established
reign of Polytheism brought the united religions of
Rome, and all her tributary states, to oppose the
peculiar doctrines he was commissioned to usher into
the world. Rome herself, at this period, was rapidly
marching to the full maturity of national sin. The
laurels that bloomed round the tombs of her early
heroes, were forgotten for the inhuman sports of
gladiators and frivolous public shows. Her triumphal
arches began to droop, and the stern integrity which
characterized her early days had now expired in the
sensual delights of the bath. Yet, in the midst of
these allurements to luxury, his food was locusts and

84 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
wild honey. Surrounded with obstinate bigotry, at the
peril of his life, he marched with steady and fearless
step, to the fulfillment of his masters' will, and when
the arm of power was outstretched for his destruc
tion, he boldly proclaimed the wickedness of Herod,
and foretold, in the startled ear of the tyrant, the
coming vengeance of God. Chains and imprison
ment had no terrors for him ; for integrity of heart
brought unconquerable fortitude to his aid ; and when
his work was finished, disdaining that sycophantic
spirit that might suggest a compromise with his
oppressor, with dauntless confidence he met the blow,
and like one of the Grand Masters of our Order, he
sealed his fidelity with his blood. Had I the tongue
of angels, still in this mirror you shall see more than
words could possibly portray. Yet once more, my
brethren, in the pure spirit of brotherly love, let me
solicit your attention to that temperance so conspicuous
in the character of this holy man, that it is the first
feature his biographer has sketched. No vice within
our observation has so much degraded the character
of Masonry, none has made such wide-spread ravage
in the world, as the odious sin of intemperance ; it
carries its annual thousands to an untimely grave,
and an unprepared reckoning with their final Judge.
What renders it fearful beyond most evil habits, is
the strange insensibility with which it invests its
unhappy votary. The miserable victim of confirmed
intemperance is cursed with a fatuity unassailable
by reason or admonition. He deliberately prepares
himself for the sacrifice, binds himself to the altar,

MASONIC OEATION. 85
and himself applies the fatal instrument of immo
lation. At this awful period, every vice follows in
its train, reason is bewildered, conscience is be
numbed, the heart debased, and the noblest work
of God sinks below the level of a brute. This fatal
habit is often, nay, it is usually the offspring of idle
ness and inattention to the business of our proper
Vocation, and that too frequently, in the season of
youth. Strange, unaccountable stupidity! At that
happy period when the intellectual powers are ex
panding, and the entire character beginning to
assume a permanent form — ^in that delightful season
of improvement, emulation, and hope — how many
waste the precious years without one vigorous effort
in any useful or valuable pursuit! Such take their
downward course in life, barren of knowledge or
virtuous habits, through a bleak and comfortless
region of care, decrepitude, and sorrow. Thus a
whole lifetime is often passed over, thoughtful only
of the present hour, till the brink of the yawning
gulf is seen ; but then it is too late to retreat from
the danger; and an age of careless, thoughtless inac
tivity is closed by a few hours of gloomy anxiety —
of intense, ineffable horror. This is not the fiction
of imagination ; it has been often realized and seen
among us, where last of all it should .be looked for,
within the circle of Masonry. Nothing, I repeat it,
has contributed so much to strengthen the common
prejudice against Masonry, and impair its usefulness
in the world, as the disorderly and vicious lives of

86 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
some of its members.- Wherever such are found
among us, it is our first duty to apply all the correc
tives our principles afford; to whisper wholesome
counsel into the ear; and, by every means in our
power, impress truth upon the heart.
If all these fail to revive the dying spark of
virtue — to ourselves and the world we owe the
solemn duty — they must be cast out from among
us. Such can only serve to create discord in the
temple, and impede the labors of the true and
worthy Mason. When we reflect on the many
bland and beautiful persuasives to virtue which our
ceremonies exhibit, and which our lectures unceas
ingly teach ; when we superadd to these those guards
which furnish resistance to every approach of vice, it
may fairly be assumed that none but a disposition
fatally determined to wickedness could resist theii
conjoined impressions. But if, in despite of all
endeavor, a brother continue incorrigible, "cut him
down, why cumbereth he the ground! "
When we shall have thus discharged our duty.
Masonry shall arise and put on her beautiful gar
ments ; her doors then shall be thrown wide for the
reception of the wise and faithful in heart of all
the tribes and kindred of the earth, and be closed
against the wicked, the faithless, and unworthy.
Then may we confidently expect our reward. We
shall have the gratitude of the destitute, whom we
have cheered and fed ; the prayers of the wayward,
whom we have reclaimed; the benedictions of the

MASONIC ORATION. 87
good of all the world, and the smiles of an approv
ing conscience, that
"Which nothing earthly gives or can destroy,
The soul's calm sunshine and the heart-felt joy."
There are a few present whom I recognize as wor
thy Knights, who have sat in council, and convened
in the Asylum. We should never forget this truth ;
as we ascend in the mysteries of the Order, so in pro
portion are our obligations increased and the sphere
of our action enlarged. That unbounded hospita.lity
that greets and cheers the way-worn pilgrim of this
•world with pure benevolence, unsolicited and un-
bought; that courage and constancy which tread
with untiring step the rugged road of virtue, and
subdue each rising obstacle in thefr way ; that humil
ity and patience which melt away the natural asper
ities of our imperfect nature, and endure without a
murmur the " thousand ills of life ;" that truth which
is mighty above all things, which shall flourish in
immortal green, when the heavens "shall depart
as a scroll," these are the God-like attributes of
your profession. The history of your Order though
gloomy, nevertheless presents a grand exhibition of
human nature. The sensation we feel in tracing it
to its origin, though elevated and delightful, will still
at times be tinged with melancholy reflection, ren
dered sublime, however, by the magnificence of the
objects constantly in view.
The hardy spirits who founded your Order and
lighted up the sacred asylum in Palestine, were fired

88 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
with zeal that no human effort could resist. They
had visited that land consecrated by the advent of
the Messiah. They stood upon the shores of Jordan
that had seen the descent of the Baptismal dove.
They sat down and sorrowed upon those hills of
Judea that had trembled at the miracles of a God.
They saw with bitterness of heart the pious pilgrim
spurned, robbed, murdered by the ruthless Turk.
They beheld the stupid Mussulman exert a withering
despotism over the inheritance of Jacob. They saw
the mosque and minaret tower in impious grandeur
over the tomb of Christ, and the chosen habitation of
Israel seemed to them cursed on account of the infi->
del possessor. The burning sun and the barren fig-
tree of holy writ were still there ; riven rocks and
half-open sepukhers still announced the prodigies of
the crucifixion ; but dried up rivers, scorched and
barren fields spoke to them the course of Heaven,
and there the desert stretched out its burning arms
in mute desolation, as if it had not dared to break
the dead silence, since the "Eternal uttered his
voice." It was amid these grand and gloomy scenes, that
the founders of your Order called the council, and
assembled round the triangle. Charity and hospi
tality were their objects — a charity that stooped to
the unfortunate', that sought after the miserable, that
raised the bowed down, that clo«thed and fed the
naked, fam,ishing pilgrim,, journeying under the fer
vid heat of a Syrian sun, to die at the Redeemer's
shrine. These were the original characteristics of

MASONIC ORATION. 89
Knighthood, and though the scene of action is now
changed, such are still its high and holy professions.
To this high-toned moral feeling, we are pledged by
sacred obligation to conform our practice among men
and with each other. 'T is for ourselves to determine
wdiether we shall profess principles which exalt and
sublimate the soul above the sordid selfishness of
groveling mortality, and at the same time, cling to
those vices that degrade, chill and brutalize all the
generous aspirings of the heart. Surely it will not,
can not be; honor, conscience, and truth, "mighty
above all things," forbid it.
Lastly, my brethren, of every order and degree.
If the duties of Masonry are of universal obligation,
if they admit of no exception, if they are to be per
formed by the Mason of every country, under cir
cumstances however adverse, with what alacrity
should we (who are cradled in liberty, and nursed in
the lap of peace) go on to fulfill its benignant com
mands. How enviable, this day, is the lot of the
American Mason, compared with the destiny of his
brethren in other regions of the earth ! Here the
Masonic lodge rears its humble columns in our cities,
cottages, and towns, fearless of danger from without,
or treachery within its walls. When we go abroad
on our festive days, the unseen arm of our happy
government protects us from insult or opposition.
The " Star and stripe," the consecrated banner of
freedom, is proud to wave its protecting folds over
the lambskin of Masonry. But avert your eye for a
moment from this "green and sunny spot," throw

90 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
your anxious glance over Russia, Austria, and Spain.
Where is the humble Mason in these dreary realms
to-day? Roused by the natal morning of his patron
saint, does he repair with crowds of his brethren to
the social lodge? No. With fearful step he steals
silently from the busy haunts of men, and with a
faithful few ascends the mountain-top, or retires to
the darkest recess of some sequestered vale. If the
ever-vigilant eye of oppression pursue him there, a
lingering death, "pangs that longest rack and latest
kill," must be his fate; or exiled from home, he must
seek in other lands a refuge from the grave :
"Nor wife nor children more shall he behold.
Nor friends, nor sacred home."
How often have we hailed on these happy shores,
a Russian brother from the far Borysthenes, or
from the banks of Guadalquiver, the Iberian exile,
and heard them lisp in stranger accents, the sad
story of their wrongs. From these we hear that
Masonry, emphatically peaceful and unoffending, is
proscribed by the half-civilized "Autocrat of all tho
Russias." There a jealous tyrant exerts his unceas
ing persecution, with every means which ingenuity,
sharpened by malice, can. invent, and with cruelty
limited only by absolute power. In Spain too, once
the proud land of chivalry, the same misguided pol
icy haunts every step of the Order. The stupid Fer
dinand (whose regal honors serve only to degrade
the fame of the once powerful Castilian house)
dooms our temples to the flames, and for inculcating

s

MASONIC ORATION. 91
"charity toward all mankind," the Christian Mason
dies upon the rack. Fell tyrant ! insatiate monster !
gorge thy ravening appetite with the harmless Ma
son's blood. Well hast thou waged exterminating
war upon the brethren of him whose arm hurled the
first fatal bolt at the throne of tyrants. It wa
the spfrit and example of our Washington, that
rolled the retributive fires of revolution through thy
affrighted dominions. But thy carnival shall be
brief. The Architect of worlds has circumscribed
the two Americas, and said, "here shall there be
liberty and peace." Six fair republics, wrested from
thy ruthless dominion, announce that retributive
justice is nigh thee ; the handwriting is seen upon
thy walls; the genius of desolation flaps her wing
over thy palaces of pride, and expects her prey.
Before I take leave of you, my brethren, let me
again remind you of the vast debt of gratitude you
owe to the Almighty disposer of human events, for
that you have been permitted to pass the journey of
life in this land and this age of the world. While
the cloud of despotism throws its dun and troubled
midnight over three quarters of the world, here we
repose under the tranquil bowers of peace ; while the
blended beams of improved science, rational liberty
and pure religion throw their cheerful radiance
around. May we not justly exclaim with Israel of
old, "the Lord hath brought us forth out of Egypt,
with a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm; he
hath brought us unto this place, and hath given us
this land ?" But, if we believe our Masonic instruction.

92 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
we shall not indulge the gloomy conviction that
our happy destiny shall always remain exclusive.
Masonry teaches us that man is capable of endless
improvement in knowledge, and all the arts that
adorn and glorify human existence. That progres
sion is evidently quickening its pace throughout the
world, with each revolving year. The signs of the'
times can not be misunderstood. The onward tread
of science and civil liberty can not, will not be
stayed; it is the progress of man to that state
designed and decreed by Heaven ; it is the march of
mind— what power shall withstand it ? It may pause
for awhile, in the midst of some violent shock, but
it will resume its progress with still stronger and
steadier step, till ignorance and subjection let go
their hold upon every slave, and the scepter fall
powerless from the grasp of the last tyrant upon
earth. Then shall that period arrive so long ex
pected and so ardently prayed for. It shall then no
longer be necessary to the existence of governments
to consecrate the names and vices of kings ; but
human happiness shall be the basis of all political
association, and enlightened reason insure a cheerful
acquiescence in necessary municipal rule. Then shall
the eastern Indian cease to adore the sun ; the north
ern savage no longer shall seek his deity in the
genius of darkness and storm ; the Hindoo shall for
get to bow before Juggernaut, and the Abyssinian no
more shall pour out his libation to the genius of the
Nile, but the enlightened devotions of a world shall
ascend to the true God. Then shall the "cap-stone"

MASONIC ORATION. 93
to the temple of human happiness "be brought forth
with shouting and praise."
In this great consummation, human means must
be employed ; ours, therefore, is not the part of inac
tion and sloth ; we are not to be indulged in folded
hands, and quiet sleep. However humble the effort,
still that effort must be made — duty requires it, and
her injunctions will not be disobeyed with impunity.
If but one stone be prepared by each, it will con
tribute to the building, and rest assured, the laborer
shall receive his reward. Let us then grasp the plumb
in one hand, and see that we stand erect before God
and man, while with the mystic trowel in the other, we
spread everywhere the cement of brotherly love. Then,
when we shall all be leveled by death, and tyled in the
grand lodge of eternity; when the '¦^pass-word" shall
be demanded for the last time, we may approach with
some humble confidence, and say, (in the language
of the pious sacrifices of the first-fruits,) "I have
brought away the hallowed things out of mine house
and have given them to the Levite and the stranger,
unto the fatherless and the widow, according to all the
commandments which thou hast commanded me, I
have not transgressed thy commandments, neither
have I forgotten them."

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS.
[ In the House of Eepresentatives of the United States, Friday,
April 4th, 1834. The order of the day, for the first hour, was
the consideration of the Resolution of Mr. Marsden, qf Alabama,
proposing that the public deposits should remain in the State
Banks ; but that Congress should have the selection and regu
lation of the banks in which they are to be placed. On this
subject, Mr. Corwin had the floor, and addressed the House until
the expiration of the hour. On the next Friday (the 11th), the
same question coming up as the unfinished business of the first
hour, he resumed and continued to the expiration of the hour;
and on the following morning he concluded his remarks.]
Mr. Speaker:
I feel sensibly the very awkward and embarrass
ing relations that have subsisted between speaker.^
and their audience in this House, during the last six
weeks of this important and protracted discussion.
He who has, at any time, been so fortunate as to
obtain the floor, sees that he occupies a position
which many others around him have sought with
unavailing effect. Those around him, on the other
hand, feel as if they had been deprived by another
of a right which they all possess in common with
him, while the daily threat of the majority to silence
debate, by a call of the previous question, gives just
cause to fear that the right of themselves, and those
they represent, to be heard in this House, on subjects
affecting deeply their interests, will be finally denied
them. (94)

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 95
I can not say, with the honorable gentleman from
New Jersey [Mr. Dickerson], that I have been in
structed to speak on this subject ; yet I can assure
the House that its manifest impatience of further
discussion would induce me still to observe a silence
which I have rigidly maintained for nearly three
sessions of Congress, did I not feel myself impelled
to a different course by obligations which I can no
longer disregard. ¦ My judgment does not approve,
nor do my feelings participate in, that anxiety which
has been expressed to bring this discussion to a close.
It should not be matter of surprise to any one, that
this subject has for three months engrossed the atten
tion of Congress, to the exclusion of almost every
other. Its magnitude should exclude all precipita
tion when it is approached, and admonish us to delay
and ponder well before we decide. It involves great
principles, which all must see lie deep in the founda
tions of our political organization; it ranges over a
vast field of constitutional law ; it comprehends many
of the most interesting rights of the citizen — ^rights
which, until now, have always been supposed to be
included within the unquestioned legislative powers
of Congress.
When we reflect that everything valuable to civil
liberty, all those maxims of good government which
are so happily combined in our written Constitutions,
have been purchased at the expense of blood and
revolutionary strife, or wrought out into their present
shape through long ages of trial and painful expe
rience, common prudence should suggest great delib-

96 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
oration in any attempt to destroy or re-adjust their
established order. It should not be expected that
the clearest rights of the citizen, and the most im
portant duties and powers of the legislator, are to be
discussed here with that sort of inconsiderate haste
which may be tolerated in matters of small or tem
porary concernment, but which true wisdom never
indulges when we are dealing with those great inter
ests which come to us by inheritance from the past,
which are the birthright of the present, and the best
hope of future generations.
I am sure I do not overrate the importance of this
discussion. The deep excitement felt here, in minds
habitually cool, temperate, and even phlegmatic,
proves that I do not. The excitation of the public
mind proves to you that I do not magnify its import
ance. Do we want proofs of this? Look abroad
over this wide continent. Three months ago it was
seen agitating the surface like the tremulous premo
nitions of the coming earthquake ; now it is rocking
society to its foundations. The heavings of this
fearful convulsion have torn from their accustomed
walks and natural positions, and precipitated into
one mass, in a neighboring city, forty thousand of
our citizens, each calling upon the other for counsel
and co-operation. From the populous cities on your
Atlantic frontier, where the first ripple of discontent
was seen, the wave has swollen until it burst like a
deluge over the mountains, carrying discontent and
alarm through the peaceful valleys of the gToat west,
inhabited by the most patient, temperate, and quiet

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 97
population anywhere to be found on the face of the
earth. Ominous as this excitement may appear to
some, I can not regret its existence. Though the
storm that lowers upon our hitherto unclouded
horizon be dark, I feel an assured confidence that
its thunders, when they do burst, will roll to sa^'e,
not to destroy. It gives cheering proof that the
spirit of our fathers, that "augured misgovernment
at a distance, and snuffed the approach of tyranny
in every tainted gale," is not extinguished in the
bosoms of their sons.
In the notice I shall take of the causes that have
produced such striking and interesting effects, I do
not intend to fatigue the patience of gentlemen by
any examination of the great eleihentary and con
stitutional principles which belong to this subject.
These I shall consider as settled. Others, to whom
I have listened with feelings of pride and delight
which I can not soon forget, have left upon this part
of the canvass their own bright and indelible im
pressions of reason and truth — impressions which
any touch from my unpracticed hand could not
illustrate; but, on the contrary, would most cer
tainly obscure, if not efface.
That which I propose to consider somewhat
minutely, relates to a few simple propositions of
law, arising out of the provisions of the act of 1816.
These are subjects in themselves of narrow dimen
sions, and to most minds of dry and uninteresting
character. Cold and repulsive, however, as the sub
jects may be, it is from them, and out of them, that
7

98 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
a public agent of Congress has endeavored to extract
a power so large and so pervading that its colossal
form meets and blocks up the way of Congress, in
whatever part of our allotted sphere we attempt to
move. This spectral image of despotism, let it be
remembered, rises from the tomb of the Bank of the
United States. The same scepter, with one blow of
which he levelled the bank in the dust, is at this
moment stretched out to bar the approaches of Con
gress, either to the grave of his late victim, or to the
treasury of the people, on which he has seized as his
lawful prey.,
The resolution on your table, which is the imme
diate subject of discussion, proposes a total, radical
change, or rather subversion, of our whole system of
finance. That change, it will occur to all, can not
be effected unless Congress shall give its approval to
the argument of the Secretary of the Treasury,
giving his reasons for taking the first, and, as I fear,
fatal, step in this new and untried experiment. That
argument, it is contended, furnishes a legal justifica
tion to the Secretary for proceeding, at the will and
under the direction of the President, to dismiss the
Bank of the United States from our service as an
agent to collect and disburse the revenue, and to
withhold from it that revenue which, by law, was
ordered to be deposited with the bank for safe keep
ing. After a careful, and, as I believe, unbiased
attention to all that has been urged to sustain this
proposition, I can not yield to it the assent of my
understanding.

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 99
A very cursory view of the groundwork of this
discussion will disclose the necessity, in the first
place, of a careful examination of the powers and
duties of the Secretary of the Treasury, under the
Constitution and general laws relating to that depart
ment. In settling the character, origin, and respon
sibilities of that officer, is developed that radical
difference of political faith and practice which
divides the two parties in this House, and, in my
judgment, constitutes the most striking feature of
this discussion.
On one side are arrayed the friends of " executive
power." They contend that your Secretary of the
Treasury is the mere offspring of executive will, and
is the agent and instrument -of the President; that
he sustains this character, not only in the general
duties assigned to him by law, but that such is his
character in the relations between him and the bank;
that the discretion vested in the Secretary, by the
sixteenth section of the bank charter, to withhold
from that institution "the public deposits, giving his
reasons to Congress for so doing," is not his discre
tion, but that he must act in obedience to. the discre
tion, will, and judgment of the President, in this as
well as every other duty assigned him by law ; that
he is responsible to the President only, and not to
Congress, for the faithful execution of duties imposed
on him by Congress. In short, they invest the
President with all the attributes and powers of a
superintending providence over all the concerns of
the Government; It is not surprising, after having

100 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
found in our Constitution such a divinity, that those
who worship at his shrine should hold all inferior
beings (as all must be so) responsible to him, and
him only, for their conduct. While they give to
the President all the powers and attributes of a
god, they withhold both from the Secretary, till
they make him much less than man. They ad
mit the law has said that the deposits of the public
moneys shall be made in the Bank of the United
States, "unless the Secretary of the Treasury shall
otherwise order and direct;" in whieh last case, he
is to lay before Congress his reasons for such order
and direction. Yet, they contend that, while it is
the duty of the Secretary to do all these things, he
can in none of them exercise his own facultii^s ; he is
to see through the President's eyes, reason through
and by the President's understanding, decide by the
President's will, and execute with the President's
power. In other words, he is to be responsible with
out discretion, to reason without judgment, decide
without will, and execute without power.
jOn the other side of this question are to be found
those who contend for the "power of the people,"
through their representatives, over the money of the
people. We maintain that, in all things pertaining
to the collection, safe-keeping, and disbursement of
their taxes, which Congress, by the Constitution, has
the exclusive power "to lay and collect," and which
can only be paid out, when collected, by aqt of
Congress, the Secretary receives his power to act
from Congress, is , the agent of Congress, and is

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 101
responsible to Congress for the faithful execution
of those powers intrusted to him by Congress.
No one who has attended to the arguments in this
House, and read the volumes of reports and executive
documents sent here to enlighten us, can deny that I
have stated truly the grounds assumed, in and out
of Congress, by the conflicting parties on this subject.
;The very statement of the case is itself the best
argument to show that gentlemen on the other side
can not maintain the position they have assumed.
Unless there be some reason hidden below the surface
as yet, of all this discussion, which has, unperceived
by all, wrought a mysterious conviction on the minds
of gentlemen, there can be no difficulty in coming to
a right ¦< decision of this question. I am fortified in
this belief by the contradictory propositions assumed
and defended in the report made to us by the com
mittee of Ways and Means.
That committee, selected by the Chair for its
financial abilities, and not by presumption, nor
always in fact, the ablest expounders of the Constitu
tion, has, with great care, presented the House with
a very elaborate view of the relative powers of
Congress, and the President, and the Secretary of the
Treasury, under the Constitution.
It sets out with the assertion that the power to
select the place of deposit, and the person or persons
who shall have the custody of the public moneys,
always did, and does now, belong to the head of the
Treasury, under the supervision and control of the
Executive. The process of the argument is this:

102 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
It is alleged (in the report alluded to) that this
power, under the old confederation, was considered
an executive power, and as such was exerted by
Congress; that, when the confederation gave place
to the Constitution, "all executive power" (this
being one) was transferred by the Constitution to
the President, where, under that instrument, it still
remains. The committee, with a degree of industry
much more commendable than the discrimination by
which it seems to have been guided, in order to show
the usage of former times to, be conformable to their
doctrines, have brought forward a variety of historical
proofs and references. Mr. Speaker, it is no necessary
part of my duty or purpose to controvert this posi
tion. However strange it may appear, the Com
mittee have either abandoned or completely refuted
it themselves, in the same report, wherfe, with so
much labor, they asserted and endeavored to establish
it. Neither am I bound to account for these candid
inconsistencies. Perhaps the committee may have
thought it a kind of incumbent duty to maintain the
dignity and honor of the Executive against the
charge of usurpation. Having, however, discharged
that duty, to which they felt themselves forced by
the Adolent impulses of the occasion, with most
amiable partiality for Constitutional truth and sound
political philosophy, they abandoned this ground, and
now assert the power of Congress, under the Consti
tution, to have been always (up to 1816,) complete
over the public moneys, and acknowledge themselves
at a loss to find any good reason why the Congress

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 103
of 1816 should then have transferred it to other
hands. I beg leave to refer gentlemen who have
not looked critically at this report, to one or two
paragraphs on the fifth page. From these it will be
seen I have quoted them truly, and given to their
language their own interpretation.
In giving construction to the sixteenth section of
the bank charter, passed by Congress in 1816, the
committee say: "The effect of the sixteenth section
of the bank charter is to take from Congress entirely
the power to control the public deposits, which that
body before possessed." Again, on the same page,
they say: "Whether the Congress acted wisely in thus
divesting themselves of all control over the places
of public deposit of the public moneys, for the long
period of twenty years, is a question which it is
unnecessary to determine." These quotations prove
(if language is any sign of ideas) that the committee
considered it undeniable truth, that, in 1816, Con
gress, by the Constitution, did possess legislative
power over this subject, and that they divested them
selves of that power by the act of 1816. In the
first pages of their report, however, they have
bestowed much labor to prove that Congress never
did possess this power; that, by the Constitution, it
was confided to the President as the head of the
Executive department, this being one of the executive
powers which, by the adoption of the Constitution,
Was, among others, transferred to that officer.
Let us pause at this point for a moment, while we
examine the consequences, I can not say absurdities,

104 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
(for that word, though one of "exceedingly good
command" in our language, is not parliamentary,)
which flow from the various positions maintained,
and most of them in turn abandoned or refuted, 'in
the committee's report. First, it is asserted that
the power over the deposits of the public moneys
by the Constitution (being an executive power)
belongs to the President, who is to exercise it through
his agent, the Secretary of the Treasury. It follows
that this power, if given to the President, could not
be ex:ercised or controlled by Cohgress, unless the
Constitution should be so changed as to give them
such control, yet, in the succeeding pages of this
same report, the committee find Congress in lawful
possession of this power, but, as they insist, taking it
away from themselves, and giving it to the Secretary
of the Treasury, in the year 1816. If the first
position be true, the second is certainly unfounded.
Again, if the committee be right in the position that
Congress in. 1816, did possess complete control over
the person who should keep, and the place where
the public moneys should be kept, and if this power
was given them by the Constitution, could Congress,
at its pleasure, change the Constitution, and transfer
that power to another? The committee seem to
think they could. When the committee speak of
CongTOSs "divesting" itself of a power held under
the Constitution, I can only understand them by
supposing they take it for granted that Congress, at
its pleasure, can, by law, transfer power from one
branch of the Federal Government to another. This.

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 105
doctrine, sir, is new to me ; nor do I believe it has,
as yet, obtained a very general credit with American
statesmen. To this family of incongruities permit me, before
I take my leave of them, to introduce a kindred
fallacy of the Secretary of the Treasury. It will be
found in what he calls his "reasons'' for withhold
ing the public moneys from the Bank of the United
States. It is this : he (the Secretary) asserts that
the act of 1816, creating the bank, is unconstitu
tional. If so, it is inoperative, and can confer no
rights upon the bank — no powers upon any one. It
leaves every subject it touches as though no law had
been attempted to be enacted. Yet the Secretary
himself, and the committee, in their report, claim
that this same act gives power to the Secretary of
the Treasury to lay his hand upon the whole revenues
of this nation, and transfer them to persons, and
deposit them in places, not authorized or designated
by law. Reason and law would tell us that if, as
the committee argue. Congress rightfully possessed
this power in 1816, and if, as the committee and
Secretary both agree, the attempt to vest it else
where resulted in passing an act unconstitutional,
and therefore void, then the power remained where
it was — that is to say, in Congress, and not in the
^Secretary or the President; and the question may
well be asked, by what law does the Secretary claim
to possess himself of this high and transcendent
power ? Mr. Speaker, when I look at this ludicrous
jumble of contradictions, and remember that they

106 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
are the joint product of the well-known, talented,
and accomplished mind of the Secretary of the Trea
sury, and the not less richly-endowed intellect of the
honorable chairman of the "Ways and Means," I
see and acknowledge, in thankfulness of heart, the
operation of one of those laws which Infinite Wisdom
has established for the government of the mind of
man. Reason is given by God to man, to guide him
with certainty in the way of truth. That way is
always straight; it is plain and bright with the
lights that ever burn around and along its borders.
The path of error and sophistry is in the wilderness.
Their course is mazy, devious, and shrouded in dark
ness. Whenever bias or passion, therefore, perverts
the understanding from the uses to which it was
ordained by him who gave it, as a penalty for its
abuse, the wisdom of the wisest becomes folly ; and,
that it may deceive no one, is involved in difficulties
and contradictions, and ends in discomfiture and
defeat. We have before us a case where this great
moral truth is most strikingly exemplified. The
Secretary of the Treasury, aided by the labors of
the committee of "Ways and Means," with great
toil and care, erects a costly, and magnificent, and
heathenish anti-republican temple. They cover its
walls all over with inscriptions of monarchical
dogmas and barbaric phrases, alien to the dialects
of democracy, and not written in the republican
" books of the law " delivered to us by our fathers.
With equal toil and pains they then construct a
monstrous Juggernaut, and engrave upon his frontlet

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 107
the magic words, "Executive Power." Him they
enshrine with all the pomp of heathen idolatry.
This done, they point to their idol, and command us
to "fall down and worship." Suddenly, however,
the scene changes. While we stand wrapped in
amazement at the vast dimensions of the structure,
the builders of it themselves, impelled by a law of
their nature, assault it with violence, and in a twink
ling all is gone. The gorgeous temple, huge divinity,
and costly shrine are leveled together in the dust.
I dismiss this topic. Its singular character has,
I find, tempted me to pursue it much further than I
had intended. I take it for granted, then, that we
have established, by the admissions of the devotees
of executive power themselves, that all power over
the money of the people belongs to the people,
through their representatives in Congress ; that it
belongs immediately to Congress, who alone have
power to "lay and collect taxes."
It follows, as a necessary consequence, that what
ever act the Secretary of the Treasury may do touch
ing those "taxes," he must do it by virtue of some
power derived from Congress. It follows, with equal
certainty, that, being the agent of Congress, he is
responsible to Congress, from whom he receives his
power, for its faithful and intelligent execution.
Let us now turn to the commission given by Con
gress to the Secretary, touching the public moneys.
It will be found in the 16th section of the bank
charter of 1816, in these words: "The deposits of
the moneys of the United States, in places in which

108 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
the said bank and branches thereof may be estab
lished, shall be made in the said bank or branches
thereof, unless the Secretary of the Treasury shall
at any time otherwise order and direct; in which
case the Secretary of the Treasury shall immediately
lay before Congress, if in session, and if not, imme
diately after the commencement of the next session,,
the reasons of such order and direction." No one
can doubt the character or object of the power here
given. It is, in its character, a trust or discretionary
power. Its objects were, first, the safety of the
public treasure ; secondly, it was intended to compel
the bank to a faithful performance of its promise, to
transmit without charge the moneys of the govern
ment to the places where they were required to be
disbursed. If the bank should fail in either of these
stipulations. Congress intended that the Secretary
should have the power to find immediately other
places of deposit, and other disbursing agents. To
enable the Secretary to discharge the delicate trust
thus reposed in him, Congress provides, in the same
law, "that the officer at the head of the Treasury
department of the United States shall be furnished,
from time to time, as often as he may require, not
exceeding once a week, with statements of the amount
of the capital stock of the said corporation, and of
the debts due to the same ; of the moneys deposited
therein ; of the notes in circulation ; and of the
specie in hand; and shall have a right to inspect
such general accounts on the books of the bank as
shall relate to the said statement: Provided, that

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 109
this shall not be construed to imply a right, of
inspecting the account of any private individual or
individuals with the bank."
The last paragraph of this act contains an answer
to every reason urged by the Secretary for removing
the deposits from the Bank of the United States. It
shows to what objects Congress designed to confine
the power given to that officer over the public funds.
All that the Secretary can know, from what the bank
is bound to disclose to him in the weekly statement
required to be ftirnished, relates to the solvency of
the bank. It was intended to furnish the Secretary
in this way, with the means of executing the power
given him, to protect the safety ofthe people's money.
It will be observed that the Secretary is, in express
words, denied the right to look into the "private
accounts of individuals." With what pretense of
plausibility can it be contended, as it has been by the
Secretary and President too, that improper accounts
between the bank and certain printers, which can
only be known by examining the "private accounts,"
form a reason or answer for the exercise of this
power? The construction contended for by those
who defend the Executive, would make the Congress
of 1816 confer, by law, large powers on their agent ;
and, in the same law, expressly deny him the power
to ascertain those facts upon which alone he would
be justified in using the power conferred. That Con
gress never intended to extend the power of the Sec
retary over the vast field of inquiry which, in the all-
grasping spirit of the executive government, he has

110 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
appropriated, is also evident, from the powers over
the bank, reserved to Congress, compared with those
given and denied to the Secretary, to which last I
have just adverted. By the 23d section ofthe char
ter, it is provided " that it shall at all times be lawful
for a committee of either House of Congress, appointed
for that purpose, to inspect the books and to examine
into the proceedings of the corporation hereby cre
ated, and to report whether the provisions of this
charter have been, by the same, violated or not." It
then goes on to provide (in the event of a report by
the committee of a violation of the charter) that a
scire facias shall issue from the circuit court of the
United states, calling on the bank to show cause, etc.
A jury of the country, sworn and impanneled to try
the cause, would then be the tribunal to which the
subject would be referred for decision. But this good
old usage of our fathers did not comport with that
scheme of compendious confiscation which had been
resoh^ed on.
We have here, on the face of the law, the duties
and powers required to be done and exercised by the
Secretary, and the subjects of inquiry which Congress
reserved to itself, and the courts and juries of the
country. But the Secretary, with this law before
him, backed or pushed forward by the President,
takes all the powers of Congress and the courts into
his own hand, and gravely tells Congress that, by the
law I have just quoted, he (whenever, in his opinion,
"the public good or convenience required it,") could
dismiss the bank as a depository of the public money,

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. Ill
and dissolve all connection of the Government with
that institution. In effect, he assumes, with a bold
ness unparalleled in any officer in a country of laws,
to exercise executive, legislative and judicial powers ;
to forfeit charters, held under the pledged faith of the
nation ; to seize upon rights guaranteed by all the
solemnities of legislative enactment, and fortified by
all the strength of legislative power.
Let us examine this modest assumption of the Sec
retary by another test. He insists that his power to
dissolve all connection with the United States Bank
is unlimited, except "by his own discretion." If,
then, in his opinion, the bank was dangerous as a
monopoly (for this is much insisted on) ; if it did not
furnish a good currency ; if State banks would be, in
his opinion, more safe or convenient depositories of
the public moneys ; if the tendencies of the institu
tion, in his or the President's opinion, would be
unfriendly to the morals of the people ; then, in either
of these cases, the Secretary of the Treasury could,
of his own proper authority, under the act of 1816, as
to all public purposes, repeal the law itself. Sir, is
this to be tolerated ? Were the men who composed
the Congress of 1816 such miserable drivelers as
this interpretation of their acts would make them ?
What object had they in view, in erecting the United
States Bank? Is any American citizen, who can
read, so ignorant as not to know them ? The Gov
ernment had lost by State banks about fourteen
hundred thousand dollars. It determined to create
a bank, as a place of safe-keeping of the people's

112 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
money, which it could examine into and control, in
order to prevent future loss. The arguments for and
against this institution were heard for three years in
this hall, prior to the final passage of the bank char
ter — its dangerous tendencies as a moneyed monop
oly ; its power over the politics of the country; the
effect it would have on currency, trade and exchange;
all were debated with zeal and ability, which would
have illustrated the history of any deliberative body
that ever yet assembled anywhere upon earth. These
various points of policy were all settled by Congress,
the only power in a representative government which
can take cognizance of such subjects. The act was
passed ; it received the President's approval ; it be
came a law, for twenty years. Now, the President
and Secretary assert that this same Congress, by a
clause in this same act, authorized the Secretary of
the Treasury to sit down and examine whether Con
gress had acted wisely or not ; whether a bank was a
dangerous engine against liberty ; whether it would
or would not be likely to exert a beneficial and whole
some influence upon trade and domestic or foreign
exchange. If, on reflection, he should be of opinion
that the public treasure could be more securely kept
and transmitted from place to place by the State
banks ; or if he, in any of these particulars, relating
to public policy, should differ with both branches of
Congress and the President, he (the Secretary) should
in that case repeal the law. Yes, sir, repeal the law.
For the whole object of the bank charter was to make
the bank created by it an agent of the Government.

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 113
To give the Secretary a power to destroy that agency,
for any reason of a moral or political character, was,
in substance, giving him a power to repeal and annul
the whole law. Courtesy forbids me the use of terms
proper to convey my ideas of such miserable incon
sistency as this. This course of argument makes the
CongToss of the United States, after years of anxious
labor, on a subject of vital interest to the nation,
throw together, in the shape of law, not a well-
ordered system of finance, reaching, as all systems
worth anything must do, forward with certain and
steady operation into the future; no, instead of this,
you make them heap together a disjointed jumble of
crude conceptions and self-evident contradictions ;
and then, in impotent despair, call upon the wisdom,
and virtue, and skill of a Secretary of the Treasury
to review their policy, and make or destroy their law
at his pleasure. And this is called republican doc
trine. This is modern democracy ! This is said to be
the way of keeping power in the hands of the people,
"the many," and denying sovereign sway to the few,
or to one.
Let us now turn to that view of the subject which
regards the various provisions of the bank charter in
the light of a contract.
I am sure it needs no argument to prove to this
House that a law which confers upon one or more
persons certain rights, and imposes on them certain
duties to be performed, on the faith of which such
persons invest their money, is, in its terms and
nature, a compact. As such, for the term of its
8

114 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
duration, all power given under it is irrevocable; as
a law, it is not capable of repeal ; as a contract, ex
cept in the mode pointed out by its provisions, it is
indissoluble. The bank charter of 1816 proposes to all who
would subscribe stock under its provisions, that they
should possess the corporate powers specified in that
act for the full term, of twenty years. The stock
holders, on their part, agree to pay to the United
States a bonus of one million and a half of dollars;
to receive and keep safe, at their own risk, the
revenues of the Government; to transmit at their
own risk, and without charge, the moneys of the
Government to any point required for disbursement.
In consideration of these arduous and responsible
duties, and the payment of the bonus, the Govern
ment agrees, on its part, that the stockholders shall
have the right to issue their notes, which shall be
received in payment of all public dues, unless Con
gress shall otherwise direct by law. The bank shall
have the benefit of the deposit of the public moneys
during the term of twenty years, unless the Secretary
of the Treasury shall otherwise order and direct, for
reasons which shall be approved (as I construe the
law ) by both branches of Congress. These are, in
substance, the mutual solemn engagements between
the Government of the United States and the stock
holders of the United States Bank. I think it has
been satisfactorily shown that the only reasons upon
which the Secretary could remove the public moneys
from the bank are, first, that they were unsafe in its

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 115
custody; or, secondly, that the bank had failed or
refused to transmit and pay them over as required
by law. It is not pretended that our revenues are
in danger of being lost by the insolvency of the
bank, nor am I aware that it has been suggested in
debate that the bank has been delinquent in its
engagements to transmit and pay them over at any
point w^here the Government has had occasion to
disburse them. The withdrawal from the bank of
the deposits has, then, been made without any cause
such as was contemplated by the charter, and, con
sequently, in violation of the contract between the
Government and the stockholders of the bank.
What is the position we occupy in the face of our
country and the world? We have pledged the faith
and honor of the nation ; upon which pledge twenty-
eight millions of money have been invested in a
bank in which we are parties. Without any reason
applicable to our contract, we have wantonly violated
one of its vital and most essential stipulations.
Fully sensible of the degrading and loathsome char
acter of the act we are considering, when viewed as
a violation of contract, the sensitive and generous
mind of the gentleman from Georgia, [Mr. Gilmer,]
as also that of his colleague, [Mr. Schley,] have
labored to rid the charter of all the attributes of a
compact. They seem to suppose it absurd to imagine
that a contract could be made binding in this in
stance, because one of the parties is a "corporation."
Many of their remarks on this part of the subject
resolve themselves into those quaint definitions of

116 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
the qualities and faculties of a corporation in the old
law books that treat of these subjects. Among other
things it is said, that a corporation has no soul. Sir,
there is black-letter authority enough for that. But
the gentleman should have done justice to the ancient
luminaries of the law, and told, further, that they
only intended to say that a corporation, as such,
could not commit a crime, and in its corporate
capacity could not be punished as a criminal. Will
gentlemen contend from this that no binding contract
can be made with any number of persons who are
thus incorporated? Does it follow that the various
individuals who compose this artificial person with
out a soul, can, in its corporate character, have no
civil rights? This course of argument would seem
to affirm that a great nation, a proud republic, could
pledge its faith to the perforhiance of certain acts to
a corporation which itself had created, and in good
faith, without tarnishing its honor, at any time,
refuse to redeem its pledge, and allege, as a justifi
cation, the ready plea, "you are a corporation — you
have no soul." Excellent jurisprudence! admirable
ethics! most amiable philosophy! What a figure
such a chapter would have made in the profound
and eloquent volumes of Hooker! what luster it
would have shed upon the morality of Paley! It
certainly never occurred to the great teachers of law
or ethics that, because a corporation could not, as
such, commit murder, nor yet itself be subject to
that crime?, therefore, it followed, from reason, irre
fragable, that it was lawful and right to rob it; that,

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 117
as it could not in its corporate character commit a
crime, and would, therefore, escape punishment in
the next world, reason, equity, and the eternal fitness
of thing-s, required that it should be visited with con
fiscation in this. Of a character closely allied to
this, in its moral tendency, is that class of arguments
which treats the contract, in the bank charter, as a
^Dromise liable to be performed or broken, according
to the fluctuating opinions of those who might hold,
for the time being, the political power necessary to
its faithful execution. Is this the light in which
modern morality and law have taught us to consider
national obligations and national honor? Does a
change of power from one political party to those of
another political faith absolve the latter from all
obligations contracted by the former? Sir, within
the last four years, the long-exiled Bourbon has paid
us for spoliations committed on our commerce by
revolutionary France. The present King of Naples
has renumerated our citizens for injuries sustained
by them at the hands of Joachim Murat. Such, sir,
is the universal law of good faith which descends
and attaches upon all who, in the process of time,
however remote, succeed to the political power of
Government. It is this faith-keeping principle in States and in
dividuals that holds together the moral elements of
the world. It is superior to, and controls, all human
will. Its obligations are paramount to all human
control. It is a law of perpetual obligation, from
which neither States nor individuals can absolve

118 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
themselves ; it is felt in the hearts of men ; it does
not derive its origin from society; it is the parent
and origin of all social existence ; it is the principle
of the honest man, the honor of the gentleman, the
chivalry of the brave man, the piety of the good
man, the glory of a nation.
Mr. Speaker, if this act ofthe Secretary is in itself
wrong, being founded in palpable injustice toward
the bank, it is not less condemnable as being un
wise and inexpedient as a measure of public policy.
Though I by no means admit that what the Sec
retary calls "his reasons" are, in a single instance,
such as to form even an apology for his conduct,
yet it is only respectful toward him to bestow a
passing notice upon some of them. He sets out with
the declaration that the people of the United States
had declared that the charter of the present bank
should not be renewed. This is put forward as the
basis upon which he felt himself compelled to act.
In a matter affecting, in the tenderest point, the
interest and business and property of a nation, we
should expect, from ordinary' prudence, great cer
tainty in ascertaining facts, necessary to be known,
before consequences so momentous were encountered.
The evidence of the existence of such facts should
not be conjectural or equivocal, but such as could
leave no doubt — such- as would extort conviction
from the mind. What, then, was this proof, think
you, of a decision by the people that the bank should
cease to exist? It was this: General Jackson was
re-elected to the presidency in November, 1832, and

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 119
he was not a friend of the bank ! Here is the direct,
positive, overwhelming evidence of the sense of a
nation, as the Secretary supposes, on a simple iso
lated question concerning the renewal of a charter.
What a compliment to the President! He is, by
this view of the election, represented as being chosen
to preside over the republic, not for his profound
knowledge of civil polity, in all its complex and
multiform ramifioations ; not for his acquaintance
with our diplomatic history; not for his large and
comprehensive views of the rising and future des
tinies of this flourishing republic; not for his great
renown in arts or arms : no, none of these. He was,
according to the view of it, clothed with the highest
honor mortal man can confer, simply and only
because he did not like a certain corporation in
the city of Philadelphia, of which one Nicholas
Biddle was the president. Sir, I can find a hundred
men at work on the canal about this city, before
sunset, that have the same qualification for the high
office of chief magistrate of the republic, if oppo
sition to a banking corporation is to be the sole and
exclusive test of merit. The people of this country
will no longer be fit to be trusted with the election
of their President, when they make that election
turn upon a single supposed opinion of their candi
date touching one ohly of the great variety of sub
jects upon which that officer is obliged to act. For
the reputation of the President, for the character of
my countrymen, I trust this opinion expressed by
the Secretary, and in another document asserted by

120 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
the President himself, wdll be repudiated by this
House. I know it will be rejected with indignation
by the enlightened freemen of the country as a re
flection upon their intelligence.
But, sir, I deny that the President ever expressed
to the people an unqualified declaration against the
renewal of the charter of the United States Bank.
I know that he refused his approval to the bill for
that purpose passed in 1832. ; but do we not all know
that, among other things, in his message to Congress
on that subject, the President distinctly asserts the
power of Congress to create a bank, and plainly
intimates his willingness to aid them in doing so.
Let his own language speak for him : " That a Bank
of the United States, competent to all the duties
which may be required by the government, might
be so organized as not to infringe on our own dele
gated powers, or the reserved rights of the States,
I do not entertain a doubt. Had the Executive been
called upon to furnish the project of such an institu
tion, the duty would have been cheerfully performed.
In the absence of sueh a call, it is obviously proper
that he should confine himself to pointing out those
prominent features in the act presented, which, in
his opinion, make it incompatible with the Constitu
tion and sound policy." Here we have a distinct
annunciation, by the President, that a bank might
be created which would answer all public purposes ;
of this, he says, he "does not entertain a doubt,"
and that, if called upon, he would cheerfully furnish
the project of such an institution. ThiSj sir, in that

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 121
portion of the country within the range of my imme
diate observation, was seized upon by the President's
friends, at his last election, to show that he would yet
furnish to the country a bank. He, and he alone, it
"\voidd seem, had made the discovery of some project
concerning currency and treasury agency, which the
wisdom of the wisest, for the last fifty years, had
sought for in vain. The country has patiently waited
the redemption of this pledge for two years. Still
some of his friends cry, "Patience, it will yet be
brought forth." Great mystery is affected, and no
one ventures to say precisely what it will resemble ;
yet still it will be, it is said, when it does come, just
what all desire. Deep in the recesses of executive
wisdom, they tell us, this grand secret is hidden.
That which escaped the anxious search of Wash
ington, Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, and all the
Secretaries of the Treasury, for forty years, had
been discovered by the present chief magistrate, and
surely it would not be withhold from the world. It
was suddenly to spring from the pregnant head of
the Executive, like another Minerva from the head
of Jove — ^the impersonation of wisdom armed from
head to foot, covered all over with the panoply of
the Constitution, graced with all the amiable facilities
of bank credit and sound currency, and endowed, in
an especial manner, with the energies and security
of a proper treasury agent. This, sir, is what was
decided upon by the people in the election of the
President ; this was what they were promised ; they
relied on that promise. Sir, it had that quality

122 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
which always commends itself to our credence; to
say the least of it, it was modest!
Two years have elapsed, and the expecting world
still waits in hope of the grand development.
Whether we are to die "without the sight," is
among those future events which the curtain of
time (perhaps fortunately for us) still conceals from
mortal scrutiny. I take it for granted, that the
rickety, misshapen imp, lately born of a forbidden
concubinage between executive assumption and State
bank prostitution, which we now see mewling and
puking in the nursing arms of the committee of
Ways and Means, is not to be palmed upon us for
that '¦'¦ cara Deum sobolesf that '¦'¦magnum Joois incre-
mentum^'' which the world has so long been promised.
Mr. Speaker, let us examine some other of our
recollections of subjects agitated, and, by presump
tion, supposed to have been decided by the people in
the election of President. Prior to the election of
1829, nothing, touching the opinions of the candi
dates, formed a moi« decisive test, in the Western
States, than the "tariff and internal improvement." So
anxious were the people of that section of the country
to be well informed on this subject, that the Legis
lature of Indiana authorized their Governor to open
a correspondence with General Jackson, then a can
didate, in order to have record proof of his principles
touching the measures to which I have referred.
What followed ? In a reply to the Governor, a letter
addressed to a gentleman in the South, and votes
given in the other branch of Congress, were referred

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 123
to ; but nothing explicit beyond these could be
learned. This, however, was received by the good..
natured people of Indiana as full proof of the Gen
eral's friendship to a protective system of duties, and
liberal expenditure of public money upon roads and
canals. Now, sir, if we can trust at all the news
papers of that day, we know that this same letter
and these Senatorial votes were referred to in the
South as furnishing very satisfactory evidence of the
same gentleman's hostility to both tariff and internal
improvement. With these examples of the dubious character of
any evidence of public will, derived from the agita
tion of any subject in elections, we should have
expected the highly-cultivated legal mind of the Sec
retary to hesitate in receiving that sort of proof as
satisfactory, in any manner involving deeply the
public interest. Our astonishment increases when
we hear the President himself, with all the facts to
which I have adverted fresh in his memory, make
the declaration that his election, in 1832, is to be
received as a decision of the people that the bank is
not to be re-chartered. Another reason, as it is called,
much insisted on, is equally without foundation in
fact. It is amusing, if not vexatious, to observe the
freedom with which both the Secretary and the com
mittee of Ways and Means draw upon the credulity
of Congress and the people. They propose to destroy
the United States Bank, and employ as treasury
agents some hundreds of State banks throughout the
Union, for the purpose — (mark the object in view !)

124 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
for the purpose of "bringing back the currency where
the sages who formed the Constitution found and left
it." Where did the much-abused and misrepresented
sages who formed the Constitution find the currency ?
The mists of antiquity have not yet settled down
upon the period referred to so heavily as to obscure
from our vision the men and the deeds of that day..
They fownd the currency made up of "continental
money" and "bills of credit," issued by the several
States of the then confederacy. Is this, then, the
kind of currency which the patriots and philan
thropists of the present day intend to give us?
Where, again I ask, did the sages who formed the
Constitution leave the currency ? Let us look some
what minutely into this portion of our history. I
shall be willing to go with gentlemen in any measure
which will give us just such a currency as the sages
who formed the Constitution left us. The convention
that formed the Constitution was composed of thirty-
nine members, including General Washington, its
presiding officer. Of the thirty-eight members who
signed the Constitution in 1787, sixteen were mem
bers of Congress under the Constitution, in the year
1791, when the first United States Bank was char
tered; twelve of these sixteen voted _/or that bank,
and four against it. Among those who voted against
it was Mr. Madison, who, afterward, in 1816, yielded
his objections, and approved the charter of the
present bank. General Washington, in 1791, was
President of the United States, and approved the
establishment of the bank. General Hamilton was

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 125
then Secretary of the Treasury, and recommended it.
Here, then, we have the recorded opinions of eigh
teen of the thirty-nine who signed the Constitution ;
fifteen of these were in favor of the Bank of the
United States, and three against it. But, sir, this is
not all. We are informed by those still living, who
knew well the opinions of those other sages who
formed the Constitution, who were not in the Con
gress of 1791, that seventeen of them were in faA'or
of the Bank of the United States, as then established.
The opinions of those who formed the Constitution, as
to currency, would then stand thus : thirty-two in
favor of a Bank of the United States, and seven
against it. It was a currency, regulated, controlled
and created by the Bank of the United States, which
the sages who formed the Constitution "left us."
From the year 1791 to the present hour, more than
forty years, excepting four years of derangement, dis
aster and ruin, (from 1811 to 1816, when we had no
United States Bank) we have had that currency ; and
now we are told, with apparent candor, too, that by
abolishing the Bank of the United States, and giving
to one himdred State banks twenty millions of public
money, annually, to issue bank-notes upon, we shall
bring back such a currency as the sages of 1791 gave
us ; that we shall, in this way, restore the currency
to the condition in which the immortal authors of the
Constitution left it. I have neither time nor temper
to animadvert further upon this attempt to bolster
up the miserable schemes and shifts of this day, dig
nified with the name of plans, by authorities drawn

126 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
from the earlier portion of our constitutional history.
It can only succeed by mistaking the authority, or
by a gross misunderstanding of historical facts.
When we shall have broken up the present system
of things, what does the Secretary, what do the com
mittee, propose to give us in its stead? Shall we
have a better circulating medium? They propose
to give us, instead of United States Bank bills, the
notes of State banks. More than four hundred of
these now exist in the different States. Their notes
are selling at the brokers' offices, in different parts
of the Union, at a discount varying from two to ten
pei- cent., at this moment. Two years ago, when war
was declared against the present Bank of the United
States, we were told that all banks were to be put
down. They were all then monopolies, dangerous to
liberty; and the destruction of paper currency and
the restoration of coin were then begun. This was
then the confident assertion of a portion of the party
now in power. Let the history of that party, in the
Legislatures of the States, since that time, speak for
itself. In Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, what has
it done? Why, sir, in order to banish bank paper
and restore coin, they commenced a clamor for State
banks ; and in my own State have, since 1832, incor-
[)orated four millions of State bank capital! This
has been done by that very party who are to bring
back gold and silver currency by destroying banks!
The same scene has been acted, by the same class of
politicians, in all the Western States. It is now a
well-known fact, that, since the message of the Pres-

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 127
ideiit was promulgated, putting his veto on the
United States Bank charter of 1832, more than forty
millions of bank capital have been incorporated in
the different States in the Union. Such is the
progress already made toward restoring gold and
silver currency. I venture now the prediction, that,
if the United States Bank, or some similar institu
tion, be not established, you will, before the lapse of
five years, see twice the number of State banks now
in existence. Their notes will be flying everywhere,
thick as the leaves of the forest in an autumnal
hurricane, and about as valuable.
But suppose your league of Treasury banks should
succeed in establishing their credit so as to give gen
eral currency to their paper ; will not those banks, in
that way, by loans and exchanges, gain the same
power and control over the business and trade of the
country, which, you say, is now possessed by the
United States Bank— that dangerous power, for the
possession of which, you say, it must be abolished?
And what is gained by exchanging the one for the
other? What will your condition be, when your
league banks shall be able to crush, if they choose,
the trade of the country? Can you strike them out
of existence? No! over them or their charters you
have no control. The State Legislatures gave them
life, and will, at their pleasure, prolong their exis
tence. Suppose their charters expire; they are your
Treasury agents; they will then be indispensable to
your system of finance. Will they consent to expire!
Will not the stockholders in them be just as anxious

128 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
for a renewal of their charters, as the owners of stock
in the United States Bank now are for a renewal of
theirs? Yes, sir, they will, and they will be just as
little sOrupulous about the means employed to obtain
their end. This image with a hundred heads, which
you are now erecting, will be just as difficult to de
stroy, as the monster you profess so much to fear.
The impure priesthood of Mammon will clamor just
as loudly for their hundred-headed idol god, as do
those now whom you profess to regard with so much
horror. You will find, when the discovery will be
too late, -that possessing stock in a State bank does
not of itself make a Cato, nor owning the same prop
erty in the United States Bank convert a good citizen
into a Cataline.
There is another view of the dangerous connection
between the Executive Government here and the
banks of the States, which I can not pass without
notice. If your scheme ever does succeed, if it
works well in your fiscal affairs at all, it will of
course be desirable to continue it in steady operation
for a long time to come. But there will be obstacles
to this. The charters of some of your banks will
terminate. The Secretary of the Treasury will, of
course, desire to have these charters renewed by the
Legislatures of the States in which they are situated.
To effect this, the influence of the bank will be first
exerted on the Treasury department here, by offering
to do your business on very advantageous terms; the
Secretary of the Treasury, with the aid of the power,
popularity, and influence of the President for the

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 129
time being, will bear down upon your State Legisla
tures; one vote, or two, or three, may, perhaps,
decide the fate of your bank. Will not those votes
be secured? Yes, the whole patronage of the Fed
eral Government in this scheme, from time to time,
will be tempted into the Legislative halls of the
States. We have heard much of consolidation ; much
of the danger of merging the independence of the
States in the overwhelming power of the Federal
Government. If the wit of man were tasked to
invent a cunning, insidious plan, by which this ruin
might be wrought, he could not devise one more
likely to effect his diabolical purpose than that pro
posed in this treasury invention. Give the Executive
the power to confer favors on so many different com
panies of men, who also stand closely connected with
the State Governments, and you have so many
centripetal forces, drawing, by the resistless influence
of pecuniary interest, the independence of the States
into the vortex of federal control. These twenty-
four stars, that now shine with such mild and pure
luster, will be drawn from their spheres, and their
lights quenched forever in the superior blaze of one
great central sun.
If these consequences do not come upon us, it
will be because the States will not suffer themselves
to be beguiled into your Treasury snare. Judging
from what has already transpired, we may hope the
good sense and patriotism of the States in this, as in
other instances, may yet preserve this great con
federacy from the fatal effects of a mad and ruinous
9

130 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
policy. Three States have already refused to enter
into this unholy alliance. Virginia, ever watchful
of the approaches of federal usurpation, permitted
your Treasury to sojourn a few weeks with her
citizens ; but, finding you had sent a foul leprosy into
her borders, although justly renowned for her hospi
tality, ordered her people to shut their doors upon
you, and it was done. Kentucky, not less famed for
the generous confidence she extends to strangers that
come to her— Kentucky, who has a ready welcome
for every ftiend, and a grave for every foe — she, too,
tried your society for a brief space ; and, finding her
health poisoned by your pestiferous touch, drove you
back into your own territories. Pennsylvania, too,
meek, temperate, and forbearing as was the spirit of
her illustrious founder-— she who receives the com
fortless and distressed of every kindred, caste, and
clime under heaven, who cherishes all that take
refuge in the ever-expanded arms of her comprehen
sive urbanity- — good old Pennsylvania, who, like that
divine charity spoken of by the apostle, "vaunteth
not herself, is not puffed up, hopeth all things,
believeth all things;" she, too, finding ohly bank
ruptcy, poverty, and want, in your society, yielded
reluctantly to stern necessity, and pronounced the
doom of banishment upon you. Happy experiment!
profound policy ! 'what admirable contrivance in the
plan! what perfect order, harmony, and success in
its execution ! How proud is the condition of your
Treasury under the influence of this grand experi
ment! With a certificate of good character in its

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 131
hand, signed by the chief magistrate of the nation,
it is driven forth ft-om Virginia, banished from Ken
tucky, exiled from Pennsylvania. It is, at this
moment, a wandering mendicant, begging ^ vain
for a place whereon to rest the soles of its weary
feet; like the hapless son of Hagar, driven forth
from the patriarchal roof, and if report be true, his
"bread" quite gone, and his "bottle of water" well
nigh expended. If you permit him to remain much
longer upon the desert, like Isbmael, he will be
compelled to sustain a wandering and precarious
existence by rapine and plunder. He will "turn his
hand against every man," and "every honest man's
hand will be turned against him."
Is there an American bosom that is not pained,
with mingled shame and indignation, at the present
degraded condition of our country ? What ultimate
or present good is to result from what has been
done? None, no, none; but evil — only continual
disaster. What else can we expect? Perfidy in
the Government will result, as it ought, in poverty
to the people. We have not even the common
motive of the felon : we could not be said to have
acted in this instance from the love of gain. In the
mere wanton or malignant consciousness of power,
we have stained the national honor, violated national
faith ; we have taught the people to disobey the
injunctions of law, by permitting an unchecked
example of its violation by that very power whose
ordained duty it is to maintain and enforce it. Let
us not deceive ourselves. Let us not flatter each

132 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
other with the expectation that this will be a solitary
instance of Executive encroachment. No, history
teaches us other lessons. That power that can sub
vert ancient usages, break with impunity national
compacts, efface at will written laws, uproot the firm
foundations of the Constitution, that power, if not
suddenly arrested, will survive all that it destroys,
and maintain itself in absolute dominion, by those
very arts and instruments through which it required
its first momentum.
" 'T is but the same rehearsal of the past,
First freedom, and then — glory; when that fails,
Wealth, vice, corruption — barbarism at last."*
When we review the history of the last few
months, and see the strange mixture of confusion
and systematic effort, all tending' to bring upon the
people lasting injury, and are told that all this must
be borne, because "the people themselves willed it
should be so," I can not but remind the Executive
Government, and gentlemen here, of instances in
which they have disregarded that will, when it was
fully and fairly understood.
Prior to the presidential election in 1828, the
present chief magistrate, then a Senator in Congress
from Tennessee, in his letter of resignation to the
Tennessee Legislature, held the following excellent
* As if to verify this prediction, in a few days after these
remarks were made in the House, the President sent his cele
brated protest to the Senate, claiming for himself just enough
power to carry into effect "his will," be that what it may.

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 133
doctrines. Speaking of a contemplated alteration of
the Constitution, he says: "I would impose a pro-
A'ision rendering any member of Congress ineligible
to office under the General Government during the
term for which he was elected, and for two years
thereafter. But if this change in the Constitution
shall not be made, and important appointments con-
¦tinue to devolve on the Representatives in Congress,
it requires no depth of thought to be convinced that
corruption will become the order of the day, and
that, under the garb of conscientious sacrifice to
establish precedents for the public good, evils of
serious importance to the freedom and prosperity
of the republic may arise." Do any of us forget
the flame of enthusiasm which these sentiments
kindled in the ardent and confiding hearts of the
freemen of this country ? In the election of General
Jackson, they looked forward to the establishment
of all these excellent principles as cardinal maxims
in his administration. The most extravagant antici
pations of great benefits were confidently indulged.
Could such a man, with such pure principles, be
placed in the executive chair, a sun bright with
millennial glory would, it was said, dawn upon the
republic, never to go down. All grievances would
be redressed; all tears would be wiped from all eyes;
his administration, compared with all others, would be
" An era of sweet peace 'midst bloody annals ;
A green spot in the desert of past centuries."
Were these fond and fanciful hopes realized? The

134 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
election of 1828 ended in the success of the ijaan who,
by propagating those doctrines, had made himself
the idol of the people's hearts. How, sir, was this
generous confidence requited? No sooner was he
firmly seated on the throne of power, than, as if
to show his scorn for popular credulity, he boldly
marched into the Senate, and took its members
away to make his cabinet council. This House was
literall)^ emptied to fill places made vacant by
removal; not one, or two, or three, but whole
squadrons of members were marched off to be made
the subjects of reward, from foreign ministers of the
highest grade, down to petty clerkships in the execu
tive departments. Gratitude for friends and revenge
for foes ; the maxims of Sylla were, openly avowed
as the doctrines upon which executive patronage was
to be dispensed. I shall not soon forget an instance
of reward and punishment, which created, at the
time, not merely astonishment, but strong indigna
tion, in Ohio. General Harrison was a native son
of Virginia. In his nineteenth year (I believe being
then a lieutenant in the army), he was selected by
General Wayne as one of his aids, in the memorable
campaign of 1794, which terminated the war with
the Indian tribes of the north-west. At a very
early age he was chosen a delegate to Congress
from the North-western Territory, and subsequently
made Governor of the Territory of Indiana. After
the disastrous campaign of Hull, in 1812, he was
selected by the Government to command those noble
Kentucky and Ohio volunteers, who thronged in

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 135
thousands to the tented field, to redeem the sinking-
fortunes of the war. My gallant friend from Ken
tucky [Colonel Johnson] won those unfading laurels,
to which time only adds fresh verdure, fighting under
the immediate eye and command of Harrison, at the
ever-memorable battle of the Thames. At the close
of the war. General Harrison resigned his commis
sion, and, in the spirit of the example of Cincinnatus,
retired to his farm in Ohio. From thence he was
soon called by the legislature of that State to a seat
in the Senate. Such a citizen was thought by the
administration then in power a fit representative of
this government at the capital of the Colombian
republic. He had not been friendly to the election
of General Jackson. In one month, I believe, after
the inauguration of the latter, and before General
Harrison was known to have reached Bogota, his
place of destination, he was recalled, and a member
(then) of this House, a warm, active, industrious,
powerful friend of the new President appointed in
his place. Thus the active, useful friend was re
warded; the opponent punished.
After all this forgetfulness of pledges given and
public will expressed, when the President, and his
friends for him, allege that he has taken the cus
tody of the public money from a long-tried and faith
ful agent, because it is the people's will, I must be
pardoned while I doubt. Sir, if I had that faith
which could remove mountains, I should still hesi
tate to believe the sincerity of this declaration.
Mr. Speaker, no opinion, no principle is in this

136 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
country so universally well received by the people
as that which teaches public servants the duty of
redeeming, when in office, pledges given when can
didates for office. It is right, it is proper that it
should be so. It is the compact between the servant
and his employer, and should be fulfilled by the
former, at all times, with scrupulous fidelity. The
great importance of this operative principle, in a
representative government, will excuse me to the
House for calling their attention to another flagrant
instance of its violation, by one who now professes to
make it the ground and cause of. his late extraordi
nary movement upon the bank and treasury of the
United States.
When the present Executive first took his seat in
the Presidential chair, he announced to the people,
in his inaugural address, his determination to reform
a great variety of existing evils in the administration
of public affairs. Among other things, high on the
list of these reformations, was inscribed "the duty
of reforming those abuses which had brought the
patronage of the Federal Government to bear on the
freedom of elections."* The interpretation of this was
simple and well understood. It implied that officers,
holding their places under the general government,
had used their influence and employed their time in
the business of electioneering. It avowed a determi
nation to dismiss from service all such, and to make
it a rule in all future appointments that none should
* See Inr'i^'nral Address of President Jacksan, Appendix.

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 137
receive or hold office. This was applauded, and
everywhere received as the first bright gleam of that
millennial glory that had been so confidently foretold
by the friends of the President during the canvass
prior to the election of 1828.
Passing by other examples of the operation of this
reform, I refer, with unaffected pain, to one which
lately occurred in my own State. On the 8th of
January last, a convention, under the general denom
ination of the "friends ofthe present administration,"
assembled at Columbus, in the State of Ohio. Its
object was to appoint delegates to represent the
"party" in a proposed national convention, which
was to be convened in May, 1835, to nominate a suc
cessor to General Jackson. This convention of the
"friends of the present administration" was com
posed of one hundred and seventy-seven persons. Of
these, seventy-one were office-holders under the Fed
eral and State Governments. A gentleman holding
the office of district judge for the district of Ohio,
under appointment of the President, not yet con
firmed by the Senate, in his character of a "central
committee man," called a meeting (by advertisement
in a public newspaper) of the "friends of the admin
istration" in a particular county, for the purpose of
naming delegates to this convention at Columbus.
All these things are matters of public notoriety. The
convention, among other things, constituted a "cen
tral committee," with electioneering jurisdiction co-ex
tensive with the territorial limils of the State. Of this
committee, composed (according to my recollection)

138 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
of seven persons, five are officers holding appoint
ments under the Executive: one district attorney;
two receivers of public moneys ; one surveyor of the
Virginia military lands ; and one postmaster.
The proceedings of this convention have been pub
lished in the official journal in this city, and can not
have escaped the notice of the President. Can a case
be imagined more proper for the application of that
reforming power which the President, at his instal
lation into office, had promised the people to exert
with such unsp)aring fidelity? Where slept the execu
tive thunders while these iniquities were transpiring?
Has one of those federal officers been removed,
or even censured for "bringing the patronage and
influence of the Government to bear upon elections ?"
No. All is tranquil and placid. The arm of execu
tive vengeance is not lifted against the offender.
The brow of power is not even clouded by a frown
of disapprobation. After such forgetfulness, not only
of pledges given, but also of the expressed will of the
people derived from elections, in which this subject
of official influence upon popular elections was agi
tated all over the Union, I can not hear with patience
the "people's Avill" put forward as a reason for vio
lating law ; taking away chartered rights ; deranging
the currency ; destroying trade ; and sinking in the
great " Serbonian bog" of " executive power" all the
Constitutional functions of Congress and the judicial
courts. Finding (after a fruitless search) no reason for the
act of which we complain, founded in law or expedi-

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 139
ency, or any dictate of public necessity ; but, on the
contrary, finding, as the experiment has evinced,
every consideration of duty and patriotism opposed
to it, how shall we account for it ? We are driven to
the necessity of resorting to reasons and motives for
the act which are not clearly set forth in any official
document. We know that the President has, for some two or
three years, felt and expressed a deep and settled
hostility to the United States Bank. We know that
he and his .friends believed that certain individuals
connected with the bank, were not friendly to his
election, and did not yield unqualified approbation to
some of his public acts. A resolution, we are told
by Mr. Duane, was formed to crush this supposed
opponent; Congress, at its last session, had been
appealed to for this purpose ; but, instead of adopting
a course like that taken since by the President, that
body, composed of a large majority of his political
friends, by a vote of more than two to one, resolved
that the public moneys were safe in the Bank of the
United States, and ought to remain there. What
was to be done? The bank must be crushed, and
Congress had refused to become its executioner. Two
or three months prior to the meeting of this Con
gress, the Secretary of the Treasury is required to
remove the public moneys to the State banks. He
declined, and offered as his reasons, the vote of the
last Congress and the near approach of the meeting
of this ; that the subject properly belonged to Con
gress, and to them it ought to be submitted. What

140 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
was the reply of the President? I will give it upon
the authority and in the words of Mr. Duane's letter:
" If the last Congress had remained a week longer in
session, two -thirds would have been secured to the
bank by corrupt means; and that the like result
might be apprehended at the next Congress. That
such a State bank agency must be put into operation,'
before the meeting of Congress, as would show that
the United States Bank was not necessary ; and thus
some members would have no excuse for voting for
it." I can not here, sir, stoop to the consideration of
these suggestions of corrupt influence upon the repre
sentatives of the people. Let that people determine
whether the servants of their own free choice are
capable of acting from the diabolical motives attrib
uted to them. I have mistaken the character of my
countrymen, or they will treat such imputations upon
the emanations of their own enlightened and free suf
frage as the insane ravings of unchastened ambition,
or the equally idle suggestions of unbridled revenge.
If this history of the transactions of the last summer
be true, what is the conclusion ? The corruptibility
of Congress is imagined as a reason for transferring
their powers and duties to the hands of the Execu
tive. Thus, purity of motive in the President would
apologize for a roA^olution of the Government. Sir,
this is not the first instance in which the fears and
patriotic prejudices of the people have been assailed
for the purpose of effecting this favorite measure —
the destruction of the bank.
There exists in the minds of the American people

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 141
a watchful jealousy of foreign influence in our political
affafrs. Two years ago this jealousy was roused to a
degree of fanaticism that became in its hight abso
lutely ridiculous. It was found that nearly eight
millions of stock in the United States Bank were
owned by foreigners. I shall not soon forget the
parade made in this hall, and elsewhere, of the list
of names of those foreign stockholders. Many of
them, it was found, were females. Nothing could
exceed the patriotic rage and horror depicted in the
fierce gestures, distorted countenances, and fervid
declamations of those who had all at once discovered
that the liberties of America were sold to the women
of England ! Had they been only simple, plain
gentlewomen, it seemed the danger would not have
been so appalling; but there were countesses, mar
chionesses, and, it was suspected, even a duchess!
This was not to be borne. A countess, it was clear,
could at once put an end to State rights ; and a
duchess — a duchess could swallow the whole con
federacy at a meal ! All the foes of the bank, with
the President himself, trembled at the peril which
impended over us. In the zeal and fervid enthusiasm
which the occasion inspired, these female stockholders
were depicted as a grizzly host of amazons, leagued
and armed for the destruction of the last hope of
liberty; ready, and just now about to bear down
upon and crush us at a blow ; not as their renowned
ancestress, Boadicea of old, made war upon the
legions of Claudius, with brand, and bill, and bow,
and spear, and battle-ax, but with weapons more

142 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
sharp and deadly — ^with pounds, shillings and pence.
A host was marshaled to beat back this feminine
invasion. From every quarter, but chiefly from
New York, recruits thronged in thousands, and took
the field, resolved to drive out this foreign female
invading foe, or, as became men, to die in the
glorious attempt. The President, as usual, took
the command. The American eagle erected his
head, and Spread his wings abroad, not with that
glorious motto, "E Pluribus Unum," which had
floated with him in triumph over many a red field
of slaughter, but with another, which suited better
the character and objects of the war. Just under
his wing, and concealed from all but the keen eye
of rapacity, might be seen these memorable words —
" SjDoils of Victory." Thus bannered and equipped,
with vetoes for weapons, and "British booty and
British beauty" for their war-cry, they took the
field. Who could doubt the result? As was ex
pected, the she-aristocracy of England capitulated
to the mailed chivalry of America without risking
a battle, and marched home without loss of baggage.
Have any of us forgotten the shout of triumph that
pealed over the continent? "A nation was redeemed
from the iron yoke of foreign oppression." Twelve
millions of freemen, just ready to be sold for eight
millions of dollars — just about to be knocked off at
$1.50 a head — are now forever free ! But, alas! who
can fathom the depths of the ftiture? Who could
have foreseen the sad reverses that were to befall
this victorious host ? In the agitations of this war

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 143
upon foreign capital, commerce furled up her sail;
the hand of industry was paralyzed ; labor wanted
employment ; and public credit shivered on the brink
of bankruptcy. Now the scene changes ! Where
now is that American eagle so lately flying in
triumph over the ranks of w^ar? His wing folded
up, his eye glazed and sunk with hunger, you send
him abroad to peck and beg about the den of the
British lion, for a morsel that may fall from the
jaw^s of the royal beast, to keep him alive. Penn
sylvania begs of the foreign banker (Rothschild) a
few millions to pay her honest debts; and New
York, foremost in the war against foreign capital
and foreign influence, offers a mortgage of her State
to those very old women of England for six millions
of foreign gold, to make safe her "safety fund." Sir,
I hope, nay, I doubt not, they will succeed. These
fierce countesses and fat duchesses will relent, and
yield them the desfred boon. The chivalry, so lately
displayed by those who solicit it, must prevail ; for
valor is ever potent to subdue the obduracy of the
female heart. To this ridiculous issue have come
the outcry and war waged against foreign capital.
It would be a tempting theme for pleasantry, were
it not associated with misfortune, disaster, and ruin
to a confiding and deceived community. Strange as
it may seem, those events in human affairs which
often excite laughter and ridicule, are intimately
associated with those that smite the spirits of men
with grief and dismay.
" Ees omnes sunt humanss, flebile ludibrium."

144 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
It is in no spirit of contest, but with a sincere
desire to bring the judgment of the House to that
which I conceive to be the only point necessary to
decide, that I design to offer as a substitute for the
resolution on the table the following :
" Resolved, That the reasons of the Secretary of the Treasury,
for the removal of the public deposits from the Bank of the
United States, are insufficient, and that it is inexpedient to enact
any law authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit the
public moneys in the State banks."
The committee of Ways and Means have not
thought proper to present this question to the House.
Instead of a decision of the House upon this point,
which it is clearly our duty to make under the law,
the committee have presented a variety of abstrac
tions, tending to no practical ends. Should the vote
of the House disapprove the reasons of the Secretary,
his course can not be mistaken. He must restore to
the United States, Bank what he has taken from it,
or he must "put his house in order."
After all that has or can be said concerning a
remedy for the evil that is now preying upon the
country, I have been unable to see or think of any
thing which promises success, but an immediate halt
in our march to destruction, and, as speedily as pos
sible, a return to the point from which we set out
When you find yourselves in a course of ruin, does
not wisdom require you to retrace your steps ?
Sir, notwithstanding the confidence of the majority
here in its strength, I yet hope to see it take counsel
of prudence. The eyes of the people have been

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 145
opened to the true cause of their sufferings. Two
months ago it. was asserted, by the supporters of the
executive measures, that the war upon the bank,
begun two years ago, and consummated last October,
had brought no ill consequences to the people. The
loud and incessant cry from all quarters, that has
been pouring in upon us since the session began, can
now no longer be misunderstood. In this dilemma,
the distress of the country being admitted, we are
told it is all chargeable to the oppressive conduct
of the bank.
I must beg the attention of gentlemen who assume
this position to a report of the bank, which came to
us yesterday ; it contains a statement of facts, denied
b/ no one, which must put at rest forever all further
accusation against that abused institution. It shows
that, instead of curtailing its accommodations below
the amount withdrawn from its resources, it has,
within the last six months, increased those accommo
dations by nearly three millions of dollars, in pro
portion to its means. To be accurate, the account
stands thus :
Public and private deposits withdrawn between 1st Oc
tober, 1833, and the 1st of April, 1834  .$7,788,403
Reduction of loans within the same period  5,057,527
Difference  -.$2,730,876
By this plain tale, the oft-refuted story of the
tyranny of the bank, is at once "put down." The
bank, during the whole of that scene of confusion
and bankruptcy whieh was begun by the Executive
10

146 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
in the recess of Congress, has been straining all her
energies to mitigate the force of the blow aimed at
her, but which fell with fatal effect upon the country.
By the same report, gentlemen may learn why it
is that, at this moment, so many of their favorite
State banks are alive. During the six months past,
the State banks have been indebted to the United
States Bank in the average amount of three millions
and a half of dollars. They might have been called
upon at any moment for this sum. In mercy to them
it has not been done. Yet it has been asserted here,
and the presses devoted to the administration have
been loud and constant in their assertions, that the
United States Bank was curtailing its loans to mer
chants, bringing, in this way, bankruptcy upon its
debtors; that it was laboring to crush the State
banks by the same means; all in order to extort
from Congress a reftewal Of its charter.
The country is beginning to look to the origin of
the evils that afflict it. It sees that those who havfe
been exerting power (if the conduct of the Executive
deserves so mild a designation) are the real authors
of the universally prevalent distress of which they
complain. The country now knows that the bank,
instead of causing or increasing this distress, has
been endeavoring to mitigate its severity.
All that has happened from the ruinous policy of
the executive was foretold, and the advisers of this
fatal measure were warned against it. They were
warned by the opinion of practical honest men every
where, who dared to speak truth, even to the unwil-

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 147
ling ear of power. The President, however, and his
Secretary, heeded not thefr advice, but gave their
ears and understandings to the keeping of visionary
empirics who knew not, nor it seems, cared, what ills
thefr pernicious counsels might bring upon the
country. While merchants, boards of trade, and
chambers of commerce, all foresaw and foretold the
consequences to our trade and currency, likely to
flow from the act of the Secretary of the Treasury,
long before it had been consummated, some financial
quack was at work with his arithmetical quantities
and algebraic equations, showing the Presidbn^, by
"demonstration," that "the removal of five millions
from bank A to bank B could result in . nothing but
simply a change of locality."
This problem was the beginning and end of the
cabinet lucubration on this subject. It is humiliating
to compare the unpardonable ignorance of those in
power, of the practical business concerns of the
country, with the clear foresight on the same
subjects possessed by men in very humble stations,
to be found all over this Union. It reminds me
forcibly of an observation, upon a kindred subject,
by one of the profoundest political philosophers of
the last age. * He observed, that he had often known
merchants with the sentiments and abilities of great
statesmen, and had seen persons in the rank of
statesmen with the conceptions and characters of
peddlers; that he had found nothing in any habits of
* Edmund Burke.

148 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
life or education which tended wholly to disqualify
men for> the functions of Government, but that by
which the power of exercising these functions is often
acquired. "I mean," says he, "a mean spirit, and.
habits of low cabal and intrigue, which I have never
seen, in one instance, united with a capacity for sound
and manly policy." Let the people, who feel the
unhappy results of a single error of the Executive,
determine where the statesmen and where the
peddlers of this nation are to be found.
I have heard gentlemen from various quarters of
the Union describe the blighting effects of tlie policy
lately adopted upon their respective vicinities. I am
fully persuaded that no portion of the country can
feel this blight more intensely than the young States
of the West. The simplest principles of political
economy will satisfy gentlemen that I am not mis
taken in this opinion. I wish, sir, that every man,
entitled to a vote, west of the Alleghanies,. had a
copy of the speech of the gentleman from Georgia,
[Mr. Wilde]. 'That clear and powerful analysis of
the laws of cursrency, with those large and compre
hensive views of our present condition, which do
equal honor to the head and heart of my honorable,
.friend, can ;not fail to be read and studied with
advantage, and hy the philosopher not less than the
•peasant. Trade ¦ can ^nOt 'be carried on>without capital; capital
is the gradual accumulation of labor and enterprise.
Old countries, where laPbor is lunfettered, will, there
fore, abound in surplus capital; while, in new

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 149
countries, it can not exist to any extent, since time
has not been tEere given for its accumulation.
Throughout the great valley, stretching from the
sources of the Ohio to the Missouri, now filled with
a hardy and laborious population, you have a soil
teeming with production. What avail the labor of
the husbandman, and the fertility of the earth, if
capital is wanting to buy and transport to market
the annual products of both? The labor of all that
population, up to this time, has been expended in
paying for the land it tills ; and, by culture and im
provement, increasing its production. The Bank of
the United States has furnished the West with a
capital which it wanted, for which it languished, and
¦which it must again want, if that bank be compelled
soon to close its business, and withdraw its capital.
Two years ago we were told, in the President's
veto message, that the West must become bankrupt,
^ by paying six per cent, interest on the debt it owed
the United States Bank. How was that debt cre
ated ? By a loan from the bank, of its money, at
six per cent, per annum. This money was employed
in trade ; in buying and transporting to market the
products of the country. I speak from actual knowl
edge when I say, that I have known large amounts
of money borrowed from individuals at ten per cent.
interest, and employed in purchasing, for speculation,
the agricultural productions of the Miami valley. I
know that money thus loaned has been profitably
expended in this trade; that borrowers have often
realized handsome profits on capital thus loaned and

150 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
thus employed. The difference between six and ten
per cent., which is paid for the use of the money thus
employed, is lost, not by the purchaser, but by the
farmer who sells the property thus purchased.
Again : The effect of the withdrawal of the United
States Bank from the West will be to open the office,
and reinstate the business of the broker. The money
in circulation there will (as even now, within the last
month, it does) rate at a discount of from two to ten
per cent, in the Eastern cities.
This will be the currency received by the farmer
and mechanic for the products of their farms and
workshops. The merchant, who sells his goods to them, ifiust
pay for those goods in the Atlantic cities, in a
currency at par there. He, of course, makes his
customers, the farmers and mechanics, pay him, in
the increased price of his goods, the two or ten per
cent, which he will have to give on the money he
receives, in order to procure such funds as will pay
his debt to the merchants in Philadelphia or New
York. The withdrawal, then, of the capital of the
bank, which has been constantly employed in facil
itating domestic exchanges, will, by diminishing com
petition, increase the profits of, the broken Those
profits, made by large capitalists, when they swell
to an unreasonable extent, are a clear loss to the
laboring and producing classes.
The West will be a peculiar sufferer under this
policy in another, and by no means the least delete
rious of its consequences. All the revenues of the

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 151
Federal Government are derived from impost duties
on foreign goods, and from the sales of public lands.
The consumer of the goods on which the impost is
laid pays the duty. No portion of the population of
the Union, in proportion to its numbers, consumes
more of those articles subject to duty than the people
of the West. They, therefore, -contribute, from the
earnings of their labor, the full proportion of the
common revenue derived from imposts. The three
millions annually paid for lands is received wholly
from' the Western and South-western States. A
proportion of this revenue, suited to the business of
the country, has been left heretofore in the United
¦States Bank in the West, to be employed as so much
capital by our own citizens. This office your State
banks, as the experiment has proved, can never per
form for them. Thefr revenue will be poured into
the laps of the Atlantie cities. How are they to be
emended by the Government ? Internal improve
ment, it was once hoped, might be the means of
¦expending some portion of it in the West; but that
sy^stem, by the interposition of the President's veto
power, is destroyed. Your whole revenue (of which
as I have shown, the West pays its full proportion)
will be expended in harbors, arsenals, fortifications,
and dockyards on the seaboard, and circulate there
for the benefit of the Atlantic States alone. In such
a system there is no equity, no equality of burden
and benefit.
If, as I have shown, the States of the West are to
suffer more than any other gToat geographical diyi-

152 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
sions of the confederacy, Ohio (my own State), of all
the West, will suffer most from the reduction of prices
and stagnation of trade. She is one of those who,
according to the President's opinion, "ought to
break ;" she has "traded on borrowed capital." She
has borrowed, and now owes, five millions of dollars, x
With this money she has, with an enterprise unsur
passed in the ancient or modern history of any com
munity, executed a great work of internal improve
ment, which should have been done long since at the
expense of the whole Union. Her four hundred
miles of canal has poured the waters of the great
lakes of the North into the Gulf of Mexieo. Ohio
must look for a fund to pay the interest on this
debt, thus contracted, to the tolls collected on her
canals. The amount of those tolls must depend on
the trade of the country. If prices fall, and trade
languish, (as we know they have, and will yet still
more, unless we, stop short in our present experi
ment,) the laboring people of Ohio will find their
taxes increased. The interest on their canal debt
must be paid, and what the tolls do not pay must be
raised in taxes on the people. Thus, while your cruel
policy diminishes the price of every article produced
by the farmer and mechanic, and thus diminishes^
thefr ability to pay, it increases the tax, and swells
the demands upon them. You starve the slave and
yet increase his labor; you increase the burden of the
people, and at the same time reduce the strength
required to bear it. What can the people of the
West see (if this new system is to prevail) in the

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 153
prospect before them? Nothing but ruin to their
trade, paralysis to their industry, and, worst of all,
that host of vice and crime which will spring up
everywhere, when labor has no incentive, industry
no adequate reward.
Have the people of that portion of your country
deserved this at your hands? Instead of extending a
parental regard to them, you have abandoned thera
to premature orphanage and cold neglect. Is there
anything in their history that merits this? Less
than fifty years ago, urged on by enterprise or neces
sity, the first settlers plunged into the western wilder
ness. For many years, every cabin was a fort —
every cornfield a camp. Every night the husband
and father, with arms in his hands, guarded the
slumbers of his wife and children. At every sound
that broke upon the stillness of the surrounding
woods, the wakeful mother clasped her infant closer
to her breast, and breathed a silent prayer for protec
tion, to " Him with whom mercy sits at the right
hand, and judgment at the left." If they assembled
to worship God, it was in the woods, upon the hill
side, or in the deep valley. There, still, they were
girt round with peril and war. The song of praise
was often interrupted by the yell of the Indian war
rior, rushing from his ambush to bathe the scalping-
knife and tomahawk in the white man's blood.
That savage foe has fled before their advancing
enterprise, until the receding echoes of his war-whoop
are now borne upon the blast that sweeps across the
great prafries of the farthest West ; a little while,

154 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN..
and they will be drowned forever in the roar of the
Pacific. The people of the Western States are just begin
ning to realize the fruits of years of privation and
toil. They have not expected the cup to be dashed
from their lips. They understand, for they have
already felt, the, consequences of the late movement
of the Executive On the currency and trade of the
country. They have had, in their recent history, some
knowledge of that sort of currency which depends on,
and comes from State banks. They will not be satis
fied with your ingenious speculations as to what will
be — ^they have made a terrible experiment, exactly
like that you now propose to make^ and they know
what they have suffered and lost ; they are unwilling
to surrender the wisdonj. learned by experience, to
the theories of any one.
While we deplore the irreparable mischiefs that
follow to the interest of those we represent, from the
unexpected change lately wrought in our financial
system, let me, in conclusion, beseech gentlemen to.
look to that power, hitherto unknown in our political
history, by which the President alone has effected
that change.
How has that power revealed to us its tremendous
energies within the last six months ? The President
has obtained uncontrolled possession of the public
treasure in the recess of Congress ; and, by this bold
maneuver, he has, with the aid of his veto power,
placed it beyond the power of CongToss to reclaim

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 155
their lost rights, unless a majority of two-thirds of
both branches shall unite in opposition to him. When
we see the rights of the Legislature thus invaded,
it is natural to inquire, what great good has been
achieved ? What fearful evil impending over us has
been averted by it? Has the American dictator, like
the Roman, "taken care that no detriment should
come to the republic?" No; the exact reverse is the
truth. He has taken your whole treasure from the custody
where, it is admitted, it was perfectly secure, and
placed it in the keeping of State banks, where we
are not sure it is safe for the passing hour. In doing
all this, he boasts that he crushed the United States
Bank ; that he has, in the hyperbolical language of
his friends, "strangled a monster!" In the true
style of the mock-heroic, the fabulous exploits of
Hercules are put forward as parallel achievements.
Meantime, in destroying one bank, he has given life
and perpetual existence to one hundred other banks.
He crushes one serpent, and, at the same moment,
he places in the vitals of the State innumerable
knots and endless involutions of hungry tapeworms,
to gorge thefr ravening and insatiable maws upon
the very sources of life.
It was the idle vaunt of a renowned general, in
the declining period of the Roman republic, "that
he could call up armed legions with the stamp of his
foot." Sir, we have lived to see the acts of one man
produce phenomena more appalling than the reality
of the proud Roman's boast.

156 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COK i:,.
We have seen the "Executive " ministerial officer
of the most limited Government on (.virth, expand
the mere emblem of authority into 11 ;j amplitude
of kingly prerogative, and, of his OAvn will, com
municate to it the strength and vigor of imperial
sway. Thus armed, he grasps, with his own hand,
the wealth and energies of a nation's commerce; and
in a day they wither into imbecile bankruptcy in his
clutch. With this same power he enters the humble
dwelling of the laboring poor man, or the neat man
sion of the industrious mechanic ; he sees there well-
rewarded industry shedding smiles, and plenty, and
innocent contentment upon a cheerful, hapjDy family.
At the wave of his hand, this vision of happiness
disappears, and in its place come want and poverty,
and squalid misery and woe. Look back ovei- the
whole history of your government. Do you find in
it any executive power approaching to this ? No; to
find authority for this searching and overshadowing
tyranny, you must go to the groaning monarchies of
Europe. English hisfory, and not your own, will
furnish you with such examples of "executive power."
Consult the reigns of the crafty Plantagenets — the
obstinate and tyrannical Tudors; read the bloody
annals of the misguided Stuarts ; there, an(J there
only, will you find examples to compare with the
¦last six months of our history.
I entreat gentlemen to look out upon the country.
You see the poor and the rich thronging to the capital
for relief. They repair to the President's mansion;
its doors are rudely closed against them. A Presi-

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 157
dent, elected by the people, refuses to see and confer
with them in the extremity of thefr distress — distress
brought on them by his own act. The voice of abso
lute power bids them "go home;" they are only
permitted to approach the throne through the cold
and imperfect medium of written communication.
Driven from thence, they come here — here, to their
own immediate servants. How are they^ treated in
this House ? An inflexible and proud majority de
nounces their assertions as falsehood — ^their opinions
as folly. A press, devoted to power all over the
country, answers to the universal wail of distress
with grinning ribaldry and sneering scorn. Sir, if
the lessons of past ages are not fables, and all history
a lie ; if the whole theory of your government be not
based upon fiction, we shall soon see the collected
energies of an aggrieved, insulted people forcing
their influence upon this hall. That influence will
be felt here, where every pulsation must answer to
the throb of public feeling. You will feel this, not
in that might that slumbers in a freeman's arm, but
in that fierce indignation which sleeps not, nor slum
bers in the freeman's bosom so long as he feels the
cold iron of oppression entering into his soul. Mr.
Speaker, I have done. The proofs of our misguided
policy thicken upon us every hour. A blasted monu
ment of it at this moment stands, with empty vaults
and closed doors,* in view from the windows of this
* The Bank of Washington. Three other 'banks in the District
stopped payment in a few days afterward.

158 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
hall. If all these will not avail to change the stern
resolves of the majority here, then I warn that
majority to take counsel of their selfish fears; let
them remember the admonition of Holy Writ: —
"Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty
spirit before a fall."

APPENDIX.
Extract from Gen. Jackson's Inaugural Address, Match 4, 1829.
" The recent demonstration of public sentiment inscribes on the
list of executive duties, in characters too legible to be overlooked,
the task of reform; which will require particularly the correction
of those abuses that have brought the patronage of the Federal
Government into conflict with the freedom of elections, and the
counteraction of those causes whieh have disturbed the rightful
course of appointment, and have placed or continued power in
unfaithful or incompetent hands."
Extract from Mr. Jefferson's Circular, published and addressed to
he various officers of the Government under his administration.
" The President of the United States has seen, with dissatis-
factiou, officers of the General Government taking, on various
occasions, active parts in the election of public functionaries,
whether of the General or State Governments. Freedom of'
elections being essential to the mutual independence of Govern
ment, and of the different branches of the same Government, so
vitally cherished by most of our Constitutions, it is deemed im
proper for officers depending on the Executive of the Union to
attempt to control or influence tKe free exercise of the elective
right; and further, it is expected that he (the officer) will not
attempt to influence the votes of others, nor to take any part in
the business of electioneering ; that being deemed inconsistent
with the Constitution and his duties to it."

ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 159
The following is a statement of the amount of bank capital
incorporated since 1832, derived from the best sources of informa
tion. It is doubtless, if incorrect at all, below the true amount.
It shows how rapidly we are going on to banish bank paper from
our currency. There are now (including the following) about
five hundred State banks in operation. Yet we are gravely told
that if we put down the United States Bank, we shall at once
restore gold and silver currency, and get rid of paper altogether.
Maine  1100,000
Yermont  600,000
Ehode Island  1,000,000
Connecticut  600,000
I^Tew Jersey   100,000
New York  4,000,000
Pennsylvania  4,400,000
Maryland  ,  500,000
North Carolina  2,800,000
South Carolina  ,  500,000
Mississippi  700,000
Louisiana  12,000,000
Tennessee  5,000,000
Kentucky  5,000,000
Ohio  4,000,000
Indiana  1,00Q,Q00
$42,900,000
Mr. Corwin, at the conclusion of his speech,
moved to amend the resolution by striking out all
after " Resolved," and inserting in lieu thereof the
following :
" That the reasons of the Secretary of the Treasury for the
removal of the puhlic deposits from the Bank of the United
States are insufficient, and that it is inexpedient to enact a law
requiring the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit the public
moneys in the State banks."

MEMORIALS IN RELATION TO THE
PUBLIC DEPOSITS.
[ In April, 1834, a period when a large portion of the people
were deeply excited in consequence of the removal of the Public
Deposits by the Secretary of the Treasury, (Mr. Tanet,) Me.
Corwin presented in Congress two memorials, from citizens ' of
Warren and Clinton counties, Ohio, upon the financial embarrass
ments of the day. Although his remarks on those several occa
sions are brief, they state the object of the memorialists so fully,
and contain such a veil-expressed, and well-deserved compliment,
to that portion of his constituents, that it would not be just
either to him or t6 them, if they were omitted in this compilation.]
Me. Speakeb:
I am charged with the presentation to this House
of a memorial, signed by about two thousand of the
inhabitants of a single county of the district I have
the honor to represent. By reference to the names
and designations of occupations affixed to them, it
will be seen that they are composed of farmers,
merchants, and a .great variety of those engaged in
mechanical pursuits. They are emigrants, or the
descendants of emigrants, from every State in the
Union, and present in many respects a faithful min
iature picture of the manners, habits, tastes, and
opinions, of the whole American population. They
are generally in that condition for which a pious and
wise one of old so fervently prayed — they are neither
rich nor poor, but in that happy medium between the
(160)

MEMORIALS ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 161
extremes of poverty and wealth which philosophy
¦ had taught and all experience proved to be most
favorable to the cultivation of that only true dignity
of character, a modest yet manly independence of
thought and action. They inhabit the most fertile
portion of the Miami valley, a district Of country
remarkable for its exuberant production of those
heavy articles of subsistence that are everywhere
regarded as the necessaries of life. For these, (the
only subjects of export trade in that country,) the
memorialists have usuaUy found markets through
the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, in the South, and
lately through the Ohio canals and the lakes, in the
North — ^markets which have yielded an encouraging
reward to their industry; I say, sir, their industry,
for in that country almost every man engaged in
agricultural pursuits wields his own sickle and scythe,
and plows with alacrity his own fields. I may say,
without exaggeration, that they have a country and
population that (if need should be) could realize the
boast of the better days of the English commonwealth,
* • • •
when "every rood of ground rdamtamed its man."
Many of these memorialists came to that country
while the wandering and fiaarauding Indian tribes
held there a divided empire with the arts and enter
prise of civilized life. They have lived, in half the
length of years allotted to the life of man, to see
the then unbroken forest disappear, and rich planta
tions, covered with luxuriant crops, rise up in its
place. The Bank of the United States has, for the
last fifteen years, furnished a capital for their trade;
11

162 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COEWIN.
and a currency which represented truly the exchange
able value of their property. This currency, always
as good as gold or silver coin, is now rapidly dis
appearing, and the paper of State banks, having an
estimated value never equal to its nominal amount,
as rapidly taking its place. Experience, (that sure
but, in these times, too much neglected teacher,)
dearly bought, almost fatal, experience, has taught
them that this last can not subsist without some
power stronger than charter stipulations to regulate
and control it. In the present state of aifairs they
look with fearful anticipa.tions to that ruinous condi
tion in which the establishment of the United States
Bank found them, and from which the excellent
administration of its functions, as a regulator of cur
rency, redeemed them. Without this institution,
they expect to see again currencies of different values
in different parts of the Union, with a difference of
exchange operating, as it once did, as a tax, varying
from two to ten per cent., on every article they buy
from the Atlantic cities. They expect to see State
banks, all over the country, sinking into hopeless
insolvency, leaving immense amounts of their paper
worthless, in possession of those who have earned it
with the labor of their own hands. They already
feel the baneful influence of a deranged and vicious
currency, in the depression of prices and general
stagnation of trade. They see in that paralysis
which has benumbed the great mercantile cities of
the North and South-west, the near and sure approach
of ruin to themselves — ^for they look to those great

MEMORIALS ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 163
hearts of trade for the life-blood which is to nourish
the industry and enterprise of that rich interior of
¦which they are a part.
These memorialists believe that the evils, present
and prospective, of which they complain, are to be
traced to 'the late act of the Secretary of the
Treasury in withholding the revenues of the country,
the money of the people, from the United States
Bank, where it had been heretofore safely kept and
usefully employed. They assert, what is now con
ceded by all, that the money of the Government and
people was safe in the custody of the United States
Bank, and fear that it is not so in the State banks
that now have it. They insist that as the safety of
the public treasure in the United States Bank is not
denied, and as the bank has performed faithfully the
duties pertaining to its fiscal agency, that the with
drawal from it of the public deposits, is indefensible
upon principles of national good faith or sound policy.
I have already informed you, that this memorial
comes from a county bearing the venerated name
of Warren. Having ever present to their minds the
glorious associations connected with the name of "the
first great martyr to the cause of liberty," it is not to
be expected that they should speak in "bated breath
and whispering humbleness" of power usurped or
power abused. In a strain of honest indignation,
they declare the late conduct of the Secretary of the
Treasury to be unwarranted by the Constitution or
laws of the land. They appeal to Congress as the
guardians of the law and their constituted agents.

164 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COEWIN.
for redress. They ask you to vindicate their vio
lated Constitution and broken laws, by an immediate
restoration of the public moneys to thefr former
place of deposit. They pray you to recharter the
United States Bank. These measures are respect
fully demanded of us as the only means" by which
lost confidence and quietude can be restored, and
their prosperity, now rapidly declining, arrested in
its downward career.
[The abSve remarks were made April 7th, 1834. On the 28th,
Mr. Corwin presented the Memorial from the citizens of Clinton
county, and spoke as follows:]
I AM charged, Mr. Speaker, with the duty of pre
senting a memorial to this House from one of the
three counties composing the district I have the
honor to represent. This memorial comes from
Clinton county, in the State of Ohio. It is signed
(as two most respectable gentlemen of the county
inform me) by thirteen hundred and one citizens and
qualified voters of that county. These are composed
of all the trades and professions common to the
country, but chiefly farmers — ^men who plow, and
sow, and reap their own fields. The facts they set
forth, and the opinions they hold, are not the offspring
of a sudden excitement, produced by the agitations
that often prevail without cause in large and popu
lous cities, but the deliberate, well-considered judg
ment of each man's own unbiased understanding.
Gentlemen who have not looked closely into the
habits and pursuits of the people who inhabit the

MEMOEIALS ON THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS. 165
interior agricultural regions of the West, can have
but a faint idea of their true character. On a footing
of the most perfect equality in all their civil and
political rights ; independent in the fullest sense of
the word; their own labor crowned with the common
blessing of Providence, places them beyond all de
pendence upon mortal man. Such, emphatically,
are those whose prayer I now present to this House.
Thefr minds, invigorated and purified by healthful,
innocent labor, are not subject to artificial and unna
tural excitements ; nor can such a people be subject
to that most vulgar intemperance of a deranged
heart — a diseased craving after notoriety, and the
miserable indulgences of mere worldly distinction.
These memorialists assert that, within the last few
months, they have experienced great scarcity of
money, and depression of prices of all the produc
tions of their country. The existence of those evils
has been often denied here. I now offer to prove
them by thirteen hundred witnesses, as respectable
as any equal number to be found in America. These,
sfr, are not the assertions of a party. At a late elec
tion in that county for representatives to the State
Legislature, there were polled 1,410 votes — 1,301
voters of the same county sign this memorial. This
exhibits a unanimity not to be found where political
party machinery is at work. They pray you to
restore the public moneys to the custody of the
United States Bank ; and, believing a national bank
to be a national benefit, they ask a recharter of
the old, or the establishment by law of a similar

166 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
institution. I need not add that, next to the appro
bation of my own conscience, it gives me pleasure to
find that I am sustained in the course I have pur
sued here on these great ahd exciting subjects, by so
large and respectable a portion of my constituents.

ON THE CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN.
[The consideration of the President's Message transmitting to
Congress the Constitution and other documents originating with
a convention in the Territory of Michigan, with a view to the for-
r_mation of a State Government, was resumed in the House of Rep
resentatives, Beoember the 28th, 1835. The question of boundary
between that Territory and the adjoining States (which, at one time,
threatened a collision between Michigan and Ohio), incidentally
came up during the debate ; and in reply to Messrs. Williams, of
N. C, and Mason, of Va., Mr. CoRWIN rose and said :]
It was not his intention, at the opening of this dis
cussion, to protract the debate a moment; but he
was compelled, by a sense of imperative duty, to ask
the attention of the House, for a few moments, to
a view of this subject, presented by the gentleman
from "Virginia [Mr. Masonj who had just taken his
seat. He had also a word to say (if he had rightly
understood him) to the gentleman from North Caro
lina [Mr. Williams].
The gentlemen, said Mr. C, seemed both to con
sider the question of boundary between Ohio and the
proposed State of Michigan as a judicial question. It
is very clear that, if this be a judicial question purely,
it will be difficult to establish the right of this House
to adjudge and determine it. It is of great import
ance, Mr. Speaker, that we should understand well,
before we act, whether we are acting within the scope
of our acknowledged constitutional powers. If there
(167)

168 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COEWIN.
be a doubt, therefore, whether this question of boun
dary, or any other which may belong to the main
proposition, (the admission of the new State,) be a
question proper to be decided here, or referred to the
judicial department, that doubt should be sufficient
to send the whole to the Judiciary Committee- — ^that
committee being, both by the law of this House and
its practice, our legal and Constitutional advisers.
Gentlemen will see the propriety of bringing this
subject, with all its attendant topics, to the notice of
that committee, when it is once perceived that the
question of boundary can not be separated from the
question of admission of the new State into the Union.
It is incontrovertible that we have no power to alter,
modify, or amend, the constitution of Michigan. This
can only be done by a convention of the people of
that territory. They have sent us an entire instru
ment, under which they proposed to become one of
the American confederacy. We must therefore admit
them with the constitution of their choice, as it is here
presented, or we must reject them, if there be any
thing in that constitution which compels us to that
course. If gentlemen will turn to the constitution of
Michigan, it will be seen that it ordains as well the
boundaries of the proposed State as the rights, civil
and political, of its inhabitants. They propose to
become a portion of the Union, in the new character
of a sovereign State, with territorial limits which
comprehend a large and most interesting portion of
two other sovereign States, to wit : Indiana and Ohio.
This is determined by a glance at the maps of the

ON THE CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN. 169
country. The committee, then, which shall be charged
with the investigation of this subject, must either
leave that part of the constitution of Michigan, which
ordains the boundaries of the State, out of view
altogether-, and admit them to come into the Union,
claiming, if you please, to impose her form of govern
ment on all the people and over all thq territory of
Ohio and Indiana, or they must decide whether that
portion of disputed territory, comprehended within
the limits of the new State, belongs in truth and by
law to Michigan, or to Ohio and Indiana, according
to their known claims, respectively.
Will any committee, or will this House, admit a
State into this Union without ascertaining its territo
rial jurisdiction ? Or will they, if it can be avoided,
admit a State into this family of republics, with a
license to sue one or two of her sisters ? When she
comes and knocks at your door, asking permission to
come into your house, that she may thereby more
easily fight for and dispossess two of its old inmates
of a portion of thefr property, will you take her by
the hand and spirit her on to litigation, or more joro-
bably to a contest of force ? Sir, I am very sure no
such fatuity will ever possess this House ; it is cer
tain that no such necessity is imposed on us. "What,
then, will your committee do? They will examine
and determine whether the constitution of Michigan
is consistent with the rights of Indiana and Ohio.
I ask the gentlemen, not merely of the legal pro
fession, but those of every class in this House, to
whom they would apply for an opinion on such a

170 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
subject, were they personally interested? Michigan
claims to extend her constitution over the citizens of
other States as now constituted, by virtue of a sup
posed compact, to that effect, in the ordinance of
1787. How is the force of that claim to be ascer
tained? Who shall say whether a particular clause
in that ordinance rises above the changeable and
repealable character of ordinary legislation, and'
assumes the more sacred and inviolable nature of a
contract? No man, however elevated his general
attainments, can be found vain enough to imagine
himself competent to give an intelligent and safe
answer to the question here involved, unless he be
to some extent conversant with law as a science.
Again, sfr: The ordinance under which Michigan
claims is but a law of Congxess. Ohio and Indiana
both claim under acts of Congress and compacts made
with them as States. If these conflict, who is com
petent to determine which is paramount to the other?
To what committee, in short, does this House refer
questions of law ? The answer given in every other
case to this question has been uniform — "the stand
ing committee on the Judiciary." Gentlemen who
look only to the isolated fact of admission into the
Union, will find that thej can no more arrive at that
point, without first meeting and deciding all the grave
questions of law I have suggested, than they could
transfer themselves from this hall to the northern
lakes, without passing over the intermediate space.
I hope gentlemen will not deem it beneath the dig
nity of this House to consult in this matter a little

ON THE CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN. 171
the feelings and views of both parties to this question
of boundary. With them it has always been viewed
as mainly a question to be resolved by a right con
struction of the acts and laws of Congress. It has
thus been contested on both sides. You are appealed
to as a final arbiter. They will expect you to call to
your aid that committee to whom the nation look for
correct opinions when construction of law is the ques
tion. Who has ever heard, till now, of submitting a
legal proposition to the committee on the Territo
ries ? Sir, I disclaim all idea of drawing comparisons
between the individuals composing either of these
committees. I only insist that the laws of the House
have assigned to each their appropriate function, and
the Speaker is presumed to have arranged the talent
of the House in reference to those laws. For the
people of my own State I only ask a fair trial, and in
the usual way. Give them these, and those fearful
excitements, of which the gentleman from Virginia
has spoken, will be at once subdued into acquiescence
in the decision, whether friendly or adverse to their
claims. But should this House, to whom the appeal,
in a generous confidence, has been made, blunder in
the dark upon a wrong and unusual course, and ulti
mately decide against them, we may then look for
agitations, accompanied with more frightful violence
than the gentleman has imagined.
I flatter myself that it is apparent to all, that now
is the most propitious time to settle this unhappy
controversy. I imagine all will agree that it is
competent for this House to settle it. I entreat

172 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COEWIN.
gentlemen not to think of leaving the question open.
I appeal to the gentleman from Vfrginia, whether he
could take pleasure in seeing three sovereign States
prostrate before the judicial tribunals, asking of your
courts to determine whether they were States ! or, if
States, whether they had any territory, and how
much ! Sir, unbounded as my confidence has been,
and is, in the federal courts, for thefr sakes, as well
as the country, I do not wish to see questions which
agitate great political communities brought frequently
before them for decision. To avoid this, and to put
forever beyond the power of contest this cause of dis
cord and disunion, I entreat the House to send this
subject to the only committee competent to analyze
and present in a connected view all the questions
that cluster round it ; and, with such a report, I do
not permit myself to doubt but the House will come
to a conclusion as satisfactory to, as it will be obli
gatory upon, air concerned.

ON THE SURPLUS REVENUE.
[The business first in order in the House of Eepresentatives of
the United States, Thursday, January 12th, 1837, was the bill
reported by Mr. Cambreung, from the committee of Ways and
Means, to reduce the revenue of the United States to the wants
of the Government. There being two motions pending — first,
for commitment, and, secondly, for indefinite postponement — Mr.
Corwin arose and addressed the House as follows :]
Me. Speaker:
I feel deeply sensible that I am about to occupy
the time of the House upon a subject which can not
possibly be matured into legislation during the brief
period that remains to us of the present session. It
is the conviction that the bill before you, ushered
into this House with a haste bordering upon rash
ness, contains wdthin its provisions principles too
momentous and vitally affecting a large portion of
the country to be acted upon this session, that impels
me to solicit the attention of the House to my reasons
for sustaining the motion of the gentleman from Mas
sachusetts [Mr. Lawrence] for the indefinite post
ponement of the bill. Sir, I am hot sure that my
thorough conviction of the necessity of tranquilizing
the public agitation, which the presence of this bill
here will excite, by an immediate rejection or post
ponement of it, Avould have overcome my habitual
aversion to addressing the House, had I not, in com
mon with my friends from Massachusetts and Penn-
(173)

174 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
syh'ania, felt that such a course could alone insure
the minority of the committee, with whom the bill
originated, against misunderstanding, as well here as
among those whom we represent. Had the motion
to lay the bill and report on the table and print
them prevailed, a paper most elaborate in its struc
ture, and voluminous in its dimensions, would have
gone forth to the country, bearing upon its face no
intimation that the whole committee did not concur
in it. To prevent the possibility of such miscon
struction, I feel it a duty to those who have honored
me with a seat here to present my protest, against
both the bill and the report which accompanies it, at
the earliest moment possible. This poor privilege,
sir, we had been denied yesterday, by the House,
but for the timely substitution, by my friend from
Massachusetts [Mr. Lawrence], of the motion for
" indefinite postponement " for that which was made
by the gentleman from New York [Mr. Cambreling],
The latter motion, by the strict law of parliament,
did not permit the minority of the committee to utter
even a syllable by w^ay of dissent to the principles
of the bill or the report. Courtesy, however, it seems,
had uniformly conceded to a minority thus situated
vv'hat the rigid rule denied ; but, ih our case, the
gentleman from New York [Mr. Mann] pertinaciously
insisted on the letter of the law. Courtesy became
inconvenient, and the "iron rule" of proscription
was enforced. Permit me here, Mr. Speaker, to
offer my thanks to the gentleman from Maryland
[Mr. Thomas] for his manly appeal to the House in

ON THE SUEPLUS REVENUE. 175
our behalf. Such exhibitions of magnanimity are
rare in these times, and ought not to pass unnoticed.
I did desire, sir, to see the bill disposed of without
entering into a debate on its merits; but as no ex
planation could be even hinted at without it, I am
rejoiced that the present motion was made, which
opens the entire measure proposed to free and full
discussion. I shall have occasion to refer to the report, as that
is the exposition presented of the principles and
policy on which the bill is based. In doing this,
as I have only heard it read, and have not had the
advantage of a perusal of its contents, I can not
pretend to quote its language, nor can I hope to
be exact in giving even its substance. I am happy
to see the honorable chairman of the Ways and
Means [Mr. Cambreling] in his seat, who will set
me right should I at any time unwittingly mistake
or misrepresent the true import of his production.
I am very sure the gentleman will discharge such a
duty to himself and to me with the utmost alacrity.
As he, I doubt not, regards this, the youngest of his
financial progeny, as possessing every combination
of symmetry and grace, he will not sit by and see
its beauty marred, without instant interposition in
its behalf.
The most obvious objection to the introduction of
this bill arises from a view of its intrinsic import
ance, and the difficult and delicate questions which
are inseparable from any proposition which proposes
a radical change in the existing tariff. The whole

176 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
of the argument in the very voluminous report,
which is nothing but the bill on your table, with
a few facts and inferences to prop and sustain it,
may be condensed into one or two sentences of plain
English. It is stated (and I shall not now attempt
to controvert any fact to which I shall have occasion'
to refer) that the existing tariff extends protection
to labor employed in manufacturing in this country,
the annual product of which is $300,000,000. It is
assumed (and, for the sake of the argument, I shall
admit it) that the protection afforded by our existing
tariff laws is necessary, and no more than is neces
sary, to enable our own manufacturing establishments
to exist in competition with foreign establishments
employed in the same business. To sustain this
proposition, the high price of labor and capital with
us, and the comparative cheapness of both abroad,
are asserted.
The report further asserts that the duties collected
on imports by the rates established by the law of
March, 1833, commonly called the Compromise Act,
will, with the proceeds of the sales of public lands,
bring into the Treasury, within the next eighteen
months, more revenue, by seven millions of dollars,
than the wants of the Government require. Here 1
beg gentlemen to observe that this last proposition
is nothing more nor less than a combination of two
conjectures. The first of these is, that the importa
tions from abroad to this country, during the next
five years, will reach a given amount. Whether this
conjecture shall be verified must depend upon the

ON THE SURPLUS REVENUE. 177
numberless contingent events, the turn of which no
human sagacity can foresee, arising out of the present
unsettled condition of trade, labor, and currency, in
Great Britain; the change that may be brought about
in the markets of England by the termination of the
intestine wars now raging in Spain and Portugal;
and, lastly, the very capability of this country to
consume and pay for foreign importations must
depend upon reducing to order, and stability the
currency of this country, which, under the improving
and sagacious guidance of this administration, has
been conducted to a state of wild and unmanageable
confusion. The next conjecture embodied in the
proposition I have last stated from the report is, that
the public lands are to be sold without any legislative
or executive restraints as to purchasers or quantities.
In other words, it supposes the famous Treasury
circular to be repealed. I beg the gentlemen of ,the
far West particularly to notice one feature of this
report. It is based upon the supposition that the
bill now on your table, reported by one of your
standing committees, with that title so captivating to
patriot ears, "A bill to arrest monopolies of public
lands, and to prohibit the sales thereof, except to
actual settlers, in limited quantities," is to be scouted,
thrown out of doors, and its place to be supplied by
this more recent and happy assault upon the popular
ear, bearing on its front the charmed phrase, "A bill
to reduce the revenue of the United States to the
wants of the Government."
The House will bear in mind that this bill pro-
12

178 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
poses to remedy an apprehended evil. It looks into
the future, and imagines that, in the next year and a
half, the existing duties on imports will bring into
the Treasury more money than is required for the
uses of the Government by seven millions of dollars.
I have already intimated that I object to the time
selected for bringing into the House a measure
fraught with so many difficulties as belong to every
subject which proposes a radical change in om* system
of revenue.
Without adverting, therefore, for the present, to
the merits of the bill, I feel confident I do not appeal
in vain to the House to say that we can not act upon
it between this day and the 4th of March. Let gen
tlemen look at the necessary business now before us,
and then calculate the number of days remaining for
its final disposition. It will be remembered that
Monday in every week is devoted to the reception of
petitions; Friday and Saturday of each week, by
another standing rule, are set apart for private
claims. From what we have already seen during
half the allotted term of the session, it is not to be
¦ expected that a moment of time can be withdrawn
from that allotted to petitions, for the consideration
of other business. No gentleman, I am equally sure,
dreams that we should deny justice any longer than
is unavoidable to the many hundreds of private
¦ claims which have been favorably reported on by
that committee whose awards, with rare exceptions,
are considered laws to the House. There is a largo
'body of claimants of a miscellaneous character in

ON THE SURPLUS REVENUE. 179
one class, and the crippled soldiers and widows and
orphans, the representatives of those who have fallen
in your late wars with both civilized and savage foes,
in another, and a not less meritorious few of the sur
viving veterans of your revolutionary struggle in
another class, all pointing to the reports of your OAvn
committee, and showing claims upon your justice,
some of them delayed for half a century. I can not
entertain so poor an opinion of the moral sense of
an American Congress as to suppose it will turn aside
from this work of justice and benevolence, to enter
into dreamy and heartless disquisitions upon the
balance of trade ; to ponder over tabular statements
as incomprehensible as the Sybilline books ; to adjust
with contemptible accuracy, the ad valorem duty on
a foreign penknife, and this, too, for the purpose of
preventing a few millions more or less from coming
into that very Treasury, whose doors, in the mean
time, you close against those who demand of you the
payment of your honest debts, for the non-payment
of which many of your creditors are languishing in
poverty and want.
You have then remaining for the dispatch of
general legislation three days in each week, giving
about twenty-two days for the consideration of bills
of a general nature, and all the appropriations for
the current year. I ask the majority of the Ways
and Means, who have pushed this new and perplex
ing subject on the House at this time, if it is modest,
to say the least of it, to suppose that the House is to
vote away twenty-four millions of dollars in appro-

180 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
priations, without inquiry, examination, or debate,
further than to ask whether the committee of Ways
and Means desire it should be done? I ask this
House, whose constitutional and most important
function it is to know and approve the object to which
every dollar is to be applied, before it sanctions its
appropriation, whether it is willing, at the mere re
quest of a committee, to give a draft on the Treasury
for nearly thirty millions of dollars, and thus become
the mere ministerial agent of the Treasury depart
ment? This base abandonment of duty you must
submit to, to this humiliation you must come, if you
turn aside from the necessary duties of the session
to consider the bill now before you; unless, indeed,
you choose to rush madly upon an untried scheme,
full of danger, and surrounded with doubt, upon the
very reasonable presumption of the infallible wisdom
of its authors.
But, Mr. Speaker, if we had all the time we could
desire, for the adjustment of a new system of legisla
tion to any real or supposed change in our condition
at home, or with Other nations, is this an auspicious
period for the experiment? Turn for a moment to
your latest advices from England. Every painful
pulsation; in that great heart of capital and trade is
followed by a sympathetic throb on this side of the
Atlantic. What is the state of currency throughout
Great Britain now? The price of money rising, the
banks stopping payment, and her financiers unable
to foretell the time or the manner when or how this
agitation shall end. Nor is our situation free from

ON THE SURPLUS REVENUE. 181
symptoms of coming misfortune. I shall not stop to
inquire into the causes of the present anomalous
.situation of our own currency. My friend fr'om
Massachusetts, [Mr. Lawrence,] who addressed you
with so much force and clearness yesterday, has left
nothing to be said by any one on these topics. Sir,
the results of that gentleman's actual experience, the
reflections of his sound understanding, always aided
by the promptings of a good heg^rt, are with me
better authority, on such subjects, than a thousand
quartos filled with speculations of closeted economists.
We all know that, from some cause, trade and cur
rency seem to be divorced from each other; domestic
exchanges are no longer regulated by the course of
trade, and the very report on your table complains
of a redundant paper cfrculation. Who can tell
when the causes which have produced these effects
shall cease to operate? Who can say in what they
will finally issue? In this distracted state of things,
what are we asked to do? We are required to enact
a law that shall tear from its very foundations, where
they have rested for twenty years on the faith of your
laws, a capital and labor which produce property
equal to three hundred millions of dollars a year.
Is this a time to force such an amount of capital into
new employment? Is this that period of calm when
so much labor can safely be driven, with sudden
violence, to abandon its safe and tried pursuits, and
seek at once other and unaccustomed channels? No,
surely this is not that time. On the contrary, it
would add another to many elements of confusion

182 SPEECHES OP THOMAS CORWIN.
already but too extensively and actively at work.
Sir, it does seem to me that the unsettled state of
the internal commerce and currency of this country
is of itself an unanswerable objection to the present
enactment of a law that all must see will powerfully
increase the evils that already deeply afflict us. The
natural instinct of brute animals, in such a crisis,
would suggest caution and prudence as the course
of wisdom, not rash adventure and wild esxperiment.
If it were bad policy to protect by imposts the in
dustry of your own people, if it could be shown to be
unpatriotic and un-American to cherish by duties
manufacturing skill, so that in time of war you might
be able to furnish the commonest necessaries of life
to your own people, still, having done so, however
unwisely at first, since by doing it you have created
an immense amount of property, it would be mad
ness, moon-struck madness, to crush that property at
a blow. Sir, by the laws now in force, if you but let
.them alone, in five years, by your own showing, the
evil of which you now complain will cease to exist.
Instead of this, we are now asked, in order to get rid
of seven millions of surplus revenue, to destroy an
annual production of three hundred millions; and
are gravely told that this will be a most salutary
financial operation. Let gentlemen keep constantly
in mind that the bill and report go upon the admis
sion (at least it is not otherwise asserted) that the
duties now imposed are barely sufficient to enable
our own manufacturers to continue their business.
With the single exception of iron, the report on your

ON THE SURPLUS REVENUE. 183
table will, I think, be found to be in substance as I
have quoted it. If, then, you diminish that protec
tion by curtailing it in the short space of eighteen
months by seven millions, which by the law now in
force would not be done till the end of five years, it
follows, as a necessary conclusion, that you do
abandon capital and labor, to the amount I have
stated, to instant and total destruction.
Mr. Speaker, I have only suggested so much of
the merits of the subject as I deem necessary to
direct the attention of the House to the importance
and number of the questions which we are called
upon to decide, before we can safely vote for or
against the bill. If, then, reflection requires time;
if the exercise of reason is an agent in our researches
after truth; if knowledge is not intuitive, we poor
mortals, who are not gifted with those inspirations
which seem to be the peculiar attributes of the
authors of this bill and report, must beg a moment's
pause before we decide. We must plod on in the
old beaten way; we must proceed by painful and
slow research; we must stop, look around us, and
reflect much; and after great toil and a long journey,
we may possibly reach those lofty hights of trans
cendental political wisdom which the authors of this
bill have scaled with the speed of lightning at a
single bound. Is it to be expected, I again ask, that,
in the twenty-two days that remain for general busi
ness, we can canvass, item by item, appropriation
bills to the amount of near twenty-seven millions.

184 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
and have time left us to labor through the difficulties
that attend the bill under consideration ?
Mr. Speaker, in connection with the objections to a
consideration of this bill, arising from a want of time,
I must remind its authors, and the political majority
of this House, of another subject, which, in justice
to themselves and to the nation, they are bound to
bring forward at the present session. I allude to an
amendment" of the Constitution, so that the election
of President and Vice-president of the United States,
may, in no event, ever devolve on Congress. We
are now approaching the termination of those eight
years during which General Jackson has occupied
the presidential chair. I believe each annual mes
sage to Congress, during all that time, has adverted
in strong and sometimes imploring appeals to the
National Legislature on this subject. I know that
gentlemen have heretofore excused their neglect of
these suggestions of the President, by saying that
there was in the Senate a political majority opposed
to them; and, therefore, the great reform, so much
desired by the President and his friends, must wait
till that opposition was subdued. Sir, whether fortu
nately or otherwise for the republic I will not say,
but the fact is, that favored time, so long prayed for,
has at length arrived. There is now a clear majority,
in both branches of Congress, friendly to the existing
administration. Now, a time has at length come,
when we may with confidence call upon the friends
of General Jackson to redeem his and their pledges.

ON THE SURPLUS REVENUE. 185
SO often given, on this vital subject. I call especially
at this time for action, and not promises and post
ponement. General Jackson, after this session, will
be no more here, to admonish or advise us touching
this interesting subject. It has made an imposing
figure in that revolution which has subverted all the
maxims of polity and law, whensoever and howsoever
they were opposed to his suggestions. It has been a
theme on which honest patriots and designing dema
gogues have dwelt with equal skill and power. The
President, for the last time that his voice can ever
be heard in public council, in language which be
speaks deep and abiding solicitude, again beseeches
you to act. Hear what he says in his last message
to Congress. Nearly at the close, and when he is
about to bid a final adieu to you and the cares of
public life, he gives this subject to your especial
charge, with all the solemnity of a dying declaration.
He says : " All my experience and reflection confirm
the conviction I have so often expressed to Congress
in favor of an amendment to the Constitution, which
will prevent, in any event, the election of President
and Vice-president of the United States devolving
on the House of Representatives and the Senate;
and I, therefore, beg leave again to solicit your
attention to the subject."
Is there, then, any reason now for not carrying this
recommendation into effect, by the party having the
power, in both House and Senate, to do so ? None.
I call, then, upon the " Democratic party," as you of
the majority sometimes (as if in derision of the name)

186 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
call yourselves, to postpone this new experiment on
finance ; dispose of it at once for this year, because
it stands in the way of a constitutional reform, on
which, by your own admission, depends all your
hope of liberty. Do this, or take the consequences.
If you now refuse to act, when you have the undoubted
power to redeem your pledges, so often and solemnly
given, the people of this country will believe that
all your promises and professions were not the
promptings of patriotism, but rather the hollow and
selfish artifices of a shallow hypocrisy. However
uncharitable some gentlemen might deem such a
conclusion to be, in my judgment it would be most
reasonable and just. Our conduct admits of no other
explanation, if we consume the time allowed us in
discussing the difference between twp systems of
revenue, and pass by unnoticed another subject,
which, by our own declarations, repeated in every
form, touches our existence as a free people.
Sir, I might here content myself with thus ex
pressing my objections to the introduction of this
bill, at this time, by the committee of which I am a
member. I have endeavored to satisfy the House
that the necessary bills, without the passage of which
the Government can not execute its ordinary duties
during the year, must occupy us the entire remainder
of the session ; and if we should possibly have any
time not thus necessarily employed, that there are
other matters of high and paramount national im
portance, which should take precedence of this. But
there is another objection resting with great weight

ON THE SURPLUS REVENUE. 187
on my mind, which I can not forbear to press upon
the attention of gentlemen before I take my seat.
I allude to the Compromise Act, as it is familiarly
called, of March, 1833. If I am right in my con
ceptions of the true character of that law, we are
not only forbidden to legislate in the way now pro
posed at this time, but that we can not so legislate
until after the 30th of June, 1842, without such sac
rifice of honor and implied faith as would make a
bandit blush.
I shall not pretend that Congress has not the power
to alter essentially, or, if it will, abolish the law fixing
the rates of duties on a scale of gradual reduction
from 1833 up to 1842 ; but I deny the right of Con
gress to do so, unless impelled by some dire neces
sity, over which it can exert no control. War, that
greatest of all the ills that can befall a well-governed
people, might present a case of such necessity. No
such necessity is pretended. No gentleman here will
risk his character for sanity, by rising in his place
and declaring that, without a law like that on your
table, the liberties or happiness of the people are in
danger. No man, here or elsewhere, can pretend
that the Compromise Act of the 2d of March, 1833,
contains any principle which menaces the general
welfare of the country, or that its operation and
effects threaten our national prosperity with immi
nent danger. On the contrary, sir, the echoes of that
general note of acclaim, which reverberated from one
extremity of the Union to the other, at the passage
of that law, are at this moment scarcely silenced.

188 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
Our circumstances are not changed since the passage
of that law, in any way connected with its provisions
or policy. Hence I infer that, as that law, in its
terms, fixes the measure of protection which shall be
extended to domestic manufactures up to the year
1842, and as it was considered in the light of an
arrangement, permanent up to that time, by the
Congress who enacted it; and, further, as it was so
regarded by both the friends and foes of the pro
tective system, all over the country, and as those
engaged in manufacturing shaped thefr business, and
disposed their capital, in conformity to this general
opinion, although you have the power, you have no
right now to annul your understood engagement,
when by so doing, a capital and labor so great as to
produce three hundred millions a year, which have
been invested under the faith thus pledged, must be
at once destroyed. By altering essentially, as you
propose to do, the act of 1833^ you bring upon this
labor and capital what is equal to destruction; you
sever them by violence from their present business
connections, and leave them to the mercy of accident
for future occupation. I beg gentlemen to turn to
the law of 1833, and see how all the features of a
compact and permanent engagement are carefully
impressed upon it.
The first section, taking up the protected articles,
or such as paid a duty above twenty per centum ad
valorem, subjects them to a scale of gradual reduction
from 1833, until all are brought down to a duty of
twenty per centum ad valorem in 1842. Why were

ON THE SURPLUS REVENUE. 189
the several periodical reductions adjusted so carefully
through a period of nine years, if the law was not
expected to continue in force for that length of time ?
Let any gentleman reflect on the history of that law
for a moment, and he can have no further difficulty
in finding the principles of a permanent compromise
in it. Two great parties, as we all know, existed in
the country. These were known by the designations
of tariff and anti-tariff. The anti-tariff party, chiefly
comprised in the Southern and South-western sections
of the Union, demanded an abandonment of the pro
tective principle, and a reduction of duties to a reve
nue standard alone. They alleged, that as they were
consumers, and not producers of those articles which
were protected by law, they paid to the producer (in
the protective duty) a bounty upon his labor; and
insisted on the injustice of thus taxing the planting
States for the benefit of the Northern manufacturing
States. Such was the argnment on one side, whether
correct or not, I shall not here pause to consider. On
the other side, those friendly to the protective system
alleged that the policy of protection was begun early
in the history of the Government; that especially
since 1816 it had been pursued with such vigor and
constancy as not only to innate capital but actually to
impel it into the business of domestic manufacture.
They insisted, and with the most obvious reason,
that to withdraw suddenly that protection would
result in ruin to the capitalists, and wide-spread
misery to the laboring classes. They proposed a
system of gradual reduction of duties, which would

190 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
give time for the acquisition of skill, so as to enable
them to operate with little or no protection, or, at the
worst, (if time were given,) a gradual and compara
tively harmless withdrawal of their capital and labor
from manufacturing pursuits could be effected. To
this, proposition the South acceded, and its substance
will be found embodied in the law of 1833.. Thus
gradual reduction, extending through a series of years
to 1842, saved the manufacturer, while the prospect
ive reduction of duties on all protected articles to one
standard satisfied the principles contended for by the
South. When this was settled, to make it binding
and irrevocable till 1842, the parties inserted in the
third section of the bill their solemn declaration to
that effect. The section referred to reads as follows :
" And be it further enacted, That until the 30th day
of June, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two,
the duties imposed by existing laws, as modified by
this act, shall remain and continue to be collected."
Could your language furnish words more emphatic
ally expressive of a declaration by Congress that no
change was to be made in this branch of yohr reve
nue system till June, 1842? Did you then expect
your people to place no reliance on what you thus
solemnly proclaimed as your determination? No;
you did not expect the American people to treat you
as hollow-hearted knaves, attempting to impose on
their credulity. The sole object of proclaiming to
them the unalterable character of the law of 1833
was to quiet the fearful agitation that then every
where prevailed, and give stability to that interest—

ON THE SURPLUS REVENUE. 191
the manufacturing interest — which was most to be
affected by your acts. What, sir, were the happy,
the glorious effects of that compromise ? The day
before that law received the President's approval was
overcast with the gathering cloud of civil war, deep
ening, spreading, and blackening every hour. Thc
ground on which we stood seemed to heave and quake
with the first throes of a convulsion, that was to rend
in fragments the last republic on earth; at this fear
ful moment an overruling Providence revealed the
instrument of its will in the person of one man, whose
vfrtues would have illustrated the brightest annals
of recorded time. He produced this great measure
of concord, and the succeeding morning dawned upon
the American horizon without a spot; the sun of that
day looked down and beheld us a tranquil and united
people. Are we prepared now to break the bonds of peace,
and renew the war ? I have said you have the power
to do so, but I deny your right. I do not measure
that right by the standard of law in a municipal
court. I can not conceive any idea more ridiculous
or contemptible than that which finds no standard of
moral or political duties and rights, for a Christian, a
private gentleman, or a statesman, except that which
is applicable to a contest before a justice's court or a
nisi prius jury. No, sir, I appeal to a law in the
bosom of man, prior and paramount to this. I appeal
to the South, where I know that law will be obeyed,
and where I know I do not appeal in vain. I invoke
its characteristic chivalry. I call for that sentiment

192 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
of manly pride which is its offspring. I summon to
my aid that sensitive honor which feels "a stain like
a wound," which abhors deception, and shudders at
violated faith. Will that South, which I am sure I
have truly described, join in this odious infraction of
its own treaty, and unite in this miserable war upon
the laboring thousands who have confided in its secu
rities — a war not waged with open force and strong
hand — a war not waged to avenge insulted honor, but
to recover the difference between five and ten cents
duty upon a yard of cotton goods ? Your approach to
this battle is not heralded by the trumpet's voice ;
no, you are to take the proposed bill, and go on a
marauding expedition, by way of reprisal. You are
to steal into the dwelling of the poor, and boldly cap
ture a mechanic's dinner! You are to march into the
cottage of the widow, and fearlessly confiscate the
breakfast of a factory girl, for the benefit of the plant
ing and grain-growing States of this mighty republic!
Such are the motives for this war, and such are to be
the trophies of its victories. How little do they who
have presented such arguments as these, in this
report, know of the character of the people of the
South and West ! They vainly imagine that the high-
minded sons of the South have drank of the fatal cup
of the sorceress, and, like the companions of Ulysses,
"Lost their upright shape,
And downward fell into the groveling swine."
The great grain-growing States of the West are
informed, in this report, that they may reclaim a

ON THE SURPLUS REVENUE. 193
part of the tribute which, it is told them, they have
been paying without equivalent, if they will agree to
this bill. Let me tell the gentlemen, that the West
must first be satisfied they are free in honor to obey
this call. The hardy race that has subdued the
forests of the West, and in their green youth have
constructed monuments of their enterprise that shall
survive the pyramids, is not likely^, from merely
sordid motive, to join in inflicting a great evil on
any portion of our common country. The fearless
pioneers of the West, whose ears are as familiar
with the sharp crack of the Indian's' rifle, and his
wild war-whoop at midnight, as are those of your
city dandies with the dulcet notes of the harj) and
piano, they, sir, are not the men to act upon selfish
calculations and sinister inducements. They hold
their rights by law, and they believe that compacts,
expressed or implied, arising from individual en
gagements or public law, are to be kept and defended
with their lives, if need be — not to be broken at will,
or regarded as the proper sport of legislative or
individual caprice.
Mr. Speaker, we have heard much of late that is
new to us, if not alarming, on this subject of legisla
tive compact. From authorities of no mean consid
eration we have heard it boldly preached that the
validity of a compact arising out of law is an exploded
paradox. It is represented as a relic of "old times,"
and we are told that it is inconsistent with the
liberties of the people. The liberties of the people !
It was to establish "the liberties of the people," thati
13

194 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COEWIN.
Robesjiierre and his infamous associates preached
the same doctrine to the deluded and frantic populace
of France. Is the American government now to
adopt this creed of political faith? How long is it
since we were about to wage war with France for
refusing to fulfill a treaty which, in the language of
our Constitution, Avas nothing more than "the
suj)reme law of the land?" For this we were
ready to launch our thunders upon the seas, and arm
our whole population for the contest on the land.
We required the proud monarch of the most warlike
nation of modern times to humble himself before the
offended majesty of "public law." It is for a supposed
violation of "public law" that your armies have been
alternately hunting after, and flying before, the fierce
Oceola, for a whole year, through the lagoons and
hommocks of Florida. It is not to be supposed that
a people, thus acting, can be brought to disregard
like obligations, whether contracted by express or
implied compact, with its own citizens.
I hope, sir, I shall be pardoned for dwelling, it
may be, somewhat too long upon this topic. I must
now call the attention of the House for a few moments
to what I deem a singular phenomenon in our history,
as set forth in the report on your table. It is said
that the planting and grain-growing States have,
since 1789, paid to the manufacturers of this
country about three hundred and fifty millions of
dollars, for which they have received no equivalent.
Sir, if this be true, since the Israelites were required
by the Egyptian tyrant to make bricks without

ON THE SURPLUS REVENUE. 195
straw, there is no parallel to such monstrous op
pression. I have already stated that I will not pretend to
quote the precise language of the report. I am sure
it is stated that duties on imported articles to the
amount of six hundred and eighty-two millions of
dollars, beside thirty millions for its collection, have
been paid since the year 1789. It is also stated in
the report, that more than one-half of this aggregate
had been levied on protected articles. The whole
scope of the report labors to prove that this duty on
protected articles is a grievous and oppressi"\'e tax on
consumption, for which no equivalent is received in
return. Connected Avith these positions, the author
of the report endeavors to show that the planting
and grain-growing portions of the Union were, and
are, the consumers, and the few Northern manufac
turing States the producers, of the protected articles ;
that the former are the payers, and the latter the
receivers, of the duties ; which duties are represented
as a mere bounty to the labor of the North, for
which the South and West never have been, and, in
the nature of things, never can be, reimbursed. Sir,
I shall not now trouble the House, nor my friends,
who put forward this fact as a truth proved by figures
and tabular statements, with any argument opposed
to it, but I must be allowed to advert to it as a
Western man with feelings of pride. At the same
time, I must, in- common with others, labor under
some doubts of the fact asserted, arising out of the
known history of the last twenty or thirty years.

196 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
If the West and South-west have paid their due
proportion of this unjust and unremunerated tax of
three hundred and fifty millions within the last forty
years, while, at the same time, they have, as the
world knows, conquered the savages who possessed
the whole Western and South-western territory,
cleared the thick forests which overshadowed it; in
short, if that portion of the United States has, in
less than half a century, as all admit, reached a
point of improvement in wealth and arts which other
times and people required ages to achieve, then, I
say, I may with pride and confidence challenge the
whole world, within the period of authentic history,
to parallel the wonderful people which I have the
honor, in part, to represent.
But, Mr. Speaker, sober reality and stubborn facts
compel me to repress this exultation at our fancied
superiority; modesty compels me to doubt whether
truth places us so far above common mortality as this
report has done. Facts, known facts, those unaccom
modating things that ruin so many beautiful inven
tions of fertile and ingenious minds, are constantly
thrusting themselves before, and in the way of, the
figures and philosophy of the gentleman who has
labored in this report to push by them, and drive
over them, to reach his favorite conclusions. You
will observe, Mr. Speaker, that we are told of the
"treasuries other than those of the United States,"
into which this enormous tribute of three hundred
and fifty millions has been poured. In the same
connection you hear of the "princely establishments"

ON THE SURPLUS REVENUE. 197
that have been reared up and sustained by it. The
"princely establishments" are in the Northern man-
u.facturing States. The "princes" to whom the
tribute is paid are the people of this happy, favored
region. A'^Tiere, sir, are the poor oppressed tributa
ries, according to this report? Why, sir, in that
sinking, ruined, wasted wilderness, the West!
The author of this report, under the influence of a
too fervid imagination, has spurned the^shackles and
broken through the embarrassments arising from
facts connected with the scheme of his theory. He
represents the Northern manufacturing States as
another imperial Rome, seated on her seven hills,
rioting in the luxuries of the despoiled and im
poverished South, her treasuries bursting with the
enormous wealth poured into them from the ravaged
and desolated provinces of the West. Manufacturing-
is pictured as the finger of Midas, turning every
thing it touches into gold, while it would seem that
growing grain and planting -cotton brought only taxa
tion without equivalent, poverty, and unrequited toil.
Sir, if all this were true, what would follow? The
people of this country, however they may be excelled
by other nations in the walks of letters and the polite
arts, are known to be shrewd and well-informed,
touching their own pecuniary interests. Such a
people would be found rushing into the manufactur
ing districts, to reap harvests of wealth, and wallow
in monopolies that drained every other portion of the
Union to swell their accumulation. Such a people
would be found to shun, as a land of pestilence and

198 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
death, the agricultural region, where nothing awaited
them but taxation, and consequent poverty. Sir, I
regret that fact, and the truths of history compel me
to spoil the beautiful theories and exact calculations
of this admirable report; but, sir, truth, however
unwelcome, will be found, at last, the safest guide, in
Avandering through the labyrinths of speculation and
theory. What, sir, is the fact? Why, for thirty
years the tide of emigration has been from this very
land of Avealth, and not to it. The exodus has been
from the land of promise, to the house of bondage.
The shrewd Yankees have been flying from Avealth,
and ease, and monopoly, in their own country, to this
A'-ery oppressed grain and cotton-raising region of the
West, seeking taxation, oppression, and want! For
these last three years, as every American (except
the authors of this report) Avell knows, population
from the Northern States has been plowing its Avay
through the ice of the Northern lakes, and bursting
over the mountains, till the roads and rivers are
literally choked with its masses. Where are these
colonists going? To the West, to raise grain, and be
taxed ! To the South-Avest, to grow cotton,, and be
come poor! Such is the reasoning of the report.
NoAV, I beg to know whether it is not taxing our good
nature quite too far to ask us to believe, and act upon,
ingenious theories, and long columns of figTires, stand
ing, as they do, opposed to facts, admitted, known,
and understood, by every man in this Union over
tAA'enty-one years of age. To come to the conclusion
at Avhich the report has arrived, we are required to

ON THE SURPLUS REVENUE. 199
admit that man is blind to, and careless of, his OAvn
personal advantage. Nay, more ; the authors of this
report require you to deny to our American race the
common instinct of all animal creation. The phi
losophy of this report teaches that man shuns ease,
and desires toil; that he hates pleasure, and loves
'pain; that he eschews Avealth, and courts poverty;
that he flies from power, and seeks subjection. All
this jumble of contradictions we are required to
admit as seK-evident truths, simply to explain exist
ing facts in a way not to contradict this erudite
treatise on trade and finance.
Mr. Speaker, I know it is impudent to obtrude
our crude notions upon those to whom, from their
position, we are taught to look for the lessons of
wisdom ; but I hope I may be alloAved to inquire of
the majority of the "Ways and Means," whether it
had not been better had they reviewed slightly their
philosophical reading, before they sat down to the
arduous task of writing the production now before
us ? Had they turned to the pages of Bacon, Avith
which I am sure they must be familiar, they would
have found a maxim which, since the days of the
great author of the "inductive philosophy," has
never been disregarded. I think, if my memory
is not at fault, it teaches that in all our researches.
after truth, Ave must reason '¦'¦ex prceconcessis aut ex
prcecognitis," For the benefit of my unlettered
Western fr-iends, I am bound to render myself in
telligible, by giving it in their own mother tongiie.
I will not be responsible for accuracy, but I am sure

200 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
I shall not mistake the substance. The rule simply
requires us always to reason from facts previously
admitted, or proAdously known to exist.
Had this rule been observed, the authors of this
report might have remembered that the oppressive
tax on the cotton grower, paid in the shape of duties,
Avas in some measure repaid him by a market for
350,000 bales of his cotton in this country every
year, which market he could not have without the
tax. It might have occurred to them, that the
grower of grain, who paid his proportion of the duty
on protected articles, was not so badly off, since he
found, in those "princely establishments" spoken of,
a market for his flour, pork, and beef, Avhich, without
these establishments furnishing a market, might haA^e
rotted on his hands. They might have thought the
immense emigration to, and vast improvements of,
the West were facts worth attention, in ascertaining
Avhether that West was oppressed by the tariff, in a
Avay too grievous to be borne. Far be it from me to
assert, sir, that these facts would have puzzled the
gentlemen ; I only mean to say, sir, that vulgar and
coarse minds would have been better satisfied with
the report had some notice been taken of them.
Before I take leave of the subject, I Avish to notice
a few other difficulties which oppose the consideration
of this bill at this time, and which spring from a
source that will not be disregarded by the majority
of this House. It will be seen that the bill proposes
a reduction of our income, within the next eighteen
months, of seA^en millions. A very considerable por-

ON THE SURPLUS REA'ENUE. 201
tion of this reduction falls on the receipts of the
present year. The question I ask here is this : Can
the treasury bear this curtailment of its resources
now? To answer this, I appeal to an authority
which, for these last tAvo years, has never been ques
tioned or doubted by the gentlemen who present this
bill to the House. I allude to the annual report of
the Secretary of the Treasury, made on the 6th of
December last.
The receipts into the treasury, from all sources,
during 1837, are estimated at $24,000,000. I quote
the very language of the report. Gentlemen Avill
find I am right, by reference to Document No. 2 of
this session, page 4. After enumerating the various
sources (such as customs, public lands, etc.) from
Avhich this amount is deriA^ed, the Secretary proceeds
to compute the amount of expenditures for the present
year. I shall give his own language, from the same
document, page 5 :
" The expenditures for all objects, ordinary and
extraordinary, in 1837, including the contingent of
only $1,000,000 for usual excesses in appropriations,
beyond the estimates, are computed at $66,755,831,
provided the unexpended appropriation at the end
of this and the next year remain about equal."
Here gentlemen will see that, instead of reducing
the revenue down to the wants of the GoA^ernment,
our income, from all sources, in 1837, falls short of
our expenditures, as estimated, nearly $3,000,000.
If the Secretary is right, (and will the gentlemen
of the majority be so bold as to say he is Avrong ?)

202 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
then the effort should be to increase the taxes, to
raise the revenue up to the actual wants of the
Government. And, sir, if it were not for the five
millions, Avhich are kept in reserve for extraordinary
demands on the treasury by the deposit bill of last
year, according to the calculations of Mr. Woodbury,
Ave should be compelled now to increase the duties
on foreign merchandise during the present year, or
borroAv money to meet the demands on the treasury.
Let us see what the Secretary further says, on page 5
of the same report. I again quote his own Avords :
" From these calculations, it will be seen that, if
the outstanding appropriations, unexpended at the
close of 1837, be as large as at the close of 1836, and
the other expenditures should agree Avith the above
estimates, they would exceed the computed revenue
accruing from all sources nearly $3,000,000, or suffi
cient to absorb more than half of that part of the
present surplus which is not to be deposited with the
soA^eral States. But if these outstanding appropria
tions, at the close of 1837, should be much less than
those in 1836, as is probable, or should the accruing
receipts be much less, or the appropriations made
for 1837 be much larger than the estimates, a call
AA^ll become necessary for a portion of the surplus
deposited with the States, though it will not probably
become necessary, except in one of those events."
In the extract I have read, the Secretary has quite
distinctly told us that the probability is we shall not
only^ absorb all the accruing revenue, and the five
millions not deposited with the States, by the expen-

ON THE SURPLUS REA'ENUE. 203
ditures of 1837, but that the States Avill be called on
to repay a portion of the money deposited Avith them,
to meet the AA-ants of the GoA'ernment during the
present year. How, sir, does the policy of reducing
the rcA-enue, as proposed in this bill, agree Avith this
state of things ? Pass the bill, sir, and in eighteen
months, it is said, you Avill save in the pockets of the
people seven millions, Avhich would otherAvise be
draAA'ii from them by the laws now in force. And,
in the same time, if you place any confidence in the
Secretary of the Treasmy, you Avill be compelled to
take from the people of the States (Avho are to have
the use of the money deposited with them) an equal
amount, if not more. What a miserable piece of
bungling jugglery would this be ! You simply take
seven millions out of one pocket of the people and
put it into the other, and gravely tell them you have
saved to them seven millions of money by the process.
Sir, the people of the States are not to be thus de
ceived. Let them look to this measure and its sure
results. It is designed to bring about a state of
things Avhich will compel a call on them for the
surplus revenue deposited with them, and which I
am happy to see their legislatures are using to the
general advantage of their constituents.
But it is possible, the friends of the Secretary Avill
tell me his conjectures and calculations are not to be
relied on. Shall I receive that answer from the
gentlemen composing the majority here? Whose
authority is it that is thus to be contemned? The very
man whose behests have been laws to the committee

204 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
of Ways and Means ever since I have had the
honor to be one of them. Sir, I have observed that
it has been thought by that committee not only
unwise, but even contumacious, factious, rebellious,
to oppose any demand or to doubt any view taken by
the Secretary of the Treasury. Nay, sir, I have
thought sometimes that his friends on that com
mittee considered it conclusive evidence of essential
vulgarity ; it was proof with them that a man had
not seen "good society," if he presumed to question
the propriety of any estimate or any requisition com
ing from that high and responsible source. So pre-
A^alent were these opinions, that I fear I have some
times yielded my assent to appropriations, merely to
preserve my character for "gentility" with the ^Jiaut
ton,''^ who compose the majority here, as they do in the
committee of which I am a member. How is it, then,
that we are noAV to dismiss all regard to the sugges
tions of this officer ? Has not the President certified
to you that he has discharged his duty with great
ability and great fidelity? Do we not hear his friends
everywhere extolling him to the skies for a prodigy
of financial wisdom? Did not the President select
him for his great and comprehensive knowledge of
that most perplexing of all sciences — ^political econ
omy ; for his large and accurate acquaintance with
the channels of trade and the sources of national
wealth ? Surely no one of the majority will doubt
this. Now, sir, Avhat respect is paid to his opinions,
his " official opinions," by the bill and report on your
table ? True, it can not be denied, for the President

ON THE SUEPLUS REVENUE. 205
has said it is so, that he has discharged his duty with
fidelity. Is it not unkind, then, in his oAvn friends,
his "ministering servants" of the Ways and Means,
to treat his labors Avith such cruel indifference ? See
him day and night watching the A^arious currents of
trade that bring AA'ealth to the people, and revenue to
the Treasury ; sacrificing his ease and health to those
" thoughts AA'hich waste the marroAv and consume the
brain ;" year after year denying himself, with stoical
fortitude, the gayeties of this most refined and fash
ionable city, brooding with ceaseless and anxious
care OA^er the Treasury, if not the treasure, he sits
like "sad Prometheus fastened to his rock." And
now, sir, as if they were determined that this Titan
of the Treasury should realize the fate of this proto
type of old, his ancient friends, it- seems, by some
magical change, turn tormentors, and are prepared
to thrust their Aiilture-beaks into his liver, and, with
remorseless voracity, devour his flesh, without oA^er
terminating his pain. Sir, to drop figure, and speak
in plain prosaic English, this bill asks you to treat
OA^ery opinion of the present Secretary as stupid non
sense, and take as infallible truth the conjectures of
this report in their stead. I ask the friends of the
Secretary if they are prepared for this ; if not, they
Avill vote with me to postpone the bill.
Let it be remembered that the Secretary of the
Treasury, whose views are diametrically opposed to
the passage of any law looking to a reduction of the
revenue, has giA^en his opinions only a month ago.
Surely he has not changed all his notions respecting

206 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COEWIN.
our probable receipts in 1837 since he published his
last report ! I should be glad if my colleague, [Mr.
Hamer,] who told us the other day "he had lately
been behind the curtain," would inform us whether,
among other precious secrets, he had heard anything
of a total change of the Secretary's opinions on this
subject, Avithin the last few weeks.
Mr. Speaker, if the gentlemen Avho have brought
forward this measure have emancipated themseh^es
from all respect for the opinions and recommenda
tions of your chief of finance — a respect bordering
heretofore on absolute submission to his will — a little
attention to documents emanating from a quarter still
more A^enerated, Avill exhibit them in an attitude of
still more exalted independence. They are, however,
(if I may be pardoned a conjecture so uncharitable,)
scarcely entitled to a position so enviable as that
of self-relying and self-resolved freedom of action.
Something of the dross of selfishness, unhappily for
poor humanity, mingles in the composition of the
purest motives, and stains the glory of the most
sublime achieA'ements. The committee haA^e, I fear,
betrayed something too much of a quality, or to
speak phrenologically, an organ, of combatiA^eness.
They have not only spurned all the trammels of pre
cedent, and despised all the opinions of the Secretary
of the Treasury, but determined that paradox should,
in themselves at least, haA^e the merit of originality.
They have set at naught, nay, scorned, the solemn
injunctions of the President himself. Thus, they
may be said to stand " alone in their glory." Sir, we

ON THE SUEPLUS REVENUE. 207
haA'e heard much of General Jackson's sy^stem of
administration. If any meaning is to be attached to
this AA^ord "sy^stem," Avhich can stand against the
arbitrary dictation of party, it Avill be admitted that
it implies a plan Avhich comprehends an order of pro
ceeding by. principles extending over the time, at
least, of a Presidential term. In this AdeAv, Ave can
at once see how great principles are as true and
applicable in practice in 1837 as they Avere in 1836.
This being admitted, let us see hoAv the bill and
report now before us harmonize with the doctrines on
the same subject, expressed in strong and earnest
advice to Congress, in the President's message a year
ago. I quote the entire passage from the message
of 1836 :
"Should Congress make new aj)propriations, in
conformity Avith the estimates Avhich Avill be sub
mitted from the proper departments, amounting to
about twenty-four millions, still the available surplus,
at the close of the next year, after deducting all unex
pended appropriations, Avill probably not be less than
six millions. This sum can, in my judgment, be noAv
usefully applied to proposed improvements in our
navy-yards, and to new national Avorks, which are not
enumerated in the present estimates, or to the more
rapid completion of those already begun. Either
would be constitutional and useful, and Avould render
unnecessary any attempt, in our present peculiar con
dition, to divide the surplus revenue, or to reduce it
any faster than will be effected by the existing
laws. In any event, as the annual report from the

208 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
Secretary of the Treasury will enter into details show
ing the probability of some decrease in the revenue
during the next seven years, and a very considerable
deduction in 1842, it is not recommended that Con
gress should undertake to modify the present tariff so
as to disturb the principles on which the Compromise
Act was passed. Taxation on some of the articles of
general consumption, which are not in competition
Avith our OAvn productions may be, no doubt, so dimin
ished as to lessen, to some extent, the source of this
revenue ; and the same object can also be assisted by
more liberal provisions for the subjects of public
defense, AAdiich, in the present state of our prosperity
and wealth, may be expected to engage your atten
tion. If, hoAvever, after satisfying all the demands
Avhich can arise from these sources, the unexpended
balance in the Treasury should still continue to
increase, it would be better to bear Avith the evil until
the great changes contemplated in our tariff laws
have occurred, and shall enable us to revise the sys
tem with that care and circumspection which are due
to so delicate and important a subject."
Here gentlemen Avill perceive that the bill and
report are at Avar Avith the President's opinion,
solemnly expressed, on the same subject. Mark,
lioAvever, the terms employed to designate the act
of 1833; he calls it the "Compromise Act." As he
anticipates a considerable reduction in our revenue
during the next seven years, and especially in 1842,
he warns us "not to disturb the principles on which
the Compromise Act of 1833 Avas passed." Spoken

ON THE SURPLUS REVENUE. 209
like a man sensible of the obligations of legislative
and public faith! Sentiments Avorthy the chief
magistrate of a nation goA'-erned by laAv, whose duty
it is to see the obligations of laAv faithfully observed !
He speaks familiarly ofthe "jorinciples" upon AAdiich
the Compromise Act Avas passed. What does he
mean by the "principles" of that act? Nothing else
than these mutual stipulations by the great contend
ing parties to that compact, providing for a stable,
fixed rate of duties, which should remain, as the act
itself expresses it, till June, 1842. The bill disregards
the principles, or rather violates and destroys the
principles, on Avhich the Compromise Act Avas passed.
The report, instead of anticipating a reduction of
revenue by the laAvs noAv in force, goes about facili
tating that reduction by legislating in a way contrary
to the whole tenor of the President's opinion which
I haA-e quoted. Sfr, I call on the chairman of the
Ways and Means to say when, before noAv, he has
A^entured on a system of policy not approA^ed by the
"speech from the throne." I ask him why he did
not bring forward this bill last year, Avhen OA^ery
possible expedient Avas resorted to to get rid of a
surplus, which was about to go to the States, as it
did go, under a laAv so odious to the Prince Regent,
AA'ho is to mount the throne the 4th of the coming
March? A bill reducing the revenue then Avoukl
have saved the troubles and dangers of a deposit with
the States. That was the time, if ever, to have urged
its passage. Since the surplus has gone to the
States, no reason exists for reduction. Do not gen-
14

210 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
tlemen see that a most uncharitable view may
plausibly be taken of their course? It will be said,
that as the President had forbidden you to disturb
the Compromise, and at that time had a year of his
reign remaining, in which his power of reward and
punishment could be exerted, you then dare not
incur his displeasure ; but now, when only six weeks
of that reign are left, to be spent in the languor of
convalescence, or it may be in the agony of pain, you
may treat the opinions of your old chief with con
tempt, relying on the sure protection of the Executive
elect. Of the chairman of the Ways and Means,
(whom, if I may not number among my triends, I
can not call my foe,) I fear it may be said that his
eye has been so dazzled by the glitter of expected
coronets, under the new reign, that he has lost sight
of all regard for the principles and authority of that
which is now almost numbered with the past.
"High-reaching Buckingham grows cfrcumspect."
What a striking exhibition is here of the emptiness
and vanity of earthly renown and mere human power!
But yesterday, and, like the mighty first Caesar,
"the word of Andrew Jackson might have stood
against the world," and now, "none so poor as to do
him reverence." Deserted by all his old ajid faithful
followers, abandoned by those adoring crowds of self-
styled democrats, I alone, an obscure and derided
aristocrat, from the far West, as our nomenclature
has it, I alone stand by the desolate old man, vindi-,
eating his opinions, and stemming, as I best can, that
torrent of contempt poured out by^ his own former

ON THE SURPLUS REA'"ENUE. 211
friends, Avhich is likely to pursue and overwhelm him
in his retreat from the scene of his glory.
How are Ave to account for this singular OA'ent?
Singular, indeed it is, apparently, but really what
Avas to be looked for. Politicians who belong to Avhat
I may denominate, for the sake of distinction, the
school of idolatry, do not Avorship the setting, but
alAvays the rising sun. No sooner, therefore, do we
see the leA'el beams of the retiring hero's setting orb
begin to melt into the twilight, than, as we might
expect, the thick crowds turn wistfully to a dubious
and uncertain daAvn in an opposite quarter of the
heavens. With characteristic fitfulness it now shoots
a gleam of faint light above the horizon, and anon
AvithdraAvs it from sight. At last, "half concealed,
half disclosed," it rises on the world, and hither the
multitudes repair to "worship and adore."
Thus, and thus only, can we account, sir, for those
eccentric moA^ements and strange contradictions
which crowd themselves into the annals of the little
and great aspirants after the jjerishable honors of this
Avorld; and this bill we are to receive as the first
offering upon the altars erected to our noAv divinity.
It is in this way our new sovereign Avill signalize the
beginning of his reign. He will destroy, in the first
year, three hundred millions of property, all for the
good of his loving subjects; and, with the blessing
of God, which may be most reasonably expected to
attend so beneficent a work, proceeding at this rate,
he will succeed, in his reign of four years, in destroy
ing twelve hundred millions of the nation's property.

212 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
Thus AAdll our excellent democratic Government enable
our people to feel the force of that consoling declara
tion of Scrijature, " blessed are the poor."
Mr. Speaker, I should be happy to spare myself
the pain which it always gives me to recur to former
transactions in a way likely to excite unpleasant feel
ings; but I have the misfortune to differ with the
majority of a committee of which I am a member;
I am therefore compelled, in self-defense, to give
every reason in my power for the course my con
science impels me to pursue.
The House are already apprized that the bill on
the table presupposes a surplus of revenue as certain
to accrue Avithin the next eighteen months. The ex
istence of this surplus is the evil the bill is intended
to prevent. Whether this apprehended surplus will
accrue is matter of opinion. I wish, then, to present
another, and only one other, document, to shoAv the
reliance to be placed upon the opinions of that very
majority of the Ways and Means, who now require
us, on the faith of their opinion and conjecture
merely, to pass this bill. Many gentlemen Avill
remember that A^arious projects for the disposition of
the surplus revenue were referred to this same com
mittee, composed of the same persons last year
Avhich now compose it. On the 1st of July, 1836,
just before the close of the last session, and only
about six months ago, a report was made from which
I propose to read an extract. It will be seen by this
extract what were the opinions of the committee
then, as to any surplus which might possibly come

ON THE SURPLUS REVENUE. 213
into the Treasury, and also their prognostics as to
the probability of such an event happening at all.
After disposing of a variety of topics, and revioAA--
ing our past history, as usual, complaining with
becoming indignation of bad currency in England
and America, and deploring the existence of an evil
spirit of speculation, notAvithstanding the late death
of the United States Bank, the report concludes as
follows :
" Our revenue from customs and public lands,
after 1837, is not likely to exceed the expenditures
of Government. It is, therefore, important that,
wdiatever surplus we may have in the meantime,
whether deposited with the local banks or in the
State treasuries, as is proposed after the 1st of
January next, should be preserved, to be applied
to the extraordinary purposes we have been com
pelled to provide for during this session, and for
similar expenditures, which, in the present state of
our Indian relations, may again become necessary.
On the balance in the treasury on the 1st of January
next, and the revenue which may be received in
1837, there will be charged, in addition to the current
expenditures of that year, and all extraordinary de
mands that may occur, probably near fifteen millions
for appropriations authorized at the present session,
making the claims upon the treasury in the next
year greater than in the present, Avhile the revenue
of 1837 will be considerably less than that of 1836,
and leaving the surplus at the close of that year
much diminished. As our income Avill not probably

214 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
then exceed our current expenditures, we must rely
entirely upon what surplus we may have to defray
all expenses which may become necessary in extin
guishing Indian titles to lands, removing the tribes
beyond the Mississippi, and for other subjects of
expenditure of an extraordinary character."
I beg the House to notice with what oracular
gravity the prophets then uttered their predictions:
" Our revenue from customs and public lands, after
1837, is not likely to exceed the expenditures of
Government." We are then kindly, but still peremp
torily, admonished to husband our surplus, if any, to
meet those exigencies which every wise and consider
ate man should always be prepared to expect in
human concerns. Again, at the close Ave are thus
addressed : "As our income will not probably then
exceed our current expenditures, we inust rely entirely
upon what surplus we may have to defray all the ex
penses Avhich may become necessary in extinguishing
Indian titles to land," etc. So spoke the prophets sis
months since; and now, up jumps the chairman of
the Ways and Means, "modest as Morning when
she eyes the youthful Phoebus," and full of' the same
inspiration that burned in the bosom of the seer in
-July last ; and, in the same solemn prophetic tones,
he tells us our income will exceed our expenditures.
Now we are admonished not to husband any surplus
we may have, but to reduce the revenue by seven
millions in the next year and a half, so that no
surplus whatever shall remain.
Sir, when I see with what ruthless hand the com-

ON THE SURPLUS REVENUE. 215
mittee has torn to pieces every shred of character,
for either ability or fidelity, of the Secretary of the
Treasury, and hoAv, Avith the same destructive appe
tency, they haA'^e trampled down the authority of
the President himself; and, lastly, Avhen I see with
what ridiculous gravity these two reports of the
same committee, differing only six months in their
ages, contradict each other, I hope the gentlemen
Avill pardon the degrading analogy, but really I can
think of nothing like them but the celebrated " cats
of Kilkenny;" they have at last literally swallowed
each other. Sir, I have done Avith this subject. I
know I have detained the House already too long;
for this I must find an apology in the fact that I had
not the most distant thought of addressing the House
on this subject till the afternoon of yesterday. With
out further time for arrangement of topics, I could
not hope to preserve that order which is so favorable
to broAdty as well as perspicuity. Let me again
implore the House to put this subject at once at rest.
The worst evil that can come is a surplus of a few
millions ; and even this the highest officer in the
Government connected with your financial system
tells you is impossible. But if it should occur, send
it, as you have done before, to the States, where it
can be used as well as kept. If this surplus is an
evil, in that way you can rid yourselves of it as
easily as the shipwrecked apostle shook off the ser
pent that fastened upon his hand. At all events, let
your people rest one year from your miserable ex
periments. Let your former blunders teach you.

216 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
some caution. In your attempt to bring about a
gold currency, you have flooded the land with bank
notes. In destroying the United State Bank mo
nopoly, you haA^e raised up a greater monopoly in
public lands. Now you are to try the experiment of
breaking down what are called, in this report, the
"princely establishments of the North." Sfr, you
Avill not, can not, at least noAv, effect this last and
most cruel experiment. Let us then put this bill
quietly to sleep somewhere ; let it rest in peace till
1842 ; then, perhaps, it may re-appear among us
under other auspices, and with better claims to our
regard.

ON THE CUMBERLAND ROAD.
[In the House of Representatives of the United States, Friday,
April 20,1838, the House having again resumed the consideration
of the bill making appropriations for the continuation of the Cum
berland Road through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, Mr. Cora\-in
addressed the House as follows:]
]Me. Speaker:
I perceive the House is unusually^ impatient of this
debate. I am A'-ery reluctant, at any time, to lift up
my A'oice in this Babel of confused voices, but espe
cially so noAv ; nor Avould I delay the final vote for a
moment, did I not remember that this bill has been
already once rejected, but a day or two since ; and
from the tone of discussion this morning, I have too
much reason to fear it will meet a similar fate by the
vote noAv about to be taken. I may add, also, that I
feel uuAvilling to permit the remarks of the two gen
tlemen from South Carolina [Mr. CloAvney and Mr.
Pickens,] to pass to the press, and ft-om thence into
the public mind, without an attempt, at least, to cor
rect the erroneous impressions in which, according to
my views, they abound.
The bill now under discussion, for the continuation
of the Cumberland Road, is nothing more nor less
than the continuance of a system of regular annual
expenditure, begun in 1806, and continued, Avith the
exception of the short period of the war Avith Great
(217)

218 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
Britain, every year up to the present time. The esti
mates for this appropriation are as regularly and
habitually sent in by the Treasury department, as
are those for the salary of the President and other
public servants, or those for the support of the army.
If a continued perseverance in the prosecution of any
public measure for thirty years can not be looked to
as settling the public utility of such measure, or the
fixed policy and duty of this Government, beyond the
reach of cavil or objection, then, indeed, may it be
truly said that we are a people without common fore
thought, a Government without any established pol
icy, a confederacy without any common end or aim
Avhatever. The construction of the road provided for in this
bill, ft'om the waters of the Atlantic to the Missis
sippi river, was originated during the administration
of Mr. Jefferson. It has received the countenance of
OA'ery shade and complexion of political party in Con
gress, at various periods since, and has been sanc
tioned by the approval of every Executive from that
time to the present. It has thus become incorpo
rated with your policy. It makes a part of the creed
of all parties, and, as it advances in its progress, is
woven into the texture of those systems of internal
improvement going forward in each of the six States
through which it passes. A measure thus perse-
veringly continued so long, sustaining itself, through
perpetual conflicts, and every vicissitude of our his
tory for the last thirty years, comes recommended at
once to the mind as something necessary — something

ON THE CUMBERLAND ROAD. 219
AA'hich has been found indispensable, and not merely^
convenient. It stands in your policy like one of those
truths in philosophy which is not questioned, because
it has received the general assent of all reasonable
men. Speaking of such a measure, this morning, the
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Pickens, richly
imbued as his mind is with philological learning)
could find no terms whereby to characterize this bill
less odious than suimUing and plunder. Then, by a
dextrous evasion of the substance, and a strict observ
ance of the letter of the rules of courtesy in debate,
the gentleman has been able, by fair inference, to
denounce the supporters of the bill as the prompters
of "swindling," the aiders and abettors of " j)lunder."
[Here Mr. Pickens rose and observed that he had
not applied the terms stated by Mr. Corwin to the
bill, or those who supported it. He had stated, in
argument, the case of a general system of taxa
tion, and an appropriation to partial and local
purposes, and denominated that as swindling and
plunder.] I understand the gentleman as he ex
plains himself. He has made a speech against this
bill. He has endeavored to illustrate, in various
Avays, its iniquity and impolicy. He denounces this
road as local in its character, and not of general
utility. He shows that the money appropriated is a
part of the common roA^enue raised from the whole
Union. He then speaks of general taxation, and
local appropriations, and calls this last a system of
swindling and plunder. It is but the difference
betAveen a positive assertion and a conclusion from

220 SPEECHES OP THOMAS CORWIN.
premises stated. Sir, I desire, when thus arraigned,
to submit my defense. If I am not mistaken, the
gentleman will find this system, and this road, have
been cherished and heartily supported by men, living
and dead, to whom even he would be willing to defer
in such matters ; and with whose memories and char
acter he would not associate the folly and criminality
Avhich, in his over-wrought zeal, he fancies he has'
discoA^ered in this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I do not intend to elaborate an essay
upon this road, but I must be permitted to notice, for
a few moments, the very summary method by which
gentlemen with great apparent ease acquit their
consciences of all censure for voting down now and
forever all further appropriations of the kind. Yes
terday the gentleman from South Carolina [Mr.
Rhett] spoke of the supposed importance of the road
west of Wheeling for military purposes, as an idea
too ridiculous to merit a moment's serious thought.
It seemed to him perfectly idle to imagine that
ordnance or military stores would ever be trans
ported by land westward while the Ohio river
remained ; and so, with undoubting confidence and
the utmost self-complacency, he assures us that a
"fool's cap and bells" should be bestoAved upon any
one who entertains a contrary opinion. Sir, I hope I
may be allowed, with great humility, not indeed to
deny to the conclusions of the gentleman the greatest
certainty possible in matters of this kind, but merely
to suggest a fact or two which it may be well to con
sider a moment before we swear to the infallibility

ON THE CUMBERLAND ROAD. 221
of his judgment on this military question. In the
first place, the road and river, though both running
from east to Avest, from Wheeling to the MississipjDi,
are distant fi'om each other, from north to south,
from ninety to one hundred and fifty miles at various
points. I think it possible in the chances of Avar that
it might become necessary to march a military force
directly from AMieeling to Columbus, in Ohio, or to the
capitals of Indiana or Illinois, and to take along Avitli
such force a train of artillery. Would the Ohio river,
think you, be so obliging as to leave its ancient bed,
and bear your cannon on its waves across the coun
try from Wheeling to Columbus, in Ohio, and from
thence by Indianapolis to Spring-field, in Illinois ? If
AA'e could suspend the laAvs of the physical Avorld,
or if a miracle could be Avrought at our command,
then the confident opinion of the gentleman, that
this road is, in no sense, of military importance,
Avould, in my poor judgment, appear somoAvhat plau
sible. But the gentleman seems also to forget that
the waters of the Ohio, in spite of our wishes to the
contrary, Avill freeze into hard ice. For three months
in the winter it is not, at all times, navigable. On
account of shoals, it is not naAdgable at a time of Ioav
water in the summer. And hence it would folloAA',
that your military movements in that quarter, if
ever necessary, Avould have to Avait for the floods of
summer, and the thaws of Avdnter. But I Avill not
venture to ojDpose any speculatiA'e notions of mine to
an opinion so confidently entertained by several gen
tlemen from the South Avho have spoken in this

222 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
debate. I will fortify myself by an authority which
I am sure will command, as I know it should, infi
nitely more regard than any opinion or argument of
mine. It Avill be remembered, Mr. Speaker, that this
Government, soon after the late war with Great
Britain, admonished by the experience of that War,
determined on prosecuting a general system of mih
tary^ defense. To this end. General Bernard was
brought from France, and placed at the head of the
Engineer corps. In the year 1824, it became the
duty of this officer, under the direction of Mr. John
C. Calhoun, then Secretary of War, to survey and
report to Congress such rivers to be improved, and
canals and roads to be constructed all OA^er om* terri
tory, as were conceived to be of national importance
for commercial or military^ purposes. On the 3d of
December, 1824, Mr. Calhoun submitted to the Presi
dent, and through him to Congress, the result of the
labors of this corps, accompanied with his own reflec
tions and recommendations. It will be found, on
examining that document, that this very Cumberland
road is classed Avith other great works of internal
improvement, which, in the opinion of Mr. Calhoun,
^vere necessary to the defense of the country in war,
and that the road now under the consideration ofthe
House is there pronounced to be of " national import
ance." This was the opinion of Mr. Calhoun in 1824.
The construction of the Cumberland road, as a work
of commercial importance, as well as a sure means of
binding in union the Eastern and Western portions

ON THE CUMBERLAND ROAD. 223
of bur country, had been urged upon Congress by Mr.
Gallatin, as Secretary of the Treasury, as early as
1803, and by Mr. Giles and ^Mr. John Randolph, of
Virginia, in reports Avhich they respectiA^ely sub
mitted to Congress about the same time. Before the
navigation of the rivers of the West by steam, no one
could cast his eye upon the map of the Western
States, and not perceive at once the incalculable
value of this road to the commerce of both East and
West. If the application of steam to navigation has
diminished the importance of the road, this was
knoAvn and considered by Mr. Calhoun, when he
made the report to which I have referred. In 1824,
the steamboats were flying on their wings of fire from
Pittsburg to New Orleans, as they are now ; yet Mr.
Calhoun pronounced the Cumberland road then a
Avork of " national importance." I beg the gentle
man ft'om South Carolina who spoke this morning
[Mr. Pickens] to peruse that report of his friend,
Mr. Calhoun. I beg him to ponder well the magnifi
cent and expensiA^e works of internal improvement
there commended to the favorable regard of this
Government. The waters of the Chesapeake and
Ohio were to flow together. From the Ohio the chain
Avas to be stretched across that State to the North
ern lakes, and thus the North and South are to be
bound up together, one in their internal interests, as
they are one and identical in their national and extra
territorial relations. But I need not particularize ;
Avhat I haA^e specified comprehends not the twentieth
part of those Avorks in magnitude and expense then

224 SPEECHES OF THOMA& CORWIN.
recommended by Mr. Calhoun as proper to be con
structed by the Federal Government, at the expense
of the common Treasury of the nation.
The Cumberland road, as I have said, is one
among the rest there recommended as of " national
importance." Mr. Speaker, I must beg the indul
gence of the House to read a single paragraph from
the document referred to. After speaking of the
great advantages to the whole Union of one of the
great Western works to Avhich I have already
adverted, the Secretary proceeds:
"The advantages, in fact, from the completion of
this single Avork, as proposed, would be so extended,
and ramified throughout these great divisions of our
country, already containing so large a portion of our
population, and destined in a few generations to out
number the most populous States of Europe, as to
leave in that quarter no other work for the execution
of the General Government, excepting only tlie ex
tension of the Cumberland road from Wheeling to
St, Louis, vohich is also conceived to be of national
importance.'''' NoAv, Mr. Speaker, if, in the bill under discussion,
there be any feature akin to "swindling and plunder,"
I ask the gentlemen from the South to return to that
gigantic project of kindred Avorks projected by their
oAA'n justly favorite son, and tell me in Avhat vocabu
lary among the "tongues of men" they can find
epithets odious enough to shadow forth the diabolical
tendencies of his plan. Sir, if this bill be swindling,
his scheme is robbery. If this bill be petty plunder,

ON THE CUMBERLAND ROAD. 225
his plan Avas wholesale desolation. But, good or bad,
AA'hichever it be, we have his authority for it. Well
do I remember, sir, in what high esteem the Secre
tary of War [Mr. Calhoun] was held throughout the
West in the year 1824. The sober affections of the
aged, and the ardent hearts of the young, all, all
were attracted to him. His altars blazed every
where throughout the broad valleys of the West.
Right loyally and prodigally did w^e pour out our
incense upon our shrine; and lo! what now do we
see ? While the smoke of our sacrifice yet ascends
in gathering clouds ; while the distended nostrils of
our deity inhale its grateful odors almost to suffoca
tion; he, in whom our affections were all enshrined;
he, the author of this our faith; he, the chosen object,
it may be, of our very profane and heathenish, but
sincere idolatry; he, Aviththe selected high-priests still
of his faith, suddenly rush upon us from the South,
overturn their own altars, and scourge us, their mis
guided, but still honest devotees, from the temple
themselves had erected. Not content with this, but
determined, it seems, to consign both the authors
and the followers of the creed to hopeless infamy,
they have compared their own system of policy to a
system of plunder, and themselves and us to a com
bination of swindlers.
Let not the gentlemen from the South suppose that
I quote the authority of Giles, and Randolph, and
Gallatin, in 1802 and 1803, and Mr. Calhoun as late
as 1824, to fix upon Southern gentlemen the sin of
inconsistency, or sinister motives, for change of prin-
15

226 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
ciple. No, this is not my motive. I wish to con
vince, and not to taunt the gentlemen. I wish them
to pause upon their own present opinions, and to
Compare them Avith the views of those, living and
dead, to whom I have referred, in the hope that in
the light of those great minds — ^that light that has
been to them " a pillar of fire by night," in all thefr
political wanderings heretofore — might, haply, now
serve to keep them in the right way. I beg the gen
tleman from South Carolina, [Mr. Rhett] who so
readily voted "cap and bells" to the heads of such
as entertained particular notions, which he con
demned, of the utility of this road, to take back his
gifts a moment, and see whether he may not possibly
be found unawares placing these badges of imbecility
and folly on the graves of Randolph and Giles; and
Avhether, if he is to be impartial and just in the
distribution of such honors, he may not be compelled
to pass over into the chamber of the Senate, and
bestow one set of them upon the illustrious Senator
from his own State. Mr. Speaker, I venture to
suggest to the gentleman from South Carolina, [Mr.
Rhett] in a spirit of sincere respect, that there is a
posterity for him as well as those great and good
men Avhose opinions he sets at naught. I hope I may
Avithout offense, suppose it possible that in some
distant day, when this very road, paved from the
Atlantic to the Mississippi, shall be crowded with
commerce, and groan beneath its load of travel;
when; by the speed with which your armies can pass
over it, ft-om the center to the remote border of your

ON THE CUMBERLAND ROAD. 227
•country, some fearful rebellion is happily quelled, or,
for the same reasons, some insolent foreign foe is
speedily repulsed, the age that then is may possibly
remove the "cap and bells" from the last resting-
place of Giles and Randolph, where he has hung
them, and look for the tomb of another, as better
deserving the honor of these significant emblems.
Sir, when I glance at the history of this road ; Avhen
I remember that it was begun in the administration
of Jefferson, and approved by him; when I group
together the other illustrious names Avho have for
thirty years also given it their sanction, I am prone
to believe, my own judgment concurring, that I am
right in carrying on what has been thus begun. I
can not reverse the settled and long unquestioned
decisions of the fathers and founders of the Republic,
upon the faith of the last night's dream. I can not
so readily believe that the sages of past times
violated the Constitution to make a road. I can not
see why, if that were so, it has not been discovered
in the lapse of thfrty years. Sir, I know much is
said, and truly, at this day, of that advance of the
human mind. I know, sfr, it was written thus long
ago, "Men shall go to and fro, and knowledge shall
increase." All this I know, and yet I can not quite
believe that "li^ young gentlemen here, in this year
of grace, 1838, have now, this morning, descended to
the bottom of the well where truth lies, as is said,
and for the first time brought up and exposed her
precious secrets to the long-anxious eyes of the in-

228 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
quiring world. Just as slow am I, Mr. Speaker, to
believe that the great men who gave us a country
forty years ago, did not understand what its true
interests were. They who projected this great work
Avere not men to rush into hasty and ill-considered
measures. They had been accustomed to settle the
foundations of society, and they did their work, in
all things, under the habitual reflection and responsi
bility which their immortal labors inspired. Sir, let
us beware, in the midst of our party conflicts, how
AA'e hastily question their calm resolves. Let us take
care, in this day's work, with the hoarse clamor of
party resounding ever in our ears, that we are not
deaf to the voice of wisdom, which calls out to us
from the past.
Mr. Speaker, I have thus far considered the bill
upon your table as providing for one work, itself a
part of a system of "internal improvement." I have
referred so far to the opinions of men whom we are
accustomed to regard as good authority, to show that
the road in question has been regarded as one of
national importance, and as such, is within the
acknowledged powers of Congress. But, sfr, this
bill rests its claims to our support upon a basis far
less liable to those assaults Avhich consider it only
in the isolated view of expediency. It is, in truth, a
bill for the fulfillment of a contract. It proposes to
carry into effect a compact, to the performance of
which the faith of this Government is pledged to
three sovereign States of this Union. I know, sir,

ON THE CUMBERLAND ROAD. 229
that many gentlemen here are familiar with this
view of the subject, but I feel equally certain that
there are others who are not.
The gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. Pope] the
[other day discussed this branch of the subject with
great ability, but I am impressed with the necessity
of presenting it more at length, even at the risk of
being tedious. I shall endeavor, by a reference to
acts of Congress and public documents, to show that
we are bound to construct this road as far as the
Mississippi river; that we have contracted to do so;
that we have received the consideration for this
contract from the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illi
nois. If I can establish these as facts, it will follow
that to stop the road short of the Mississippi would
be a gross neglect of duty, and a flagrant breach of
national faith.
In the year 1787, "the territory north-west of the
Ohio," comprehended what are now the States of
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin ter
ritory. The -celebrated ordinance of 1787, among
other things, provided that there should be three
States at least out of this territory, which should be
bounded by the Ohio river on the South, the Missis
sippi on the West, and a specified line on the north.
This last line, many gentlemen here will recollect,
was finally established as the northern boundary of
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, very lately, on the admis
sion of Michigan into the Union.
Early in the year 1802, the eastern division of
this territory petitioned Congress to proAdde for its

230 SPEECHES OF- THOMAS CORWIN.
admission into the Union, under the ordinance of
1787, which provided that certain portions of the
territory, having Q);000 inhabitants, should be en
titled to come into the Union as sovereign States.
This application, with a census showing the number
of inhabitants then within what are the present
limits of Ohio, was referred to a committee in the
House of Representatives, of which William B. Giles
of Virginia, was the chairman.
On the 4th of March, 1802, Mr. Giles made a
favorable report on this petition, and, among other
things, referring to certain matters of compact, in
the ordinance of 1787, the report concludes in these
words :
"The committee, takirig into consideration these
stipulations, viewing the lands of the United States
Avithin the said territory as an important source of
revenue ; deeming it also of the highest importance
to the stability and permanence of the union of the
Eastern and Western parts of the United States,
that the intercourse should, as far as possible, be
facilitated, and thefr interests be liberally and
mutually consulted and promoted — are of opinion
that the provisions of the aforesaid articles may be
varied for the reciprocal advantage of the United
States and the State of  , when formed, and the
people thereof; they have therefore deemed it proper,
in lieu of said provisions, to offer the following prop
ositions to the convention of the Eastern State of said
Territory, when formed, for their free acceptance or
rejection, without any condition or restraint whatever,

ON THE CUMBERLAND ROAD. 231
which, if accepted hy tlie convention, shall he obligatory
on tlie United States."
The report then sets forth three propositions to be
submitted to the Ohio Convention ; the third proposi
tion, being the one applicable to this subject, is in
these words :
"That one-tenth part of the net proceeds of the
lands lying in the said States, hereafter sold by Con
gress, after deducting all expenses incident to the
same, shall be applied to the laying out and making-
turnpike or other roads leading from the navigable
waters emptying into the Atlantic to the Ohio, and
continued afterward through the State of  , such
roads to be laid out under the authority of Congress,
Avith the consent of the several States through which
the road shall pass, provided that the convention of said
State shall on its part assent that every and each tract of
land sold hy Congress shall he and remain exempt from
any tax laid by order or under authority of the States,
whether for State, county, or township, or any other pur
pose whatever, for the term of ten years from and, after
the completion of the payment of the purchase money on
such tract to the United States,''''
Attached to this report is an official letter
addressed by Mr. Gallatin, then Secretary of the
Treasury, to Mr. Giles, dated Washington, 13th Feb
ruary, 1802. Mr. Gallatin, deeply impressed with
the advantage to the Government of this contract
with the new State, urges it upon Congress as a
means of increasing the A'alue of the public lands
owned by the Government, and then pledged for the

232 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
payment of the national debt. After stating a
variety of arguments to that effect, he says:
"It follows that, if it be in a high degree, as I
believe it is, the interest of the United States to obtain
some further security against an injurious sale, under
the Territorial or State laws, of lands sold by them
to individuals, justice, not less than policy, requires
that it should be obtained by common consent, and
it is not to be expected that the new State Legisla
tures should assent to any alterations in their system
of taxation which may affect the revenues of the
State, unless an equivalent is offered."
He then goes on to insist that
'¦^Such conditions, instead of diminishing, would greatly
increase the value of the lands, and, therefore, of the
pledge to the public creditors,"
The last paragraph in this document urges another
argument in favor of this road, which I hope will not
be overlooked by gentlemen who consider it a boon
merely to the young States of the West. Mr.
Gallatin thought this road would be highly advan
tageous to the old States, and he addresses their
cupidity accordingly, in these words :
"The roads will be as beneficial to the parts of the
Atlantic States through which they are to pass, avd
nearly as much so to a considerable portion of the Uni/M,
as the North-western Territory itself."
On the 30th of April, 1802, an act was passed
authorizing the people of the eastern diAdsion of the
North-western Territory to form a Constitution and
State Government. In that law the proposition.

ON THE CUMBERLAND ROAD. 233
somewhat modified, is inserted and by Congress pro
posed to the Convention which was to assemble the
next summer. In the act just quoted, five per cent.
of the proceeds of the lands within the State are pro
posed as a fund to make a road " from the Atlantic
waters to and through the State, and the condition of
the grant is, that the State shall abstain from taxing
the lands sold by the United States for five years
from and after the day of thefr sale."
In the month of November, 1802, the Convention
of Ohio assented to the proposition contained in the
act of April, 1802, with this modification : that three-
fifths of the five per cent, fund should be appropri
ated to laying out and making roads within the
State, and under its direction and authority, leaving
two per cent, on all the sales of land Avithin the State
to be appropriated to a road leading from the At
lantic waters to and through the State of Ohio. To this
Congress expressly assented at its next session, upon
the recommendation of a committee, of which John
Randolph of Virginia was the chairman, and thus
the compact was closed. Here let it be observed
that compacts, of the same kind and in the same
words, have been concluded between the States of
Indiana and Illinois, and this Government, at the
times when these States were respectively admitted
into the Union. In this way, following up the pro
ject begun in 1802, of constructing a road "from the
Atlantic waters to the Mississippi river," passing
from the Ohio the whole distance to the Mississippi,
through your own public lands, it was carried out by

234 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
comjmct Avith each State, as soon as it became capa
ble of entering into such engagements, by assuming
the powers and dignity of a sovereign State of the
Union. I have said, Mr. Speaker, that you had contracted
to construct a road from the Atlantic waters, through
the new States of the West, to the Mississippi river.
I have shown, by reference to public documents, ' that
the motives to this contract were, firsts to increase
the A^alue of the public domain, to and through which
this road was to pass, and thus put money into the
national purse, to pay the national debt ; secondly, to
bind together in union of interest the East and West,
by creating a quick and constant intercourse between
the Western and Atlantic divisions of your common
country. Now the first main object, the increase in
value of the public lands, never could be effected,
unless you carried the road, not merely "fo and
through'''' Ohio, where, in 1802, your public lands for
sale chiefly lay, but would only be fairly realized by
carrying the road "fo and through" each of the other
Western States, as your lands, by the extinguish
ment of the Indian title in these States, should
come into market. These were the views upon
Avhich you set out, in your propositions of com
pact, at first. These were your ^'¦inducements" held
out to Ohio, and repeated in each of your engage
ments to make the Cumberland road with Indiana
and Illinois. With these determinations, asserted
through your public and authorized agents, you
ask of the Western States, in consideration of in-

ON THE CUMBERLAND ROAD. 235
ducements thus held out, to do what? To grant you
a trifling- sum of money to aid you in your effort to
improve the value of your own lands ? No. To allow
you to pass through their territory in such Avay as
you choose ? No. No such inconsiderable demands
as these Avere on your lips. You demanded of them
to surrender up for your benefit the tax on nearly all
the property^ in these States for five years. In other
words, you asked, and you received too, into the pub
lic treasury of the Union, a dfrect tax for five years
on all, or nearly all, the lands in three large and
populous States. You said to the purchaser of your
lands, buy of us, and your property thus acquired
shall be free from taxation for five years ; and thus
you got an increase of price paid to you, what other-
Aviso would have gone, in the shape of taxes, into the
coffers of the States. This is true in regard to almost
all the lands in the three States of Ohio, Indiana,
and Illinois. Each of these States Was admitted into
the Union with barely sixty thousand inhabitants.
The quantity of lands then sold was so inconsiderable
as to make no sort of change in the estimated value
of the right we surrendered. Take Ohio, for exam
ple : she gave up to you her right to tax all lands
then unsold for five years after they should be sold.
She had then sixty thousand inhabitants, she has
now probably one million and a half of population,
and there are yet public lands unsold in that State.
Thus you can see that we have released to you our
right to tax lands in the hands of nine-twentieths of
our people foi* five successive years. This, too, was

236 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
done at a time when there was scarcely any other
subject of taxation but lands, and when, in the
infancy of our soA'-eral State governments, the first
movements of political and social machinery require
heavy expense from those least able to bear it. Let
us see what it was in money that we gave. It Avill
be found, on examination, that the three States inter
ested coA^er an area, according to the best authorities,
of something over one hundred and twenty millions
of acres of land. Deducting something for reserva
tions made before the compact, we may safely esti
mate the lands then to fee sold in the three Western
States at one hundred and twenty millions of acres.
We gave up the right to tax these for five years from
the day of sale. What has been the usual rate of
taxation upon lands in these States? I think I may
fairly affirm that the rate of taxation on lands in the
three States interested has been one dollar on every
hundred acres. This, levied on one hundred and
twenty millions of acres, would give one million two
hundred thousand dollars per annum, which, in five
years, the time for which the tax was surrendered by
the States, would give the sum of six millions of
DOLLARS. This sum have we paid into your Trea
sury for your promise to complete the road in
question. In addition to this, we surrendered our
sovereign right of taxation within our own limits — a
right itself so dear to States that, as matter of pride,
just pride, its surrender could only have been ex
torted by the strongest hope of advantage — ^the hope
of some great ahd striking improA'^ement in our whole

ON THE CUMBERLAND ROAD. 337
country, such as this great Avork will be when you
complete it, as you have promised.
¦ Mr. Speaker, I have shown that the three Western
States have given into the National Treasury, in
effect six miUions of dollars, for the promise to con
struct this road. Let us now advert for a moment
to the cost of the work as estimated at the time of
the contract, and we shall find that the Government
then understood that this sum would construct the
road from the Atlantic waters to the Mississippi;
nay, that in all probability there would be a surplus
remaining in the Treasury after the road was fin
ished. The kind of road, its location, and the time
of its completion, were all left with this Government
to be adjusted, under a fair interpretation of the com
pact. After proper examination, it was determined
to commence at Cumberland, and strike the Ohio line
at Wheeling, in Virginia.
On the 3d of March, 1808, Mr. Gallatin, then Sec
retary of the Treasury, reports to Congress that the
road had been located from Cumberland toward
Wheeling, a distance of seventy miles, and adds, the
expense of completing that part of the road is esti
mated at $4(X),(XX). This estimate shows that the
average estimated cost of the road, over by far the
most expensive part of it, was a trifle less than six
thousand dollars per mile. The whole length of the
road, from Cumberland to the Mississippi, as sur
veyed, is six hundred and fifty miles ; it may be a
mile or two more or less. Now, take the estimated
cost per mile, as reported by Mr. Gallatin, which was

238 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
for the mountain region entirely, and remember that
one half less, it was supposed, would suffice to make
the road across the level plains of the West, and we
shall see at once how reasonable it is that the Con
gress of that day, after receiving what was equivalent
to six millions of dollars, should make an uncondi
tional promise to construct the road to the Missis
sippi river.
The contract, as then understood from the estimate,
was simply as follows :
Value of the tax released in favor of the Federal Gov
ernment by the three Western States,  $6,000,000
Cost of the road 650 miles, at $6,000 per mile, accord
ing to Mr. Gallatin's estimate for the first 70 miles, 3,900,000

$2,100,000

Leaving two millions in the Treasury, after making
the road as then estimated. Upon this view, founded
on facts and representations of public men, cotempo-
raneous with this compact, it is clearly shown that
the States paid the Federal Government what the
parties then believed a full consideration for com^
pleting the road the entire distance proposed. From
this, what follows? Why, surely, that the Govern
ment promised to do what in conscience it ought,
that is, to do the act which they were paid for
doing — to make the road complete according to the
contract. But here, Mr. Speaker, I am told that whatever
may have been the reasonable expectations of the
parties, as to the completion of this work, when the

ON THE CUMBERLAND ROAD. 239
contract Avas made, the Government only bound itself
to appropriate two per cent, of the nett proceeds of the
public lands, and that this has been done, and no
moneys remain of this fund applicable to the pur
poses of the contract. To this I reply, that sueh is
not the contract, ahd I think I have shown this ft-om
the proofs already adduced. I grant you that tAvo
per cent, of the nett proceeds of the public lands are
pledged for the performance of your promise to make
the road ; but this pledge does in no sense limit the
contract for which it is only a mere security. Let it
be remembered that, when this contract was made,
the public lands Avere pledged for the payment of a
large national debt. To increase the value of these
lands was one motive to make the road, and the
States aided you in this, paid you for it, by relin
quishing the taxes on them for five years after sale ;
it was, therefore, only fair, as the GoA^ernment was
deeply in debt, that the States should have some
security for the performance of your contract. This
security was given by pledging the two per cent.
named in the contract. But it was not the contract,
it was only a security given to the States for its faith
ful performance. This interpretation is fortified by
other stipulations in the contract. The time, man
ner, and location of the road, are all left to' the Gen
eral G;overnment. Why was this ? Because you had
bound yourselves, in general terms, to make a road.
And it was, therefore, only reasonable that you
should have control over a work which you bound
yourselves to finish. Had you bound yourselves

240 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
only to pay, for the purposes of the work, a specified
sum, such as the two per cent, mentioned, is it possi
ble to suppose the States would have left you to
ajDpropriate their money, for which they paid you, in
your own way, and according to your own discretion?
Such a contract, on the part of the States, would
have been absolute insanity. It involves an absur
dity too gross for serious consideration. This itself
shows that the two per cent, fund was only a pledge,
a security, and not, as some have supposed, the con
tract itself. Thus you have always construed the
contract. According to your own admission, you
have gone on to make the road without regard to the
two per cent. fund. You say vastly more than this
has been expended. Why did you do this, if only
two per cent, on the sales of lands were to be given
to the road? No rational answer can be given to this
question, but one. The two per cent, did not limit
the contract, it onlj secured its performance; and this
has been your own uniform construction of it, as
evinced by all your conduct up to this day, through
out a lapse of more than thirty years.
Let me suppose, Mr. Speaker, that the two per
cent, fund was all you promised, which, however, I
by no means admit. You say it was to be expended
by you; you are the trustee of the fund, and the
agent for its appropriation. Be it so, then, for the
sake of the argument. What was this fund com
mitted to your charge? Two per cent, upon the
sales of- one hundred and twenty millions of acres of
land. This you was bound to sell for $2 per acre,

ON THE CUMBERLAND ROAD. 241
for this Avas the price fixed by law at the time of the
contract. This would produce $240,000,000. Two
per cent, upon this Avould be $4,800,000. You had
estimated the road to cost $3,900,000. Thus you see
that, by oA'ery calculation based upon the state of
things as existing at the date of the contract, the
States and yourselves had a right to suppose that,
happen AA-hat might, if you acted up to your engage
ments, the road would be made. But $2 per acre
was then the minimum price of the land, and we,
being interested in the fund, had, and noAv have
a right to demand of you that you, as trustee, shall
get as much more as possible, by selling all the land
at auction in the way fixed by law as it then stood.
NoAv let us see how you have complied with the law
and reason of this contract in the management of this
fund given in trust for its execution. In the first
place you sank the A^alue of the fund nearly one-half
by reducing the price of the land from $2 to $1.25-
per acre. In the second place, you have given away
immense amounts of this fund in bounty lands tO'
soldiers, which you never can sell, and for which you.
can render no account. Thirdly, you have given to-
individuals, for purposes unconnected with this con
tract, a very large amount which never has or can be
accounted for upon the principles of your solemn
engagements with us. Fourthly, you have given
very large amounts to the States to make canals,
exacting from them as an equivalent the right to
carry your mails, arms, armies, and munitions of war
on them free of tolls forever. Fifthly, you have
16

242 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
given siwaj many millions of acres in pre-emption
claims, at the minimum price, without any attempt
to sell, and account (as you were bound to do) for the
proceeds. Thus you, our agent to manage a fund
destined to make our road, have so wasted it, and
used it for your own purposes, that you never can
tell whether it would have produced the expected
amount or not. What is the consequence in law, in
reason, in justice? What follows? Why, sir, any
justice of the peace can tell you. You, the agent,
must answer for this by replacing, out of your own
funds, what you have wrongfully taken from us.
But as you have so disposed of the trust fund that
you never can tell what, if sold at auction, it would
have produced, and so can not, by any certain rule,
therefore, ascertain the amount you have taken
wrongfully from us, you must suffer the incon
venience ; you must take from your own, funds, and
do what, when you contracted with us, you affirmed
this wasted fund would do, that is, complete the road
in question from Cumberland to the banks of the
Mississippi river.
Is not this equitable, fair, honorable, just? Why
then stick in the bark? as the lawyers say. Why
these pettifogging quibbles, these dilatory pleas?
Does such conduct become a great nation? Sir, it
has been said that honor is the vital principle of
monarchy. You say you represent sovereigns — the
sovereign people. Act then as becomes the dignity
of your royal constituents. Leave no room to doubt
your probity. Observe fully and entirely the faith

ON THE CUMBERLAND ROAD. 243
of your promise whenever made. No such thing,
says the gentleman from South Carolina, [Mr. CIoaa^-
ney,] this morning. If you have made a contract,
no matter, you had no constitutional jDOAver to do so,
therefore cease your efforts to fulfill your engage
ments. And there the gentleman Avould stop ; he
goes no further. What a beautiful example of polit
ical morality would you then exhibit! Some years
ago you entered into a contract, a treaty, with three
sovereign States. You have received from them all
they agreed to give you. You have their money in
your pockets. Now you turn to these States, Avith all
seeming honesty, and say, true, I promised, but I had
no right to promise, my conscience is affected, I have
sinned, I repent, I will do so no more, but I will keep
your money. I can not violate my conscience by
doing as I agreed. Oh, no, that is too wicked; I
pray you do not ask it; but still I shall keep the
money you paid me. Yesterday my friend from
Kentucky, [Mr. Calhoun,] with a power of argument
and generosity of sentiment equally honorable to his
head and heart, spoke in favor of this bill; he
adverted to certain objections made by his colleagues
[Messrs. Graves and Underwood]. They had opposed
the bill as partial in its operation, as giving to the
three States through which the road passes a dis
bursement of money which Kentucky was not per
mitted to enjoy. He said the disbursements in
Indiana would flow into . Louisville, in Kentucky,
where goods and even liquors would be bought, with
which the labor on the road would be paid. Upon

244 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COEWIN.
this another gentleman from South Carolina [Mr,
Pickens] takes fire. "This," said he, "shows the
demoralizing tendency of the system ! This is the
motive to vote appropriations, that money be raised
to buy whisky for the poor laborer to drink?" Sir,
I have no objection to the gentleman's moral lectures,
but I do not see the necessity of throAving his moral
sensibilities into convulsions at the sight of a glass
of punch, while he can look with a sanctimonious
composure at broken promises and violated national
faith. Mr. Speaker, I have one word to say, before I sit
down, to the gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. Under-
Avood]. He spoke the other day in opposition to this
bill. He did not deny that the Cumberland road
might be useful ; but, as he could obtain no money
here to enable his people to build dams and make
slack-water navigation on Green river, he would not
help us to make a road on the northern side of the
Ohio. And then the gentleman proceeded in a grave
disquisition upon our constitutional powers to make
roads and improve rivers. What says the Constitu
tion? "Congress shall have power to regulate com
merce with foreign nations, among the several States,
and with the Indian tribes ? What is the gentleman's
commentary? You have, says he, a clear and un
doubted right to improve rivers, but not so of roads.
And why, Mr. Speaker, why ? Do you, sir, remem
ber the reason for this distinction? It was this:
"Providence," says the gentleman, "has marked out
rivers as the proper channels aijd avenues of com-

ON THE CUMBERLAND EOAD. 245
merce." What a beautiful and exalted piety is here
shedding its clear light upon the dark mysteries of
constitutional laAv! And then how logical the con
clusion! Thus runs the argument: Since it is not
the will of God that commerce should be carried on
on dry land, but only on the Avater, the powers over
commerce, given in the Constitution by our pious
ancestors, must be understood as limited by the
Divine commands; and therefore, says he, you have
poAver to remove sand-bars and islands, and blow up
rocks out of rivers and creeks, to make a channel
which Providence has begun and left unfinished ; but
boAvare, he would say, "how you cut down a tree, or
remoA^e a rock, on the dry land, to complete Avhat
Providence has begun there You have no power
by laAv to do this last; beside, it is impious, it is not
the will of God."
Mr. Speaker, I know of no parallel to this charm
ing j)hilosophy, unless it is to be found in the sayings
of Mause Hedrigg, an elderly Scotch lady, Avho
figures in one of Sir Walter Scott's novels. In one
of her evangelical moods, she rebuked her son Cuddie
for using a fan, or any work of art, to clean his
barley. She said it was an awsome denial o' Provi
dence not to wait his own time, Avhen he Avould surely
send Avind to winnow the chaff out of the grain. In
the same spirit of enlightened philosophy does the
gentleman exhort us in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois,
to cease our impious road-making, and wait the good
time of Providence, who will, as he seems to think,
surely send a river to run from Cumberland over the

246 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COEWIN.
Alleghanies, across the Ohio, and so on, in its heaven-
directed course, to St. Louis. Mr. Speaker, the gen
tleman from Kentucky is not the author of this
theory. Our Atlantic brethren, especially of the
South, have long held the same doctrine. They have
long since discovered that our glorious Constitution
Avas nothing more at last than a fish! made for the
Avater, and which can only live in the water. Accord
ing to their vioAvs, he is a goodly fish, of marvelous
proper uses and functions while you keep him in the
Avater; but the moment he touches dry land, lo! he
suffocates and dies. The only difference between this
school of constitutional lawyers and the gentleman
from Kentucky is this : he believes your Constitution
is a fish that thrives in all waters, and especially in
Green river slack-water ; whereas, his brethren of the
South insist that he can only live in salt Avater.
With them the doctrine is, wherever the tide ceases
to flow, he dies. He can live and thrive in a little
tide creek, which a thirsty musquito would drink dry
in a hot day; but place him on or under the maj-'stic
Avave of the Mississippi, and in an instant he expires.
Mr. Speaker, who can limit the range of science!
Wliat hand can stay the march of mind! Hereto
fore we haA'e studied the science of law to help us in
our understanding of the Constitution. Some have
brought metaphysical learning to this aid. But
now, in the middle of the nineteenth century, these
labors are all ended. Ichthyology, sir, is the key to
open all the doors that have hitherto barred our
ai^proaches to truth. According to this new -jchoo)

ON THE CUMBEELAND ROAD. 247
of philosophy, if you just teach coming generations
the "nature of fish," those great problems in consti
tutional laAv that vexed and worried the giant intel
lects of Hamilton, Madison, and Marshall, are at
once revealed and made plain to the dullest peasant
in the land. Sir, if I appear to trifle with this graA'^e
subject, the fault is not mine; it arises from the sin
gular nature and contrarient character of those
arguments which I am most unwillingly compelled
to combat.
The gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. Underwood]
has inquired, with a very significant look, what has
become of the three per cent, fund, given to the
States for improvements within their respected limits.
He says he has inquired of the Secretary of the
Treasury, and he can give him no account of the
disposition the Western States may haA^e made of
this fund, and hence the gentleman seemed to infer
that no one could tell him anything satisfactory on
the subject. Sir, if your Secretary of the Treasury
is the only source of information, then are the foun
tains of knowledge scanty indeed, and nearly dried
up with us. If everything is unknown which he
does not know, if we can see nothing which has not
been revealed to him, why, then, the Lord help us ;
the lights of the age burp, dimly enough, and must
be well-nigh extinct. Sir, if the gentleman, instead
of consulting the "Penny Magazine" of the Treasury,
had gone to the libraries of this city, and looked into
the statistics of these States, he would have found
that this fund had been faithfully, to the last dollar.

248 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
expended in making- roads "to and through" the
public lands in the States ; thus increasing the value
and hastening the sale of your national property.
The gentleman reproaches the three States on the
right bank of the Ohio for having obtained from the
national domain large grants for making roads and
canals. Does not the gentleman know that in every
instance you have received an equivalent for these
lands, by obtaining from the States or companies the
right to carry your mails, arms, troops, and muni
tions of Avar, over such roads or canals, at all times
free of charge? If you gave the alternate sections
of land for a road or canal, you held up the remain
ing section at double your minimum price, and have
always realized it, and thus made money for your
selves out of the capital and labor of the States,
while you boast the transaction as a benevolence to
others. But, sir, Kentucky, should be the last State in the
Union to raise an argument of this kind against her
sisters of the West. How came she by the whole of
that very Green river country which uoav comprises
one-fourth of that State? Virginia had reserved that
territory to satisfy her Revolutionary debt to her
troops. When she ceded the north-western territory
to the United States, she reserA^ed the land between
the Little Miami and Scioto rivers (now in Ohio) as
a residuary fund for the satisfaction of her Revolu
tionary land warrants ; if the lands reserved for that
purpose in Kentucky should prove insufficient. Well,
sir, what happened? Soon after this, Kentucky seized

ON THE CUMBERLAND ROAD. 249
upon the whole Green river country, and refused to
the Avar-Avorn A'eteran of the ReA^olution the right to
locate his Avarrants there. The consequence was, the
Avhole country reserved in Ohio Avas exhausted, and
the Virginia claims, to the amount of many millions,
haA^e been lately paid of the treasury of the Union in
the shape of land scrip. Sir, I have said this domain,
thus seized by Kentucky, was equal to one-fourth
part of the State. Now, suppose you had given to
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, what Kentucky receiA^ed —
one-fourth part of all the lands within their respect
ive limits — sir, it Avoiild have constructed this road
through their territories ten times oA^er. And yet,
Avith these facts all before him, the gentleman sits
Aveeping over the dams and slackwater of Green
riA'^er like a froward child, spoiled by too much indul
gence, complaining of its mother's partiality, to the
really much less favored members of our common
family. Sir, this is unlike Kentucky; it is unlike
the uniform justice and generosity of both the gentle
men, [Messrs. Graves and Underwood,] Avho have so
vehemently opposed this bill. I beseech them to
desist. Cease to drive this Jew's bargain with your
sister States. Relax the miser's gripe you have laid
upon your neighbor's rights. Throw away the knife
of Shylock, clothe yourseh^es in the robes of justice
and generosity. Stand out in your true characters,
and in the proper costume of your noble State. Look
upon this bill with the eye of the American states
man. The interests of the whole valley w^e inhabit
in common are the same. You can not separate

250 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
them by lines or rivers. Sir, the same cloud that
dispenses its fertilizing showers uijon Kentucky,
drops fatness upon the States of Ohio, Indiana, and
Illinois. The same sun that warms vegetation into
early and vigorous life, on the rich plantations of Ken
tucky, also mellows the fruit and ripens the harvests
that cover the vast plains outstretched upon the right
bank of the Ohio. The God of Nature has decreed'
us a common lot, and it is A^ain and impious to inter
pose our feeble opposition to his will.
Mr. Speaker, some gentlemen haA'-e complained
that one ¦ section of land out of oAxry thirty-six has
been given to the Western States for the use of com
mon schools. Do gentlemen recollect to whom this
benefit results ? Who are they that inhabit the great
valleys of the West? Emigrants surely from the old
States of the South and East. The children to be
educated there are your children. Sir, we heard
(some at least) an English gentleman [Mr. Bucking
ham] in one of his interesting lectures lately deliv
ered in this city, say, when speaking of British emi
gration to America, that he was sorry they had not
sent to this country better specimens of their popula
tion. Sir, I can say to my friends on this side of the
mountains, with equal sincerity, as to some of those
you sent out, " I am sorry you did not send us better
specimens." But the truth is, we get in the West
the very best and the very worst of your population.
The poor come there for bread, and the enterprising
and industrious come to find a field which gives
ample scope to their energies and rewards to their

ON THE CUMBERLAND ROAD. 251
labor. This fund, then, is for the education of the
poor, and the rich, too, if any such there be, which
y^ou send in masses eveiy year to the West. And I
can assure gentlemen it has been faithfully applied
in Ohio. It has been added to by heavy taxation
upon our people. Some gentlemen (I speak it in no
spirit of pride or vain boasting), some gentlemen
from the old States might learn something neAv to
them in the history of civilization, would they but
visit that Western Avorld, of which they often seem
to me to knoAv A'ery little. They might see there, in
the very spot where but yesterday the wild beasts of
the wilderness seized their prey by night, and made
their covert lair by day, on that same spot to-day
stands the common schoolhouse, filled alike with the
children of the rich- and the poor — those children
who are to be the futm'e voters, officers, and states
men of the Republic. OA^er that vast region, so
lately red with the blood of savage war, the seed-
fields of knowledge are planted, and a smiling harvest
of civilization springs uj). And there, too, may be
seen what a Christian statesman might well admire.
The schoolmaster is not alone. That holy religion,
which is at last the only sure basis of permanent
social or political improvement, has there its A^oices
crying in the Avilderness. Upon the almost burning-
embers of the war-fire, round which some barbarous
chief but yesterday recounted to his listening tribe,
with horrid exultation, his deeds of savage heroism,
to-day is built a temple dedicated to that religion
which announces "peace on earth and good-will

252 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
toward men." Yes, sir, all over that land, side by
side with the humble schoolhouse, stand those
" Steeple-towers,
And spires whose silent finger points to Heaven."
Is it, sir, can it be in the heart of an American
statesman, to check in its progress, or crush in its
infancy, a social and political system which has ten
dencies and fruits like this ? But, sir, I find myself
tempted, by themes so full of hope, to wander, as
some may think, into subjects having a bearing upon
the immediate question, too remote to justify their
discussion here. I beg 'to remind this House that
the bill now before it is a part, small, indeed, but
still a part of a system of policy which long ago you
established for the Western country, which hitherto
you have cherished, and which, aided by the patient,
persevering labor of your people there, has produced
the happy results which I have so hastily and imper
fectly laid before you. I feel an assured confidence
that I do not plead in vain to an American Congress
in such a cause. Still should I unhappily be mis
taken in this, conscious of the rectitude of my own
motives, I shall cheerfully submit to whatever deci
sion it shall please the House to make.

REPLY TO GENERAL CRARY.
[On the 1-lth of Feb., 1840, the Hon. Isaac E. Crart, of Mich
igan, having in the course of his remarks in Committee of the
Whole — on referring the memorial of the National Road Conven
tion, held at Terre Haute, Indiana, to the Committee of Ways and
Means, animadverted upon the Military conduct of Gen. Harrison,
Mr. Corwin, on the next day, addressed the House as follows :]
Mr. Speaker:
I am admonished, by the eager solicitations of
gentlemen around me to give way for a motion to
adjourn, of that practice of the House which accords
us more of leisure on this day than is allowed us on
any other day of the week. The servants of other
good masters are, I believe, indulged in a sort of
saturnalium in the afternoon on Saturday; and we
have supposed that our kind masters, the people,
might be willing to grant us, their most faithful
slaA^es, a similar respite from toil. It is now past
three o'clock in the afternoon, and I should be very
Avilling to pause in discussion, were I not urged by
those menacing cries of "Go on," from various parts
of the House. In this state of things, I can not hope
to summon to anything like attention the unquiet
minds of many, or the jaded and worn-down faculties
of a still larger portion of the House. I hope, how
ever, the House will not withhold from me a boon
AA'hich I haA'e often seen granted to others, that is,
the privilege of speaking without being opp>ressed by
(253)

254 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN,
a croAvded audience, which is accompanied by this
additional advantage, that the orator, thus situated,
can at least listen to and hear himself.
If you, Mr. Speaker, and the members of this
House, have given that attention to the speech of
the gentleman from Michigan, [Mr. Crary,] made
yesterday, which some of us here thought it our
duty to bestow, I am sure the novelty of the scene,
to say nothing more of it, must have arrested your
curiosity, if, indeed, it did not give rise to profound
reflection. I need not remind the House that it is a rule here
(as I suppose it is everywhere else where men dis
pute by any rule at all) that what is said in debate
should be relevant and pertinent to the subject under
discussion. The question before us is a proposition
to instruct the committee of Ways and Means to
report a bill granting four hundred and fifty thousand
dollars to continue the construction of the Cumber
land road in the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
The objections to the measure are, either that this
Government is in no sense bound by compact to- make
the road, or that it is not a work of any national
concern, but merely of local interest, or that the
present exhausted state of the Treasury will not
AA'arrant the appropriation, admitting- the object of it
to be fairly within the constitutional province of
Congress. If the gentleman from South Carolina, [Mr. Pick
ens,] and the gentlem.an from Maine, [Mr. Parris,]
who consider the Cumberland road a work of mere

REPLY TO GENERAL CRARY. 255
sectioucxl advantage to a very small portion of the
people, have attended to the sage disquisitions of the
gentleman from Michigan on the art of war, they
must now either come to the conclusion that almost
the whole of the gentleman's speech is Avhat old-
fashioned people would call a '¦'¦non sequitur," or else
that this road connects itself with not merely the
military defenses of the Union, but is interwoven
most intimately with the progress of science, and
especially that most difficult of all sciences, the
proper application of strategy to the exigencies of
barbarian warfare. It will be seen that the far-see
ing sagacity and long-reaching understanding of the
gentleman from Michigan has discoA^ered that, before
we can vote with a clear conscience on the instuuc-
tions proposed, we must be well informed as to the
number of Indians who fought at the battle of Tip
pecanoe in 1811; how these savages were painted,
whether red, black, or blue, or whether all were
blended on their barbarian faces. Further, according
to his vieAvs of the subject, before we vote money to
make a road, we must know and approve of what
General Harrison thought, said, and did, at the battle
of Tippecanoe.
Again, upon this process of reasoning, we must
inquire where a general should be when a battle
begins, especially in the night, and what his position
during the fight, and where he should be found when
it is over ; and particularly how a Kentuckian behaves
himself when he hears an Indian warwhoop in day
or night. And, after settling all these puzzling

256 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
propositions, still we must fully understand hoAv and
by whom the battle of the Thames was fought, and
in what manner it then and there became our troops,
regular and militia, to conduct themselves. Sir, it
must be (pbvious that if these topics are germain to
the subject, then does the Cumberland road encom
pass all the interests and all the subjects that touch
the rights, duties, and destinies of the civilized world;
and I hope we shall hear no more from Southern
gentlemen of the narrow, sectional, or unconstitutional
character of the proposed measure. That branch
of the subject is, I hope, forever quieted, perhaps
unintentionally, by the gentleman from Michigan.
His military criticism, if it has not answered the
purposes intended, has at least, in this way, done
some service to the Cumberland road. And if my
poor halting comprehension has not blundered, in
pursuing the soaring upward flight of my friend from
Michigan, he has in this discussion written a new
chapter in the '¦'¦regulce philosophandi" and made not
ourselves only, but the Avhole world his debtors in
gratitude, by overturning the old Avorn-out principles
of the "inductive system."
Mr. Speaker, there have been many and ponder
ous volumes written, and various unctuous discourses
delivered, on the_ doctrines of "association." Dugald
SteAvart, a Scotch gentleman of no mean pretensions
in his day, thought much and wrote much concerning
that principle in mental philosophy; and Brown,
another of the same school, but of later date, has
also written and said much on the subject. This

REPLY TO GENERAL CEARY. 257
latter gentleman, I think, calls it "suggestion;" but
never, I venture to say, did any metaphysician,
pushing his researches furthest and deepest into that
occult science, dream that would come to pass which
we have discovered and clearly developed — that is,
that two subjects so unlike as an appropriation to a
road in 1840, and the tactics proper in Indian war in
1811, were not merely akin, but actually, identically,
the same.
Mr. Speaker, this discussion, I should think, if not
absolutely absurd and utterly ridiculous, which my
respect for the gentleman from Michigan and the
American Congress will not allow me to suppose, has
elicted another trait in the American character which
has been the subject of- great admiration with intel
ligent travelers from the old world. Foreigners
have admired the ease with which we Yankees, as
they call us, can turn our hands to any business or
pursuit, public or private; and this has been brought
forward by our own people as a proof that man, in
this great and free republic, is a being very far supe
rior to the same animal in other parts of the globe
less favored than ours. A proof of the most con
vincing character of this truth, so flattering to our
national pride, is exhibited before our eyes in the
gentleman from Michigan delivering to the world a
grave lecture on the campaigns of General Harrison,
including a variety of Yery interesting military
events in the years 1811, 1812, and 1813. In all
other countries, and in all former times, before now,
a gentleman who would either speak or be listened
17

258 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
to, on the subjeet of war, involving subtle criticisms
on strategy, and careful reviews of marches, sieges,
battles, regular and casual, and irregular onslaughts,
would be required to show, first, that he had studied
much, investigated fully, and digested well, the
science and history of his subject. But here, sir, no
such painful preparation is required; witness the
gentleman from Michigan, He has announced to
the House that he is a militia general on the peace
establishment! That he is a lawyer we know, toler
ably well read in Tidd's Practice and Espinasse's
Nisi Prius, These studies, so happily adapted to
the subject of war, with an appointment in the
militia in time of peace, furnish him at once with
all the knowledge necessary to discourse to us, as
from high authority, upon all the mysteries in the
"trade of death." Again, Mr. Speaker, it must
occur to every one that we, to whom these questions
are submitted and these criticisms are addressed,
being all colonels at least, and most of us, like the
gentleman himself, brigadiers, are, of all conceivable
tribunals, best qualified to decide any nice point
connected with military science. I hope the House
will not be alarmed by an impression that I am
about to discuss one or the other of the military
questions now before us at length, but I wish to
submit a remark or two, by way of preparing us for
a proper appreciation of the merits of the discourse
we have heard. I trust, as we are all brother
officers, that the gentleman from Michigan and the
two hundred and forty colonels or generals of this

REPLY TO GENERAL CRARY, 259
honorable House, will receive what I have to say, as
coming from an old brother in arms, and addressed
to them in a spirit of candor,
"Such as becomes comrades free,
Reposing after victory."
Sir, we all know the military studies of the gentle
man from Michigan before he was promoted. I take it
to be beyond a reasonable doubt, that he had perused
with great care the title-page of "Baron Steuben."
Nay, I go further; as the gentleman has incidentally
assured us he is prone to look into musty and
neglected volumes, I A^enture to assert, without vouch
ing the fact from personal knowledge, that he has
prosecuted his researches so far, as to be able to
know that the rear rank stands right behind the
front. This, I think, is fairly inferable from what I
understand him to say of the two lines of encamp
ment at Tippecanoe. Thus we see, Mr. Speaker,
that the gentleman from Michigan, so far as study
can give us knowledge of a subject, comes before us
with claims to great profundity. But this is a sub
ject which, of all others, requires the aid of actual
experience to make us wise. Now the gentleman
from Michigan, being a militia general, as he has
told us, his brother officers, in that simple statement
has revealed the glorious history of toils, privations,
sacrifices, and bloody scenes, through which we know,
from experience and observation, a militia officer in
time of peace is sure to pass. We all, in fancy,
now see the gentleman from Michigan in that most

260 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
dangerous and glorious event in the life of a militia
general on the peace establishment-^a parade day!
The day for which all the other days of his life seem
to have been made. We can see the troops in motion;
umbrellas, hoe and ax-handles, and other like deadly
implements of war overshadowing all the field, when
lo ! the leader of the host approaches,
"Far off his coming shines;"
his plume, white, after the fashion of the great Bour
bon, is of ample length, and reads its doleful history
in the bereaved necks and bosoms of forty neighbor
ing hen-roosts ! Like the great Suwaroff, he seems
somewhat careless in forms and points of dress; hence
his epaulettes may be on his shoulders back or sides,
but still gleaming, gloriously gleaming in the sun.
Mounted he is, too, let it not be forgotten. Need I
describe to the colonels and generals of this honor
able House the steed which heroes bestride on such
occasions ? No, I see the memory of other days is
with you. You see before you the gentleman from
Michigan mounted on his crop-eared, bushy-tailed
mare, the singular obliquities of whose hinder limbs
is described by that most expressive phrase, " sickle
hams" — her hight just fourteen hands, "all told;"
yes, sir, there you see his " Steed that laughs at the
shaking of the spear;" that is, his "war-horse Avhose
neck is clothed with thunder, "^ Mr. Speaker, we
have glowing descriptions in history, of Alexander
the Great and his war-horse Bucephalus, at the head
of the invincible Macedonian phalanx, but, sir, such

REPLY TO GENERAL CRARY. 261
are the improvements of modern times, that every
one must see that our militia general, with his crop-
eared mare, with bushy tail and sickle ham, would
literally frighten off a battle-field a hundred Alex
anders. But, sir, to the history of the parade-day.
(The general thus mounted and equipped is in the
field, and ready for action. On the eve of some
desperate enterprise, such as giving order to shoul
der arms, it may be, there occurs a crisis, one of the
accidents of war which no sagacity could foresee or
prevent. A cloud rises and passes over the sun !
Here an occasion occurs for the display of that
greatest of all traits in the character of a com
mander, that tact which enables him to seize upon
and turn to good account events unlooked for as they
arise. Now for the caution wherewith the Roman
Fabius foiled the skill and courage of Hannibal. A
retreat is ordered, and troops and general, in a
tAvinkling, are found safely bivouacked in a neighbor
ing grocery! But even here the general still has
room for the exhibition of heroic deeds. Hot from
the field, and chafed with the untoward events of
the day, your general unsheaths his trenchant blade,
eighteen inches in length, as you will well remember,
and with an energy and remorseless fury he slices
the watermlelons that lie in heaps around him, and
shares them with his surviving friends. Other of
the sinews of war are not wanting here. Whisky,
Mr. Speaker, that great leveler of modern times, is
here also, and the shells of the watermelons are filled
to the brim. Here again, Mr. Speaker, is shown

262 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
how the extremes of barbarism and civilization meet.
As the Scandinavian heroes of old, after the fatigues
of war, drank wine from the skulls of their slaugh
tered enemies, in Odin's Halls, so now our militia
general and his forces, from the skulls of melons thus
vanquished, in copious draughts of whisky assuage
the heroic fire of their souls, after the bloody scenes
of a parade-day. But, alas, for this short-lived race
of ours, all things AA*ill have an end, and so even is it
with the glorious achievements of our general. Time
is on the wing, and will not stay his flight ; the sun,
as if frightened at the inighty events of the day,
rides down the sky, and at the close of the day when
"the hamlet is still," the curtain of night drops upon
the scene ;
" Aud glory, like the phcenix in its fires,
Exhales its odors, blazes, and expires."
Such, sir, has been the experience in war of the
gentleman from Michigan. We know this from the
simple annunciation that he is and has been a briga
dier of militia in time of peace ; and now, having a
full understanding of the quaKfications of our learned
general, both from: study and practice, I hope the
House will see that it should give its profound reflec
tion to his discourses on the art of war. And this it
will be more inclined to, when we take into view that
the gentleman has;, in his review of General Harri
son's campaigns, modestly imputed to the latter
great mistakes, gross blunders, imbecility, and even
worse than this, as I shall show hereafter. The

REPLY TO GENERAL CEARY. 263
force, too, of the lecture of our learned and experi
enced friend from Michigan is certainly greatly
enhanced, when we consider another admitted fact,
which is, that the general whose imbecility and errors
he has discovered, has not, like the gentleman from
Michigan, the great advantage of serving in water
melon campaigns, but only fought fierce Indians in
the dark forests of the West, under such stupid
fellows as Anthony Wayne, and was afterward ap
pointed to the command of large armies by the
advice of such an inexperienced boy as Goa'- Shelby,
the hero of King's Mountain.
And now, Mr. Speaker, as I have the temerity to
entertain doubts, and with great deference to differ
in my opinions on this military question with the
gentleman from Michigan, I desire to state a few
historical facts concerning General Harrison, whom
the general from Michigan has pronounced incapa
ble, imbecile, and, as I shall notice hereafter, some
thing worse even than these. General ,Harrison was
commissioned by General Washington an officer in
the regular army of the United States in the year
1791. He served as aid to General Anthony Wayne,
in the campaign against the Indians, which resulted
in the battle of the Rapids of the Maumee, in the
fall of 1794. Thus, in his youth, he was selected by-
General Wayne as one of his military family. And
what did this youthful officer do in that memorable
battle of the Rapids? Here, Mr. Speaker, let me
summon a witness merely to show how military men
may differ. The witness I call to controvert the

264 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COEWIN,
opinion of the gentleman from Michigan is General
Anthony Wayne, In his letter to the Secretary of
War, giving an account of the battle of the Rapids,
he says :
"My faithful and gallant Lieutenant Harrison ren
dered the most essential services, by communicating
my orders in every direction, and by his conduct and
bravery exciting the troops to press for victory."
Sir, this evidence was given by General Wayne in
the year 1794, some time, I imagine, before the gen
tleman from Michigan was born, and long before he
became a militia general, and long, very long, before
he ever perused the title-page of Baron Steuben.
Mr, Speaker, let me remind the House, in passing,
that this battle and victory over the Indian forces of
the North-west, in which, according to the testimony
of General Wayne, "Lieutenant Harrison rendered
the most essential services by his conduct and bra
very," gave peace to an exposed line of frontier,
extending from Pittsburgh to the southern borders of
Tennessee, It was, in truth, the close of the war of
the Revolution, for the Indians who took part with
Great Britain in our Revolutionary struggle never
laid down their arms until after they were van
quished by Wayne in 1794.
We now come to see something of the man,
the general, whose military history our able and
experienced general from Michigan has reviewed.
We know that debates like this have sometimes
been had in the British Parliament. There, I be
lieve, the discussion was usually conducted by those

REPLY TO GENEEAL CRARY, 265
in the House, who have seen, and not merely heard,
of service. We all know that Colonel Napier has,
in several volumes, reviewed the campaigns of Wel
lington, and criticised the movements and merits of
Beresford, and Soult, and Massena, and many others,
quite, yes, I say quite as well known in military his
tory as any of us, nOt even excepting our general
from Michigan. We respect the opinions of Napier,
because we know he not only thought of war, but that
he fought too. We respect and admire that combi
nation of military skill, with profound statesmanlike
views, which we find in " Caesar's Commentaries,"
because we know the "mighty Julius" was a soldier,
trained in the field, and inured to the accidents and
dangers of war. But, sir, we generals of Congress
require no such painful discipline to give value to our
opinions. We men of the nineteenth century know
all things intuitively. We understand perfectly
the military art by nature. Yes, sfr, "the notions of
the gentleman from Michigan, agree exactly with a
sage by the name of " Dogberry," who insisted that
"reading and writing come by nature." Mr. Speaker
we have heard and read much of the " advance of
knowledge, the improvement of the species, and the
great march of mind," but never till now have Ave
understood the extent of meaning in these pregnant
phrases. For instance, the gentleman from Michi
gan asserts that General Harrison has none of the
qualities of a general because, at the battle of Tippe
canoe he was found at one time at a distance from
his tent, urging his men on to battle. He exposed

266 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
his person too much, it seems. He should have staid
at his tent, and waited for the officers to come to him
for orders. Well, sir, see now to what conclusion
this leads us. Napoleon seized a standard at Lodi,
and rushed in front of his columns across a narrow
bridge, which was swept by a whole park of German
artillery. Hence, Napoleon was no officer; he did
not know how to command an army. He, like Harri
son, exposed his person too much. Oh, Mr. Speaker,
what a pity for poor Napoleon that he had not stu
died Steuben, and slaughtered watermelons with us
natural-born generals of this great age of the world!
Sir, it might have altered the map of Europe; nay,
changed the destinies of the world!
Again: Alexander the Great spurred his horse
foremost into the river, and led his Macedonians
across the Granicus to rout the Persians who stood
full opposed on the other side of the stream. True,
this youth coriquered the world, and made himself
master of what had constituted the Medean, Persian,
Assyrian, and Chaldean empires. Still, according,
to the judgment of us warriors by nature, the mighty
Macedonian would have consulted good sense by
coming over here, if, indeed, there were any here
hereabouts in those days, and studying, like my
friend from Michigan, first Tidd's Practice, and
Espinasse's Nisi Prius, and a little snatch of Steu
ben, and serving as a general of militia awhile. Sir,
Alexander the Great might have made a man of
himself in the art of war, had he even been a mem
ber of our Congress, and heard us colonels discuss

REPLY TO GENERAL CRARY, 267
the subject of an afternoon or two. Indeed, Alex
ander, or Satan, I doubt not, would have improved
greatly in strategy by observing, during this session,
the tactics of the Administration party on the New
Jersey election question. Mr. Speaker, this objection
to a general, because he will fight, is not original
with my friend from Michigan. I remember a great
authority, in point, agreeing with the gentleman in
this. In the times of the Henrys, 4th and 5th, of
England, there lived one Captain Jack Falstaff. If
Shakspeare may be trusted, his opinions of the art
military were exactly those of the gentleman from
Michigan. He uniformly declared as his deliberate
judgment on the subject, that "discretion was the
better part of valor;" and this is an authority for
the gentleman. But who shall decide? Thus the
authority stands — ^Alexander, the mighty Greek, and
Napoleon Bonaparte, and Harrison, on one side, and
Captain John Falstaff and the General from Michi
gan on the other! Sir, I must leaA^e a question thus
sustained by authorities, both ways, to posterity.
Perhaps the lights of another age may enable the
world to decide it; I confess my inability to say on
which side the weight of authority lies.
I hope I may obtain the pardon of the American
Cohgress for adverting, in this discussion, to another
matter, gravely put forward by the gentleman from
Michigan. Without the slightest feeling of disre
spect to that gentleman, I must be allowed to say
that his opinions, (hastily, I am sure,) obtruded on

268 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
the House on this military question, can only be con
sidered as subjects of merriment.
But I come to notice, since I am compelled to it,
one observation of the gentleman, which I feel quite
certain, on reflection, he will regret himself. In a
sort of parenthesis in his speech, he said that a
rumor prevailed at the time, (alluding to the battle
of Tippecanoe,) that Colonel Joseph H. Davies of
Kentucky, who commanded a squadron of cavalry
there, Avas, by some trick of General Harrison,
mounted, during the battle, on a white horse belong
ing to the General, and that, being thus conspicuous
in the fight, he was a mark for the assailing Indians,
and fell in a charge at the head of his men. The
gentleman says he does not vouch for the truth of this.
Sir, it is well that he does not vouch here for the
truth of a long-exploded slander. It requires a bold
man, a man possessing a great deal of moral courage,
to make even an allusion to a charge such as that,
against one whose only possessions in this world
are his character for courage and conduct in war in
his country's defense, and his unstained integrity in
the various civil offices it has been his duty to occupy.
Did not the gentleman know that this vile story was
known by every intelligent man west of the moun
tains to be totally without foundation? The gentle
man seemed to appeal to the gallant Kentuckians to
prove the truth of this inuendo. He spoke of the
blood of their countrymen so profuselj'' poured out at
Tippecanoe, as if they would give countenance to

REPLY TO GENERAL CRARY. 269
the idea that the gallant Davies, who fell in that en
gagement, fell a victim to the artifice of the com
manding general, and their other gallant sons Avho
fell there, were wantonly sacrificed by the gross
ignorance of General Harrison in Indian warfare.
Now, sir, before the gentleman made his appeal, he
should have remembered a few historical facts,
Avhich, if known to him, as I should suppose they
Avere to every other man twenty years of age in
Western America, would make the whole speech of
that gentleman little else than a most Avanton insult
to the understanding of the people and Governm.ent
of Kentucky. Let us briefly notice the facts.
In November, 1811, the battle of Tippecanoe was
fought. There Colonel Davies and Colonel Owens,
Avith other Kentuckians, fell. These, says the gen
tleman, (at least he insinuates it,) were sacrificed by
either the coAvardly artifice or by the ignorance of
General Harrison. Now, Mr. Speaker, I abhor the
habit of open flattery, nay, I do not like to look in
the face of a man, and speak of him in Avarm terms
of eulogium, however he may deserve it; but, sir, on
this occasion I am obliged to say what history will
attest of the people of Kentucky. If any commu
nity of people ever lived, from the time of the dis
persion on the plain of Shinar up to this day, Avho
were literally cradled in war, it is to be found in the
State of Kentucky. From the first exploration of the
country by Daniel Boone up to the year 1794, they
were engaged in one incessant battle Avith the savages
of the West, Trace the path of an Indian incursion

270 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
anywhere over the great valley of the West, and
you will find it red with Kentucky blood. Wander
over any of the battle-fields of that great theater of
savage war, and you will find it white with the bones
of. her children. In childhood they fought the In
dians, with their sisters and mothers, in their dwel
lings. In youth and ripe manhood they fought them
in ambuscades and open battle-fields. Such were
the men of Kentucky in 1811, when the battle of
Tippecanoe was fought. There, too, as we know,
they were still found, foremost where life was to be
lost, or glory won; and there they were commanded
by General Harrison, Now sfr, if in that battle
General Harrison had not conducted as became a
soldier and a general, would not such men have
seen and known it? Did Kentucky in 1811, mourn
ing as she then did the loss of one of her greatest
and most valued citizens, condemn (as the gentle
man from Michigan has attempted to) the conduct
of the General who commanded in that battle? Let
us see hoAV' they testified.
In January, 1812, two months after the battle of
Tippecanoe, the Legislature of Kentucky was in
session. On the 7th of January, 1812, the following
resolution passed that body:
'¦'¦Resolved, hy the Senate and House of Mepreseniatives
of the State of Kentucky, That in the late campaign
against the Indians upon the Wabash, GoA'^ernor
William Henry Harrison has behaved like a hero, a
patriot, and a general; and that for his cool, deliber
ate, skillful, and gallant conduct in the battle of-

REPLY Ta GENERAL CRARY, 271
Tippecanoe, he well deserves the warmest thanks of
his country and his nation."
Mr. Speaker, the resolution I have just read was
presented by John J. Crittenden, now a Senator from
the State of Kentucky, whom to name is to call to
the minds of all who knoAV him, a man whose
urbanity and varied accomplishments present a
model of an American gentleman — ^whose wisdom,
eloquence, and integrity have won for him the first
rank among American statesmen. Such a man, with
both branches of the Kentucky Legislature, have
testified, two months only after the event took place.
that, in the campaign and battle of Tippecanoe, Gen
eral Harrison combined the skill and conduct of an
able commander with the valor of a soldier, and the
patriotism of an American. Who rises up, twenty-
eight years afterward, to contradict this? The young
gentleman from Michigan! He who, at the time
referred to, was probably conning Webster's spelling-
book in some village school in Connecticut. But,
Mr. Speaker, I must call another witness upon the
point in issue here. On the 12th of November, 1811,
the Territorial Legislature of Indiana was in session.
This is just five days after the battle. That Legisla
ture, through the Speaker of its House of Represent
atives, General William Johnson, addressed General
Harrison in the following terms :
"Sir: The House of Representatives of the Indiana
Territory, in their own name, and in behalf of their
constituents, most cordially reciprocate the congratu
lations of your Excellency on the glorious result of

272 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
the late sanguinary conflict with the Shawnee Pro-
j)het, and all the tribes of Indians confederated with
him. When we see displayed in behalf of our coun
try not only the consummate abilities of the general,
but the heroism of the man ; and when we take into
view the benefits which must result to that country
from those exertions, we can not for a moment with
hold our meed of applause."
Here, sfr, we have two Legislatures of the States
whose citizens composed the militia force at Tippe
canoe, grieved and smarting under the loss of their
fellow-citizens, uniting in solemn council in bearing
their testimony to the skill and bravery displayed by
General Harrison in that battle, which the gentle
man from Michigan, with a self-complacency that
might well pass for insanity, now says he has discov
ered was marked by palpable incapacity in the com
manding General. But, Mr. Speaker, I must call
yet another, nay, several other witnesses, to confront
the opinion of the Michigan General.
In August, 1812, about nine months after the
battle of Tippecanoe, news of fearful import concern
ing the conduct of General Hull, reached Ohio and
Kentucky. Our army had fallen back on Detroit,
and rumors of the surrender of that place to the
British, which did actually take place, were floating
on every breeze. Three regiments of militia were
immediately raised in Kentucky. Before these troops
had taken the field, it was well known that our army
under Hull, with the whole Territory of Michigan,
had been surrendered to the combined British and

REPLY TO GENERAL CRARY. 273
Indian forces, commanded by Brock and Tecumseh.
Our whole frontier in the North-west lay bare and
defenseless to the invasion not only of the British
army, but the more terrible incursion of a savage
foe, hungry for plunder and thirsting for blood, led
on by the most bold and accomplished warrior that
the tribes of the red-man had ever produced. In
this state of peril, the ga,llant army of Kentucky
looked round for a leader equal to the imminent and
momentous crisis. There was Scott, the then Gov
ernor of Kentucky, who had fought through the
Revolutionary war, and under the eye of Wash
ington had risen to the rank of brigadier in the regu
lar service. There, too, was the veteran Shelby, one
of the heroes of King's Mountain, a name that shall
wake up the tones of enthusiam in every American
heart while heroic courage is esteemed, or lofty integ
rity remains a virtue. There, too, was Clay, whose
trumpet tongue in this hall was worth a thousand
cannon in the field. These were convened in council.
This, let us not forget, was about nine months after
the battle of Tippecanoe, Whom, sir, I ask, did
these men select to lead their own friends and fellow-
citizens on to this glorious enterprise ? Their laAvs
required that their militia should be commanded by
one of their own citizens ; yet passing by Scott, and
Shelby, and thousands of their own brave sons, this
council called General Harrison, then Governor of
Indiana — ^he who had commanded Kentuckians but
nine months before at Tippecanoe — ^he who, accord^-
ing to the gentleman from Michigan, had shown no
18

274 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN,
trait but imbecility, as an officer — ^he, against the
laws of Kentucky, was by such a council asked to
resign his station as Governor of Indiana, and take
the rank and commission of Major-General in the
Kentucky militia, and lead on her armies in that
fearful hour, to redeem our national disgrace, and
snatch from British domination and savage butchery
the very country now represented by the gentleman
from Michigan. I have yet one other witness to call
against the gentleman from Michigan. Sir, if the
last rest of the illustrious dead is disturbed in this
unnatural war upon a living soldier's honor, and a
living patriot's fame, the fault is not mine. It will
appear presently that the gentleman from Michigan
has — unwittingly, it may be — dishonoi-ed and in
sulted the dead, and charged the pure and venerated
Madison with hypocrisy and falsehood. If General
Harrison had- been the weak, wicked, or iihbecile
thing the gentleman from Michigan would now pre
tend, was not this known to Mr, Madison, then Presi
dent of the United States, who gave the orders under
which General Harrison acted, and to whom the lat
ter was responsible for his conduct ? Surely no one
can suppose that there were wanting those who, if
they could have done so with truth, would have made
known any conduct of General Harrison at the time
referred to, which seemed in any degree worthy of
reprehension. With all these means of information,
what was the testimony of Mr. Madison respecting
the battle of Tippecanoe? I will quote his oAvn
words from his message to Congress about a month

REPLY TO GENERAL CRARY, 275
after the event. The message is dated 18th Decem
ber, 1811, and reads as follows :
" While it is deeply lamented that so many valu
able lives haA^e been lost in the action which took
place on the 7th ultimo. Congress will see with satis
faction the dauntless spirit of fortitude Adctoriously
displayed by every description of troops engaged, as
well as the collected firmness which distinguished
thefr commander on an occasion requfring the utmost
exertions of valor and discipline,"
Mr. Speaker, I have ho pleasure in thus recapitu
lating and piling proof upon proof to repel an insinu
ation, which I think is now apparent to all has been
thrown out in the madness of party rage, without
consideration, and founded only on a total perver
sion, or rather flat contradiction, of every historical
record haAdng relation to the subject.
Something was said by the gentleman from Michi
gan about the encampment at Tippecanoe. If I
understood him rightly, he condemned it as injudi
cious, because it had a river on one side and a
morass on another. Now, Mr, Speaker, I shall give ,
no opinion on the question thus stated; but it just
now occurs to me that this very subject, which I
think in the military vocabulary is called castrameta-
tion, admits of some serious injury bearing upon the
criticism under consideration. In almost all scientific
research, we find that what is now reduced to system,
and arises to the dignity of science, was at first the
product of some casualty, which, falling under the
notice of some reflecting mind, gave rise to surprising

276 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
results. The accidental falling of an apple developed
the great law of gravitation. I am sure I have
somewhere seen it stated that Pyrrhus, the celebrated
King of Epirus, who is allowed by all authority to
have been the first, general of his time, first learned
to fortify his camp by having a river in his rear and
a morass on his flank ; and this was first suggested
to him, by seeing a wild boar, when hunted to des
peration, back himself against a tree or rock, that he
might fight his pursuers, -without danger of being
assailed in his rear. Now, sir, if I comprehend the
gentleman from Michigan, he has against him on this
point not only the celebrated king of Epirus, but also
the wild boar, who, it seems, was the tutor of Pyrrhus
in the art of eastrametation. Here, then, are two
approved authorities, one of whom nature taught the
art of war, as she kindly did us colonels, and the
other that renowned hero of Epirus, who gave the
Romans so much trouble in his time. These author
ities are near two thousand years old, and, as far as
I know, unquestioned, till the gentleman from Michi
gan attacked them yesterday. Here, again, I ask
who shall decide? Pyrrhus and the boar on one
side, and the gentleman from Michigan on the other.
Sir, I decline jurisdiction of the question, and leave
the two hundred and forty colonels of this House to
settle the contest, "?ww nostrum tantes componere
lites," Mr, Speaker, I feel it quite impossible to withdraw
from this part of the debate, without some comment
on another assertion, or rather intimation, of the gen-

REPLY TO GENERAL CRARY. 277
tleman from Michigan, touching the conduct of Gen
eral Harrison at the battle of the Thames. All who
have made themselves acquainted with the history
of that event, know that the order Avhich the Ameri
can army was to attack the combined force of British
and Indians at the Thames^ was changed at the very
moment when the onset was about to be made. This
order of the General drew forth from Commodore
Perry and others, who were in the staff of the army,
and on the ground at the time, the highest encomiums.
The idea of this change in the plan of attack, it is
now intimated, was not original with General Harri
son, but was, as the gentleman seems to intimate,
suggested to him by another, who, it is said, was on
the ground at the time. Who that other person is,
or was, the gentleman has not said, but seemed to
intimate he was now in the other end of the Capitol !
and thus we are led to suppose that the gentleman
intends to say that Colonel Johnson, the Vice Presi
dent, is the gentleman alluded to. Sir, I regret very
much that the gentleman should treat historical facts
in this way. If there be any foundation for giving
Colonel Johnson the honor of having suggested to
General Harrison a movement for which the latter
has received great praise, why not speak out and say
so? Why insinuate? Why hint or suppose on a
subject susceptible of easy and positive proof? Does
not the gentleman know that he is thus trifling with
the character of a soldier, playing with reputation
dearer than property or life to its possessor ? Sir, I

278 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
wish to know if Colonel Johnson, the Vice President
of the United States, has, by any word or act of his,
given countenance to this insinuation? It would be
Avell for all who speak at random on this subject to
remember that there are living witnesses yet who
can testify to the point in question. It may not be
amiss to remind some that there is extant a journal
of Colonel Wood, who afterward fell on the Niagara
frontier. For the benefit of such, I too, will state
what can be proved in relation to the change made
by General Harrison in the order of attack at the
Thames. The position of the British and Indians had been
reported to General Harrison by volunteer officers —
brave men, it is true, but who, like many of us, were
officers who had not seen a great deal of hard fight
ing. On this report the order of attack first intended
was founded, but, before the troops were ordered on
the attack. Colonel Wood was sent to examine and
report the extent of front occupied by the British
troops. Colonel Wood's military eye detected at
once what had escaped the unpracticed observation
of the others — that is, that the British regulars were
drawn up in open order — and it was on his report
that, at the moment, the change was made by Gen
eral Harrison in the order of the attack — a move
ment Avhich, in the estimation of such men as Wood,
and Perry, and Shelby, was enough of itself to entitle
General Harrison to the highest rank among the
military men of the age.

REPLY TO GENERAL CRARY. 279
Mr. Speaker, when I review the historical testi
mony touching this portion of General Harrison's
history, I confess my amazement at the Quixotic,
(I pray my friend from Michigan to pardon me),
but I must call it the Quixotic exhibition which he
has made of himself. Sir, the gentleman had no
need to tell us he was a general of militia. His con
duct, in this discussion, is proof of that — strong even
as is his own word for the fact. He has shown all
that reckless bravery which has always characterized
our noble militia, but he has also, in this attack, shown
that other quality of militia troops which so frequently
impels them to rush blindly forward, and often to
thefr own destruction. I should like to hear many.
of the brave men around me speak of General Har
rison. Some there are now under my eye who carry
British bullets in thefr bodies, received while fighting
under the command of General Harrison. I should
be glad to hear my whole-souled and generous-hearted
friend from Kentucky [Major Butler], who agrees
with the gentleman from Michigan in general politics,
who has not merely heard of battle, but who has
mingled in war in all its forms, and fought his way
from the ranks up to the head of a battalion — I say
I should be glad to hear his opinions of the matters
asserted, hinted at, and insinuated by the gentleman
from Michigan.
Why, I ask, is this a,ttempt to falsify the common
history of our country made now, and why is it made
here? Is it vainly imagined that Congressional

280 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
speeches are to contradict accredited, long-known
historical facts ? Does the fierce madness of party
indulge a conception so wild ?
Sir, I repeat, that I feel only amazement at such
an attempt. I could not sit still and witness it in
silence. Much as I desired to speak to the House
and the country on the question touching the Cum
berland road, I should have left it to others had I
not been impelled to get the floor to bear my testi
mony against the gross injustice which I thought was
about to be done to a citizen — an honored, cherished
citizen of my own State. This House, Mr. Speaker,
knows that I am not given to much babbling here.
Yes, sir, you all know that, like Balaam's ass, I
never speak here till I am kicked into it. I may
claim credit, therefore, for sincerity, when I declare
that a strong sense of justice alone could have called
me into this debate. Let me uoav remind gentlemen
who may be tempted into a similar course with my
friend from Michigan, that all such efforts must
recoil with destructive effect upon those who make
them. Sir, it has been the fortune of General Har
rison to be identified with the civil and military his
tory of this country for nearly half a century. What
is to be gained, even to party, by perverting that
history ? Nothing. You may blot out a page of his
biography here, and tear out a chapter of history
there ; nay, you may, in the blindness of party rage,
rival the Vandal and the Turk, and burn up all your
books, and what then have you effected? Nothing

REPLY TO GENERAL CRARY. 281
but an insane exhibition of impotent party violence.
General Harrison's history would still remain in the
memory of his and your cotemporaries ; and coming-
events, not long to be delayed, will show to the world
that his history, in both legislation and war, dAvells
not merely in the memories of his countrymen, but
is enshrined in their gratitude and engraven upon
their hearts.
Mr. Speaker, I come now to the discussion of Avhat
is really the question before the House, and with the
hope that I may be entitled to the floor on Monday,
I will, if it be the pleasure of the House, give way
for a motion to adjourn. If I can obtain the floor on
Monday, I promise the House that nothing shall
tempt me to wander from the question touching the
appropriation for the Cumberland road, a work
which, if it be not crushed by the wretched policy
of the Administration, will reflect as much glory
upon your civil history as the deeds of the great and
patriotic citizen whose conduct I have been com
pelled to notice, ever did upon your military annals.
[At this point the House adjourned until the following Mon
day, when Mr. Corwin resumed, but his remarks were never
fuUy reported.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
[Delivered to the Legislature of Ohio, December 16th, 1840.]

Gentlemen of the Senate
AND House of Representatives :
Having been properly advised of my election to
the office of Governor of the State, I am here, in
obedience to the law, to enter upon the discharge of
those duties which the constitution and laws of Ohio
devolve upon that officer.
FoAv and comparatively unimportant as are the
duties which our constitution has assigned to the
chief executive magistrate of the State, still it is
obvious that an upright and faithful discharge of
these is due to the interests as well as the just
expectations Of the people.
While I am fully impressed' with that truth, so
prominent in all systems of representative govern
ment, that every public functionary, chosen by the
people, is but the instrument selected for the execu
tion of those principles of government which prompt
the bestowment of their suffrages upon him, yet I
can not omit the present as the most proper occasion
for expressing the deep sense I entertain of the honor
which, in this instance, that selection has conferred
upon me. The grateful recollection which I shall
(282)

INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 283
ever cherish of this distinguished testimonial of its
confidence, with the interest I can not but feel, in
common with every citizen, for the advancement of
the lasting prosperity and true glory of the State,
Avill, I trust, furnish at all times adequate motives
to myself, and sure guarantees to the people, for at
least an honest and faithful effort in all things fall
ing within the constitutional limits of executiA^e duty^
The narrow limits within which the executive poAver
is circumscribed by the constitution of Ohio, has been
the subject of much curious speculation — of no little
censure by some, and of high encomium by others.
Neither the Constitution of the United States, nor
those of few, if any, of the States in the Union,
furnish a parallel to this strongly-defined feature
in ours. With us the executive has no agency
whatever in the enactment of laws, except the very
feeble and humble one, if agency it may be called, of
'¦'¦recommending such measures as he may deem expe
dient." The laws, when passed, through both branches
of the Legislature, are not submitted for executive
approval, nor has he, in any contingency, that " veto
power " which, by one class of political philosophers,
has been deemed essential to protect the people
against a supposed hasty, impolitic, or unconstitu
tional action of the legislative department. Except
in one or two instances of very subordinate char
acter, the power of appointment to office by the
Governor is limited to such vacancies as may occur
in the recess of the Legislature; and such appoint
ments, when made, expire, by express limitation, at

284 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN
the close of the next succeeding session of that body.
The admirers of a strong executive have, in my
judgment, most erroneously supposed that a large
patronage, resulting from the power of appointment
to office, was a necessary branch of executive power,
in order to give stability to the Government, and
secure a prompt and faithful execution of the laws.
The denial of this, as well as the veto power, to the
Executive by our constitution (forming, as they do, a
striking peculiarity), can probably only be rationally
accounted for by reference to the history of the times
which gave it birth.
The constitution of Ohio was formed in November,
1802, very soon after a most animated ^struggle be
tween two great political parties in the United States,
which had resulted in the election of Mr. Jefferson to
the Presidency, Of the questions which divided the
people of that day, that touching the powers and
patronage of the Executive was prominent. They
who favored a restricted power, and stinted execu
tive patronage, prevailed ; and of this school (then
denominated Republican) was the convention that
framed our Constitution. A fearful jealousy of execu
tive power, with a strong couAdction of the pernicious
influence of executive patronage, all will agree', are
indelibly impressed upon their work ; and our expe
rience of nearly forty years has given abundant
proofs of the wisdom which (in this respect at least)
exerted its influence upon their labors. Under this
system, Ohio, it is believed, has advanced, with a
pace equal to any of her sister States, in the augmen-

INAUGURAL ADDEESS. 285
tation of her population and the development of
her resources ; nor in those laws and social insti
tutions which advance the intellectual and moral
condition of a people, need she fear a comparison
Avith much older communities, governed by different
organic laws. Under this constitution, the rights of
person and property have been fully protected ; all
the great guarantees of civil liberty have been pre
served; and, in the vicissitudes of war and peace,
the laws have, in general, been promptly and vigor
ously enforced. If occasional and even flagrant
exceptions to this view of our history are to be
found, it will be readily seen that they Avere of short
duration, and had not their origin in the want of
executive power to prevent or control them. After
an interval of forty years, the people of the United
States have again agitated the subject of a strong or
restricted executive action in the Federal Govern
ment, and again decided it as they did in 1800 —
furnishing to the citizen of Ohio another proud testi
monial of the excellence, in this particular, of the
constitution under which he lives.
I advert to this subject now Avith no view to par
ticular legislation, but upon the supposition that a
contingency may arise when it may become the duty
of the Legislature to express, in the usual way, the
opinions of the State upon it, in reference to some
modification of the executive power, as defined in the
Constitution of the United States.
Under our complex system of government, no sub
jeet has given rise to greater difficulty, or variety of

286 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
opinion, than that of the true division of legislative
power, under the Constitution, between the General
Government and the Statps.
On all subjects of this character, prudence and
patriotism alike demand that both parties should
forbear, if possible, to enter the field of conflict in
pursuit of a questionable claim of jurisdiction. That
spirit of concession, so powerfully operative in the
formation of the Federal Constitution, should always
be invoked by those whose duty it may be, either as
officers of the General or State authorities, to fix its
true interpretation. When we regard, however, the
invariable tendency of power to reach after still
further and more extended dominion, and when we
consider the obvious advantage which the National
Government enjoys in a conflict with a single State
of the Union, arising from its greater wealth and
patronage, and by consequence its superior influence
over public opinion, it becomes the obvious duty ol
the State Legislatures to watch with vigilance, and,
on all questions not Avithin the province of the judi
ciary, to assert, in a peaceful yet resolute tone, the
claims ahd powers of the weaker party.
The present financial condition of our State, as
well as the intrinsic importance of the subject,^ will,
I am sure, justify me in bestowing, at this time, a
passing notice on a claim often preferred by Ohio,
Avith many other States in the Union, the adjustment
of which, though at one time on the point of com
pletion, still remains a subject open for the considera
tion and final action of Congress.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 287
Several years ago. Congress, by very full majorities
in both branches, passed an act providing for dis
tributing the moneys arising from the sale of the
public lands among the States. This act was predi
cated upon the proposition' that the public lands Avere
held by Congress in trust; that the Objects of the
trust were specified in the deeds of cession compre
hending these lands ; that these deeds of cession
were compacts ; that the parties to these compacts
had agreed that the lands so ceded should be sold by
the General Government, and the moneys arising
from the sale should be appropriated to the payment
of the then national debt, and then the remainder
should be distributed among the several States of
the Union in a specified proportion. At the time of
the passage of this bill, the national debt was entirely
extinguished, and it was believed by Congress that
the contingency had occurred upon which the dis
tribution among the States should commence. This
argument, derived from the notion of a compact
embracing the subject-matter of the bill, did not
comprehend that portion of the public domain em
braced Avithin the purchase of Louisiana and Florida,
ceded dfrectly to the General Government by France
and Spain respectively.
The propriety of subjecting this last class to the
principle of distribution was founded on a variety of
considerations. It was believed by many, whose
opinions are entitled to great consideration, that the
public domain was not properly, nor ever should be,
considered a source of revenue to the national trea-

288 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
sury. A belief then prevailed, to such extent as to
amount to almost universal admission, that under
any properly-adjusted system of impost duties on
foreign goods, the moneys arising from that source
AA'ould be always equal to the wants of the General
GoA^ernment in time of peace, while those wants
should be limited by that strict economy and repub
lican simplicity which should always characterize
the institutions of a free people. The principles of
administration, then and since avowed by the General
Government, also give to this claim of the States an
equity which, under other circumstances, might not
so clearly appear. With very few exceptions, the
General Government will expend no money out of
the national treasury for the internal improvement
of the country. This necessarily left the whole
expense of prosecuting a system of internal improA^e-
ment to be borne by the States, and for which the
States have contracted debts that bear heavily upon
their citizens, in the shape of direct taxes. Many
of the works thus undertaken were of a character
truly national, and demanded alike by the enter
prising spirit of the age, and the true interests of
the AA^hole country. In the same spirit of enlightened
patriotism, and believing that our institutions are
based upon equality, and that every such system
imi^lies equality in knowledge, and the means of
attaining to it as nearly as possible ; systems of com
mon-school education, carrying its benefits alike to
the high and the lowly, the rich and the poor, have
been adopted by many of the States. These impose

INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 289
additional taxes upon the people of the States, which,
though as yet cheerfully paid, I am proud to declare,
in our State, do, nevertheless, go to promote objects
of vital import, as well to the nation collectively, as
the States, considered in their separate and sovereign
character. Against any appropriation for this great
and essential national object, the doors of the Fed
eral treasury have been, and probably in all time to
come will remain, forever closed. These and other
kindred considerations brought Congress, the legiti
mate trustees of the fund, to the conclusion that it
should be distributed among the States. The Fed
eral representation of each was assumed as the most
equitable rule of distribution, and adopted accord
ingly. It would seem that the justice and propriety of
conceding this claim to the States, should not now be
a question. By the passage of the act to which I
refer. Congress, the proper trustees of the fund, and
the only legitimate guardians of the national trea
sury, has acknowledged the right, and given its sanc
tion to the expediency of the measure. The reason,
and the only reason, why we are not at this moment
in the enjoyment of our proportion of this rich fund,
is to be found in the fact, that the President, then in
the executive chafr, refused his assent to the bill for
that purpose ; thus, by the will of one man, nullify
ing the combined resolves of the representatives of
both the people and the States. It is a singular fact,
and worthy our attention, as illustrating the operation
of the veto power of the President, and the influence
19

290 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
it gives to the opinion of one man over the opinions
of many, that a majority of the sovereign States of
the Union have, at various times, insisted on the
distribution of this fund as a matter of policy, and
many of them as a matter of positive right, and Con
gress have, in pursuance of this undoubted expression
of the wishes of the States and people, enacted a laAv;
and yet, by the simple interposition of the will of one
other branch of the Government, the wUl and power
of the people and the States are rendered of no
effect. Neither duty nor inclination invite me to bring to
your notice all those subjects to which your attention
has been called by my predecessor, in the proper dis
charge of his duties ; yet, in the present condition of
our affairs as a State, and in view of the onerous
taxation, which must continue for some time to press
heavily on the people, I have thought it my impera
tive duty, at the earliest proper moment, to solicit
your attention to this subject.
It is scarcely possible to suggest an idea touching
the proper revenues of the State, or our prospects
as a people, without associating with these, in our
thoughts, the condition of that currency which is the
measure of value, to all property and labor, and
which, therefore, may be considered as one of the
indispensable elements of a social state of existence.
Wherever society has advanced to the point where
there is such a division of labor, as that the products
of one become necessary to another, there some
representative of the value of such exchangeable

INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 291
commodities has been invented. As any community
advances in population, and multiplies the variety
and quantity of its productions, this representative
of value also increases in amount, so as to insure a
ready and convenient transfer of the labor of one
portion to another, without the slow, and, in many
instances, impracticable process of barter between
the two. AVherever a thriving and industrious com
munity, with ample means to apply its labor to
future acquisitions, has been found, there the pro
ceeds of that labor in the future have supplied the
place of this medium of exchange, in the form of
credit ; and this last has, by experience, been found
in general so safe, that in governments where a
stable order of things prevails, and the rights of the
citizens are well protected, it has obtained universal
proA'^alence. Among the inventions of nations most
commercial, and farthest advanced in civilization, to
supply this medium of trade, banks of cfrculation,
as modem institutions of that sort are called, have
borne a conspicuous part. After the experience of
hundreds of years, since their first appearance, they
still survive, and may be said, at*this time, to be
more prevalent than at any former period. So
thoroughly have these institutions been wrought into
the texture of the affairs of the world, that they have,
even in our country, been chartered and sustained
by the common consent of those who differed widely
on every other great question of public policy. It is
not now, therefore, a question whether banks shall
continue among us in Ohio, but only under what

292 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
modifications and restrictions, they shall be per
mitted to live. With three or four exceptions, the
charters of all the banks in Ohio will expire in two
years from this time. They have, I believe, at this
time a debt due them, which, in the aggregate,
amounts to about ten millions of dollars. If their
charters are not to be renewed, then it is not merely
the dictate of prudence, but the command of neces
sity, that they should cease to make further issues,
and by every proper means endeavor to collect their
debts, and close finally their entire business. Should
the great curtailment, almost ruinous, which has
taken place in the circulation of the banks of this
Statp, within the last eighteen months, be followed
by the collection of the debts due the banks, while
their capital remains unemployed, it must produce a
state of things in this country, which has never been
paralleled by any of those contingencies in trade, or
unusual expansions and contractions in banking,
which, in former times, we have had occasion to
deplore. With the present Legislature it remains
to determine whether the permanent interests of the
State are to be* promoted by encountering such a
crisis. As the establishment of some permanent system
of banking in this State devolves on the Legislature,
and as that responsibility and labor must be encoun
tered now, and as. the subject is one of such per
vading and deep zaoment, I have thought that my
duty would not be- discharged without adding my
recommendation to the universal expectation of the

INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 293
people, that it should receive your early and most
anxious consideration. I am aware that the subject
has been, and is considered one of great difficulty in
theory, and hazardous in practice.
If we analyze all the objections to banks, as instru
ments for furnishing a currency, it will be found that
they resolve themselves mainly into two, which are
said in practice to be the natural results of the
system. In the first place, it is said that banks use the
credit which thefr charters give them to extend the
cfrculation of thefr paper ; that, either from impru
dent management, or from fraudulent motives, they
at times refuse to pay gold or silver for their notes ;
that this depreciates the value of their paper, and to
the extent, more or less, of such depreciation, occa
sions a loss to the holders of their bills. That
instances have occurred in the past history of banks,
to warrant this objection, no one can deny. But it is
not true that this has been either an invariable or
general consequence of our system of banking. The
occurrences upon which this objection is founded,
have been occasional, Avith chartered institutions,
and not general. If Ave compare the losses sustained
by the community, from the partial and total failures
of incf rporated banks to redeem their promises, with
the failures and bankruptcies Of individuals engaged
in trade, to the same extent, we shall find the latter
exceed those of the former class by an almost incal
culable sum.
That banks under the management of men, like all

294 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
others of our race, not perfect, either in integrity or
wisdom, have sometimes failed, is a fact not less
rationally inferred, from the imperfection of all
human institutions, than it is clearly shown, by his
torical facts. It could not be expected that any
contrivance of man, would always and invariably,
produce the good, and nothing else, which it was
designed to effect. Our admirable system of govern
ment sometimes, through the willful delinquency of
those to whose care it is intrusted, fails to bring us
all the blessings it is calculated to bestow ; yet, for
these occasional failures, no American statesman
thinks of abandoning our system of republican lib
erty, and going back to the royal or despotic govern
ment of former times, for a better state of things.
If the community were deprived of that credit
which is now furnished by banks, any one conversant
with the enterprising spirit of our people will at once
see that individuals and voluntary associations would
furnish that credit in other forms. It then becomes
a question, which of these two is safest to the labor-
Hig and producing classes ? If this be the true ques
tion, and our experience is not utterly deceptive, its
solution at once results in favor of incorporated com
panies, guarded by every provision which the wisdom
of the Legislature may suggest.
The second objection to banks is> that they expand
their circulation at one time to an unnatural extent,
and thus raise the price of labor and property ; and
by a sudden withdrawal of that circulation, either
from necessity or choice, reduce the value of both —

INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 295
thus, by reducing the value of the debtor's means of
payment, in effect augmenting the amount of the
creditor's demand against him. That this may be,
and has been often done by banks, is certainly true ;
but that the same amount of credit in any other
form, or a sudden influx of the precious metals, and
its sudden efflux, would produce the same evils,
is equally true. Instances of the latter kind are
numerous, and too well known to justify me in
recapitulating them here, in which banks had not
the remotest influence ; happening in countries, too,
where a metallic was the only currency.
In those instances, however, in which banks have
produced either of the evils complained of, it is
worthy of consideration, whether the fault lay in the
institutions themselves, or originated in an extraneous
influence exerted upon them. In the notable instance
of suspension of specie payments by the banks of
England, in 1797, it is a well-known fact, that an
order of the King and Council given to the bank,
produced it, and that it was continued by acts of
Parliament, from time to time, till the year 1823,
when, by the judicious arrangements of the bank, it
resumed payments without producing any derange
ment in the commerce of the country, or prejudice to
the finances of the kingdom. The large issues, and
consequent suspension of the banks in our country,
which took place from 1812 to 1820, have been, with
great justice, ascribed to the loans made by the Gov
ernment of the banks, which were the only means
of prosecuting the war; which, returning upon them

296 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
at the close of the war, with a foreign demand for
specie, with the failure in business, at that time, of
many of their debtors, rendered suspension inevita
ble, and in many instances were followed by an ulti
mate close of business. Among the causes that
produced the recent suspensions in 1837, the influence
of the Government, though by no means intended,
is nevertheless distinctly perceivable. The whole
revenues of the General Government were deposited
with them, under an injunction from the Treasury
department, to use them as banking capital., A con
fidence in their strength, arising from this connection
with the Government, natural enough, though, as the
event proved, delusive, contributed greatly to those
large issues prior to 1837, of which so much com
plaint has been made. The contractions, too, which
have followed, producing the most disastrous effects
upon the country, although to a great extent a neces
sary consequence of previous over-issues, were, never
theless, hastened and pushed too rapidly forward, by
well-meant endeavors on the part of the Legislature
to ioaprove the currency. Surveying the past history
of such institutions, and availing ourselves of a dispas
sionate view of our own errors, as well as theirs, we
may hope that a faithful effort, at this time, to estab
lish them on a firm and secure basis, will be attended
by happy results. To this end I have to suggest a
brief outline of those plans which appear to embrace
a preventive of the two great erih I have noticed —
insolvency of the institutions and consequent loss to
the community — and unnatural expansions and con-

INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 297
tractions of the currency. The first is a State Bank,
with a convenient number of branches, at proper
points in the State, with a capital of such amount as
the business of the country would seem to require.
Each branch to own its own stock as its own separate
property; but to receive its paper from a common
source, and be subject to the control of a parent
board chosen by the stockholders of all the branches.
In this plan, the whole capital employed in the State
should be bound for the redemption of the notes of
every branch; the parent board having power, under
proper limitations, to control the business of all the
branches. As the whole capital is to be pledged for
the liabilities of each separate branch, a board repre
senting the capital should have full power to protect
it against the mismanagement of those for whose
conduct in this scheme it is made ultimately respon
sible. In this plan, it is proposed to give the State
a proportion of the stock, not exceeding one-fifth of
the whole, which should be represented by a corres
ponding vote in the election of officers. The books
of all the institution should be opened at all times to
the inspection of the parent board, and subject also
to the inspection at any and all times of the Legisla
ture, in such mode as it should direct. The amount
of circulation at any and all of the branches, to bear
a proportion to their capital, to be fixed by the Leg
islature in the charter. It is especially desirable,
that the charter should specify the cases, if any,
on which a forfeiture of the charter should follow,
and that the facts in such cases should be found by a

298 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN,
trial, in proper form, in the judicial courts of the
State. In this scheme, also, it would seem to be
proper to make the notes of each branch receivable
in payment of debts at every branch in the State.
To withdraw from the directory all inducement to
extravagant and injudicious issues, and to put an end
to the practice, said to prevail to some extent, of
adopting improper methods to avoid the provision of
law, which forbids the receipt of more than six per
cent, per annum on loans, it should be provided, that
the amount of dividends, when they exceed a given
per cent, per annum, should be paid in the State
Treasury. The second plan, which has been much the subject
of discussion, and which would seem to be a great
improA^ement on the existing system, embraces the
proposition of re-chartering so many of the present
banks of the State, as shall be thought necessary, and
such of them only, as on thorough examination shall
be found to be in a sound and healthy condition.
In this scheme, it is proposed to compel all that
shall receiA^e charters to unite in the election of a
Board of Control ; each bank to be entitled to vote in
proportion to its capital. This board, who may or
may not hold stock in any bank, as the Legislature
shall determine, to issue all paper, and . to sign it by
officers to be chosen by it; to receive reports from
each bank at stated periods, embracing all its trans
actions, verified by the oaths of its officers. It is
proposed, also, to vest the board with power to ex
amine into the affairs of all the banks at stated

INAUGURAL ADDEESS. 299
periods, to be fixed by law, and oftener, if they deem
it necessary, and to close the business of any bank,
when, in its judgment, such bank had conducted its
business in such manner as to render it unsafe to
permit its further continuance, and in all such cases
the assets of such bank should be transferred to the
board, for the purpose of liquidating all claims out
standing against it.
In this plan it is also proposed to make the capital
of each bank, and all of them, who shall accept of
charters, liable for the debts of every other bank, and
to compel them to receive the notes of each other at
all times in payment of debts, and to redeem each its
proper proportion of the notes of any other that may
suspend specie payment, or be closed by the Board
of Control.
It would also be a salutary provision in this
scheme, to limit the diAddends to stockholders, and
bring into the State Treasury all the profits arising
from the operations of the banks above such limita
tion, and also to limit in the charter the amount of
circulation as compared with the capital of the several
banks. I have, as it must be obvious, only thought it ne
cessary to sketch an outline of some of the most
prominent features of the scheme proposed. I have
been impelled at this, as to some it may seem, un
usual time, to bring them to the view of the Legis
lature, as the loud call of the people of the State
summons it to immediate action, of some sort, upon
this all-important subject.

300 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COEWIN.
In either of the plans which are here suggested,
it is believed sufficient guards are provided against
over-issues, leading to dangerous expansions of the
currency, Avhile a capital varying from six to ten
millions of dollars, with all the property of the banks,
are pledged as a perpetual security to the holders of
the paper of every bank, embraced in the scheme.
It is undoubtedly proper, that the Legislature should
reserve the power to inspect the books and examine
into the affairs of the banks, by such agents as they
may from time to time select, and that the Board of
Control should make an annual report to the Legis
lature, embracing a full statement of the business and
condition of the banks under its supervision. It is
important in this, as in every other charter,, which
creates a compact between the State and its citizens,
that those acts which should work a forfeiture of the
corporate powers granted, should be specifically
named, and the mode of judicating such forfeiture
clearly pointed out.
It is believed that the establishment of the bank
ing capital of the State on a permanent and secure
basis, might be the means of great occasional relief, •
in the ftiture prosecution of our public works. The
Avant of funds for this purpose, arising from the tem
porary derangement of the money, market abroad,
could be supplied by the banks of our own State,
were they assured of the further continuance of their
charters, on proper principles.
The losses which haA^e been sustained by con
tractors and laborers, at times, occasioned by a failure

INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 301
ofthe state to make punctual and frequent payments,
might, in such cases, be avoided. They might be
made useful to the State in this way, in enabling
it to fulfill, as it always should, with rigid precision,
its compacts with both its foreign and domestic
creditors; an object which, it is hoped, will never be
lost sight of by any who may be charged with the
preservation of the character and honor of the State.
The high reputation which our stocks have main
tained in the markets of the world, has been earned
by a scrupulous fidelity in complying with our con
tracts. The public improvements of the State, those
enduring monuments of her enterprise, are the fruits
of that character. That faith-keeping principle which
shrinks with abhorrence from the idea of a broken
promise, is alike the offspring of the pure morality
of a Christian people, and that lofty public honor
which is a prominent characteristic of our republican
institutions. Whatever theoretical speculators upon
the nature of legislative compacts may argue, he has
been but a superficial observer of the people of Ohio,
who does not know that their tax-payers would gladly
incur taxes fifty fold more burdensome than the pre
sent, rather than endure, for a day, the deep disgrace
which attaches to broken promises and violated pub
lic faith. Such an idea is the less tolerable in Western
America, because of its almost boundless resources,
and the constantly increasing energy and numbers of
its people.
Our present position as a member of the Union,

302 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
compared with the past, can not fail to awaken in the
bosoms of our citizens proud and gratifying reflec
tions. Our State occupies a commanding position in
the great valley west of the Alleghany mountains ; a
valley which, by the estimates of those well informed,
contains a greater quantity of productive soil than is
to be found in one body elsewhere on the surface of
the globe. Though many parts of Ohio present to
the eye of a Western American what seems to him a
crowded population, yet it is certain that when com
pared with its capacity to sustain and feed its people,
no portion of our territory has as yet been filled. If
we glance our eyes over the statistics of other parts
of the world, not more fruitful in whatever con
tributes to the sustenance of a dense population, and
see to what extent the productive powers of the earth
may be carried, where population has long pressed
upon subsistence, we shall find, that any portion of
Ohio, compared with such, is as yet little better than
an untenanted and uncultivated waste. Looking for
ward to the time when the yet unoccupied agricul
tural and manufacturing powers of the State shall be
fully developed, and taking our past progress as a
guide to the future, we may, without egotism, indulge
proud hopes of the ultimate destinies of the State.
When we entered upon a State government in the
year 1802, our populatioh numbered sixty thousand.
Now, after a lapse of thfrty-eight years, we count a
million and a half within our borders. Then we
were a few scattered settlements, trembling in the

INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 303
presence of the lately subdued Indian tribes that still
hovered on our frontier, and were entitled to but one
representative in the popular branch of Congress ;
now we rank third in numbers among the twenty-six
States of the Union, and have a larger share of poAver
in the Legislature of the Nation, than many of thc
oldest States, whose settlements began two hundred
years before the white man built his first cabin
Avithin the limits of the State.
Through the valley lying between the Rocky
Mountains on one side, and the Alleghany range
on the other, following the course of the Mississippi,
Ohio, and Alleghany rivers, we have an uninter
rupted steamboat navigation of twenty-four hundred
miles in length. This great channel of commerce on ¦
one side, and the lakes of the north on the other,
intersected by canals, roads, and rivers, with a rich
soil and healthful climate, while they account for
our past history, furnish certain and most cheering
augury of our future progress.
The direction which shall be given to that future,
under our Constitution, mainly depends upon the
legislative department. To subject to useful pur
poses all the physical resources of the State, and
through these to insure the great ends of our exist
ence, the moral and intellectual improvement of all
the people, to the highest attainable point ; these are
the great objects of legislative regard. To the Legis
lature belongs the lofty glories that await a wise
exertion of that power ; and on it devolves, also, the

304 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN,
fearful responsibilities which its high position im
poses. Fully assured, that your deliberations will all aim
to advance the interests, and secure the happiness of
our common constituents, as it has become my duty,
so shall it be my greatest pleasure, within, my proper
sphere, to extend a most hearty co-operation.

ON THE ARMY BILL— BOUNTY LANDS TO
SOLDIERS.
[Pending the discussion of the bill for the Increase of the
Army, in the U. S. Senate, January 14th, 1847, Mr. Cameron, of
Pennsylvania, submitted an additional section, enacting — "That
the Secretary of the Treasury be directed to issue a warrant for a
half section of land to every officer, non-commissioned officer, mu
sician, and private, who shall serve in the Army of the United
States during the present war with Mexico, or sliall volunteer and
enlist to serve during the war, and shall be honorably discharged
before its termination ; the said land warrants to be located upon
any land belonging to the United States that may be subject to
private entry."
This section was, in substance, generally approved, but objected to
by influential senators, as tending to retard the passage of the Army
bill, or that it was, as they alleged, imperfect in its provisions.]
Mr. Corwin said he felt somewhat solicitous that
this measure, in some form or other, and at some
time or other, should be passed into a law, and he
thought, if gentlemen would give it some attention,
they would find it not so very imperfect ; they would
find that it steered clear entirely of all those formid
able objections, in regard to the system of bounty
lands, as developed in practice heretofore. The
reason why those particular sections of country where
those bounty lands were to be located had been over
looked, could not possibly apply to the lands now
proposed to be granted by the Senator from Pennsyl-
A^ania. The lands in those particular instances, and
20 (305)

306 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
in all the laws, he believed, which were passed for
the enlistment of soldiers in the war of 1812, were to
be located in a particular place ; the result was, that
no one AA'ho did not choose, to make that place his
residence, would purchase them. , The prices sank,
therefore, to about twenty dollars for, each grant
This arose from the system of, location adopted by
the Government. But this was not the case here.
These Avere to be located in any place where there
were lands subject to private entry, and that would
comprehend a district large enough to furnish a wide
range for choice. The result of the passage of this
amendment, then, would be simply this : that every
soldier who should be honorably discharged, or having
served during the war, or volunteered for twelve
months, would, at the end of his term of service, be
entitled to so much scrip as would purchase one hun
dred and sixty acres of land.* It was a proposition
to grant to every soldier who actually served, and to
the heirs of every soldier who died in service, an
amount equal to $200, which should pass current in
any land office for the purchase of land, instead of
paying them in advaiice: it was paying him, at the
end of his service, this amount. He himself would
haA'e no hesitation in voting for such a proposition.
A soldier's service was the hardest that any patriot
could be called upon to perform, and he thought that
they were entitled to receive at the hands Of the Gov-
*Mr. Cameron's proposition had been modified when these re
marks were made.

BOUNTY LANDS TO SOLDIERS. 307
ernment this much at least. He did not like procras
tinating this subject until this bill should be passed.
He saw no objection to its being incorporated in it.
Would the passage of that bill alone bring the men
into the field ? The army was not half full ; w^ould
that supply the deficiency? Why, if the thing Avere
suggested in any other place, it would be called a
palpable absurdity! If this bill were to pass, to
Avhat family of legislation would it belong? It was
the very bill to which sueh a provision as that pro
posed by the Senator from Pennsylvania properly
belonged. [On the 19th January, Mr. Benton reported from the Senate
Committee on Military Affiiirs, to which the bill had been re
committed, with instructions to bring in an amendment granting
Bounty Lands, and which, having been lost by a tie vote after
some discussion, Mr. Coravin offered the following substitute :
" That each non-commissioned officer or private enlisted in the
regular army, or regularly mustered in any volunteer company,
who has served, or may serve during the present war with
Mexico, and who shall at the end of his term of service, receive
an honorable discharge, shall be entitled to receive a certificate
or warrant from the War Department for one hundred and sixty
acres of land, which may be located by the warrantee, his heirs
or legal representatives, at any land office in the United States,
in one body, in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the public
lands, in such districts as are then subject to private entry ; Pro
vided, That if the full term for which sueh person shall have
volunteered shall not exceed one year, then the warrant to be
for eighty acres. In case of death in service, or after his dis
charge, then the certificate to go — first, to the widow; second,
to the children; third, his father; fourth, his mother; and fifth,
his brothers and sisters."]

308 SPEECHES OP THOMAS CORWIN.
Mr. Corwin said he merely desired to say to the
Senate what was the difference between his substitute
and the report of the committee. The object which
already had been urged from various quarters of the
Senate, to grant lands to the soldiers, he should say
nothing about, because he conceived that the mind
of every Senator was made up on that suljject. His
principal objection to the bill which had been reported
from the Military committee was, the restraints which
it imposes on alienations of the land after it had been
acquired by the soldier ; and he took that exception
to it, in view of the principle upon which he supposed
the Senate was acting in granting these donations at
all. It was intended, as had been well observed by
the Senator from Massachusetts, [Mr. Webster], to
operate as an inducement to those whom we now
solicit to enter the military service of the country.
Now, he thought a very little reflection on the char
acter and pursuits of those who were likely to enter
the volunteer or regular service, would satisfy any
man that the grant of a quarter section of land to be
received by them at the end of their term of service,
and to be inalienable by them, and, consequently,
useless to them for the term of seven years, was not
an inducement equivalent to that offered by the
amendment which he had proposed. He would not
pretend to be very accurate in the construction he
had been able to put on the words employed in order
to impose these restraints on alienation, but he
thought he was not mistaken in this, that when the
certificate for a quarter section of land shall be

BOUNTY LANDS TO SOLDIERS. 309
issued, it does not endow the holder of it Avith a right
to dispose of it until the end of seven years, when a
patent will be issued; and it prohibits him from
making any use of it whatever, either by lien, col
lection of money by agreement for the occupation of
the land, or any means whatever. In short, it was
perfectly useless to him for seven years after his
term of service, and also during that time, if he had
not misunderstood the bill, the land was subject to
taxation. No bond could be made, no agreement
entered into by him for leasing it, or for the occupa
tion of it in any way. It was simply saying to him
that he should, within seven years from the expira
tion of his term of service, have a quarter section of
land, and in the meantime he should pay taxes on it,
without his being able to make any conceivable use
of it, except he would go and reside upon it himself;
for if he made any agreement, in any way, to remu
nerate him for the taxes which he might pay on that
land, it could not be enforced.
Now, he presumed no one Avould pretend to deny
that a very considerable proportion of those who were
likely to enter the service, either as volunteers or as
regular soldiers, would be found to belong to some of
the trades or mechanical pursuits which were com
mon to the men of this country. He thought he Avas
not mistaken when he said one entire company raised
in the State of Massachusetts, consisted altogether of
mechatiics-^printers, tailors, shoemakers, and hat
ters. Now, what inducement did they propose to a
man accustomed all his lifetime to work in mechan-

310 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
ical pursuits, when they offered him a certificate for
a quarter section of land, on which he would haA^e to
pay taxes for seven years, wiiich he must then make
available to him, and not before ? Did they expect a
shoemaker to go into the Western forests with the
chopping-ax, or any of the other trades to engage in
pursuits so uncongenial Avith those to which they had
been accustomed ? But according to this bill no man
could do it for him, for every agreement made for
lien or transfer, was void. All these classes of soci
ety, then, would haA^e no inducements at all ; for, as
the distinguished Senator from Missouri has said, it ,
Avould make twenty thousand men, after making war
on the Mexicans, march into the far West and make
Avar on the forests. It was compulsory on them to
do so, under the penalty of twenty thousand quarter
sections of land.
Now, Mr. C.'s object was to make the land alien
able, and thus hold out a proper and adequate -induce
ment. He knew A-ery well that the Senator from
Missouri had this object perhaps much more at heart
than he (Mr. C.) had. They all aimed at the same
thing. His amendment proposed to give a quarter
section of land, or a warrant which would be worth
that, to all who served for twelve months, at the
expiration of his term of service. It might be
located anywhere. It was so much scrip which was
receivable in payment for public lands. That quar
ter section, instead of being taken up in tracts of forty
or fifty acres each, by his amendment was proposed
to be one tract ; and to those who had not served

BOUNTY LANDS TO SOLDIERS. 311
twelve months, to meet the views of the Senator
from Missouri, he gave eighty acres of land, or a
warrant for that quantity, which would be land
scrip equal to one hundred doUars, estimating the
land at the present rate of $1.25 per acre. This,
then, would operate exactly as so much money paid
into the hands of the soldiers, or agreed to be paid.
Mr. C. appealed, as the Senator from Massachu
setts had done, to their experience in the war of
1812. He thought it would be found, on a recurrence
to the statute, that during that time three hundred
and twenty acres were received at one time; but
even three hundred and twenty acres of bounty land
were found not to produce the desired result, and a
bounty in money was found to be better, for that
alone succeeded in filling up the ranks. If, then,
their experience was worth anything, the proposition
to give land to the extent proposed by the committee
Avould be found to be insufficient. But by converting-
it into money, or the equivalent of money, and mak
ing it inalienable or untransferable until his term of
service expires, the soldier would get what they pro
posed he should realize, and they would attain the
great object desfred by all.
[After further discussion, Mr. Benton inquired of Mr. C.
What is the meaning of "legal representatives?"]
Mr. CorAvin said it was a great while since he had
been examined for admission to the bar, when such a
question might have been proper. If the Senator
from Missouri made the inquiry for his own informa-

312 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
tion, he (Mr. C), would rather refer him to the
library. But if he simply inquired what my opinion is
of the meaning of the phrase "legal representatives,"
I will say to him that I mean those persons Avho
represent the estate of a dead man after he is dead.
[Incidental remarks were here made by Senators, when Mr.
Corwin continued.]
He felt, when he offered this amendment, the full
force of the suggestions which had just been made by
the Senator from Missouri; and he would add that
it had never been subject to the action of the Senate,
though he knew that its general principle had been
before the committee, and must necessarily have
been discussed by them.
Mr. C. wished now to modify his amendment by
striking out those words which were objectionable
to the Senator from Maryland [Mr. R. Johnson].
When he drew up this paper he thought this bounty
of the Government ought to be confined to those
who shall perform serAdce in this Mexican war. He
would, hoAvever, now modify his amendment, as had
been suggested, leaving the bounty to apply to all
who enter the service and perform .duty during the
Mexican war,
[January 20th, 1847 — same subject.]
Mr. Corwin replied [to Senators] that the bill was
intended to meet every case. The gentleman would
see that all who were honorably discharged were pro
vided for, if they had been in the service for three
months.

BOUNTY LAND TO SOLDIERS. 313
He desired [after remarks by Senators Chalmers
and Bagly] to explain a difficulty which had been
suggested by the Senator from Indiana [Mr. Hanne-
gan], and which had presented itself to his OAvn
mind. In granting bounties he admitted that some
respect should be paid to the length of service, so
that it should not appear to be a mere gratuity to
the troops, but that the bounty should bear some
relation to the service rendered. In the further
prosecution of the war, it was not likely that the
troops would be raised, whether regular soldiers or
volunteers, but for longer periods of service — ^the
former for five years, and the latter during the war.
As the principal object of this bill was therefore
prospective, and the design to recruit the army
speedily, it did appear to him that there should not
be a greater bounty given to those who enter during
the war, now pending, than to those who went into it
without any other motive than the laws furnished at
the time they entered into the service. Now, he sup
posed that every one who Avas acquainted with the
generosity of the Senator from Indiana [Mr. Hanne-
gan], knew that if he could do it from his own pri
vate purse, he would be willing to bestow on the
soldier any gratuity that might be necessary; but
when they were disposing of the money in the public
treasury, it appeared to him that they should be
careful to give only in cases where it was necessary
to make some compensation to those who were to
receive it. And in making compensation, they must
also make a discrimination between those who have

314 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
served but a limited time, and those Avhose service
has been longer.
Again, there was some misunderstanding on an
other point. Now, he contended that his amendment
did, in fact and in substance, give to a soldier receiv
ing a land-warrant a money-warrant— -dollars and
cents — restricting it to this, that it was only receiv-^
able in payment of public land. It Avas land-scrip
as much as was that which the Senator from Texas
proposed. [January 29, 1847, after a speech in opposition from Mr.
Benton, on the same subject, in which he contended that it
would " expunge the land of revenue for half a dozen years ;''
that " all the John Smiths, John Joneses, Billy Williamses— all
the Blacks, Browns, Greys, Beds, Whites — all the Longs and
Shorts — all the Youngs and Olds — all that interminable nomen
clature of common names — will become breeders of warrants" —
Mr. Coravin again spoke as follows:]
He felt as much regret as it was possible for the
Senator from Missouri to feel, at the delay which
has occurred under the present exigencies in the
passage of this army bill — a delay occasioned by
the various propositions to amend which had been
presented by the Senator from Missouri himself, and
other Senators; and he regretted, also, that it was
to be still further delayed by what the honorable
Senator from Missouri himself had very happily
denominated "an obstinate and persevering oppo
sition " to the amendment now under considera
tion, which, it would be recollected, had once passed
by a majority which he belioA^ed had not been

BOUNTY LANDS TO SOLDIERS. 315
accorded to any other feature of the bill. He had
to regret, for one, that it was not in his power, not
being consistent with his sense of duty, to accede to
the request made by the honorable Senator from
Missouri yesterday ; and he was sure that honorable
Senator was not inclined at all to deny to him, or to
any other Senator upon that floor, the same right to
form an opinion upon this important subject as he
claimed for himself. As it was sincerely not his
Avish to procrastinate a vote which it was desirable
should be speedily taken upon this bill, he desired
merely to occupy a few moments in replying to what
had been said by the honorable Senator from Mis
souri. And first, he would premise that although
OA'ery thing which had been presented to them this
morning by the Senator from Missouri, and every
thing that might be legitimately urged in reply to
the arguments of the Senator from Missouri, had
already been very fully presented, and he doubted
not very fully considered by every Senator upon that
floor ; yet, having been the means (by what might
almost be termed an accident, it was true) of present
ing this amendment, and having heard the terms in
Avhich it had been denounced, he supposed that it
Avould be deemed proper for him to occupy a foAv
moments with some observations before taking the
final vote upon the question now to be determined.
There had been some things revealed in this inci
dental discussion in reference to the war, and to the
troops which had been so freely and fully spoken
of, and in very laudatory terms, on all sides of the

316 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
chamber, which it was very difficult to reconcile with
Avhat was understood to be the opinion of gentlemen
on all sides.
The arguments of the Senator from Missouri, as
he understood them, rested upon two" grounds ex
clusively. The Senator contended, in the first place,
that the bounty land offered to the soldier was not
necessary to procure the services of the soldier.
This was as clearly an objection to any bill that
could be presented on this subject as it was to this.
The Senator contended, and presented it to them as
an argument against the passage of this amendment,
that it was now a matter of contention between the
patriotic citizens of this country, who wished to serve
in this extraordinary war, as to who among them
should be accepted, without any reference whatever
to this bounty. If this was so, and if there was no
justice in voting the bounty, or necessity for voting
it, then let the vote be taken upon the question,
without any further controversy. ¦
If the Senator from Missouri meant to say that
men could be enlisted into the service for their
monthly pay alone ; if he meant to declare — and he
knew no man whose opinions upon this subject were
entitled to greater weight — if he meant to declare
that it was squandering the public property to giA'e
them lands in return for the lives of their soldiers,
in return for the blood to be shed in this foreign war,
let the proposition be brought forward in a distinct
and separate form, and he would be as ready to vote
upon it as he was Avhen attached to this bill. He

BOUNTY LANDS TO SOLDIERS. 317
had understood, whether the project of giving bounty
land originated with politicians or private individuals,
that it was the intention of Congress — an intention
Avhich had been expressed in both Houses — that the
soldier who served in this war should have bounty
land as a part of his compensation for those services
which, it was admitted on all hands, eminently entitled
him to some compensation. If this was so, what
became of the argument of the Senator from Mis
souri, that it was giving away eight millions of acres
of the public lands, of the value of twelve millions
of dollars, at the minimum price of those lands, for
nothing ?
If it be true (continued Mr. C.) that the gallant
men who are willing to fight our battles in Mexico
or elsewhere — for God knows Avhere that roving-
army of yours will stop — ^if it be true that the whole
population of this country capable of bearing arms
are ready to precipitate themselves into this war in
the enemy's country, and that without price, without
reward, or the hope of reward, where is the necessity
for increasing thefr monthly pay, as is proposed by
the bill now on your table ? Sir, shall we driA^e a
Jew's bargain with our soldiers? Shall we give a
definite value for their patriotism ? Shall we count
OA^ery groan ? Shall we give value for every drop of
blood ? Shall we pay so much for a soldier's life ?
so much as a compensation to the women and chil
dren who have been made widows and orphans by
the war? Shall we give them an estimated sum
as value for their loss ? But I do not suppose that

318 SPEECHES OP THOMAS COEWIN.
any argument such as this could very readily find a
lodgment in the head or the heart of any Senator
here ; nor do I understand that the Senator from
Missouri wishes anything of this sort. He wishes
the Senate to pause, and lock the door against frauds,
while granting a liberal compensation to the soldier.
Now, let us look at this argument a little in detail.
How will it be elaborated into a fact ?
As he had understood the Senate to determine
upon giving these bounty lands in some form or
other, and as he understood they were for giving
the eight millions in the form which he proposed in
his amendment, to be actually settled and held by
the soldier who performed the service, or by some
representative of the soldier, he would ask, in a pecu
niary point of view to the Government itself, if this
land was to be considered revenue and property
which the Government had a right to use, by giving
it either in the form of money or in the form of boun
ties to soldiers entering the Avar, w^here was the dif
ference, as far as the Government was concerned,
AAdiether that eight millions of acres was given in
one form or in the other ? The argument, as far as
it rested upon the fact of giving away these lands, it
seemed to him the Senator had not well considered.
The main part of the Senator's opposition rested
upon his desire to protect the soldier, in the first
place, from the frauds Avhich might be perpetrated
upon him, and, in the next place, to stay the march
of that moral pestilence, of those villainies Avhieh
Avould be practiced upon the soldier if this bill should

BOUNTY LANDS TO SOLDIEES. 319
pass. To this vioAv of the question he was inclined
to attach a considerable degree of importance. He
could see no difference between allowing the soldier
who discharged his duty in the public service to be
paid in land, or in allowing him to be paid in money.
If it were considered that the valor and courage of
the soldier entitled him to a certain amount of com
pensation, it might be a proper subject to consider
whether that amount should be greater or less, but
he could see no difference at all between giving him
land or money — none ; none to the Government, un
questionably ; none whatever in any scheme of finance
which might be presented for the prosecution of this
Avar. If, therefore, it were desirable that Congress
should give to the soldier a certain amount of com
pensation, it could just as well be given in the form
of monthly pay as in a grant of land. He could see
no difference between granting land, from which
the resources of the Government were partly to be
derived, and creating a.debt, which the Senator from
Missouri said must be paid by the next generation,
and voting for a loan of twenty-three millions, which
must be redeemed at the time specified. Gentlemen
did not seem to have their financial apprehensions
aroused at all when it Avas proposed to borrow
twenty-three millions of dollars, for which, like every
other sum borrowed which they were unable to pay,
they would have to give their note. There was no
tremulous apprehension about borrowing money. But
these were considerations which should have been
thought of long before they entered upon this unprofit-

320 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COEWIN.
able war. Borrowing money was one of the curses
attending upon all Avars. Debt was one of the curses
which war necessarily involved — debt to be entailed
upon posterity, if the present generation were not
able to discharge it. It could not haA^e escaped the
apprehensions of any gentleman who held a seat
upon that floor, on the day when their army passed
the Nueces, or on the day when it was said Congress
sanctioned the passage of the army beyond the boun
dary of the United States — it could not have escaped
their apprehension that not merely tweh'e millions
of dollars, but hundreds of millions would have to
be expended upon the war^ — a war to be carried on
between this country and a sister republic, which
they had undertaken to subjugate by their arms.
The honorable Senator from Missouri, and every
Senator, must be aware that this would be the con
sequence of their conduct. He had been somewhat
surprised, he confessed, at the minute details given
of the schemes of fraud which the Senator from
Missouri had asserted would be practiced, and he
doubted not such reports had reached his ears ; but
he was pained to hear such schemes of peculation
and fraud connected with the names of certain offi
cers of the Government. That companies of scoun
drels would be formed- all over the country, as the
Senator said, to endeavor to despoil the soldier of his
hard-earned bounty, he had no doubt. It was one of
the inevitable consequences of all wars ; it was one
of the curses which belonged to a state of war. It
had been the case, as the Senator from Missouri had

BOUNTY LANDS TO SOLDIEES. 321
said, and he read a statement of Mr, Jefferson to
prove, after the close of the Revolutionary war. It
Avas a Avell-known fact, that the men who had passed
through the fires of the struggle, were found endeav
oring to defraud each other out of what they had
received as a compensation for their services. It had
ever been so, and would be so to all time, as long as
human nature was such as to induce men to go to
war at all. So long as men could find no better
mode of settling national controversies than by going
to war ; of marching armies against each other in
battle array, instead of following the dictates of
humanity; instead of exercising the faculties with
which God had endowed them, in avoiding the neces
sity of warfare, there would be scoundrels enough
found to plunder and cheat one another. So long as
national controversies were to be settled in the old
barbarous mode, so long would such a disposition be
found to exist. But he was surprised to hear from
the Senator from Missouri that the very officers of
the Government, whose appointments the Senate
Avas called upon to sanction, and commissioned by
the President to carry on the war, which was em
phatically his war, he was surprised to hear that
men in this position would be found so reckless, so
lost to the dictates of honor and of conscience, as to
practice frauds of this description. Could this be
true ? Could it be that those who were daily asso
ciated with the soldiers, witnessing their sufferings
and hearing the gi'oans of the dying, would be guilty
of robbing the soldier of the bounty which his
21

322 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN,
country had bestowed ? He asked the Senator, was
this the condition in which this Republic was now
placed? Were such the official instrumentalities to
be sent abroad to execute their duties in the service
of the Government upon the field of battle? His
knowledge of human nature would hardly allow him
to suppose it had been sunk to that depth of degra
dation and of infamy. Such a supposition con
templated the existence of a class of society more
degraded than he was willing to suppose any man
Avho had received his commission from the Govern
ment could be. They might, perhaps, find in the
dens and hells of cities men who would come out
from their hiding-places, Avhen they knew that eight
millions of acres of land had been put into the mar
ket for the benefit of those who served, but he did
not think that men who accompanied the soldier at
his last gasp would deliberately plan such schemes
of fraud. He said he did not believe it was compe
tent for any intelligent man to frame a law, or devise
a plan which would not be subject to the objections
which had been raised by the Senator from Missouri,
Men ever would be subject to impositions, but he did
not believe these men would be more subject to impo
sitions than any other class of men,
Mr. Corwin said the Senator from Pennsylvania
had told them that if they would pass this bill, there
Avere 'five companies now ready to volunteer, and to
take the field from that State, and that they consisted
of some of the best men of that State. That was a
pretty good certificate of character; and were such

BOUNTY LANDS TO SOLDIERS. 323
men likely to give up all rights belonging to them to
bodies of scoundrels? Did the Senator from Missouri
mean to say that the young men who volunteer to
serve their country are the sort of men toward Avliom
the Government could exercise neither the functions
of justice nor liberality without having the bounty
of the Government abused? Were they men of such
dissolute habits that they were incapable of taking-
care of the property they earned, and that the Gov
ernment must therefore assume toward the soldiers
of our army the relation which some of the States
assumed under the laws toward confirmed drunkards,
and appoint them guardians ? What became of the
training and discipline of which they had heard so
much as belonging to the service of the country?
What became of the moral teaching of the chaplains,
for whose appointment they had heard so much?
Was it true, in short, that twenty thousand regular
soldiers were to serve during this war, and go through
a moral training there, and that they would come
out of it nothing but examples of vileness, ignorance,
and profligacy? Was it true that the men who
volunteer to fight this iniquitous war were the mea
described by the Senator from Missouri, not able to
exercise the necessary functions of freemen, and men
of full age? He would not undertake to put his
opinion on this subject against the opinion of the
Senator from Missouri — ^he would not lightly ques^
tion the statement of the Senator from South Car
olina [Mr. Butler], who said yesterday that none
were fit to fight in this war but those who were

324 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN,
ready to sacrifice their own will to the absolute mas-
terj'' of others ; but if these things were true, it would
become them to pause and consider whether it was
not best to put an end to this horrible war. If it
Avere true that in enlisting twenty thousand soldiers
they made twenty thousand slaves out of twenty
thousand freemen, he thought it would be poor com
pensation, both for the generation that now is and for
that which is to come after us, in the pompous phrase
of the day, at such a cost to vindicate the honor of
the country and the glory of its flag. But he could
not think that the representations of the Senator
from Missouri were all true. He could not believe
this nation would plunge into a war which was to be
so pernicious in its consequences.
The Senator from Missouri proposed to protect the
soldier from these frauds by making the bounty
inalienable for seven years. This was presuming
that those who, as the Senator from Missouri
eloquently described it, escaped the embrace of the
battle-storm, and avoided a grave upon the tops of
the Cordilleras, were not capable of controlling the
bounty which the Government bestowed upon them,
and that Congress must, therefore, constitute itself
their guardian. He was of opinion, that if they put
the matter upon this footing, and said to the soldier,
that at the end of the war he should emigrate to the
far West and settle upon his land, or else be debarred
from the enjoyment of his bounty for seven years, it
would have the effect of deterring men from entering
the army. It Avould hardly be necessary, he be-

BOUNTY LANDS TO SOLDIERS. 325
lieved, to pass an act to prevent a Senator from
making a contract respecting his traveling allowance
and per diem, of placing any lien upon it for a certain
lengih of time, lest the money might fall into the hands
of speculators, Avho Avere hovering in clouds around
the Capitol, darkening the air with their numbers.
That would be a strange law; but he thought it would
be quite as reasonable as the restriction proposed by
the Senator to be placed upon these bounty lands.
After some ftirther ranarks, Mr. Corwin concluded
by saying, that he thought it would not be very
becoming in the Senate to hesitate to grant, out of
800,000,000 acres of the public lands, the small pit
tance of 8,000,000 to the soldiers as compensation for
their services. They had already passed a bill
giving 5,000,000 acres to those who choose to peace
fully settle in Oregon. If a Southern gentleman,
with his black servant, went to Oregon, that servant
would be entitled, by his mere residence there, to
avail himself of this bounty. While looking out
across the broad Pacific, and contemplating the time
when the descendants of Japhet should subjugate the
descendants of Shem, here was a man from a state
of servitude becoming a free man, and claiming his
half section of land, which had been granted by the
bounty of this Government, While their maw was
capacious enough to swallow these five millions in
reference to Oregon, they were gurgling and chok
ing at eight millions to be granted as a reward for
the valor and the patriotism of those who periled
their iives in their country's service.

ON THE MEXICAN WAR
[In the Senate of the United States, Pebrnary Ilth, 1847,
the bill making further appropriations to brimg the existing War
with Mexico to a speedy and honorable coaclasion,. beiog_ unde?
consideration, Mr. Coravin saidij,
Mr. President-.'
I am not now about to perform the useless task of
surveying the whole field of debate occupied in this
discussion. It has been carefully reaped, and by
vigilant and strong hands ; and yet, Mr. President,
there is a part of that field which promises to reward
a careful gleaner with a valuable sheaf or two, which
deserves to be bound up before the whole harvest is
gathered. And still this so tempting prospect could
not have allured me into this debate, had that motive
not been strengthened by another, somewhat personal
to myself, and still more interesting to those I repre
sent. Anxious as I know all are to act, rather than
debate, I am compelled, for the reasons I have as
signed, to solicit the attention of the Senate. I do
this chiefly that I may discharge the humble duty
of giving to the Senate, and through this medium to
my constituents, the motives and reasons which have
impelled me to occupy a position always undesirable,
but, in times like the present, painfully embarrassing.
I have been compelled, from convictions of duty
which I could not disregard, to differ not merely
(326)

ON THE MEXICAN WAR, 327
with those on the other side of the chamber, with
whom I seldom agree, but also to separate, on one
or two important 'questions, from a majority of my
friends on this side — ^those who compose here that
Whig party, of which, I suppose, I may yet call
myself a member.
Diversity of opinion, on most subjects affecting-
human affairs, is to be expected. Unassisted mind,
in its best estate, has not yet attained to uniformity,
much less to absolute certainty, in matters belonging
to the dominion of speculative reason. This is pecu
liarly and emphatically true where we endeavor to
deduce from the present, results, the accomplishment
of which reach far into the future, and will only
clearly develop themselves in the. progress of time,
Erom the present state of the human mind, this is a
law of intellect quite as strong as necessity ; and yet,
after every reasonable allowance for the radical dif
ference in intellectual structure, culture, habits of
thought, and the application of thought to things,
the singularly opposite avowal^ made by the two
Senators on the other side of the chamber (I mean
the Senator from South Carolina, Mr, Calhoun, and
the Senator from Michigan, Mr, Cass), must have
struck all who heard them as a curious and mournful
example of the truth of which I have spoken. The
Senator from Michigan (Mr. Cass), in contemplating
the present aspects and probable future course of our
public affairs, declared that he saw nothing to alarm,
the fears or depress the hopes of the patriot. To
his serene, and, as I fear, too apathetic mind, all is

328 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
calm ; the sentinel might sleep securely on his watch-
tower. The ship of State seems to him to expand
her sails under a clear sky, and move on, with pros
perous gales, upon a smooth sea. He admonishes
all not to anticipate evil to come, but to fold thefr
hands and close their eyes in quietude, ever mindful
of the consolatory text, "sufficient unto the day is
the evil thereof." But the Senator from South Caro^
lina (Mr. Calhoun), summoning from the depths of
his thoughtful and powerful mind all its energies,
and looking abroad on the present condition of the
republic, is pained with fearful apprehension, doubt,
distrust, and dismay. To his vision, made strong
by a long life of careful observation, made keen by
a comprehensive view of past history, the sky seems
overcast with impending storms, and the dark future
is shrouded in impenetrable gloom. When two such
minds thus differ, those less familiar with great sub
jects affecting the happiness of nations may well
pause, before they rush to a conclusion on this, a
subject which, in all its bearings, immediate and
remote, affects certainly the present prosperity, and
probably the liberty, of two republics, embracing
together nearly thirty millions of people. Mr. Pre
sident, it is a fearful responsibility we have assumed;
engaged in flagrant, desolating war with a neighbor
ing republic, to us thirty millions of God's creatures
look up for that moderated Avisdom which, if possible,
may stay the march of misery, and restore to them,
if it may be so, mutual feelings of good-will, with all
the best blessings of peace.

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 329
I sincerely Avish it Avere in my power to cherish
those placid convictions of security which haxe set
tled upon the mind of the Senator from Michigan.
So far from this, I have been, in common Avith the
Senator from South Carolina, oppressed with melan
choly forebodings of evils to come, and not unfre
quently by a conviction that each step we take in
this unjust war, may be the last in our career ; that
each chapter we write in Mexican blood, may close
the volume of our history as a free people. Sir, I
am the less inclined to listen to the siren song the
Senator from Michigan sings to his own soul, because
I "have heard its notes before. I know the country
is at this moment suffering from the fatal apathy
into which it was lulled a few years ago. Every one
must recall to his mind, with pleasing regret, the
happy condition of the country in 1843, when that
other question, the prelude to this, the annexation
of Texas, was agitated here; we remember how it
attracted the attention of the whole Union ; we re
member that the two great leaders of the two great
parties, agreeing in scarcely any other opinion, were
agreed in that. They both predicted that if Texas
were annexed, war with Mexico would be the proba
ble result. We were told then by others, as noAV
by the Senator from Michigan, that all was Avell — aJll
was calm ; that Mexico would not fight, or if she
would, she was too weak to wage the struggle Avith
any effect upon us. The sentinel was then told to
sleep upon his watch-tower; "sufficient unto the day
is the evil thereof," was sung to us then in notes as

330 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
soft and sweet as now. Mr. President, "the day"
has come, and Avith it has come war, the most direful
curse wherewith it has pleased God to afflict a sinful
world. Such have been the fatal effects of lulling
into apathy the public mind, on a subject which
agitated it, as well it might, to its profoundest
depths. I repeat, sir, the day has come, as was then pre
dicted, and the evil predicted has come with it. We
are here, sir, now, not as then, at peace with all the
world-; not now, as then, Avith laws that brought into
your treasury everything adequate to its wants ; not
now, as then, free from debt, and the apprehension
of debt and taxation, its necessary consequence. But
we are here with a treasury that is beggared ; that
lifts up its imploring hands to the monopolists and
capitalists of the country; that sends out its notes
and "promises to pay" into every mart and every
market in the world, begging for a pittance from
every hand to help to swell the amount now neces
sary to extricate us from a war, inevitable, as it now
seems it was, from that very act which was adopted
under such flattering promises two years ago. Mr.
President, it is no purpose of mine to arraign the
conduct of the United States upon that occasion ; it
is no purpose of mine to treat this young and newly-
adopted sister — the State of Texas — as an alien or
stranger in this family of republics. I allude to this
only to show how little reliance is to be placed upon
those favorable anticipations in which gentlemen in
dulge with regard to consequences which may flow

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 331
from measures to which they are strongly wedded,
either by feeling or party attachment.
Is there nothing else in our history of even the
past year to justify the Senator from South Carolina
in the pregnant declaration, that in the whole period
of his public life, comprehending the most eventful
in the history of the Republic, there had never been
a time when so much danger was threatened to the
interests, happiness, and liberties of the people. Sir,
if any one could sit down, free from the excitements
and biases, which belong to public affairs — could such
a one betake himself to those sequestered solitudes,
where thoughtful men extract the philosophy of his
tory from its facts, I am quite sure no song of "all 's
well" would be heard from his retired cell. No, sir,
looking at the events of the last twelve months, and
forming his judgment of these by the suggestions
which history teaches, and which she alone can teach,
he would record another of those sad lessons which,
though often taught, are, I fear, forever to be disre
garded. He would speak- of a Republic, boasting
that its rights were secured, and the restricted
powers of its functionaries bound up in the chains
of a written Constitution ; he would record on his
page, also, that such a people, in the wantonness of
strength or the fancied security of the moment, had
torn that written Constitution to pieces, scattered its
fragments to the winds, and surrendered themselves
to the usurped authority of ONE MAN.
He would find written in that Constitution, Con
gress shall have power to declare war ; he would find

332 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
everywhere, in that old charter, proofs clear and
strong, that they who framed it intended that Con
gress, composed of two Houses, the representatives
of the States, and the people, should (if any were pre
eminent) be the controlling power. He would find
there a President designated ; whose general and
almost exclusive duty it is to execute, not to make the
law. Turning from this to the history of the last
ten months, he would find that the President alone,
without the advice or consent of \Congress, had, by a
bold usurpation, made war on a neighboring repub
lic ; and what is quite as much to be deplored, that
Congress, whose high poAvers were thus set at naught
and defied, had, with ready and tame submission,
yielded to the usurper the wealth and power of the
nation to execute his will, as if to swell his iniquitous
triumph over the very Constitution which he and
they had alike sworn to support.
If any one should inquire for the cause of a war in
this country, AA'here should he resort for an answer ?
Surely to the journals of both Houses of Congress,
since Congress alone has power to declare war ; yet
although Ave have been engaged in war for the last
ten months, a Avar Avhich has tasked all the fiscal
resources of the country to carry it forward, you shall
search the records and the archives of both Hous.es
of Congress in vain for any detail of its causes, any
resolve of Congress that war shall be waged. How
is it, then, that a peaceful and peace-loving people,
happy beyond the common lot of man, busy in every
laudable pursuit of life, have been forced to turn

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 333
suddenly from these and plunge into the misery, the
vice, and crime which OA^er have been, and ever shall
be, the attendant scourges of war ? The answer can
only be, it was by the act and will of the President
ahne, and not by the act or will of Congress, the war-
making department of the Government.
Mr. President, Avas it not due to ourselves, to the
lofty character for peace as well as probity which we
profess to be ours, and which till recently we might
justly claim — -was it not due to the civilization of the
age, that we, the representatives of the^ States and
the people, should have set forth the causes which
might impel us to invoke the fatal arbitrament of
war, before we madly rushed upon it? Ea^cu the
Senator from South Carolina, attached as he has
been by party ties to the President, and therefore,
as we may suppose, acquainted with his motives
for his Avar with Mexico, was compelled to say the
other day in debate, that, up to that hour, the causes
of this war were left to conjecture. The reason of
this singular anomaly, sir, is to be found in the fact
that the President, and not Congress, declared and
commenced this war. How is this, Mr. President ?
How is it that we have so disappointed the intentions
of our fathers, and the hopes of all the friends of
written Constitutions? When the makers of that
Constitution assigned to Congress alone, the most
delicate and important power — to declare war — a
poAver more intimately affecting the interests, imme
diate and remote, of the people, than any which a
government is ever called on to exert — ^when they

334 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
withheld this great prerogative from the Executive
and confided it to Congress alone, they but consulted
in this, as in every other work of their hands, the
gathered wisdom of all preceding times. Whether
they looked to the stern despotisms of the ancient
A siatic world, or the military yoke of imperial Rome,
or the feudal institutions of the middle ages, or the
more modern monarchies of Europe, in each and all
of these, Avhere the power to wage war was held by
one or by a few, it had been used to sacrifice, not to
protect the many. The caprice or ambition of the
tyrant, had always been the cause of bloody and
wasting war, while the subject millions had been
treated by their remorseless masters, only as " tools
in the hands of him who knew how to use them."
They therefore declared, that this fearful power
should be confided to those who represent the people,
and those who here in the Senate represent the sov
ereign States of the Republic. After securing this
power to Congress, they thought it safe to give the
command of the armies in peace and war to the
President. We shall see hereafter, how by an abuse
of his power as commander-in-chief, the President
has drawn to himself that of declaring war, or com
mencing hostilities with a people with whom we were
on terms of peace, which is substantially the same.
The men of former times took very good care that
your standing army should be exceedingly small,
and they who had the most lively apprehensions of
investing in one man the power to command the
army, always inculcated upon the minds of the

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 335
people, the necessity of keeping that army Avithin
limits, just as small as the necessity of the external
relations of the country would possibly admit. It
has happened, Mr. President, that when a little dis
turbance on your Indian frontier took place. Congress
was invoked for an increase of your military force.
Gentlemen came here who had seen partial service
in the armies of the United States. They tell you
that the militia of the country is not to be relied
upon — that it is only in the regular army of the
United States, that you are to find men competent
to fight the battles of the country, and from time to
time when that necessity has seemed to arise, forget
ting this old doctrine, that a large standing army
in time of peace was always dangerous to human
liberty, we haA^e increased that army from six thou
sand up to about sixteen thousand men. Mr. Presi
dent, the other day, we gave ten regiments more ;
and for not giving it within the quick time demanded
by our master, the commander-in-chief, some minion,
I know not who, for I have not looked into this mat
ter until this morning, feeding upon the fly-bloAvn
remnants that fall from the Executive shambles and
lie putrefying there, has denounced us as Mexicans,
and called the American Republic to take notice,
that there was in the Senate, a body of men charge
able with incivism — ^Mexicans in heart — ^traitors to
the United States.
I trust, Mr. President, that our master will be
appeased by the facility with which, immediately
after that rebuke of his minion, the Senate acted

336 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
upon the bill and gave him the army which he
required. I trust that he will now forget that law
Avhich, as commander-in-chief of the army of the
United States and President of this great North
American Republic for the time being, he promul
gated to us in the message, and those commands
Avhich he was pleased to deliver at the opening of
this session to his faithful and humble servitors in
both branches of the American Congress, admonish
ing us that we would be considered as giving " aid
and comfort" to his enemy — not ours ! — his — ^if one
Avord should be said unfavorable to the motives
Avhich have brought the royal will to the conclusion
that he would precipitate this Republic into a Avar
Avith Mexico ! I trust his Majesty, in consideration
of our faithful services in augmenting the forces of
the Republic agreeably to the commands which we
have received from the throne, will be induced to
relax a little when he comes to execute that law of
treason upon one at least so humble as myself ! I do
remember, Mr. President — you will remember, Mr.
President — ^your recollection of history will furnish
you with a case which will, I think, operate in my
favor in a question of that sort.
Some time in the history of the royal Tudors in
England, when a poor Englishman, for differing from
His Majesty, or Her Majesty, on some subject — ^it
might be religious faith — was condemned to be
hanged and quartered and emboweled, out of special
grace, in a particular case where penitence was ex
pressed, the hangman Avas admonished to give the

ON THE MEXICAN WAR, 337
culprit time to choke before he began to chop up his
limbs and take out his boAvels!
Now, Mr. President, I have already stated that I
do not intend to occupy the Senate with a discussion
of those varieties of topics which naturally enforce
themselA'es upon my attention in considering this
subject. It must have occurred to everybody how
utterly impotent the Congress of the United States
now is for any purpose whatever, but that of yielding
to the President every demand which he makes for
men and money, unless they assume that only posi
tion which is left — ^that which, in the history of other
countries, in times favorable to human liberty, has
been so often resorted to as a check upon arbitrary
power — withholding money, refusing to grant the
services of men when demanded for purposes which
are not deemed to be proper.
When I review the doctrines of the majority here,
and consider their application to the existing war, I
confess I am at a loss to determine whether the world
is to consider our conduct as a ridiculous farce, or be
lost in amazement at such absurdity in a people call
ing themselves free. The President, without asking
the consent of Congress, involves us in war, and the
majority here, without reference to the justice or
necessity of the war, call upon us to grant men and
money at the pleasure of the President, w^ho they
say, is charged with the duty of carrying on the Avar
and responsible for its result. If we grant the means
thus demanded, the President can carry forward this
22

338 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
war for any end, or from any motive, without limit
of time or place.
With these doctrines for our guide, I will thank
any Senator to furnish me with, any means of escap
ing from the prosecution of this or any other war,
for a hundred years to come, if it please the Presi
dent who shall be, to continue it so long. Tell me,
ye who contend that being in war, duty demands of
Congress for its prosecution, all the money and every
able-bodied man in America to carry it on if need
be, who also contend that it is the right of the Pres
ident, without the control of Congress, to march your
embodied hosts to Monterey, to Yucatan, to Mexico,
to Panama, to China, and that under penalty of death
to the officer who disobeys him — tell me, I demand
it of you, tell me, tell the American people, tell the
nations of Christendom, what is the difference be
tween your American democracy and the most
odious, most hateful despotism, that a merciful God
has ever allowed a nation to be aflicted with since
government on earth began? You may call this free
government, but it is such freedom, and no other, as
of old was established at Babylon, at Susa, at Bac-
triana, or Persepolis. Its parallel is scarcely to be
found when thus falsely understood, in any even the
Avorst forms of civil polity in modem times. Sir, it
is not so, such is not your Constitution, it is some
thing else, something other and better than this.
I have looked at this subjeet with a painful en
deavor to eome to the conclusion, if possible, that it

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 339
was my duty, as a Senator of the United States,
finding the country in war, to "fight it out," as we
say in the common and popular phrase of the times,
to a just and honorable peace! T could very easily
concede that to be my duty if I found my country
engaged in a just war — ^in a war necessary even to
protect that fancied honor of which you talk so much.
I then should have some apology in the judgment
of my country, in the determination of my conscience,
and in that appeal which you, and I, and all of us
must soon be required to make before a tribunal,
Avhere this vaunted honOr of the Republic, I fear me,
will gain but little credit as a defense to any act we
may perform here in the Senate of the United States.
But when I am asked to say whether I will prose
cute a war, I can not answer that question, yea or
nay, until I have determined whether that was a
necessary war; and I can not determine whether it
was necessary until I know how it was that my
country was invoh^ed in it. And it is to that par
ticular point, Mr. President — without reading docu-
naents, but referring to a few facts which I uftderstand
ntOt to be denied on either side of this chamber — ^that
J -jyish to direct the attention of the American Senate,
-» ¦
Slid so far as may be, that «f any of the noble and
honest-hearted constituents whom I represent here.
I know, Mr, President, the responsibility which I
assume in undertaking to determine that the Presi
dent of the United States has done a great wrong to
the country, whose honor and whose interest he was-
required to protect. I know the denunciations which'

340 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
aAvait every one who shall dare to put himself in
opposition to that high power — ^that idol god — which
the people of this country have made to themselves
and called a President.
But it is my very humility which makes me bold.
I knoAv, sir, that he who was told in former time how
to govern a turWent people, was advised to cut off
the tallest heads. Mine will escape! Still, holding
a seat here, Mr. President, and finding it written in
the Constitution of my country that I had the power
to grant to the President at his bidding, or not, as I
pleased, men and money, I did conceive that it
became my duty to ascertain whether the President's
request was a reasonable one — ^whether the President
wanted these men and this money for a proper and
laudable purpose or not; and with these old-fashioned
ideas — quite as unpopular, I fear, with some on this
side of the Chamber as we find them to be on the
other — I set myself to this painful investigation. I
found not quite enough along with me to have saved
the unrighteous city of old.
There were not five of us, but only three! And
when these votes were called, and I was compelled
to separate myself from almost all around me, I
could have cried as did the man of Uz in his afflic
tion in the elder time— "What time my friends wax
warm they vanish, when it is hot they are consumed
out of their places! "
I could not leave the position in which it had
pleased the State of Ohio to place me, and I returned
again and again to the original and primary and

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 341
important inquiry — ^how is it that my country is
involved in this war? I looked to the President's
account of it, and he tells me it was a war for the
defense of the territory of the United States. I
found it written in tha't message, Mr. President, that
this Avar was not sought nor forced upon Mexico hy
the people of the United States. I shall make no
question of history or the truth of history with my
master, the commander-in-chief, upon that particular
proposition. On the contrary, I could verify every
word that he thus utters. Sir, I know that the people
of the United States neither sought nor forced Mexico
into this war, and yet I know that the President of
the United States, with the command of your stand
ing army, did seek that war, and that he forced
war upon Mexico. I am not about to afflict the
Senate Avith a detail of testimony on that point. I
will simply state facts which few, I trust, will be
found to deny.
One of the facts, Mr. President, is this : that in
the year of grace, 1836, the battle of San Jacinto
was fought. Does anybody deny that? No one
here will doubt that fact The result of that battle
was that a certain district of country, calling itself
Texas, declared itself a free and independent re
public. I hope the Senate will pardon me for
uttering a thought or two, which strikes me just now
Avhile I see the Senator from Texas, the leader of the
men who achieved thaj; Adctory, before me. I wish
to say a word or two about the great glory, the his
torical renown, that is to come to the people of the

342 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
United States by the victories which Ave shall obtain
over the arms and forces of the Republic of Mexico.
I suppose, Mr. President, like all other boys, in my
early youth, when I had an opportunity of looking
at a book called history, those which spoke of bloody
battles and desolating Avars were most likely to
attract my attention ; and with very limited means
of ascertaining that portion of the history of the
human race, it nevertheless has impressed itself very
\dvidly upon my mind that there have been great
wars, and, as the old maxim has it, "many brave
men before Agamemnon."
Sir, the world's annals show very many ferocious
sieges, and battles, and onslaughts, before San Jacinto,
Palo Alto, or Monterey. Generals of bloody renown
have frightened the nations before the revolt of Texas,
or our invasion of Mexico ; and I suppose we Ameri
cans might properly claim some share in this martial
reputation, since it was won by our own kindred,
men clearly descended from Noah, the great "pro
positus" of our family, with whom we all claim a
very endearing relationship. But I confess, I have
been somewhat surprised of late, that men, read in
the history of man, who knew that war has been his
trade for six thousand years: (prompted, I imagine,
by those "noble instincts" spoken of by the Senator
from Michigan), who knoAV that the first man born
of Woman was a hero of the first magnitude, that he
met his shepherd brother iji deadly conflict, and
most heroically beat out his brains with a club — I
say, sir, I am somewhat puzzled when I hear those

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 343
who knew all these things well, nevertheless shout
ing pseans of glory to the American name, for the
few deeds of death which our noble little army in
Mexico has as yet been able to achieve.
But, sir, let me recur -again to the battle of San
Jacinto. The Senator from Texas (Gen. Houston),
now in his seat, commanded there. His army con
sisted of about seven hundred and fifty men. These
Avere collected from all parts of the United States,
and from the population of Texas, then numbering
about ten thousand souls. With this army, undis
ciplined, badly armed, and indifferently furnished
in all respects, the Senator from Texas conquered a
Mexican army of about 3,500 men ; took their com
mander, Santa Anna, then President of Mexico,
prisoner, with the whole of his forces. Texas de
clared her independence, and alone maintained it
against the power of Mexico for seven years, and
since that time has been a State under the shield
of our protection. It is against this same Mexico
that twenty millions of Anglo-Saxon Americans send
forth thefr armies. The great North American Re
public buckles on her armor, and her mighty bosom
heaves with the '¦'•gaudia certaminisf as she marches
under her eagle banners to encounter a foe, who, ten
years ago, was whipped by an army of seven hundred
and fifty undisciplined militia, and bereft of a terri
tory larger than the empire of France, which her
conqueror held in her despite for seven years, and
then quietly transferred her territory and power to
you. Sir, if the joint armies of the United States

344 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
and Texas are to acquire renown by vanquishing
Mexico, what honors are too great to be denied to
Texas for her victory over this Mexico ten years
ago ? If, by vanquishing such a foe, you are to win
renown in war, what laurels should you not wreathe
around the brows of those who fought at San Jacinto,
especially when history tells of the killed and wounded
in the latter fight, she records that just three were
killed in mortal combat, while two died of their
wounds "when the battle was done!!!" Oh, Mr.
President, does it indeed become this great Republic
to cherish the heroic wish to measure arms with the
long since conquered, distracted, anarchic, and miser
able Mexico ? ,
Mr. President, I trust we shall abandon the idea,
the heathen, barbarian notion, that our true national
glory is to be won, or retained, by military prowess
or skill in the art of destroying life. And, while I
can not but lament, for the permanent and lasting
renown of my country, that she should command
the service of her children in what I must consider
wanton, unprovoked, unnecessary, and therefore unjust
war, I can yield to the brave soldier, whose trade is
Avar, and whose duty is obedience, the highest meed
of praise for his courage, his enterprise, and perpetual
endurance of the fatigues and horrors of war. I
know the gallant men who are engaged in fighting
your battles possess personal bravery equal to any
troops, in any land, anywhere engaged in the busi
ness of war. I do not believe we are less capable
in the art of destruction than others, or less willing.

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 345
on the slightest pretext, to unsheath the SAVord, and
consider "revenge a virtue." I could wish, also, that
your brave soldiers, while they bleed and die on the
battle-field, might have (what in this war is impos
sible) the consolation to feel and know that their
blood flowed in defense of a great right — that their
lives were a meet sacrifice to an exalted principle.
But, sir, I return to our relations with Mexico.
Texas, I have shown, having Avon her independence,
and torn from Mexico about one-fourth part of her_
territory, comes to the United States, sinks her
national character into the less elevated, but more
secure, position of one of the United States of
x\merica. The revolt of Texas, her successful war
with Mexico, and the consequent loss of a valu
able province, all inured to the ultimate benefit of
our Government and our country. While Mexico
Avas weakened and humbled, we, in the same pro
portion, were strengthened and elevated. All this
AA'as done against the wish, the interest, and the
earnest remonstrance of Mexico.
Every one can feel, if he will examine himself for
a moment, what must have been the mingled emo
tions of pride, humiliation, and bitter indignation,
AA'hich raged in the bosoms of the Mexican people,
Avhen they saw one of their fairest provinces torn
from them by a revolution, moved by a foreign
people ; and that province, by our act and our con
sent, annexed to the already enormous expanse of
our territory. It is idle, Mr. President, to suppose
that the Mexican people would not feel as deeply for

346 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
the dismemberment and disgrace of their country as
you would for the dismemberment of this Union of
ours. Sir, there is not a race, nor .tribe, nor people
on the earth, who have an organized social or political
existence, who have clung with more obstinate affec
tion to every inch of soil they could call their own,
than this very Spanish, this Mexican, this Indian race,
in that country. So strong and deep is this senti
ment in the heart of that half-sava.ge, half-civilized
race, that it has become not merely an opinion, a
principle, but with them an unreasoning fanaticism.
So radically deep and strong has this idea rooted
itself into the Mexican mind, that I learn recently
it has been made a part of the new fundamental
law, that not an inch of Mexican soil shall ever be
alienated to a foreign power ; that her territory shall
remain entire as long as her republic endures ; that,
if one of her limbs be forcihly severed from her,
death shall ensue, unless that limb shall be re-united
to the parent trunk. With such a people, not like
you, as you fondly, and I fear, vainly boast your
selves, a highly-civilized, reasoning, and philosophical
race, but a people who upon the fierce barbarism of
the old age have ingrafted the holy sentiments of
patriotism of a later birth ; with just such a people,
the pride of independence and the love of country
combine to inflame and sublimate patriotic attach
ment into a feeling dearer than life — stronger than
death. What were the sentiments of such a people toward
us when they learned that, at the battle of San Jacinto,

ON THE MEXICAN WAR, 347
there were only seventy-five men of their own country,
out of the seven hundred and fifty who conquered
them on that day ; and that every other man of that
conquering army who fought that battle, and dismem
bered their republic of one-fourth part of its territory.
had but recently gone there from this country, was
fed by our people, and armed and equipped in the
United States to do that very deed.
I do not say that Mexico had a right to make war
upon us, because our citizens chose to seek their for
tunes in the fields of Texas. I do not say she had a
right to treat you as a belligerent power, because you
permitted your citizens to march in battalions and
regiments from your shores, for the avowed purpose
of insurrectionary war in Texas — ^but I was not alone
at the time in expressing my astonishment, that all
this did not work an open rupture between the two
Republics at that time. We all remember your
proclamations of neutrality — we know that in defiance
of these, your citizens armed themselves and engaged
in the Texan revolt; and it is true that without such
aid Texas would this day have been, as she then
was, an integral portion of the Mexican republic.
Sir, Mexicans knew this then, they knew it when,
seven years after, you coolly took this province under
your protection and made it your own. Do you
wonder, therefore, after all this, that when Texas did
thus forcibly pass away from them and come to us,
that prejudice amounting to hate, resentment im
placable as revenge toward us, should sehe and

348 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
possess and madden the entire population of a
country thus weakened, humbled, contemned?
Mr. President, how would the fire of indignation
have burned in every bosom here if the government
of Canada, with the connivance of the Crown of
England, had permitted its people to arm themselves,
or it might be, had allowed its regiments of trained ^
mercenary troops stationed there to invade New
York, and excite her to revolt, telling them that the
Crown -of England was the natural and paternal ruler
of any people desiring to be free and happy— that
your Government was weak, factious, oppressive —
that man withered under its baleful influence — ^that
your stars and stripes were only emblems of degra
dation, and symbols of faction — that England's lion,
rampant on his field of gold, was the appropriate
emblem of power, and symbol of national glory—
and they succeeded in alienathig the weak or wicked
of your people from you! — should we not then have
waged exterminating war upon England, in every
quarter of the globe, where her people were to be
found? If, sir, I say, old mother England had sent her
children forward to you Avith such a purpose and
message as that, and had severed the State of New
York from you, and then, for some difficulty about
the boundary along between it and Pennsylvania
and New Jersey, running up some little tide-creek
here, and going off a little degree or two there, should
have said, "We have a dispute about this boundary;

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 349
we have some forty thousand regular troops planted
upon the boundary, and I wish you to understand
that I am very strong — that I have not only thirty
millions of people upon the soil of Great Britain
that own my sovereign sway, but aAvay upon tho
other side of the globe, right under you, there the
lion of England commands the obedience of a hundred
and twenty millions more. It becomes you, strag
gling Democrats, here in this new world, to be a little
careful how you treat me. You are not Celts exactly
-^nor are you quite Anglo Saxons; but you are a
degenerate, an alien, a sort of bastard race, I have
taken your New York; I will have your Massachu
setts." And all this is submittedrto the American
Senate, and we are gravely discussing what ought to
be done. Would we be likely to ratify a treaty
between New York and the Crown of England, per
mitting New York to become a part of the colonial
possessions of England?
I should like to hear my colleague [Mr. Allen]
speak to such a question as that. I should like to
hear the voice of this Democracy that you talk about,
called upon to utter its tones on a question like that.
If he who last year was so pained lest an American
citizen away — God knows where! in some latitude
beyond the Rocky Mountains, should be obedient to
British law — ^if he whose patriotic and republican
apprehension was so painfully excited lest the right
of habeas corpus and trial by Jury, which every Eng
lishman carries with him in his pocket wherever he
goes, should be made to bear upon an American

350 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
citizen — ^were called upon to speak upon such a
proposition as that which I have supposed, I should
certainly like to hear how he wojild treat it. Yet,-
the question being reversed, that is precisely, the
condition in which Mexico stood toward you after
San Jacinto was fought, and on the day Texas was
annexed. Your people did go to Texas. I remember it well.
They went to Texas to fight for their rights. They
could not fight for them in their own country. Well,
they fought for their rights. -They conquered them I
They ' ' conquered a peace ! ' ' They were your citizens
— not Mexicans. They were recent emigrants to
that country. They went there for the very purpose
of seizing on that country, and making it a free and
independent republic, with the view, as some of them
said, of bringing it into the American Confederacy
in due time; Is this poor Celtic brother of yours in
Mexieo — ^is the Mexican man sunk so low that he
can not hear what fills the mouth and ear of rumor
all over this country? He knows that this was the
settled purpose of some of your people. He knows
that your avarice had fixed its eagle glance on these
rich acres in Mexico, and that your proud power
counted the number that could be brought against
you, and that your avarice and your power together
marched on to the subjugation of th^ third or fourth
part of the republic of Mexico, and took it from her.
We knew this, and knowing it, what should have
been the feeling and sentiment in the mind of the
President of the United States toward such a people

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 351
— a people at least in their own opinion so deeply
injured by us as were these Mexicans.
The Republic of Texas comes under the Govern
ment of the United States, and it happens that the
minister resident at your court — and it is a pretty
respectable court, Mr. President — ^we have something
of a king — not for life it is true, but a quadrennial
sort of a monarch, who does very much as he pleases —
the minister resident at that court of yours stated at
the time that this revolted province of Texas was
claimed by Mexico, and that if you received it as
one of the sovereign States of this Union, right or
wrong, it was impossible to reason with his people
about it — ^they Avould consider it as an act of hostility.
Did you consult the national feeling of Mexico then?
The President has now to deal with a people thus
humbled, thus irritated. It was his duty to concede
much to Mexico ; everything but his country's honor
or her rights. Was this done ? Not at all ! Mexico
and her minister were alike spurned as weak and
trivial things, whose complaints you would not hear
or heed ; and when she humbly impiered you not to
take this province-nieclared that it m,iglit disturb the
peace subsisting between us— -you i«^ still inexor
able. During this time, she was ISfcing loans from
her citizens to pay the debt she owed yours, fulfilling
her treaties with you by painful exactions from her
OAvn people. She begged of you to let Texas alone.
If she were independent, let her enjoy her independ
ence; if free, let her revel in her neAv-born liberty,
in defiance of Mexico, as she alleged she aa'ouM and

352 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
could. Your stern reply was, No! we Avill, at your
expense, strengthen our own arm, by uniting to our
selves that which has been severed from you by our
citizens ; we will take Texas ; we will throw the shield
of our Constitution over her rights, and the sword
of our power shall gleam like that at Eden, "turning
every Avay," to guard her against further attack.
Her minister, his remonstrance failing, leaves you.
He tells you that he can not remain, because you had
created, by this act, hostile relations with his gov
ernment. At last you are informed that Mexico will
receive a commission to treat of this Texan boun
dary, if you will condescend to negotiate. Instead
of sending a commissioner to treat of that, the only
difficult question between the two Republics, you send
a full minister, and require that he shall be received
as such. If he could not be styled Minister Plenipo
tentiary, and so accredited, why then we must fight,
and not negotiate for a boundary. The then Mexican
president, the representative of some faction then only,
was tottering to his fall. His minister besought Mr.
Slidell not to press his reception then. He was told
that the excited feelings of the Mexican people were
such that he must delay for a time. To this petition
what answer is returned? You shall receive me
¦now; you shall receive me as minister, and not as
commissioner; you shall receive me as though the
most pacific relations existed between the two
countries. Thus, and not otherwise, shall it be. Such
was the haughty, imperious tone of Mr. Slidell, and
he acted u]i only to the spirit of his instructions.

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 353
Let any one peruse the correspondence I have re
ferred to, and he will see that I have truly represented
its spirit, be its letter what it may. This is done
under the instructions of a cabinet here, who repre
sented themselves in our public documents, as sigh
ing, panting for peace ; as desiring, above all things,
to treat these distracted, contemned Mexicans in such
a way, that not the shadow of a complaint against us
shall be seen. From this correspondence it is per
fectly clear, that if Mr. Slidell had been sent in the
less ostentatious character of commissioner, to treat
of the Texan boundary, that treaties and not bullets
would have adjusted the question. But this was not
agreeable to the lofty conceptions of the President.
He preferred a vigorous war to the tame process of
peaceful adjustment. He now throws down the pen
of the diplomat, and grasps the sword of the warrior.
Your army, with brave old "Rohgh and Ready" at
its head, is ordered to pass the Nueces, and advance
to the east bank of the Rio Grande. There, sir,
between these two rivers, lies that slip of territory,
that chapparal thicket, interspersed with Mexican
haciendas, out of which this wasteful, desolating war
arose. Was this territory beyond the river Nueces
in the State of Texas ?
Now I have said, that I would not state any dis
putable fact. It is known to every man who has
looked into this subject, that a revolutionary govern
ment can claim no jurisdiction anywhere when it has
not defined and exercised its power with the sword.
It was utterly indifferent to Mexico and the world
23

354 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
Avhat legislative enactments Texas made. She ex
tended her revolutionary government and her revo
lutionary dominion not one inch beyond the extent to
Avhich she had carried the power of Texas in opposi
tion to the power of Mexico.
It is therefore a mere question of fact ; and how
will it be pretended that that country, lying between
the Nueces and the Del Norte, to which your army
was ordered, and of which it took possession, was
subject to Texan law and not Mexican law? What
did your general find there? What did he write
home ? Do you hear of any trial by jury on the east
bank of the Rio Grande — -of Anglo Saxons making
cotton there with their negroes ? No ! You hear of
Mexicans .residing peacefully there, but fleeing from
their cotton-fields at the approach of your army— no
slaves, for it had been a decree of the Mexican gov
ernment, years ago, that no slaves should exist there.
ilf there were a Texan population on the east bank
ofthe Rio Grande, why did not General Taylor hear
something of those Texans hailing the advent of the
.American army, coming to protect them from the
iravages of the Mexicans, and the more murderous
• onslaughts ofthe neighboring savages ?
Do you hear anything of that ? No ! On the con-
;trary, the population fled at the approach of your
;army. In God's name, I wish to know if it has come
'to this, that when an American army goes to protect
American citizens on American territory, they flee
from it, as if from the most barbarous enemy ? Yet
such is the ridiculous assumption of those who pre-

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 355
tend that, on the east bank of the Rio Grand^, where
your arms took possession, there Avere Texan popula
tion, Texan power, Texan laws, and American United
States poAver and law ! No, Mr. President, when I
see that stated in an Executive document, written
by the finger of a President of the United States, and
Avhen you read in those documents, with which your
tabled groan, the A^eracious account of that noble old
General Taylor, of his reception iri that country, and
of those men — ^to use the language of one of his offi
cers — ^fleeing before the invaders ; when you compare
these two documents together, is it not a biting sar
casm upon the sincerity of public men — a bitter satire
upon the gravity of all public affairs ?
Can it be, Mr. President, that the honest, gen
erous. Christian people of the United States Avill give
countenance to this egregious, palpable misrepre
sentation of fact — ^this bold falsification of history?
Shall it be Avritten down iri your public annals, when
the world looking on and you yourselves knoAV, that
Mexico, and not Texas, possessed this territory to
which your armies marched ? As Mexico had never
beeri dispossessed by Texan power, neither Texas
nor your Government had any more claim to it than
you noAV have to California, that other possession of
Mexico over Avhich your all-grasping avarice has
already extended its remorseless dominion.
Mr. President, there is absent to-day a Senator
from the other side of the House whose presence
Avould afford me, as it always does, but particularly
on this occasion, a most singular gratification. I

356 SPEECHES OF THOMAS COEWIN.
allude to the Senator from Missouri who sits furthest
from me (Mr. Benton). I remember, Mr. President,
he arose in this body and performed a great act of
justice to himself and to his country — of justice to
mankind, for all men are interested in the truths of
history — when he declared it to be his purpose, for
the sake of the truth of history, to set right some
gentlemen, on the other side of the House, in respect
to the territory of Oregon, which then threatened to
disturb the peace of this Republic with the kingdom
of Great Britain. I wish it had pleased him to have
performed the same good offices on this occasion.
I wish it had been so, if he could have found it
consonant Avith his duty to his country, that now,
Avhile engaged with an enemy whom we have no rea
son to fear, as being ever able to check our progress
or disturb our internal peace, for the sake of justice,
as then he did for the sake of justice and the interest
and peace of those two countries, England and Amer
ica, he had come forward to settle the truth of his
tory in respect to the territorial boundary of Texas,
Avhich our President said was the Rio Bravo— the
"Rio del Norte," as it is sometimes called. I express
this wish for no purpose of taunting the Senator from
Missouri, or leading him to believe that I would
draw his name into the discussion for any other than
the most sacred purposes which can animate the
human bosom — that of having truth established ; for
I really believe that that is true which the Senator
from Michigan stated yesterday, that the worst said
in the Senate is, that much might be said on both

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 357
sides ! I can not view it in that way. Much may be
said, much talk may be had on both sides on any
question, but that this is a disputable matter about
which a man could apply his mind for an hour and
still be in doubt, is to me an inscrutable mystery.
I wish to invoke the authority of the Senator from
Missouri. When about to receive Texas into the
United States he offered a resolution to this effect :
" That the incorporation of the 1-eft bank of the Rio del Norte
(Rio Grande) into the American Union, by Tirtue of a treaty with
Texas, comprehending, as th-e said iaaeorporation wo-uld do, a paTt
of the Mexican departments of New Mexico, Chihuahua, Coahuila
and Tamaulipas, WOULD BE AN ACT OF DIRECT AGGRES
SION ON MEXICO, foi- all the consequences of which the United
States would stand responsible."
I beg, Mr. President, to add to this another author
ity which I am sure will not be contradicted by any
calling themselves Democrats. In the summer of
1844, Mr. Silas Wright, in an elaborate address
delivered at Watertown, N. Y., said :
"There is another subject on which I feel bound to speak a
word ; I allude to the proposition to annex Texas to the terri
tory of this republic. I felt it my duty to vote as Senator, and
did vote against the ratification of the treaty for the annexation.
I believed that the treaty, from the boundaries that must be
implied from it, if Mexico would not treat with us, embraced a
country to which Texas had no claim, — over which she had never
asserted jurisdiction, and which she had no right to cede. On this
point I should give a brief explanation.
" The treaty ceded Texas by name without an effort to describe
<a boundary. The Congress of Texas had passed an act declaring,

358 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
by metes and bounds, what was Texas within their power and
jurisdiction. It appeared to me then, if Mexico should tell us,
'We don't know you, we have ne treaty to make with you,'
and we were left to take p€>ssession by force, we must take the
country as Texas had ceded it to us ; and in doing that, or for
feiting our own honor, we m-ust do injustice to Mexico, and take a
large portion of New Mexico, the people of which have never been
under the jurisdiction of Texas; this, to me, was an insurmountable
larrier — / could not place the country in thai position,"
How did your officers consider this question?
While in camp opposite to Matamoras, being then
on the left bank of the Rio Grande, between the
latter river and the Nueces, a most respectable
officer writes thus to his. friend in New York:
"Camp opposite, Matamoeas, April 19, 1846.
" Our situation here is an extraordinary one. Right in tlie
enemy's count-nf, actually occupying their corn and cotton-fields, the
people of the soil leaving their homes, and we, with a small handful
of men, marching, with colors flying and drums beating, right
under the guHS of one of their principal cities, displaying the
star-spangled banner, as if ia ekfCamce; under their very nose,
and they, with an army twice- our- size at least, sit quietly down,
and make not the least resistance, ne>t the first effovt to drive
the invaders off. There is no parallel to it."
Sir, did this officer consider himself in Texas?
Were they our OAvn Texan citizens, who, in the
language of the letter, '¦'¦did not make the first effort
to drive the invaders offf" If it had been Texas
there, would that State consider it invasion, or her
people fly from your standard ? " The people of the
soil leaving their homes I" Who were those ^'people

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 359
of the soil'?" Sir, they were Mexicans, never con
quered by Texas, and never subject to her laws, and
therefore never transferred by annexation to your
dominion; and therefore, lastly, your army, by order
of the President, without the consent or advice of
Congress, made war on Mexico, by invading her ter
ritory, in April, 1846.
Mr. President, the Senator from Missouri was
right. "The incorporation of the left bank of the
Rio Grande into the American Union," was "an act
of direct aggression on Mexico," as his resolution
most truthfully alleged. We, or at least the Presi
dent, has attempted to incorporate the left bank of
the Rio del Norte, or the Rio Grande, into the Union,
and the consequence, the legitimate consequence, war,
has come upon us. The President, in his message,
asserts the boundary of Texas to be the Rio Grande.
The Senator from Missouri asserts the left bank of
that river to be Mexican territory. Sir, it is not for
me, who stand here an humble man, who pretend
not to be one of those Pharisees who know all the
law and obey it, but who, like the poor publican,
would stand afar off and smite my breast, and say
God be merciful to me, a poor Whig. When the
anointed high priests in the Temple of Democracy
differ on a point of fact, it is not for me to decide
between them. Is it for me to say that the Senator
from Missouri was ignorant and the President om
niscient ? Is it for me to say that the President was
right and the Senator from Missouri wrong ? If it
were true that Texan laws had been, since 1836, as

360 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
the President's action seems to declare, how happened
it that when General Taylor went to Point Isabel,
the people set fire to their houses and fled the place ?
And how did it happen that there was a custom
house there, there, in Texas, as you now allege? A
M-exican custom-house in Texas, where, ever since
1836, and for one whole year after the State of
Texas became yours, a Mexican officer collected
taxes of all who traded there, and paid these duties
into the Mexican treasury! Sir, is it credible that
this State of Texas allowed Mexican laws and
Mexican power to exist within her borders for seven
years after her independence? I should think a
people so prompt to fight for their rights might have
burned some powder for the expulsion of Mexican
usurpers from Texan territory. Sir,, the history of
this country is full of anomalies and contradictions.
What a patriotic, harmonious people ! When Taylor
comes to protect them, they fire their dwellings and
fly ! When you come in peace, bristling in arms for
protection only — your eagle spreading its wings to
shield from harm all American citizens — ^what then
happens? Why, according to your own account,
these Anglo Saxon republicans are so terrified at the
sight of their country's flag, that they abandon their
homes, and retreat before your army, as if some
Nomad tribe had wandered thither to enslave their
families and plunder their estates !
All this mass of undeniable fact, known even to
the careless reader of the public prints, is so utterly
at war with the studiously-contrived statements in

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 361
your cabinet documents, that I do not wonder at all
that an amiable national pride, however misplaced
here, has prevented hitherto a thorough and fearless
investigation of their truth. Nor, sir, would I probe
this feculent mass of misrepresentation, had I not
been compelled to it in defense of votes which I was
obliged to record here, within the last ten days. Sir,
with my opinions as to facts connected with this
subject, and my deductions, unavoidable, from them,
I should have been unworthy the high-souled State
I represent, had I voted men and money to prosecute
further a war commenced, as it now appears, in
aggression, and carried on by repetition only of the
original wrong. Am I mistaken in this ? If I am,
I shall hold him the dearest friend I can own, in any
relation of life, who shall show me my error. If I
am wrong in this question of fact, show me how I
err, and gladly will I retrace my steps ; satisfy me
that my country was in peaceful and rightful pos
session between the Nueces and Rio Grande Avhen
General Taylor's army was ordered there ; show me
that at Palo Alto and Resaca de las Palmas blood
was shed on American soil in American possession,
and then, for the defense of that possession, I will
vote away the last dollar that power can wring from
the people, and send every man able to bear a musket
to the ranks of war. But until I shall be thus con
vinced, duty to myself, to truth, to conscience, to
public justice, requires that I persist in every laAvful
opposition to this war.
While the American President can command the

362 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
army, thank Heaven I can command the purse.
While the President, under the penalty of death,
can command your officers to proceed, I can tell
them to come back, or the President can supply
them as he may. He shall have no funds from me
in the prosecution of a war which I can not approve.
That I conceive to be the duty of a Senator. I am
not mistaken in that. If it be my duty to grant
whatoA'-er the President demands, for what am I
here? Have I no will upon the subject? Is it not
placed at my discretion, understanding, judgment?
Have an American Senate and House of Repre
sentatives nothing to do but obey the bidding of
the President, as the army he commands is com
pelled to obey under penalty of death ? No ! The
representatives of the sovereign people and sovereign
States were never elected for such purposes as that.
Have Senators reflected on the great power which
the command of armies in war confers upon any one,
but especially on him who is at once the civil and
military chief of the government ? It is very well
that we should look back to see how the friends of
jDopular rights regarded this subject in former times.
Prior to the revolution of 1688, in England, all grants
of money by Parliament were general. Specific ap
propriations before that period were unknown. The
king could, out of the general revenues, appropriate
any or all of them to any war or other object, as
best suited his own unrestrained wishes. Hence, in
the last struggle with the first Charles, the Parlia
ment insisted that he should yield up the command

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 363
of the army raised to quell the Irish rebellion to
Gucli person as Parliament should choose. The men
of that day saw that with the unrestricted control of
revenue, and the power to name the commander of
the army, the king was master of the liberties of the
people. Wherefore Charles, after he had yielded up
almost every other kingly prerogative, was (in order
to securfe Parliament and the people against military
rule) requfred to give up the command of the forces.
It was his refusal to do this that brought his head to
the block. "Give up the command of the army!"
was the last imperative demand of the foes of arbi
trary power then. What was the reply of that
unhappy representative of the doomed race of the
Stuarts? "Not for an hour, by God!" was the
stern answer. Wentworth had always advised his
royal master never to yield up the right to command
the army; such, too, was the counsel of the queen,
whose notions of kingly power were all fashioned
after the most despotic models. This power over the
army by our Constitution is conceded to our king.
Give him money at his will, as we are told we must,
and you have set up in this Republic just such a
tyrant as him against whom the friends of English
liberty were compelled to wage Avar. It was a hard
necessity, but still it was demanded as the only
security for any reasonable measure of public liberty.
Such men as Holt and Somers had not yet taught
the people of England the secret of controlling arbi
trary power by specific appropriations of money, and
Avdthholding these, when the king proclaimed his

364 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
intention to use the grant for any purpose not ap
proved by the Commons, the true representatives of
popular rights in England.
When, in 1688, this- doctrine of specific appropria
tions became a part of the British constitution, the
King could safely be trusted with the control of the
army. If war is made there by the Crown, and the
Commons do not approve of it, refusal to grant sup
plies is the easy remedy — one, too, which renders it
impossible for a king of England to carry forward
any war which may be displeasing to the English
people. Yes, sir, in England, since 1688, it has not
been in the power of a British sovereign to do that,
which in your boasted Republic, an American presi
dent, under the auspices of what you call Democracy,
has done — ^make war, Avithout consent of the legis
lative poAver. In England, supplies are at once
refused, if Parliament does not approve the objects
of the war. Here, we are told, we must not look to
the objects of the war, being in the war — made by the
President — ^we must help him to fight it out, should
it even please him to carry it to the utter extermina
tion of the Mexican race. Sir, I believe it must pro
ceed to this shocking extreme, if you are,- by war, to
"conquer a peace." Here, then, is your condition.
The President involves you in war without your con
sent. Being in such a war, it is demanded as a duty,
that we grant men and money to carry it on. The
President tells us he shall prosecute this war, till
Mexico pays us, or agrees to pay us, all its expenses,
I am not willing to scourge Mexico thus ; and the

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 365
only means left me is to say to the commander-in-
chief, " Call home your army, I Avill feed and clothe
it no longer ; you have whipped Mexico into three
pitched battles, this is revenge enough ; this is pun
ishment enough."
The President has said he does not expect to hold
Mexican territory by conquest. Why then conquer
it ? Why waste thousands of lives and millions of
money fortifying towns and creating governments, if,
at the end of the war, you retire from the graves of
your soldiers and the desolated country of your foes,
only to get money from Mexico for the expense of
all your toil and sacrifice ? Who ever heard, since
Christianity was propagated among men, of a nation
taxing its people, enlisting- its young men, and march
ing off two thousand miles to fight a people merely
to be paid for it in money ! What is this but hunting
a market for blood, selling the lives of your young-
men, marching them in regiments to be slaughtered
and paid for, like oxen and brute beasts ? Sir, this
is, when stripped naked, that atrocious idea first pro
mulgated in the President's mossage, and noAv advo
cated here, of fighting on till we can get our indem
nity for the past as well as the present slaughter.
We have chastised Mexico, and if it were Avorth while
to do so, we have, I dare say, satisfied the world that
we can fight. What now! Why, the mothers of
America are asked to send another of their sons to
blow out the brains of Mexicans because they refuse
to pay the price of the first who fell there, fighting
for glory ! And what if the second fall too ? The

366 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN,
Executive, the parental reply, is, "we shall have
him paid for, we shall get full indemnity !" Sir, I
have no patience with this flagitious notion of fight
ing for indemnity, and this under the equally absurd
and hypocritical pretense of securing an honorable
peace. An honorable peace! If you have accom
plished the objects of the war (if indeed you had an
object which you dare to avow), cease to fight, and
you will have peace. Conquer your insane love of
false glory, and you will " conquer a peace," Sir, if
your commander-in-chief will not do this, I will
endeavor to. compel him, and as- I find no other
means, I shall refuse supplies — ^without the money
of the people, he can not go further. He asks me for
that money ; I wish him to bring your armies home,
to cease shedding blood for money ; if he refuses, I
will refuse supplies, and then I know he mnst, he will
cease his further sale of the lives of my countrymen.
May we not, ou^ht we not now to do this ? I can hear
no reason why we should not, except this : it is said
that we are in Avar, wrongfully it may 'be, but, being
in, the President is responsible, and we must give
him the means he requires ! He responsible ! Sfr, we,
we are responsible, if having the power to stay this
plague, we refuse to do so. When it shall be so —
when the American Senate and the American House
of Representatives can stoop from thefr high position,
and yield a dumb compliance with the behests of a
president who is, for the time being, commander of
your army ; when they will open the treasury with
one hand, and the veins of all the soldiers in the land

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 367
Avith the other, merely because the President com
mands, then, sir, it matters little how soon some
Cromwell shall come into this Hall and say, "the
Lord hath ho further need of you here." When
we fail to do the work, " whereunto Ave Avere
sent," we shall be, we ought to be, removed, and
give place to others who will. The fate of the bar
ren fig-tree will be ours — Christ cursed it and it
withered. Mr. President, I dismiss this branch of the subject,
and beg the indulgence of the Senate to some reflec
tions on the particular bill now under consideration.
I voted for a bill somewhat like the present at the
last session — our army was then in the neighborhood
of our line. I then hoped that the President did sin
cerely desfre a peace. Our army had not then pene
trated far into Mexico, and I did hope that with the
tAvo millions then proposed, we might get peace, and
avoid the slaughter, the shame, the crime, of an
aggressive, unprovoked war. But now you have
Overrun half of Mexico, you have exasperated and
irritated her people, you claim indemnity for all
expenses incurred in doing this mischief, and boldly
ask her to give up New Mexico and California ; and,
as a bribe to her patriotism, seizing on her property,
you offer three millions to pay the soldiers she has
called out to repel your invasion, on condition that
she will give up to you at least one-third of her whole
territory. This is the modest — I should say, the mon
strous — proposition now before us, as explained by
the chairman of the committee on Foreign Relations

368 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
[Mr. Sevier], who reported the bill. I can not now
give my assent to this.
But, sir, I do not believe you will succeed. I am
not informed of your prospects of success with this
measure of peace. The chairman of the committee
of Foreign Relations tells us that he has every rea
son to believe that peace can be obtained if we grant
this appropriation. What reason have you, Mr.
Chairman, for that opinion? "Facts which I can not
disclose to you — correspondence which it would be
improper to name here— facts which I know, but
which you are not permitted to know, have satisfied
the committee, that peace may be purchased, if you
Avill but grant these three millions of dollars." Now,
Mr. President, I wish to know if I am required to act
upon such opinions of the chairman of the committee
on Foreign Relations, formed upon facts which he
refuses to disclose to me ? No ! I must know the facts
before I can form my judgment. But I am to take it
for granted that there must be some prospect of an end
to this dreadful war — ^for it is a dreadful war, being, as
I believe in my conscience it is, an unjust war. Is it
possible that for three millions you can purchase a
peace with Mexico ? How? By the purchase of Cali
fornia ? Mr. President, I know not what facts the
chairman of the committee on Foreign Affairs may
have had access to. I know not what secret agents
have been whispering into the ears of the authorities
of Mexico ; but of one thing I am certain, that by a
cession of California and New Mexico you never can
purchase a peace with her.

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 369
You niay wrest provinces from Mexico by war —
you may hold them by the right of the strongest —
you may rob her, but a treaty of peace to that effect
Avith the people of Mexico, legitimately and freely
made, you never will have ! I thank God that it is
so, as well for the sake of the Mexican people as our
selves, for unlike the Senator from Alabama [Mr.
Bagby], I do not value the life of a citizen of the
United States above the lives of a hundred thousand
Mexican women and children — a rather cold sort of
philanthropy, in my judgment. For the sake of
Mexico then, as well as our own country, I rejoice
that it is an impossibility, that you can obtain by
treaty from her those territories, under the existing
state of things.
I am somewhat at a loss to know, on what plan of
operations gentlemen having- charge of this war in
tend to proceed. We hear much said of the terror
of your arms. The affrighted Mexican, it is said,
Avhen you shall have drenched his country in blood,
will sue for peace, and thus you will indeed "conquer
peace." This is the heroic and savage tone in which
Ave have heretofore been lectured by our friends on
the other side of the chamber, especially by the Sen
ator from Michigan [General Cass], But suddenly
the chairman of the committee on Foreign Relations
comes to us with a smooth phrase of diplomacy,
made potent by the gentle suasion of gold. The
chairman of the committee on Military Affairs calls
for thirty millions of money and ten thousand regular
troops; these, we are assured, shall "conquer peace,"
24

370 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
if the obstinate Celt refuses to treat till we shall whip
him in another field of blood. What a delightful
scene in the nineteenth century of the Christian era?
What an interesting sight to see these two represent
atives of war and peace moving in grand procession
through the halls of the Montezumas ! The Senator
from Michigan [General Cass], red with the blood
of recent slaughter, the gory spear of Achilles in his
hand, and the hoarse clarion of war in his mouth,
blowing a blast "so loud and deep" that the sleeping
echoes of the lofty Cordilleras start from their cav
erns and return the sound, till every ear from Panama
to Santa Fe is deafened with the roar. By his side,
with "modest mien and downcast look," comes the
Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Sevier], covered from
head to foot with a gorgeous robe, glittering and em
bossed with three millions of shining gold, putting to
shame, "the wealth of Ormus or of Ind." The olive
of Minerva graces his brow; in his right hand is the
delicate rebeck, from which are breathed, in Lydian
measure, notes "that tell of naught but love and
peace." I fear very much, you wUl scarcely be able
to explain to the simple, savage m^ind of the half-
civilized Mexicans, the puzzling dualism of this
scene, at once gorgeous and grotesque. Sir, I
scarcely understand the meaning of all this myself.
If we are to vindicate our rights by battles — ^in
bloody fields of war — let us do it. If that is not the
plan, why then let us call back our armies into our
own territory, and propose a treaty with Mexico,
based upon the proposition that money is better for

ON THE MEXICAN WAR, 371
her and land is . better for us. Thus we can treat
Mexico like an equal and do honor to ourselves. But
what is it you ask? You have taken from Mexico
one-fourth of her territory, and you now propose to
run a line comprehending- about another thfrd, and
for what ? I ask, Mr, President, for what ? What
has Mexico got from you, for parting with two-thirds
of her domain ? She has given you ample redress
for every injury of which you have complained. She
has submitted to the award of your commissioners,
and up to the time of the rupture with Texas, faith
fully paid it. And for all that she has lost (not
through or by you, but which loss has been your
gain), what requital do we, her strong, rich, robust
neighbor, make? Do we send our missionaries there
"to point the way to heaven?" Or do we send the
schoolmasters to pour daylight into her dark places,
to aid her infant strength to conquer freedom, and
reap the fruit of the independence herself alone had
won? No, no, none of this do we. But we send
regiments, storm towns, and our colonels prate of
liberty in the midst of the solitudes their ravages
have made. They proclaim the empty forms of
social compact to a people bleeding and maimed
with wounds received in defending their hearth
stones against the invasion of these very men who
shoot them down, and then exhort them to be free. .
Your chaplains of the navy throw aside the New
Testament and seize a bill of rights. The Rev. Don.
Walter Colton, I see, abandons the Sermon on the
Mount, and betakes himself to Blackstone and Kent,

372 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
and is elected a Justice of the Peace! He takes
military possession of some town in California, and
instead of teaching the plan of the atonement and
the way of sah'-ation to the poor, ignorant Celt, he
presents Colt's pistol to his ear, and calls on him to
take "trial by jury and habeas corpus," or nine
bullets in his head. Oh!, Mr. President, are you not
the lights of the earth, if not its salt ? You, you are
indeed opening the eyes of the blind in Mexico, with
a most emphatic and exoteric power. Sir, if all this
were not a sad, mournful truth, it would be the very
"ne plus ultra of the ridiculous.
But sir let us see what, as the chairman of the
committee of Foreign Relations explains it, we are
to get by the combined processes of conquest and
treaty. What is the territory, Mr. President, which you
propose to Avrest from Mexico? It is consecrated to
the heart of the Mexican by many a well-fought
battle, with his old Castilian master. His Bunker
Hills, and Saratogas, and Yorktowns are there.
The Mexican can say, "There I bled for liberty! and
shall I surrender that consecrated home of my affec
tions to the Anglo Saxon invaders? What do they ,
want with it? They have Texas already. They
have possessed themselves of the territory between
the Nueces and the Rio Grande. What else do they
Avant ? To what shall I point my children as memo
rials of that independence whieh I bequeath to
them, when those battle-fields shall have passed from
my possession?"

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 373
Sir, had one come and demanded Bunker Hill of
the people of Massachusetts, had England's lion ever
showed himself there, is there a man over thirteen,
and under ninety who would not have been ready to
meet him — ^is there a river on this continent that
would not have run red with blood — ^is there a field
but would have been piled high with the unburied
bones of slaughtered Americans before these con
secrated battle-fields of liberty should have been
Avrested from us? But this same American goes
into a sister republic, and says to poor, weak Mexico,
" Give up your territory-^you are unworthy to pos
sess it — I have got one-half already — all I ask of you
is to give up the other! " England might as well, in
the cfrcumstances I have described, have come and
demanded of us, "Give up the Atlantic slope — give
up this trifling- territory from the Alleghany moun
tains to the sea; it is only from Maine to St. Mary's
. — only about one-third of your Republic, and the
least interesting portion of it." What would be the
response ? They would say, we must give this up to
John Bull. Why? "He wants room." The Sen
ator from Michigan says he must have this. Why,
my worthy Christian brother, on what principle of
j ustice ? "I want room ! ' '
Sir, look at this pretense of want of room. With
twenty millions of people, you have about one thou
sand millions of acres of land, inviting settlement by
every conceivable argument — ^bringing them down to
a quarter of a dollar an acre, and allowing every
man to squat where he pleases. But the Senator

374 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
from Michigan says we Avill be two hundred millions
in a few years, and we want room. If I were a
Mexican I would tell you, "Have you not room in
your own country to bury your dead men ? If you
come into mine we will greet you with bloody hands,
and welcome you to hospitable graves."
Why, says the chairman of this committee of
Foreign Relations, it is the most reasonable thing
in the world ! We ought to have the Bay of San
Francisco. Why? Because it is the best harbor
on the Pacific ! It has been my fortune, Mr. Presi
dent, to have practiced a good deal in criminal courts
in the course of my life, but I never yet heard a
thief, arraigned for stealing a horse, plead that it
was the best horse that he could find in the country !
We want California. What for? Why, says the
Senator from Michigan, we will have it; and the
Senator from South Carolina, with a very mistaken
view, I think, of policy, says, you can't keep our
people from going there. I don't desire to prevent
them. Let them go and seek their happiness in
whatever country or clime it pleases them.
All I ask of them is, not to require this Govern
ment to protect them with that banner consecrated
to war waged for principles — eternal, enduring truth.
Sir, it is not meet that our old flag should throw its
protecting folds over expeditions for lucre or for land.
But you still say, you want room for your people.
This has been the plea of every robber-chief from
Nimrod to the present hour. I dare say, when
Tamerlane descended from his throne built of

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 375
seventy thousand human skulls, and marched his
ferocious battalions to further slaughter, I dare say
he said, " I want room." Bajazet was another gen
tleman of kindred tastes and wants with us Anglo
Saxons — he "wanted room." Alexander, too, the
mighty "Macedonian madman," when he wandered
Avith his Greeks to the plains of India, and fought a
bloody battle on the very ground where recently
England and the Sikhs engaged in strife for "room,"
was no doubt in quest of some California there. Many
a Monterey had he to storm to get "room." Sir, he
made quite as much of that sort of history as you
ever will. Mr. President, do you remember the last
chapter in that history ? It is soon read. Oh ! I
wish we could but understand its moral. Ammon's
son (so was Alexander named), after all his victories,
died drunk in Babylon! The vast empire he con
quered to "get room'-" became the prey of the generals
he had trained ; it was disparted, torn to pieces, and
so ended. Sir, there is a very significant appendix;
it is this: the descendants of the Greeks — of Alex
ander's Greeks — are now governed by a descendant
of Attila ! Mr. President, while we are fighting for
room, let us ponder deeply this appendix. I was
somewhat amazed, the other day, to hear the Senator
from Michigan declare that Europe had quite for
gotten us till these battles waked them up. I sup
pose the Senator feels grateful to the President for
"waking up" Europe. Does the President, who is,
I hope, read in civic as well as military lore, re
member the saying of one who had pondered upon

376 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
history long — -long, too, upon riaan, his nature and
true destiny ? Montesquieu did not think highly of
this way of "waking up." "Happy," says he, "is
that nation whose annals are tiresome."
The Senator from Michigan has a different vicAv
of this. He thinks that a nation is not distinguished
until it is distinguished in war; he fears that the
slumbering faculties of Europe haA^e not been able
to ascertain that there are twenty millions of Anglo
Saxons here, making railroads and canals, and speed
ing all the arts of peace to the utmost accomplish
ment of the most refined civilization. They do not
know it! And what is the wonderful expedient
Avhich this democratic method of making history
Avould adopt in order to make us known? Storm
ing cities, desolating peaceful, happy homes, shoot
ing men — ay, sir, such is war — and shooting-
Avomen, too !
Sir, I have read, in some account of your battle
of Monterey, of a lovely Mexican girl, who, with
the benevolence of an angel in her bosom, and the
robust courage of a hero in her heart, was busily
engaged, during the bloody conflict, amid the crash
of falling houses, the groans of the dying, and the
Avild shriek of battle, in carrying water to slake the
burning thirst of the wounded of either host. While
bending over a wounded American soldier, a cannon
ball struck her and blew her to atoms ! Sir, I do
not charge my brave, generous-hearted countrymen
Avho fought that fight with this. No, no! We who
send them — we who know that scenes like this,,

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 377
Avhich might send tears of sorroAv "down Pluto's
iron cheek," are the invariable, inevitable attendants
on Avar — we are accountable for this. And this — ^this
is the Avay Ave are to be made known to Europe.
This — this is to be the undying- renoAvn of free, repub
lican America! "She has stormed a city— killed
many of its inhabitants of both sexes — she has
room!" So it will read. Sir, if this were our only
history, then may God of his mercy grant that its
A'olume may speedily come to a close.
Why is it, sir, that we of the United States, a
people of yesterday compared with the older nations
of the world, should be waging war for territory —
for "room?" Look at your country, extending from
the Alleghany Mountains to the Pacific Ocean,
capable itself of sustaining, in comfort, a larger
population than will be in the Avhole Union for
one hundred years to come. Over this vast expanse
of territory, your population is now so sparse, that I
believe Ave provided, at the last session, a regiment
of mounted men to guard the mail, from the frontier
of Missouri to the mouth of the Columbia ; and yet
you persist in the ridiculous assertion, "I want
room." One would imagine, from the frequent re
iteration of the complaint, that you had a bursting,
teeming population, whose energy Avas paralyzed,
whose enterprise was crushed, for want of space.
A^'Tiy should we be so weak or Avicked as to offer this
idle apology for ravaging a neighboring republic?
It will impose on no one at home or abroad.
Do we not know, Mr. President, that it is a law.

378 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
never to be repealed, that falsehood shall be short
lived ? Was it not ordained of old that truth only
shall abide forever ? Whatever Ave may say to-day,
or whatever we may write in our books, the stern
tribunal of history will review it all, detect false
hood, and bring us to judgment before that posterity
which shall bless or curse us, as we may act now,
wisely or otherAvise. We may hide in the grave
(which awaits us all), in vain; we may hope there,
like the foolish bird that hides its head in the sand,
in the vain belief that its body is not seen, yet even
there, this preposterous excuse of want of "room,"
shall be laid bare, and the quick-coming future will
decide, that it was a hypocritical pretense, under
which we sought to conceal the avarice, which
prompted us to covet and to seize by force, that
which was not ours.
Mr. President, this uneasy desire to augment our
territory, has depraved the moral sense, and blunted
the otherwise keen sagacity of our people. What
has been the fate of all nations who have acted upon
the idea, that they must advance ! Our young orators
cherish this notion with a fervid, but fatally mis
taken zeal. They call it by the mysterious name of
"destiny." "Our destiny," they say, is "onward,"
and hence they argue, with ready sophistry, the pro
priety of seizing upon any territory and any people,
that may lie in the way of our "fated" advance.
Recently these progressives have grown classical ;
some assiduous student of antiquities has helped
them to a patron saint. They have wandered back

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 379
into the desolated Pantheon, and there, among the
Polytheistic relics of that " pale mother of dead em
pires," they have found a god whom these Romans,
centuries gone by, baptized " Terminus."
Sir, I have heard much and read somewhat of this
gentleman Terminus. Alexander, of whom I have
spoken, was a devotee of this divinity. We have
seen the end of him and his empire. It was said
to be an attribute of this god that he must always
advance, and never recede. So both republican and
imperial Rome believed. It was, as they said, their
destiny. And for a while it did seem to be even so.
Roman Terminus did advance. Under the eagles of
Rome he was carried from his home on the Tiber, to
the furthest East on the one hand, and to the far
West, among the then barbarous tribes of western
Europe, on the other. But at length the time came,
when retributive justice had become "a destiny." The
despised Gaul , calls out to the contemned Goth, and
Attila, with his Huns, answers back the battle shout
to both. The "blue-eyed nations of the North," in
succession or united, pour forth thefr countless hosts
of warriors upon Rome and Rome's always-advancing
god Terminus. And now the battle-ax of the barba
rian strikes down the conquering eagle of Rome.
Terminus at last recedes, slowly at first, but finally
he is driven to Rome, and from Rome to Byzantium.
Whoever would know the further fate of. this Roman
deity, so recently taken under the patronage of
American Democracy, may find ample gratification
of his curiosity, in the luminous pages of Gibbon's

380 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
"Decline and Fall." Such will find, that Rome
thought as you now think, that it was her destiny to
conquer provinces and nations, and no doubt she
sometimes said as you say, "I will conquer a peace."
and Avhere now is she, the Mistress of the World ?
The spider weaves his web in her palaces, the owl
sings his watch-song in her towers. Teutonic power ^
now lords it over the servile remnant, the miserable
memento of old and once omnipotent Rome. Sad,
very sad, are the lessons which time has written for
us. Through and in them all, I see nothing but the
inflexible execution of that old law, which ordains as
eternal, that cardinal rule, " Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor's goods, nor anything Avhich is his." Since
I have lately heard so much about the dismember
ment of Mexico, I have looked back to see how, in
the course of events, which some call " Providence,"
it has fared with other nations, who engaged in this
Avork of dismemberment. I see that in the latter
half of the eighteenth century, three powerful nations,
Russia, Austria and Prussia, united in the dismem
berment of Poland. They said, too, as you say, "it
is our destiny." They "wanted room." Doubtless
each of these thought, with his share of Poland, his
power was too strong ever to fear invasion, or even
insult. One had his California, another his New
Mexico, and the third his Vera Cruz. Did they
remain untouched and incapable of harm ? Alas !
No — ^far, very far, from it. Retributive justice must
fulfill its destiny, too. A very few years pass off,
and we hear of a new man, a Corsican lieutenant, the

ON THE MEXICAN WAR, 381
self-named " armed soldier of Democracy," Napoleon,
He ravages Austria, covers her land with blood,
drives the Northern Csesar from his capital, and
sleeps in his palace. Austria may now remember
•how her poAver trampled upon Poland. Did she not
pay dear, A'-ery dear, for her California ?
But has Prussia no atonement to make ? You see
this same Napoleon, the blind instrument of Provi
dence, at Avork there. The thunders of his cannon
at Jena proclaim the work of retribution for Poland's
wrongs ; and the successors of the Great Frederick,
the drill-sergeant of Europe, are seen flying across
the sandy plain that surrounds their capitol, right
glad if they may escape captivity or death. But hoAv
fares it with the Autocrat of Russia? Is he secure in
his share of the spoils of Poland ? No. Suddenly we
see, sir, six hundred thousand armed men marching
to Moscow.' Does his Vera Cruz protect him now ?
Far from it. Blood, slaughter, desolation spread
abroad over the land, and finally the conflagration
of the old commercial metropolis of Russia, closes
the retribution, she must pay for her share in the
dismemberment of her weak and impotent neighbor.
Mr. President, a mind more prone to look for the
judgments of Heaven in the doings of men than
mine, can not fail in this to see the providence of
God. When Moscow burned, it seemed as if the
earth was lighted up, that the nations might behold
the scene. As that mighty sea of fire gathered and
heaved and rolled upward, and yet higher, till its
flames licked the stars, and fired the whole heavens,

382 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN,
it did seem as though the God of the nations was
writing in characters of flame on the front of his
throne, that doom that shall fall upon the strong
nation which tramples in scorn upon the Aveak, And
AV'hat fortune awaits him, the appointed executor of
this Avork, when it was all done ? He, too, conceived
the notion that his destiny pointed onward to uni
versal douiinion. France was too small — Europe, he
thought, should boAv down before him. But as soon
as this idea took possession of his soul, he too be
comes powerless. His Terminus must recede too.
Right there, while he witnessed the humiliation, and
doubtless meditated the subjugation of Russia, He
who holds the winds in his fist gathered the snows of
the north and blew them upon his six hundred thou
sand men ; they fled — ^they froze — they perished.
And now the mighty Napoleon, who had resolved on
universal dominion, he, too, is summoned to ansAver
for the violation of that ancient law, "thou shalt not
coA'^et anything which is thy neighbor's." How is the
mighty fallen ! He, beneath whose proud footstep
Europe trembled, he is now an exile at Elba, and
now finally a prisoner on the rock of St. Helena, and
there, on a barren island, in an unfrequented sea, in
the crater of an extinguished volcano, there is the
death-bed of the mighty conqueror. All his annexa
tions have come to that! His last hour is now
come, and he, the man of destiny, he who had rocked
the world as with the throes of an earthquake, is
now powerless, still — even as a beggar, so he died.
On the Avings of a tempest that raged with unwonted

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. * 383
fury, up to the throne of the only Power that con
trolled him while he lived, went the fiery soul of that
wonderful warrior, another witness to the existence
of that eternal decree, that they who do not rule in
righteousness shall perish from the earth. He has
found "room" at last. And France, she, too, has
found "room," Her "eagles" now no longer scream
along the banks of the Danube, the Po, and the
Borysthenes. They have returned home, to their
old eyrie, between the Alps, the Rhine, and the
Pyrenees ; so shall it be with yours. You may carry
them to the loftiest peaks of the Cordilleras, they
may wave with insolent triumph in the Halls of the
Montezumas, the armed men of Mexico may quail
before them, but the weakest hand in Mexieo, up
lifted in prayer to the God of Justice, may call down
against you a Power, in the presence of which, the
iron hearts of your warriors shall be turned into
ashes, Mr, President, if the history of our race has estab
lished any truth, it is but a confirmation of what is
Avritten, "the way of the transgressor is hard," Inor
dinate ambition, wantoning in power, and spurning
the humble maxims of justice has — ever has — and
ever shall end in ruin. Strength can not always
trample upon weakness — the humble shall be ex
alted, the bowed down will at length be lifted up. It
is by faith in the law of strict justice, and the prac
tice of its precepts, that nations alone can be saved.
All the annals of the human race, sacred and profane,
are written over Avith this great truth, in characters

384 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN,
of living light. It is my fear, my fixed belief, that
in this iuA'^asion, this war with Mexico, we have
forgotten this vital truth. Why is it, that we have
been drawn into this whirlpool of war ? How clear
and strong was the light that shone upon the path of
duty a year ago ! The last disturbing question with
England was settled — our power extended its peace
ful sway from the Atlantic to the Pacific ; from the
Alleghanies we looked out upon Europe, and from
the tops of the Stony Mountains we could descry the
shores of Asia ; a rich commerce with all the nations
of Europe poured wealth and abundance into our lap
on the Atlantic side, while an unoccupied commerce
of three hundred millions of Asiatics waited on the
Pacific for our enterprise to come and possess it.
One hundred millions of dollars will be wasted in
this fruitless war. Had this money of the people
been expended in making a railroad from your north
ern lakes to the Pacific, as one of your citizens has
begged of you in A^ain, you would have made a high
way for the world between Asia and Europe. Your
Capital then would be within thirty or forty days'
travel of any and every point on the map of the civ
ilized world. Through this great artery of trade,
you Avould have carried through the heart of your
oAvn country, the teas of China, and the spices of
India, to the markets of England and France. Why,
AA'hy, Mr. President, did we abandon the enterprises
of peace, and betake ourselves to the barbarous
achieA^ements of Avar? Why did we "forsake this
fair and fertile field to batten on that moor."

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 385
But, Mr. President, if further acquisition of terri
tory is to be the result either of conquest or treaty,
then I scarcely know which should be preferred,
eternal war Avith Mexico, or the hazards of internal
commotion at home, Avhich last, I fear, may come if
another province is to be added to our territory.
There is one topic connected Avith this subject which
I tremble when I approach, and yet I can not forbear
to notice it. It meets you in every step you take.
It threatens you which Avay soever you go in the
prosecution of this war. I allude to the question of
Slavery. Opposition to its further extension, it must
be obvious to every one, is a deeply-rooted determin
ation Avith men of all parties in what we call the non-
slaveholding States. NoAv York, Pennsylvania, and
Ohio, three of the most powerful, have already sent
their legislative instructions here — so it Avill be, I
doubt not, in all the rest. It is vain now to speculate
about the reasons for this. Gentlemen of the South
may call it prejudice,- passion, hypocrisy, fanaticism.
I shall not dispute with them now on that point.
The great fact that it is so, and not otherwise, is what
it concerns us to know. You nor I can not alter or
change this opinion if we would. These people only
say, Ave will not, can not consent that you shall carry
slavery where it does not already exist. They do
not seek to disturb you in that institution, as it exists
in your States. Enjoy it if you will, and as you will.
This is their language, this their determination.
How is it in the South? Can it be expected that
they should expend in common, their blood and their
25

386 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
treasure, in the acquisition of iinmense territory, and
then willingly forego the right to carry thither their
slaA^es, and inhabit the conquered country if they
please to do so? Sir, I know the feelings and opin
ions of the South too well to calculate on this. Nay,
I believe they Avould even contend to any extremity
for the mere right, had they no wish to exert it. I
believe (and I confess I tremble wheri the convic
tion presses upon me) that there is equal obstinacy
on both sides of this fearful question. If then, we
persist in war, Avhich if it terminate in anything
short of a mere wanton waste of blood as Avell as
money, must end (as this bill proposes) in the acqui
sition of territory, to which at once this controversy
must attach — this bill would seem to be nothing less
than a bill to produce internal commotion. Should
we prosecute this war another moment, or expend
one dollar in the purchase or conquest of a single
acre of Mexican land, the North and the South are
brought into collision on a point where neither Avill
yield. Who can foresee or foretell the result? Who
so bold or reckless as to look such a conflict in the
face unmoved! I do not envy the heart of him who
can realize the possibility of such a conflict without
emotions too painful to be endured. Why then shall
we, the representatives of the sovereign States of this
LTnion — ^the chosen guardians of this confederated
Republic, why should we precipitate this fearful
struggle, by continuing a war, the results of Avhich
must be to force us at once upon it? Sir, rightly
considered, this is treason, treason to the Union,

ON THE MEXICAN WAR. 387
treason to the dearest interests, the loftiest aspira
tions, the most cherished hopes of our constituents.
It is a crime to risk the possibility of such a contest.
It is a crime of such infernal hue, that every other
in the catalogue of iniquity, when compared Avith it,
Avhitens into Adrtue. Oh, Mr. President, it does seem
to me, if hell itself could yaAvn and A^omit up the
fiends that inhabit its penal abodes, commissioned to
disturb the harmony of this world, and dash the
fairest prospect of happiness that ever allured the
hopes of men, the first step in the consummation of
this diabolical purpose Avould be, to light up the fires
of internal war, and plunge the sister States of this
Union into the bottomless gulf of civil strife. We
stand this day on the crumbling brink of that gulf —
Ave see its bloody eddies Avheeling and boiling- before
us — shall Ave not pause before it be too late ! Hoav
plain again is here the path, I may add the only Avay
of duty, of prudence, of true patriotism. Let us
abandon all idea of acquiring further territory, and
by consequence cease at once to prosecute this Avar.
Let us call home our armies, and bring them at once
Avithin our OAvn acknowledged limits. ShoAv Mexico
that you are sincere Avhen you say you desire nothing
by conquest. She has learned that she can not en
counter you in war, and if she had not, she is too
AA^eak to disturb you here. Tender her peace, and
my life on it, she will then accept it. But whether
she shall or not, you Avill have peace without her con
sent. It is your invasion that has made war, your re
treat will restore peace. Let us then close forcA^er the

388 SPEECHES .OF THOMAS CORWIN.
approaches of internal feud, and so return to the
ancient concord and the old way of national pros
perity and permanent glory. Let us here, in this
temple consecrated to the Union, perform a solemn
lustration; let us wash Mexican blood from our
hands, and on these altars, in the presence of that
image of the Father of his country that looks doAvn
upon us, swear to preserve honorable peace with all
the world, and eternal brotherhood with each other.

NCIDENTAL REMARKS ON THE "THREE
MILLION BILL."
[March 1st, 1847.]

Mr. Corwin rose to explain the motives which
influenced him in giving his vote, on a former occa
sion, on a bill similar to the one before the Senate, to
which allusion had been made by the Senator from
Delaware [Mr. J. M. Clayton], in the course of his
speech to-day. The vote of the preceding session,
he believed, was almost, if not altogether, unanimous.
It was the first of a series of bills passed at that
time, and passed speedily. He admitted that he
voted for that bill ; he voted for it under the circum
stances in which it was presented to the Senate.
They were officially advised that our army had been
ordered by the President to march from the position
it had occupied on the Nueces to the Rio Grande.
This order was given by the President, the com
mander-in-chief, and the army was not at liberty to
disobey. They were also informed that hostilities
had been commenced between us and Mexico. At
that time General Taylor had under his command
certainly not exceeding three thousand men — his im
pression was that General Taylor had not more than
tAvo thousand five hundred men. They were informed
(389)

390 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
at the same time, in the same document, which came
to them from the President — ^if it were not so, he
hoped he should be corrected — or through other
channels, that the Mexican force amounted to eight
thousand men — some statements made it a force
of twelve thousand men — which was hovering about
our little army with the avowed determination to
exterminate them. Under these circumstances, the
President of the United States asked for men and
money — not for the prosecution of a war of in\'asion
into the heart of Mexico — not for the avowed pur
pose of taking possession of her towns — still less, as
he Avas reminded by the Senator from Georgia [Mr.
Berrien], to dismember the Mexican republic, seizing
a province here and another there, and holding them
by right of conquest, that they may serve as security
and indemnity for the almost boundless expense of
this war. He at that time voted for that bill, as he
understood every Senator on this side of the chamber
did except two, not with a riew to make war on
Mexico, but for the rescue of our little army from
its perilous position. The Senator from Delaware
had this day reminded him of that vote, and by
implication reproached him with apparent incon
sistency. [Mr. Clayton remarked, "Not at all. The Senator has per
fectly justified his vote."]
Well, then, the Senator from Delaware had
taken it unkind in him that, to quote that Sena-
or's own eloquent language, he had hung his

ON THE "three million BILL." 391
harp upon the Avillow that day when his own and the
harp of his friend from Kentucky [Mr. Crittenden^]
were strung to such mellifluous tones. Mr. CorAvin
remembered well that he Avas silent on that occasion,
and he should have been silent up to this hour, if it
had not been that he was now placed in a different
position, and he Avas anxious to vindicate that posi
tion. Why should he have spoken ? Delighted as
he was then, and on all occasions, to listen, to the
harpings of his friends from Delaware and Kentucky,
he knew his own music Avould have fallen upon deaf
ears. Those Senators had waked up tones of deep
supplication, and what foUoAved? Why, after they
had strung their harps to notes of woe, they sat
down to weep.' Mr. Corwin had not thought it
necessary to tune his harp on that .day, and he did
not now regret it. He, however, voted to give men
and money for the purposes he had expressed, and
what were they now told by the Executive message ?
That when the demand was made on Congress for
these supplies, it was for the purpose of making a
systematic invasion of Mexico, to dismember her ter
ritory, and holding it by force until she Avould accept
such terms as it pleases her conqueror to prescribe.
But those terms were not made known to him.
They were not advised what they will be, and the
Mexicans w^ere to be left altogether to Executive
mercy. Under these circumstances, he thought an
extreme case was presented — a case which he found
Senators on his side of the chamber willing to say
may arise, which might justify them in Avithholding

392 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
the supplies. He had acted upon his convictions of
duty in the case, as it was presented to him ; but it
never entered into his heart or his head to cast
censure on those honorable Senators who differed
from him. It was a long time, and after painful
reflection, that he brought himself to consent to give
a vote different from the vote of those respected
Senators around him, to whom he looked as his
instructors and guides. He had risen merely to set
himself right, and having done so, he should resume
his seat.

ON THE TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF
OREGON— COMPROMISE BILL.
[In the course of the protracted debate in the United States
Senate, upon the bill to establish the Territorial Government of
Oregon, Mr. Clayton of Delaware, on the 12th July, 1848,
moved that a committee of eight Senators — four from the North
ern, and four from the Southern sections of the Union— be
appointed by ballot, to whom the subject should be referred.
This motion prevailed; and the committee on Territories was
discharged from the further consideration of so much of the Pres
ident's Message, as related to New Mexico and California, and the
same referred to the said committee of eight.
Pending the preliminary debate upon this motion, in reply to
an inquiry of Mr. Coravin's, the Senators of South Carolina
(Mr. Butler and Mr. Calhoun), denounced the decision of the
Supreme Court of the United States, in the case of the State of
Pennsylvania, vs. Prigg, so far as the Court held that all State
legislation of that character, whether intended to retard or facilitate
the owner in the apprehension of his fugitive slave, was unconstitu
tional. But the former of these Senators (Mr. Butler), agreed
with the Chief Justice, and two of the associates upon that case,
who, he said, held that the non-slaveholding States " could pass
no laws to prohibit the owner from exercising his constitutional
rights in reclaiming his runaway slave ; but that they might makp
such laws as would facilitate the delivery, which the obligation of
good faith would demand at their hands." Mr. Coravin said]:
I am perfectly satisfied that the Senator stated
the decision as recorded in our books. It is enough
to say that a majority of the bench have decided the
(question Avhich I proposed.
[Mr. Calhoun — I do not recognize the decision]. (393)

394 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
I will not undertake to say, from a very accurate
criticism of the case, whether the point now suggested
Avas brought up directly before the court; but it was
discussed before it, as one of the questions necessary
to arrive at the decisions on the main point; and
being discussed by the counsel on both sides, the
question AA^as as fully decided by the court as any
other brought before them. In regard to the legisla
tion of the States, I am not prepared to say whether
the gentleman from South Carolina is fully correct
in the statement of his views. But I think the
gentlemen from the South have allowed their sensi
bilities to be quite too much excited on this subject.
With regard to the transactions referred to in Ken
tucky, there has been a great mistake as to the facts.
Commissioners were sent on behalf of the State of
Kentucky to the State of Ohio, for the purpose of
negotiating a treaty of extradition, as the gentleman
from South Carolina calls it; and I have only to say,
that Ave did not imprison them nor send them home.
We allowed them to remain at our court, Avhere,
AAith the help of the imperial parliament of Ohio, a
law was enacted perfectly satisfactory to both sides,
and almost in terms the same as the law of Pennsyl
vania, Avhich was decided upon by the Supreme
Court of the United States. That law Avas repealed
by the legislature of the State of Ohio, for the simple
reason that the "highest judicial tribunal in the
United States had decided that they had no constitu
tional power to pass it. Noav, if these States lying
Avithin that district of country spoken of as included

TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF OREGON. 395
in the ordinance of 1787, are denounced for not
complying, as is supposed, Avith the terms of that
ordinance, Avhen it is shoAvn that the}" have legislated
exactly according to the prescription of that only
tribunal Avho can interpret judicially the Constitution
of the United States, all I can say is, that the charge
falls harmless at our feet, and that all Christendom,
in all time to come, Avill absolve us of it.
[Mr. Butler. — I hope the gentleman will inform us whether
that extraordinary embassy from Kentucky to the " imperial
court" of Ohio, was not occasioned by the intolerable mischiefs
which the people of Kentucky suffered from the escaping of their
slaves into Ohio, beyond the reach of reclamation?]
I Avill ansAver the Senator with great pleasure.
The embassy originated in the solicitude of our sister
State of Kentucky to preserve amicable relations with
us. The reason assigned by the embassy was, that
our laAA' did not furnish to them the means of reclaim
ing their fugitive slaA'es. The j)eople of the United
States had acted upon the subject in the law of 1793;
but it seems that they did not act with that degree
of efficiency necessary, in the judgment of the people
of Kentucky, to secure to them thefr property. There
AA'as another reason which induced the State of Ohio
to entertain that negotiation, and to enact this laAv.
The people of Ohio were just as solicitous as their
fellow-citizens of Kentucky to have a statute on that
subject, or at least embracing many of the cases sup
posed in Kentucky to fall Avithin the law. There
Avere, I believe, a few felons in Kentucky — ^for there
is, I belicA-e, a penitentiary there — and occasionally

396 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
it contained individuals supposed to have comiriitted
crimes. Some of them, finding it incouA^enient to
execute their purposes in Kentucky, were in the habit
of coming ov^er to Ohio for the purpose of kidnapping
negroes. Occasionally, a gentleman would be killed
in this amiable pursuit; and the apology was, that
they had come to reclaim fugitiA^e slaves. If this
statement were false, no harm Avas done ; if true, the
man who shot him Avas punished as a murderer,
under the laAv of Ohio. It was, therefore, very desi
rable on both sides, as well to protect Kentucky in
claiming her slaves as to prevent Kentuckians from
coming oA'cr to kidnap— a very common practice in
all States bordering on slave States, with Av-hich we
were greatly troubled, the expense from peniten
tiaries being- very considerably augmented from that
very source — that the question should be settled.
[Ma. Calhoun. — I can not permit the Senator to escape even
under a decision of the Supreme Court. By express contract
between the rest of the States and the people inhabiting these
territories, which are now States, the latter bound themselves to
deliver up our fugitive slaves. They are the parties to that con
tract, under the ordinance, and it has not been superseded by
the Constitution. J
Have not the Supreme Court, to which reference
has been made, interpreted our rights, duties, and
poAvers, under that compact?
[Mr. Calhoun. — Simply and only under the Constitution of
the United States. They could not put aside a contract. It stands
upon higher principles. It stands entirely on different ground
from the case in Pennsylvania. The decision has not been eon-

TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF OREGON. 397'
firmed, and I trust never will be. I have always considered it
as the most extraordinary decision ever made. But I put that
aside, and present the positive contract between these parties. ^
There was no United States Government then to fulfill it. The
old Congress had no such power. There stands the contract,
and will ever stand, around which it is impossible to go.]
I haA^e only one remark in reply to the Senator's
vieAv of our obligations under the Ordinance. When
the Supreme Court decided that, under the Constitu
tion, made subsequently to that Ordinance, these
States had no poAver to pass such laws, unquestion
ably they have given a judicial interpretation to
their rights, poAver, and duties under the Ordinance
as well as under the Constitution. The truth is,
that the Ordinance and the Constitution are in the
A'-ery same Avords. Whatever obligations there may
be under the Ordinance of 1787 remain under the
Constitutiori, and are reimposed by that instrument.
Noav, it must be seen, that the decision of the
Supreme Court comprehends OA^ery obligation under
Avhich the State of Ohio or any north-western State
has been placed by virtue of that Ordinance. Surely
if that compact, in the judgment of the Supreme
Court, had had an obligation above the Constitution
and beyond it, they would have said so. It is true
that the case was one from Pennsylvania, but much
of the discussion, as every gentleman Avho attended
to it at that time knows, was upon this very Ordi
nance. But that is immaterial. If the obligations
under the Constitution of the United States, Avhich
the State of Ohio or any other State of the North-

398 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
western Territory owes to the South, as it is called,
exists by virtue of the Constitution of the United
States, they are not tolerated in legislating upon the
subject. [Mr. Calhoun. — I can not permit even that view of the case
to pass. The Constitution expressly provides for the continuance
of this contract between the United States and thc people that
inhabited the North-west Territory. The sixth article of the
Constitution contains an express permission that "all debts con
tracted, and engagements entered into before the adoption of this
Constitution shall be as valid against the United States under
this Constitution as under the Confederation." Now, is it not
manifest that the Ordinance of 1787 looked to its fulfillment
under the present Government, and not the old Confederation,
which had no machinery, no capacity to execute it? If the
words of the Ordinance and those in the Constitution are precisely
the same — and I have not compared them — it is one of the strong
est arguments to show that the decision of the court was wrong,
and that the words of the Constitution ought to have received
the interpretation of the prior words, instead of the prior words
receiving the interpretation of the latter.]
I do not intend to controvert the right of the gen
tleman to take an appeal from the decision of the
Supreme Court, but I do not know where he can find
any revisory power at present.
[Again, on the 18th, 19th, and 22d of July, the same subject
was debated — on the last named date Mr. Hale was about to
address the Senate, but yielded to Mr. Coravin, who said] :
I wish to submit to any member of the committee
one or two questions to which it is very desirable to
myself, and I dare say to va.a.nj others, that a reply
should be giA'^en before Ave are called upon to A^ote on

TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF OREGON. 399'
this bill. The bill, with what propriety I will not
undertake to say, has been described by the honor
able chairman of the committee, as a Compromise
Bill. It Avill be in the recollection of every Senator,
that during the discussion upon the Oregon bill, Avhieh
gave rise to the proposition that laAvs should be made
for all these Territories together, there Avas one point
of laAV discussed by several gentlemen on both sides
of the Chamber. The honorable Senator from South
Carolina, if I did not misunderstand him, main
tained, that by the Constitution of the United States
it Avas incompetent for Congress to enact that Slavery
should not exist in the Territories ; and that it was
equally incompetent for any territorial goA^ernment
of any sort that might be erected there to iriake such
a laAv. I understood my honorable friend from Geor
gia on my left [Mr. Berrien] to maintain the same
proposition, in the same identical terms. Now, I
su]3posed, that after that discussion, Avhen the whole
question had been submitted to this committee, con
stituted chiefly of gentlemen learned in the laAv, they
must have revolved in their minds and discussed in
their retirement this fundamental proposition, lying
at the bottom of all our action. I did expect — ^though
perhaps I was wrong in entertaining that anticipa
tion — that Ave should have had a detailed report from
that committee, resolving that radical question for
the benefit of Senators Avho might not be able, in
consequence of their not being learned in the laAV, to
give to the proposition that degree of attention which
it deserved. If it be true, as was maintained by my

400 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
friend from Georgia — ^for whose legal acquirements I
entertain so much respect that I can scarcely trust
myself to differ from hina — ^that Congress can make
no such law, why, then, I presume that the objection
urged by the Senator from Connecticut, on the other
side of the Chamber, falls to the ground. I rise,
then, for the purpose of asking of the learned gentle
men who were occupied so assiduously for some days
in the examination of this important question, and
Avho must have known, before they retired, that if
this grand obstacle could be removed, we should
have no difficulty at all in passing such a bill, whether
they made any investigation on that point ? and if
so, whether they are at liberty to disclose the result
of it to the Senate ?
Again : I wish to be informed from these gentle-.
men learned in the law — ^for I have not turned my
attention to the particular statutory provisions on
this point — ^how it is that an appeal and Avrit of error
shall lie from the superior judicial tribunal estab
lished in the Territories to the Supreme Court of the
United States? The gentlemen of the committee
having, as I supposed, very seduously directed their
attention to the subject Avhich divides us here — the
subject of slavery— I Avish to know whether, Avhen
this laAv comes to be put in operation, the committee
have found with certainty that the question of slavery,
as it is usually brought up in courts, can be brought
by a Avrit of error before the Supreme Court of the
United States, without some specific legislation ? For
instance : I believe that in the laAV which regulates

TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF OREGON. 401
writs of error and appeals from the circuit courts of
the United States to the Supreme Court, it is pro
vided that the value of the thing in controversy must
be at least two thousand dollars, exclusive of costs. I
have been told, informally, that the provision in this
bill, allowing Avrits of error and appeal, was made to
satisfy any gentleman that it Avas the intention of the
committee to withdraw this controversy about the
power of Congress to make laws for the Territories
from the Congress of the United States — ^to AvithdraAv
this constitutional question, in other words, from
CongTess, and submit it to the judicial tribunals of
the country. Now, if that be so, and if that Avould
be the effect of the bill in case it were enacted, I wish
to know, if a man go into one of these Territories
with a slave, whether the object of the bill is to raise
the question whether that sort of property, without
law, can be carried into a Territory where there
is no laAv, and if so, how it is to be carried into
effect ? Under the existing law, I suppose the slave
would ask a writ of habeas corpus, and require his
master to produce him in court, and show the cause
of his capture and detention before one of these terri
torial judges. The territorial judge, according to
this bill, is to be appointed by the present Chief
Magistrate of the United States — a fact which I beg
to mention for the information of gentlemen north of
Mason and Dixon's line. This judge will decide, if
he believe the constitutional law to be as the gentle
men from South Carolina and Georgia maintain, that
the master has a right to the services of the slave,
26

402 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWiN.
who will be accordingly remanded into the service
of his master. That is the way in which the case
elaborates itself into a judginent, and how it is
proposed to bring it before the Supreme Court of the
United States, so that it may be decided by the
highest judicial tribunal in America. How is it to
eome here ? Is the property in coritroversy of the
value of two thousand dollars ? What is the value of
a slave ? My learned friend from Georgia smileg.
Perhaps I may not be so familiar as he is with the
value of that kind of property. But if he can listen-
to me with the graAdty which I think the subject
demands 
[Mr. Berrien (in his seat). The gentleman is entirely mis
taken.] I withdraw the remark. How is the value of a
slave to be ascertained ? We are told that there is
no property in the man, but simply a claim to his
services. What, then, is the value of his services?
It may be more or less, according to the judgment
of men; but very few slaves, I believe, sell for a
thousand dollars. If, then, the value of the slave do
not reach two thousand dollars, his^ fate is decided by
this judge appointed by the President of the United
States, who sits in his court fifteen hundred miles
from Washington City. This is the final judgment.
I may be wrong in all this. But certainly, as the
law now stands, if such a case come within the cate
gory of the bill before us, I have difficulty in perceiv
ing how it can be brought here. I say nothing now
of the great advantages that will accrtie to the'

TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF OREGON. 403
slave population AA'hich may be carried there, in con
sequence of thefr having such an easy and facile
method of bringing their case before the Supreme
Court ; nor of the perfect equality between them and
their master, as respects the giving of the requisite
security for costs ; nor«of the ease with which they
can attend the Supreme Court of the United States,
after a journey of fifteen hundred miles during- the
winter, to hear the decision of that tribunal as to
whether Cuffee or his master is right in the matter !
Bv.t it does seem to me that there is here an anom-
aly worth looking at about the noon of the nineteenth
century. I do not rise, however, to discuss the ques
tion, but simply to ask the learned gentleman from
Vermont, or any other gentleman, who has given
attention to this legal question, to favor me with a
reply to those interrogatories which I have now
respectfully submitted. I should also be very happy
to be informed a& to the amount of population in
Upper California, and in that described in this bill
as New Mexico. I believe Ave have pretty accurate
statistics in relation to the population of Oregon.
]Sut I am somewhat at a loss to know why a distinc
tion has been made between Oregon and the terri
tories of California and New Mexico. I should be
very happy to know why the people of Oregon have
been regarded as capable of making their own laws,
while the people of California and New Mexico have
been deemed incapable.
[Mr. Clayton. — The committee thought, in view of all the facts,
that the people of California and New Mexico were not now in

404 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
that state which fitted them to elect a delegate to Congress, or a
territorial legislature. The gentleman, as a north-western man,
knows that many of our territories, in the first instance, had just
such a form of government extended over them as is proposed in
this bill for California and New Mexico. The next stage of terri
torial organization we have given to Oregon, and I think my
friend from Ohio must admit that th^ character of the population
of New Mexico renders them utterly unfit for self-government.]
Will the Senator from Delaware allow me to ask
another question ? Why does he consider the people
of New Mexico unfit for self-government ?
[Mr. Clayton. — They are entirely too ignorant, and the gentle
man probably knows that as well as I do.]

[On the 24th July, 1848, Mr. Coravin addressed the Senate at
length upon the Compromise Bill reported by Mr. Clayton from
the Committee of Eight. Mr. Coravin said :]
Mr. President :
I should scarcely underi;ake to assign to the Senate
a reason for prolonging this debate, especially after
the very elaborate and lucid exposition of the bill
now before us, which has been given by the Senator
from Vermont; I feel compelled, however, from
various considerations, with which I will not trouble
the Senate, to state, in very few words, if that be
possible, what my objections are to the passage of
the bill ; and, it may be, to offer some few observa
tions in reply to such propositions as have been
announced at various times during this debate, by
Senators on the other side of the Chamber. I have
listened with great eagerness, since the commence-

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 405
ment of this discussion, to everything that has been
said, AAith the most sincere and unfeigned desire to
make myself acquainted with at least the primary
elements and principles which enter into the compo
sition of the bill. And, I think I may say, without
exposing myself to the charge of egotism, that I feel
as little the influences which have been spoken of by
the Senator from Vermont as it is desirable that any
gentleman, acting in the capacity of a legislator,
should feel. I do not participate, however, I may
advertise gentlemeri, in the belief which has been so
constantly expressed during this discussion, that this
is a subject which is likely to produce that terrible
and momentous excitement that is spoken of. I
believe if this principle were discussed solemnly,
and, so to speak, abstractedly from those extraneous
circumstances too frequently adverted to here, that
we should be much more likely to arrive at a satis
factory conclusion to ourselves, and at more satisfac
tory results, I hope, to those AA^ho are to come after
us. I have no belief that the passage of a law, such
as is noAv before the Senate, will produce a disruption
of the bonds that hold this Union together. I have
no belief that the passage of the law so much depre
cated by some gentlemen on this side, by the name,
if you please, of the "Wilmot Proviso," could, by any
possibility whatever, induce the Southern portion of
the" Union, which, we are told, is so much excited on
the subject, to tear themselves asunder from the Con
stitutional compact by which we are all held together.
Sir, if I entertained an opinion of this kind, I should

406 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
scarcely think a. seat on this floor worth possessing
for a single day. I do not think the technical term
spoken of by the Senator from Vermont, the "Wil
mot Proviso," can of itself exercise that influence
upon statesmen of exalted intellect of the South,
Avhich has been intimated by gentlemen who haA^e
participated in this debate. What is this terrible
Wilmot Proviso, that has been erected here and
elsewhere into such a raw head and bloody-bones, to
use a very expressive phrase of the nursery ? What
is it ? Why, sir, there are about me Senators who
know very well to whom the paternity of the " Wil
mot Proviso," as it has been recently baptized,
belonged. They know that the same gentleman
Avho drafted the Declaration of Independence, which
is hung up in our halls and placed in our libraries,
and regarded with the same reverence as our Bible —
for it has become a Gospel of Freedom . all over the
Avorld as well as in this country — drafted that which
is called the "Wilmot Proviso," composing, as it did,
a section of the Ordinance of 1787, and that the hand
that drafted both was Jefferson's. There have been
some strange misnomers in regard to acts, some
strange confusion of nomenclature in this country, as
in this case, when a part of the Ordinance of 1787
has come to bear the appellation of the "Wilmot
Proviso." Sir, much as I respect that gentleman for
his position upon this subject, which has connected
his yery name with the Ordinance of 1787, I deny to
him the honor of originating it. It is a piracy of the
copyright. I do riot see that there is any danger

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 407
that Southern gentlemen, after the lapse of so many
years, and after the founding of a young empire iri
the West, by virtue of that Ordinance, will so dese
crate the memory of Jefferson and spit on his grave,
because we merely re-enact that Ordinance over a
Territory which has subsequently come into our pos
session. I have no idea that such consequences will
foUoAv from the passage of such a law, as gentlemen
have predicted. There must have been a strange
revolution wrought in the minds of Southern gentle
men betAveen 1787 and 1847, if such consequences
are to follow. And I could not help observing while
the Senator from Vermont was expressing these noble
sentiments, which everybody, even those who do not
feel them, must admire, telling us we should act here
independently of the excitement without these walls,
and that we should scorn those newspaper para
graphs in which we are vilified, written by those
who know little of the motives by which we are influ
enced, and Avho care less ; I could not help observing
that at last the Senator admonished us that there
Avas an excitement abroad which we must allay ; and
to do that, he agreed to this bill, although it was
somewhat different from that which he desired —
so that the lion-hearted Senator from Vermont has
agreed to this Compromise, as it is called, because
there is an excitement which he wishes to allay by
it. Sir, I desire to see gentlemen act and vote here
as if there were no excitement on the subject. I
should be very sorry, at least to allow any influences
to operate upon my deliberate judgment, except those

408 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
AA'hich belong to the relation of representative and
constituent. It is the farthest from my intention of
anything- that can be conceived of to say anything in
regard to this bill which may wound the feelings of
gentlemen who have labored so hard to produce
something that would satisfy us all. The Senator
ft'om Vermont has acted as he should have acted,
has acted nobly in relation to this matter, and I
know very well that he will be willing to accord to
me the same rule of action, the same independence
that he has used; and I fear, when I. come to speak
of the bill, I shall be under the necessity of availing
myself of what the gentleman has called a " special
demurrer;" for I do not think there is such pressing
necessity for the passage of the bill, as. to oblige us to
forego the statement of such objections as we may
entertain. Suppose you enact no law, what will
happen ? Oregon has for many years taken care of
herself, and I believe, on one or two occasions, made
better laws for herself than she is likely to get at our
hands. She has taken care of herself ever since she
became an integral portion of the Union, by the set
tlement of the dispute between us and Great Britain.
How the new provinces may fare, what may happen
to Noav Mexico and California in the intermediate
time Avhich will elapse, if we should not be able to
act upon this matter at the present session, is not a
matter of much concern or apprehension with me,
because I know they have been in your custody for a
year or two, and have not complained at all for the
Avant of legal enactments ; they have only complained

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 409
that you haA'e made too free use of gunpoAvder.
Rather than not act in the matter fully and defi
nitely, as I would if there were no emergency, I
Avould alloAV those proAinces to take care of them
selves for another tweh^emonths, and come here at
the beginning of a noAv session, ready to act upon
the subject as my judgment should dictate.
Noav, sir, in the first place, I understand Ave have a
message from the President, although I believe it
has not been adverted to by any one, calling upon us
to designate the boundaries of these territories of
NeAv Mexico and California; and another branch
of the Legislature has been anxiously looking to the
geography of those countries, and tracing their his
tory, and are as yet incapable of determining AA'here
Texas ends and New Mexico begins; and they haA'-e
been under the necessity of applying to the chief
magistrate to give them a lesson in geography.
What the substance of the information they have
received was I -do not know, but I have been in
formed, upon the floor of the Senate, that Texas
extends to the banks of the Rio Grande.
If this be so, I must be permitted to look to the
gentlemen of the committee for information as to hoAV
much is left for New Mexico, what extent of territory,
and what amount of population ? Is it worth while
to establish a Territorial Government there, if it be
true that Texas extends to the Rio Grande? I
think it will be found that there will be but a frag
ment of New Mexico left, so far as population is
concerned. It will be very convenient, perhaps, to

410 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
attach it to the Government of California. If you
send your Governors and other of&cers there without
establishing the boundaries, there will be a conflict
of territorial jurisdiction. Is it not expedient to
settle it now, when you are founding new Govern
ments there, and placing side by ' side institutions
Avhich may be very dissimilar ? It is perfectly cer
tain that Texas Avill extend her laAvs to the Rio~
Grande; and if she does, she will comprehend within
her jurisdiction a large proportion of the population .
of what was formerly New Mexico. Here, then, is
my special demurrer. Under other circumstances,
I am sure the Senator from Vermont would agree
with me that it is indispensable to the Governments
Avhich we are about to establish, that the limits of
their jurisdiction should be defined, although I do
not know that this would be an insuperable objection
with me, if the other portions of the bill Avere such
as I could give my assent to.
And now I intend, in a few words, to state Avhy I
object to this Compromise bill. Sir, there is no one
— there can be no one — who does not desire that
every subject of legislation which comes before the
Senate should be settled harmoniously, and, if it
might be so, Avith the unanimous concurrence of
every Senator. But, sir, in my judgment, with this
subject as it stands before us, it Avould be arrogant
presumption to undertake to vote upon this bill, with
a question before us which we undertake to transfer
to the Judiciary department of the country. How is
this ? Is it riot a new thing in your legislation, Avhen

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 411
a system of policy is proposed, and the constitutional
propriety of that policy is questioned, to pass an act
for the purpose of getting a case before the Supreme
Court, that that Court may instruct the Senate of the
United States as to constitutional duty in the matter?
Sir, if Ave knoAv certainly what that law Avill be, need
there be any hesitancy hoAV we shall vote upon this
bill? Can any one suppose that the Senator from
Georgia, or the Senator from South Carolina, if they
believed that the litigation that is proposed by this
bill to be brought into the Judicial tribunals of the
country would result contrary to their determination
of what the law should, be, that they would be in
favor of such a bill as this? Does any one believe
that if the Senator from Vermont could anticipate
that the Supreme Court of the United States might
decide that Congress, being silent upon the subject,
had allowed slavery to pass, at its pleasure, into
these newly-acquired territories, and to become part
of the municipal institutions of these territories, and
to decide, also, that if Congress had enacted a pro
hibitory laAV, it could not have gone there, he would
vote for this bill? Certainly he would not. Is there
any necessity that there should be a prohibitory laAv
passed, in order that the question of slavery should
be presented with the aid of Congressional legisla
tion to the Supreme Court of the United States? I
will not undertake to say that I differ with the
Senator from Vermont in a single legal proposition
that he has laid down. I regard slavery as a local
institution. I believe it rests on that basis, as the

412 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
only one that can give it a moment's security. I
believe it can not be carried, by the power of the
master over his servant, one inch beyond the territo
rial limits of the power that makes the law. I
believe that a slave carried by his master into the
territory about which we' are talking, if slavery be
abolished there, will be free from the moment he
enters the territory, and any attempt to exercise'
power over him as a slave will be nugatory. That
is my judgment. But I would guard against any
doubt on this subject. I would . so act that there
should be nothing left undone on my part to prevent
the admission of slaves, for I am free to declare that
if you Avere to acquire the country that lies under the
line, the hottest country to be found on the globe,
where the white man is supposed not to be able to
work, I would not allow you to take slaves there, if
slavery did not exist there already. More than
that, I would abolish it if I could, if it did exist.
These are my opinions, and they always haA'e been
the same. I know they were the opinions of Wash
ington up to the hour of his death; and they were
the opinions of Jefferson and of others, who, in the
infancy of the institution, saw and deplored its evils,
and deprecated its continuance, and would have taxed
themselves to the utmost to exterminate it then.
I possess no opinion on the subject that I have not
derived from these sources.
I have only to say, that these opinions have always
received the concurrence of my own understanding,
and this after the most careful investigation I have

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 413
been able to giA'e the subject. I find the institution
of slavery existing in several States of the Union —
it is a local, a State institution, existing under the
guarantees of the Constitution. I find that, as a
legislator of this National Government, I am for
bidden by the Constitution to act upon this or any
other merely State institution. I can not, therefore,
interfere AAith slavery in the States as I can in a
Territory, where, as yet, no State sovereignty exists,
and as I will there, and would everywhere else oh
the face of the earth, where I am not forbidden, and
where my power might extend. And here, sir, I
ask, Avhat has been your practice as a Government
on this subject? If at any time in your progress,
since 1789, you have acquired territory Avhere slavery
existed in such form and consistency as to make it
now difficult to overthrow it, it has been permitted,
only permitted, to remain where by law it did exist ;
as in the North-western Territory before 1789, but
had not taken deep root, it was expelled ; and as in
the Missouri Compromise, excluding it in all territory
north of latitude 36° 30', after 1789.
WTien Louisiana was acquired, such was the tone
of public opinion then against slavery, that I am
sure the men of that day would have abolished it
there, but for the supposed evil of displacing a system
long-established, on which and by which the social
and political systems of the country were necessarily
formed. Perhaps, also, the terms of the treaty were
with some ah obstacle. The same men Avho directed
public opinion in 1787, in a great measure controlled

414 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
it in 1804. Jefferson, who was the author of the
Ordinance of 1787, was President in 1804, when
Louisiana was acquired. By his influence, the Ordi
nance of 1787 made five free States in the north-
AA'est, and I doubt not Louisiana would have been
also freed from slavery too, but for the reasons I
haA^e assigned. Such were the views of men who
directed public opinion then ; would to God they, or
such as they, had more to do with public opinion «ow.
When the ample patrimony of Virginia was trans
ferred to the Confederacy, Jefferson, and those of
his school, Avho made this noble donation, at once
declared that slavery should not pollute the soil of
five rich and powerful new States. Such AA^as Vir
ginian, such was American opinion then. I can not
suppose the opinions of these men were so changed
between 1787 and 1804, that slavery, at the latter
period, would be spared by them, except for the
reasons I have assigned already. Liberty, perfect
freedom to all men, of all colors and nations, was
the doctrine of Jefferson then, and I am told he is
now the authoritative expounder of free, principles
to the school calling itself "Virginian" as well as
"Democratic." Why, there is scarcely a Virginian who ventures
to have an opinion contrary to the lightest thought
that he ever expressed. Arid is it so, that we are
now to be required, for the sake of some iriiaginary
balance of power, to carry slavery into a country
where it does not now exist? That, sir, is the
question propounded by this bill. The Senator from

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 415
Vermont is satisfied that slavery can not be extended
to these Territories. I belieA-e, if his confidence in
the judicial tribunals of the country were well founded,
that slavery could not possibly go into these Terri
tories, proA'ided the Senate is right both as to laAv
and the facts. I ask every member of the Senate—
perhaps I may be less informed than any — ^whether
slavery does not exist, by some Mexican law, at this
hour, in California.
[Mr. Hannegan (in his seat). — It does exist. Peon Slavery
exists there.]
I would thank the Senator from Indialna if he Avill
inform me what Peon Slavery is ; and really I ask
the question for the purpose of obtaining information.
I desire to knoAV its conditions. Is it transmissible
by inheritance? Does the marvelous doctrine of
which the honorable Senator from Virginia spoke,
as being part and parcel of the law adopted in Vir
ginia — partus sequitur ventrem — prevail? Is that
holy ordinance, that the offspring of the womb of
her Avho is a slave must necessarily be slaves also,
there recognized?
[Mr. Hawnegan. — As I understand, slavery exists in California
and New Mexico, as it does throughout the Republic of Mexico,
and is termed Peon Slavery — slavery for debt, by which the
creditor has a right to hold the debtor, through all time, in ' a
far more absolute bondage than that by which any Southern
planter holds his slaves here.]
So it has been described to me. I have not seen
the Mexican laws upon the subject ; but the state
ment just made agrees Avith that of many gentlemen

416 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
who profess to know something on the subject, and
therefore I am inclined to think that it is so, and
that these people are the subjects of that infernal
laAv. The Senator from Delaware, the other day,
informed us that the committee have not given to
the people of California and Noav Mexico the right
of suffrage, because they were incapable of exer
cising it — because a large portion of them were of
the colored races. Now, supposing that to be the
cas.e, and supposing the proposition to be submitted
to the Supreme Court of the United States — was
slavery an institution of New Mexico? — ^what would
be the answer ? If the Senator from Indiana were
there to make response, he would reply in the affirma
tive ; he would say that the institution of- slavery
was there ; that, to be sure, it had its modifications
and its peculiarities, but that it w^as still slavery,
though there might not have existed a laAv as strong
as that glorious principle of free goA^ernment spoken
of by the Senator from Virginia — partus sequitur
ventrem. If, sir, these three Latin words can con
demn to everlasting slavery the posterity of a woman
Avho is a slave, may not that municipal regulation
of Avhich Ave are now speaking in California and
New Mexico, with equal propriety, be denominated
slavery? I find, then, slavery, as it is called, ex
isting here to a degree, and to all practical purposes,
as lasting and inexorable as in the State of Virginia ;
and, therefore, the whole of the hypothesis of the
gentleman from Vermont falls to the ground as a
matter of fact, inasmuch as the Supreme Court will

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 417
decide that slavery existed there, and that, there
fore, the Avhole slaA'c population of the United States
may be transferred to that country.
[Mr. Phelps. — The gentleman will excuse me— I spoke of
African Slavery.]
Of that I am aAA'are. I speak noAv of the general
proposition. Noav, this is a A'ery curious spectacle
presented this day and for Aveeks past in the Ameri
can Congress, and one can not help pausing at this
point, and reflecting upon the events of the last feAv
years. On looking- back at AA'hat has happened to
that period, I am sure that the magnanimous spirit
of the Senator from South Carolina himself will be
obliged to concede to the Northern States at least
some apology for the slight .degree of excitement on
this subject. His hypothesis is, that to every portion
of this newly-acquired territory — California not ex
cepted — every slaveholder in the United States has a
right to migrate to-morroAV, and carry with him his
slaA'es — ^holding them there forever, subject only to
the abolition of slavery Avhen these Territories shall
be made into States, and come into the Union.
What, then, would be those few chapters in our
history? We find ourselves now in the possession
of Territories with a jDopulation of one hundred and
fifty thousand souls, if I am correctly informed, in
California and New Mexico. The best authenticated
history of the social institutions of that population
informs us that there exists there, at this moment, a
27

418 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
species of slavery as absolute and inexorable as exists
anyAvhere on the face of the earth ; and that about
five in six of the population of that country are
subjected to the iron rule of this abominable insti
tution there.
Noav, I do not expect that any man will rise up
and say, that because an individual ha^^jiens to be
the debtor of another, he shall have his own joerson
sold into slavery; and not only that, but that the
curse shall extend — Avorse than that of the HebreAv,
not to the third and fourth generation, but to the
remotest posterity of that unfortunate man. Nobody
Avill pretend to rise up in defense of such a proposi
tion as that. Noav, then, I Avill give over the criticism.
Suppose there is a law in New Mexico which obliges
a man to work all the days of his life for another,
because he happens to owe him five dollars, by some
means contrived by the creditor to keep him always
his debtor. Do you intend that that laAv shall exist
there for an hour? Well, you have made a law here,
that your laAv-makers who are to go to New Mexico
and California shall not touch the subject of slaA^er}' ;
and if that Avhich is designated, in the popular lan
guage of that country, slaA'ery, exists there, do you.
indeed send abroad, as you promised to do, your
missionary of liberty? You Avent there AA'ith the
sword, and made it red in the blood of these jDeople !
What did you tell them? "We come to give you
freedom!" Instead of that, you enact in your code
here — ^bloody as that of Draco — ^that there shall be

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 419
judges and lawgivers over them, but that they shall
make no laAv touching that slavery to which five out
of six of them are subjected.
Mr. President, this chapter in your history fur
nishes instructive matter for our consideration. It
is a strange act in the great drama of what we call
progress. I have looked upon it Avith some concern.
' I AA'as one of those Avho predicted that this, or some
thing like this, Avould be the result of your Mexican
Avar. I always believed, notwithstanding your denials
here, that you made war upon Mexico for the purpose
and with the intention of conquest. I ventured to
predict just what we noAv see, that acquisition of
territory Avoiild follow the war as its consequence,
and its object was that and nothing- else; and that
this very question would arise, and arise here, to
distract your councils, disunite your people, and
threaten, as Ave are now told it does, that peace
Avhich you thought of so lightly when war was so
wantonly waged against Mexico. It now seems your
pretensions Avere all hypocritical from the beginning.
You said your armed men went forth to her in the
spirit of love. You pretended their mission was not
conquest, but to set free the captive, to raise up the
prostrate Peon of that country — and now what fol
lows? As soon as your arms have subdued the
country, the gentle note of the dove is changed to
the lion's roar. Instead of the proper blessing of
peace to your conquered subjects, you propose to
leave the chains of the Peon untouched, and now
gravely contend that negro slavery shall be super-

420 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
added to slavery for debt. This is your improve
ment, this your progress in Mexico. To exalt the
miserable Peon, you give him the enslaved negro for
association and example. Sir, this is indeed a spec
tacle Avorth noting, in this bright noon of the nine
teenth century;
We proclaimed to the world we would take noth
ing by conquest. This was our solemn hypocritical
declaration for two dark years, AA'hile our progress
Avas marked by blood, while the march of your poAA'cr
Avas like another people of old, by clouds of smoke
in the day, and fire by night. City after city fell
beneath the assaults of your gallant army, and still
you ceased not to declare you would take nothing hy
conquest. JSow you say this territory was conquered,
Avas acquired by the common blood of our common
country. You trace back the consideration Avhich
you have paid for this country to the blood and the
bones of the gallant men that you sent there to be
sacrificed ; and pointing to the unburied corses of her
sons who have fallen there, the South exclaims —
"These, these constitute my title to carry my slaves
to that land ! It was purchased by the blood of my
sons." The aged parent, bereft of his children, and
the AvidoAV with the family that remains, desire to go
there to better their fortunes, if it may be, and point
ing to the graves of husband and children, exclaim,
"There, there was the price paid for our proportion
of this territory!" Is that true? If that could be
made out — if you dare put that upon your record —
if you can assert that you hold the country by the

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 421
strong hand, then you have a right to go there with
your slaves. If we of the North have united Avith
you of the South in an expedition of piracy, and .
robbery, and murder, that oldest law known among
men — " Honesty among thieves " — ^requires us to
ditide it Avith you equallj^.
If, indeed, Mr. President, we have no other right
than that which force gives us to these our new pos
sessions ; if, indeed, we have slaughtered fifty thou
sand of God's creatures only to subject to our power
one hundred and fifty thousand of an alien, enslaA^ed,
and barbarous people, it is but a fitting finale to all
this to rivet yet closer the chain of personal slavery
upon the Mexican Peon, and people your possessions
thus acquired by slaves. I repeat, that this right of
conquest applied to territory, is the same — no other
and no better than that by which originally one man
could claim to hold another in slavery. It is but the
right, if right it may be called, of the strongest — the
law in both cases is simply the law of force. You
march over a country, wrest it by war from its owner,
and say to the vanquished possessor, this is uoaa^
mine. I have seized your property ; I hold it by the
law of force. And so originally the slave-dealer
seized the negro in his African home, slaughtered
in combat part of his family, bound the rest in
chains, brought them here, and sold them. It is
simply power, and not right, in both cases, that
makes the claim. I repeat, it seems indeed fitting
and in character, that the tAvo should accompany
each other

422 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
As in the case of lands thus acquired, long posses
sion and continued acquiescense (in the judgments
• of men) ripen the claim into legal right, so in the
case of legal slavery, the captive, originally held only
by force, in time, by the law of men, and by the judg
ment of men, hecomes property ! ! And we are told
by the Senator from Virginia [Mr. Mason] that the
posterity of such become property only through the
magical influence of these words, Roman words :
'¦'Partus sequitur ventrem" — "The child follows the
condition of its mother." Admirable — philosoph
ical — ^rational — Christian maxim ! ! ! If the mother
be captured in war, it seems then the will of a just
God, "whose tender mercies are over all his works,"
that her offspring- to the remotest time shall be
doomed to slavery. What sublime morality ! what
lovely justice combine to sanctify this article in that
new decalogue of freedom which we say it is our des
tiny to give to the world, "Partus sequitur ventrem!"
Why, it is said to be " common law." Alas, Mr.
President, it is but too "common," as Ave see. This
right of conquest over land is the same as that by
Avhich a man may hold another in bondage. You
may make it into a law if you please ; you may enact
that it may be so ; it may be convenient to do so ;
after perpetrating the original sin, it may be well to
do so. But the case is not altered ; the source of the
right remains unchanged. What is the meaning- of
the old Roman Avord Servus ? I profess no skill in
philological learning, but I can very well conceiA^e
hoAv somebody, looking into this thing, might under-

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 423
stand Avhat was the law in those days. The man's
life was saved when his enemy conquered him in
battle. He became servus — ^the man preserved by
his magnanimous foe; and perpetual ^laA^ery was
then thought to be a boon preferable to death. That
Avas the way in which slavery began. Has anybody
found out on the face of the earth a man fool enough
to give himself up to another, and beg him to make
him his slave ? I do not know of one such instance
under heaven. Yet it may be so. Still, I think that
not one man of our complexion, of the Caucasian
race, could be found quite willing to do that !
Thus far we have been brought after having fought
for this country and conquered it. The solemn
appeal is made to us — " Have we not mingled our
blood with yours in acquiring this country?" But
did we mingle our blood with yours for the purpose
of wresting this country by force from this people ?
That is the question. You did not say so six months
ago. You dare not say so now ! You may say that it
Avas purchased, as Louisiana or as Florida was, with
the common treasure of the country ; and then we
come to the discussion of another proposition : What
right do you acquire to establish slavery there ? But
I Avas about to ask of some gentleman — the Sen
ator from South Carolina, for instance — ^whose eye at
a glance has comprehended the history of the world,
Avhat he supposes will be the impression abroad of
our Mexican war, and these, our Mexican acquisi
tions, if Ave should give to them the direction which
he desires ? I do not speak of the propriety of slave

424 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
labor being carried anywhere. I Avill waiA'e that
question entirely. Wliat is it of which the Senator
from Vermont has told us this morning, and of which
Ave have heard so much during- the last three weeks ?
And how will our history read by the side of that ?
Every gale that floats across the Atlantic comes
freighted with the death-groans of a king; every
A'essel that touches your shores, bears with her
tidings that the captives of the Old World are at
last . becoming free — ^that they are seeking, through
blood and slaughter — blindly and madly, it may
be — but nevertheless resolutely — deliverance from
the fetters that have held them in bondage. Who
are they ? Almost the whole of Europe. And it is
only about a year ago, I believe, that the officer of
the Turkish empire Avho holds sway in Tunis — one
of the old slave markets of the world, whose prisons
formerly received those of our people taken upon
the high seas and made slaves to their captors-
announced to the world that all should there be free.
And, if I am not mistaken, it will be found that this
magic line which the Senator from South Carolina
believes has been drawn around the globe Avhich
Ave inhabit, with the view of separating Freedom
and Slavery — 36° 30' — brings this very Tunis into
that region in which some supposed, by ordinance
of nature, men are to be held in bondage ! All
OA'er the world the air is vocal with the shouts of
men made ft'ee. What does it all mean ? It means
that they have been redeemed from political scrAi-
ude ; and in God's name I ask, if it be a boon to

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 425
mankind to be free fi'om political servitude, must it
not be accepted as a matter of some gratulation that
they have been relicA^ed from personal servitude —
absolute subjection to the arbitrary power of others?
^^'hat do Ave say of them ? I am not speaking- of the
propriety of this thing; it may be all Avrong, and
these poor fellows in Paris, aa'Iio have stout hands
and Avilling hearts, anxious to earn their bread, may
be A'ery unreasonable in fighting for it. It may be
all Avrong to cut off the head of a king, or send him
across the Channel. It may be highly improper and
foolish in Austria to send away Metternich, and say,
" We Avill look into this business ourselves." Accord
ing to the doctrine preached in these halls— in free
America — instead of sending shouts of gratulation
across the water to these people, we should send
to them groans and commiseration for their folly,
calling on them to beware how they take this busi
ness into their own hands — informing them that
universal liberty is a curse ; that as one man is born
Avith a right to govern an empii^e, he and his poster
ity must continue to exercise that power, because in.
this case it is not exactly partus sequitur ventrem, but
partus sequitur patrem — that is' all the difference.
The crown follows the father ! Under your laAv, the
chain folloAvs the mother !
"Sir, Ave may, Ave ought to remember, that it ivas
laAv in this country in 1776, that kings had a right
to rule us — did rule us. George III said then "partus
sequitur pairem," my son inherits my croAvn, "he
foUoAA's the condition ofthe father," "he is born to be

426 ¦ ' SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
your ruler;" your fathers said, this is not true, this
shall be laAv no longer. Let us look for a moment at
the doings of that good old time, 1776. Then, sir,
our fathers, being oppressed, lifted up their hands
and appealed to the God of justice, the common
Father of all men, to deliver them and their posterity
from that law, Avhich proclaimed that "kings were
born to rule." They (the men of 1776), did not
believe that one man was born "booted and spurred "
to ride another. And if,, as they said, no man was
born to rule another, did it not follow, that no man
could rightfully be born to serve another? Sir, in
those days, Virginia and Virginia's sons, Washington
and Jefferson, had as little respect for that maxim,
partus sequitur ventrem, as for that other cognate
dogma, " Kings are born to rule." I infer from our
history, sir, that the men of that day were sincere
men, earnest, honest men, that they meant what they
said. From their declaration, "all men are horn
equally free," I infer that, in their judgments, no
man, by the law of his nature, was born to be a slaA'e;
and, therefore, he ought not by any other laAV to be
born a slave. I think this maxim of kings being-
born to rule, and others being born only to serve, are
both of the same family, and ought to haA^e gone doAvn
to the same place Avhence I imagine they came, long
ago, together. I do not think that your partus sequitur
ventrem had much quarter shoAvn it at YorktoAvn on a
certain day you may remember. I think that Avhen
the lion of England craAvled in the dust, beneath the
talons of your eagles, and CoruAvallis surrendered to

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 427
George Washington, that maxim, that a man is born
to rule, Avent doAvn, not to be seen among us again for
ever; and I think that partus sequitur ventrem, in the
estimation of all sensible men, should have disap
peared along- with it. So the men of that day
thought. And we are thus brought to the proper
interpretation of the language of those men which has
been criticised by the Senator from South Carolina.
Mr. President, it is worth while to inquire what
Avere the publicly expressed opinions pf the leading-
men and States, as to the policy of Negro Slavery,
from the year 1774 up to the year 1787, and from
thence up to the final adoption of the Constitution, in
1789. And, first, how was it in the old common
wealth, Virginia ?
" June, 1774. — At a general meeting of the freeholders and
inhabitants of Prince George's county, Virginia, the following
resolves were unanimously agreed to (among others) :
"Resolved, That the African trade is injurious to this colony;
obstructs ihe population of it by freemen, prevents manufacturers and
other useful emigrants from, Europe from, settling among us, and
occasions an annual increase of the balance of trade against this
colony." — (See American Archives, 4th series, vol. 1, p. 493.)
" At a meeting of the freeholders, and other inhabitants of the
county of Culpeper, in Virginia, assembled on due notice, at the
Court-House of the said county, on Thursday, the 7th of July,
1774, to consider of the most efi-ectual method to preserve the
rights and liberties of America :
" Resolved, That the importing slaves and convict servants is,
injurious to this Colony, as it obstructs the population of it with
freemen and useful manufacturers; and that we will not buy any
such slave or convict servant hereafter to be imported." — (Ameri
can Archives, 4th series, vol. 1, p. 523.)

428 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
" At a general meeting of the freeholders and inhabitants of
the county of Nansemond, Virginia, on the 11th day of July,
1774, the following resolutions were unanimously agreed to :
"Resolved, That the African trade is injurious," etc., [same as
the resolution of Prince George's conntj .y— {American Archives,
vol. 1, p. 530.)
"July 14, 1774, at a similar meeting in Caroline county, Vir
ginia :
" Resolved, That the African trade is injurious to this Colony,
etc.; and, therefore, that the purchase of all imported slaves ought
to be associated against." — (lb. p. 541.)
"July 16, 1774, at a meeting of Surrey county, Virginia:
" 5th, Resolved, That, as the population of this Colony with
freemen and useful manufacturers is greatly obstructed by the im
portation of slaves and convict servants, we will not purchase any
such slaves or servants hereafter to be imported." — (American
Archives, 4th series, vol. 1, p. 593.)
"At a general meeting of the freeholders and other inhabitants
of the county of Fairfax, Virginia, at the Court-House in the
town of Alexandria, on Monday, the 18th of July, 1774, George
Washington, Esq., in the chair:
" Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting, that, during
our present difficulties and distress, no slaves ought to be im
ported into any of the British Colonies on this continent; and
we take this opportunity of declaring our most earnest wishes to
see an entire stop forever put to such a wicked, cruel, and
unnatural trade.
"Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting, that a solemn
covenant and association should be entered into by all the Colo-i
nies," etc., etc. — (American Archives, vol. 1, p. 600.),
George Washington, Mr. President, Avas the pre
siding officer at one of these meetings. Certain
young men here may have heard something of this
George Washington! He Avas then a farmer of
Fairfax. What he did after that meeting, shall be

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 429
knoAvn, remembered, and revered, by a Avorld, thou
sands of years to come, long after you and I, and all
of us, have been food for Avorms.
Similar meetings Avere held, and similar resolutions
passed, in the foUoAAing counties in Virginia-: In
Hanover, on the 20th July, 1774; in Princess Ann,
in July of the same year. I extract from the same
volume of American Archives the foUoAving, AA'hich,
from Mr. Jefferson's connection with it, becomes im
portant. At a very full meeting of delegates from the differ
ent counties in the Colony and Dominion of Virginia,
begun "in Williamsburg, the 1st day of August,
1774, the following association was unanimously
agreed to ;" I omit, Mr. President, all not bearing
upon the subject of slavery, and quote only the
following :
"We will not ourselves import, nor purchase any
slave or slaves imported by any other person, after
the first day of November next, either from Africa,
the West Indies, or any other place." It seems, Mr.
Jefferson was a delegate to this Convention, but Avas
prevented by sickness from attending. He hoAvever
addressed a letter to the convention, which I com
mend to the especial attention of gentlemen from thc
South, who object so strongly to the expression of
opinions as to slavery here. Mr. Jefferson, in one
paragTaph in his letter to the convention, writes
thus, on the subject of negro slavery: "The abolition
of slavery is the present object of desire in these Colo
nies, Avhere it was unhappily introduced in their

430 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
infant state." Mark these Avords, Mr. President.
He complains that slavery was introduced into our
American Colonies in their "infant state." Would
Mr. Jefferson, Avere he here to-day, send slavery to
the infant colonies of Oregon, New Mexico, and Cali
fornia? But Mr. Jefferson goes on to say: "But
proAdous to the enfranchisement of the slaA'es Ave
have, it is necessary to exclude all further importa
tions from Africa; but our repeated attempts, to effect
this by prohibitions, and by imposing duties Avhich
might amount to prohibition, have hitherto been
defeated by his Majesty's negatiA^e, thus preferring
the immediate advantage of a few African corsairs
to the lasting interest of the American States, and to the
rights of human nature, deeply wounded hy this infamous
practice P
Here we see proofs undeniable that Mr. Jefferson,
the leading spirit then, confidently anticipated, not
the continuance and further extension of slaA'ery, but
its abolition; and in order to the speedy "enfranchise
ment" of the slaves then in Virginia, he desires to
prevent their augmentation, by prohibiting- their im
portation. He comi^lains that slavery was preju
dicial to the "infant" Colony of Virginia. Were he
here, would he not vote to exclude slavery from the
"infant" colonies of Oregon, New Mexico, and Cali
fornia? We have seen that he drafted the clause
against slavery in the Ordinance of 1787. We knoAv
he remained unchanged till his death.
How stood public opinion, Mr. President, in the
year 1775, in the State of Georgia? From the pro-

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 431
ceedings of a patriotic association in Georgia at that
time, called the "Darien Committee," I take the
folloAving :
"We, therefore, the Eepresentatives of the extensive district
of Darien, in the Colony of Georgia, having now assembled in
Congress, by authority and free choice of the inhabitants of the
said district, now freed from their fetters, do resolve:
"5. To show the world that we are not influenced by any con
tracted or interested motives, but a general philanthropy for all
manJvind, of ivhaicver climate, language, or complexion, we hereby
declare our disapprobation and abhorrence of the unnatural prac
tice of slavery in America (however the uncultivated state of our
country, or other specious arguments may plead for it), a practice
founded in injustice and cruelty, and highly dangerous to our
liberties (as well as lives), debasing part of our fellow-creatures
below men, and corrupting the virtue and morals of the rest;
and as laying the basis of that liberty we contend for (and which
we pray the Almighty to continue to the latest posterity) upon
a very wrong foundation. We, therefore, resolve at all times to
use our utmost endeavors for the manumission of our slaves in
this Colony, upon the most safe and equitable footing for the
masters and themselves." — (American Archives, vol. 1, p. 1136.)
From these papers, as well as the general history
of the times, Ave can see Avhat the fathers thought on
this subject. May I not, Avith profound respect,
suggest that these papers, dated in 1774 and 1775
explain to us the meaning of the Declaration of In
dependence, adopted in 1776. Surely, the men AA^ho
A'oted the foregoing resolutions in 1775, might, very
consistently, in 1776, declare as they did — "We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all men were
created equal ; that they are endowed by their Crea
tor Avith certain inalienable rights; that among these

432 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Well
might these men, Avith their hearts purified from
selfishness by the dreadful conflict which then was
seen to be inevitable, feel that all men were equal
before God, in Avhom alorie they could trust for aid
in that dark hour, and that therefore all men were or
ought to be masters of themselves, and answerable
only to the Creator for the use they should make of
that liberty — ^well might those brave, good old men,
after such a declaration, look up calmly and hope
fully to the Heavens and declare: "And for the sup
port of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the
protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to
each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred
honor." Mr. President, these men, when they spoke of
slaA'ery and its extension, did riot get up some hybrid
sort of "compromise," and consult some supreme
court. They declared slavery an evil, a wrong, a
prejudice to free colonies, a social mischief, and a
political evil ; and if these were denied, they replied,
" These truths are self-evident." And from the judg
ments of men they appealed to no earthly court;
they took an appeal "to the Supreme Judge ofthe
World." When I am asked to extend to this noAv
Empire of ours, now in its infancy, an institution
Avhich they pronounced an evil to all communities ;
Avhen I refuse to agree with some here Whose judg
ments I revere, and whose motives I know to be
pure, I can only, say, I stand where our fathers stood
of old, I am sustained in my position by the men

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 433
who founded the first system of rational liberty on
earth. With them by my side, I can afford to differ
Avith those here Avhom I respect. With such authority
for my conduct, I can cheerfully encounter the frowns
of some, the scorn of all; I can turn to the fathers
of such, and be comforted. They knew Avhat Avas
best for an infant peopla just struggling into exist
ence. If their opinions are worth anything — if the
opinions of the venerated men are to be considered
as authority — I ask Southern gentlemen what they
mean when they ask me to extend slavery to the
distant shores of the Pacific Ocean, and the slave
trade between Maryland and Virginia and that
almost unknown country?
I am considering the propriety of doing this thing
as if the question were now for the first time pre
sented to us. I ask any Southern man, if there Avere
not a slave on this continent, would you send your
ships to Africa, and bring them here? Suppose this
Confederation of ours had been formed before a slave
existed in it, and suppose here, in the year of grace
1848, you had acquired California and New Mexico,
and you were told that there existed a modified
system of slavery there, and that they wanted labor
ers there, would a Senator rise in his place and say,
Ave will authorize the African slave trade, in order
to introduce laborers into our infant colonies? If
you would not bring them from the shores of Africa
— ^buying them with some imagined "partus sequitur
ventrem" branded on them somewhoEe, how can you
prove to me that it would be right to transfer them
28

434 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
from Maryland or Virginia, three thousand miles, to
the shores of the Pacific? If slavery Avere a curse
to you in the beginning, but struck its roots so deep
into your social and municipal system, as was then
said, that it could not be eradicated entirely, how is
it that you call upon me, as .a matter of conscience
and duty, to transfer this curse to an area of square
miles greatly exceeding that of the thirteen States,
when the Confederation was formed? If it is so that
it is an evil — and so all you statesmen have pro
nounced it, and so all your eminent men, Avith the
exception of a few in modern times, have regarded
it — ^how is it that you call upon me to extend it to
those vast dominions which you have recently ac
quired? Is it true that I am obliged to receive into
my family a man with the small-pox or the leprosy,
that they may be infected? I know you do not
consider it in that light now. But the gentleman
from Virginia has said that it must be done. Why?
Because it is compassion to the slave. He can not
be nurtured in Virginia; your lands are worn out.
Sir, that statement sounded ominous in my ears. It
gave rise to some reflection. Why are your lands
worn out? Are the lands of Pennsylvania worn out?
Are those of Connecticut worn out? Is not Massa
chusetts more productive to-day than when the foot
of the white man was first impressed upon her soil?
Your lands are worn out, because the slave has
turned pale the land wherever he has set doAvn his
black foot ! It is slave-labor that has done all this.
And must we then extend to these territories that

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 435
Avhich produces sterility AA'herever it is found, till
barren desolation shall cover the Avhole land? If
you can call upon me, as a matter of compassion, to
send the slave to California or Oregon, you can call
upon me by the same sacred obligation to receive him
into Ohio as a slave; and I Avoiild be just as much
bound, as a citizen of Ohio, to stxy that the Constitu
tion should be so construed as to admit slaves there,
because they have made the land in Virginia barren,
and they and their masters Avere perishing, till Ohio
liad also become a Avilderness. That reason Avill not
do. Sensitive as Ohio may appear to the morbid
benevolence spoken of — with which I have no sym
pathy at all — ^we can see through that — the citizens
of Ohio can not accept these men upon such terms.
What is there in the Avay, then, of my giving an
intelligent vote on this subject ? Nothing at all. I
Avould take this bill in a moment, if I had faith in
the processes through which that law is to pass until
it becomes a law in the Chamber below. But I have
not that faith, and I Avill tell the gentleman why. It
is a sad commentary upon the perfection of human
reason, that with but a very few exceptions, gentle
men coming from a slave State — and I think I have
one behind me who ought always to be before me —
[Mr. Badger] with a very few exceptions, all emi
nent lawyers on this floor from that section of the
country, have argued that you have no right to pro
hibit the introduction of slavery into Oregon, Cali
fornia, and new Mexico; while, on the other hand,
there is not a man, with few exceptions (and some

436 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
highly respectable), in the free States, learned or
unlearned, clerical or lay, who has any pretensions to
legal knowledge, but believes in his conscience that
you have a right to j)rohibit slavery. Is not that a
curious commentary upon that Avonderful thing called
human reason ?
[Mr. Underavood. — It is regulated by a line ! ]
Yes, by 36° 30', and what is, black on one side of
the line is white on the other, turning to jet black
again when restored to its original locality. Hoav is
that? Can I have confidence in the Supreme Court
of the United States, when my confidence fails in
Senators around me here? Do I expect that the
members of that body will be more careful than the
Senators from Georgia and South Carolina to form
their opinions without any regard to selfish considera
tions ? Can I suppose that either of these gentlemen,
or the gentleman from Georgia on the other side of
the Chamber [Mr. Johnson], or the learned Senator
from Mississippi [Mr. Davis], who thought it exceed
ingly Avrong that Ave should attempt to restrain the
Almighty in the execution of his purposes, as revealed
to us by Noah — can I suppose that these Senators,
Avith all the terrible responsibilities which press upon
us Avhen engaged in legislating for a whole empire,
came to their conclusions without the most anxious
deliberation? And yet on one side of the line, in
the slave States, the Constitution reads Yea, while on
the other, after the exercise of an equal degree of
intelligence, calmness, and deliberation, in the free
States the Constitution is made to read Nay.

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 437
I admire the Supreme Court of the United States
as a tribunal. I admire the Avisdom which contrived
'it. I rejoice in the good consequences to this Re
public from the exercise of its functions. I also
reyere the Senate of the United States. Here is the
most august body in the Avorld, they say, composed
of men who have wasted the midnight oil from year
to year — men Avho in cloisters, in courts, in legislative
halls, have been reaping the fruits of ripe experience,
and suddenly their mighty intellects, able to scan
everything, hoAvever minute, and comprehend every
thing, however grand, utterly fail them, and they
kneel down in dumb insignificance, and implore the
Supreme Court to read the Constitution for them.
I think the Senator from South Carolina must have
had some new light upon the subject within the last
few years, and that several of my Democratic friends
on all sides of the Chamber must have been smitten
with noAV love for the poAver and wisdom of the
Supreme Court. Do you remember the case ad-
A'erted to by the Senator from New Jersey to-day ?
I recollect very well when we did not stop to inquire
how the Supreme Court had decided or ordained. It
had decided, with John Marshall at its head — a man
Avhose lightest conjectures upon the subject of consti
tutional laAv have ahvays had Avith me as much
Aveight as the Avell-considered opinion of almost any
other man — -that Congress had power to establish
just such a bank as you had ; but with Avhat infinite
scorn did Democratic gentlemen — Jackson Demo
crats as they chose to be called — curl their lips

438 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
Avhen referred to that decision of the Supreme Court.
Then the cry was, " We are judges for ourselves ; Ave
make no law unless we have the power to enact it."
Now, however, the doctrine is, that here is one only
tribunal competent to put the matter at rest forever.
^^e are to' thank God, that though all should fail,
there is an infallible depository of truth, and it lives
once a year for three months, in a little chamber
beloAv us ! We can go there. Now, I understand
my duty here to be to ascertain what constitutional
poAver we have ; and when I have ascertained that I
act without reference to what the Supreme Court
may do — ^for they have yet furnished no g-uide on
the subject — we are to take it for granted that they
AA'ill concur with us. I agree with gentlemen Avho
have been so lofty in their encomiums upon that
Court, that their decision, Avhether right or wrong,
controls our action. But we have not hitherto en
deavored to ascertain what the Supreme Court would
do. I wish next to ascertain in what mode this won
derful response is to be obtained — not from the Del
phic Oracle, but from that infallible divinity, the
Supreme Court. How is it to be done ? A gentle
man starts from Baltimore, in Maryland, with a
dozen black men, who have been slaves ; he takes
them to California, three thousand miles off. Noav,
I don't know how it may be in other parts of the
AA'orld, but I know that in the State of Ohio we do
not travel three thousand miles to get justice. What,
then, is the admirable contrivance in this bill by
".'hich we can get at the meaning of the Constitution?

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 439
It seems the meaning of the Constitution is to be
forever hidden from us until light shall be given by
the Supreme Court. Sir, this bill seems to me a rich
and rare legislative curiosity. It does not enact
"a law," Avhich I had supposed the usual function of
legislation. No, sir ; it only enacts "a law-suit." So
we virtually enact that, Avhen the Supreme Court say
we can make law, tlien we /ia-ye made it !
But; sir, to have a fair trial of this question, so as
to make it effectual to' keep slaA''es out of our Terri'
tories, all must admit this trial should be had before
slaves have become numerous there. If slavery goes
there and remains there for one year, according to
all experience, it is eternal. Let it but plant its
roots there, and the next thing you Avill hear Avill be
earnest appeals about the rights of property. It will
be said : " The Senate did not say we had no right to
come here. The House of Representatives, a body of
gentlemen elected from all parts of the country, on
account of their sagacity and legal attainments, did
not prohibit us from coming here. I thought I had
a right to come here; the Senator from South Caro
lina said I had a right to come ; the honorable Sena
tor from Georgia said I had a right to come here ;
liis colleague said it was a right secured to me
somewhere high up in the clouds, and not belong
ing to the world ; the Senator from Mississippi said
it Avas the ordinance of Heaven, sanctified by decrees
and revealed through prophecy — am I not, then, to
enjoy the privileges thus so fully secured to me ? I
have property here ; several of my . women have

440 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
borne children, who have partus sequitur ventrem born
with them — they are my property." Thus the
appeal Avill be made to their fellow-citizens around
them ; and it will be asked whether you are prepared
to strike down the property which the settler in those
Territories has thus acquired ? That will be the case,
unless the negro from Baltimore, when he gets there
and sees Peons there — slaves not by hereditary taint,
but by a much better title, a verdict before a justice
of the peace — should determine to avail himself of
the admirable facilities afforded him by this bill for
gaining his freedom. Suppose my friend from New
Hampshire, when he goes home, gets up a meeting
and collects a fund for the purpose of sending a mis
sionary after these men ; and when the missionary
arrives there, he proposes to hold a prayer-meeting ;
he gets up a meeting, as they used to do in Yankee
times, "for the improvement of gifts." He goes to
the negro quarter of this gentleman from Baltimore,
and says : " Come, I want this brother ; it is true he
is a son of Ham, but I want to instruct him that he
is free." I am very much inclined to think that the
missionary would fare very much as one did in South
Carolina, at the hands of hun from Baltimore. This
bill supposes the negro is to start all at once into a
free Anglo-Saxon in California — the blood of Liberty
floAving in every vein, and its divine impulses throb
bing- in his heart. He is to say: "I am free; I am
a Californian ; I bring the right of habeas corpus with
me." At last he is brought up on a writ of habeas
corpus —heiove Avhom ? very likely one of those gen-

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 441
tlemen AA'ho have been proclaiming that slavery has
a right to go there ; for such are the men that Mr.
Polk is likely to appoint. He has prejudged the
case. On the faith of his opinion the slave has
been brought there — what can he do ? There is his
recorded judgment printed in your Congressional
Report — ^what will he say ? " You are a slave. Mr.
Calhoun was right. Judge Berrien, of Georgia, a
profound lawyer, whom I knew Avell, Avas right. T
knoAv these gentlemen well ; their opinion is entitled
to the highest authority ; and, in the face of it, it
does not become me to say that you are free — so,
boy, go to your master ; you belong to the class par
tus sequitur ventrem ; you are not quite enough of a
Saxon!" What, then, is to be done by this bill? Oh!
a writ of error or appeal can come to the Supreme
court of the United States. How ? The negro, if he
is to be treated like a white man, taking out an
appeal, must giA'e bonds in double the value of the
subject matter in dispute. And what is that? If
you consider it the mercantile A^alue of the negro, it
may be perhaps $1,000 or $2,000. But he can not
have the appeal according to this bill, unless the
value of the thing in controversy amounts to the
value of $2,000. But, then, there comes in this
ideality of personal liberty. What is it Avortli ?
Nothing at all — says the Senator ft-om South Caro
lina — ^to this felloAV, avIio is better Avithout it. And
under this complexity of legal quibbling and litiga
tion, it is expected that the negro will stand there
and contend Avith his master, and coming on to

442 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
Washington, will prosecute his appeal two years
before the Supreme Court, enjoying the opportu
nity of visiting his old friends about Baltimore !
And now, Mr. President, if we have found upon
the opinions of wise ones of Old, upon the observa
tions of past and present time, that involuntary
slavery is not useful, profitable, or beneficial to either
master or slave, that such institutions only become
tolerable, because, when long established, the evil is
less than those consequences Avhich would follow their
sudden change, I think it Avill be admitted that we
should prohibit involuntary servitude in the territo
ries over Avhich we have' control.
Here, then, the question arises, have we this pro
hibitory power? I haA^e already said, that where
the Supreme Court of the United States has solemnly
adjudged any power to belong- to any branch of this
Government, such adjudication should, until over
ruled, have great, if not controlling, weight with Con
gress. What, then, are the adjudications of that
court upon this point? 1 quote from the case so
often referred to, American Insurance Company, vs.
Carter (1st Peters' Beports, page 511). On page
542 of that case, the court say: "The Constitution
confers absolutely on the Government of the Union,
the powers of making war, and of making treaties
Consequently, that Government possesses the power
of acquiring territor}'', either by conquest or treaty."
Again, on the same page, the right to make law for
a territory is thus spoken of: " Perhaps the poAver

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 443
of governing a territory of the United States, which
has not, by becoming a State, acquired the means of
self-government, may result necessarily from the fact
that it is not Avithin the jurisdiction of any particul^n-
State, and is within the poAver and jurisdiction of tho
United States. The right to govern may be the in-
CAitable consequence of the right to acquire territory ;
but Avhichever may be the source Avhence the poAver
is derived, the possession of it is unquestioned."
Nothing can be clearer or more satisfactory on this
point. While this doctrine conforms to the plain
dictates of reason, it is satisfactory to know that the
principle has been strengthened by the uniform prac
tice under the Constitution. The latter class of cases
is too numerous to permit even a reference to them
all. They have been frequently adverted to in this
debate, and therefore I need not again bring them to
the attention of the Senate. I therefore find the
power of Congress to make laAv for a territory abso
lute and unlimited. I have only to consider AA'hether
a laAv prohibiting slavery, in a territory where slaveiy
does not already exist, is sound policy for such ter
ritory. Noav, if we can make any law Avhatever, not con
trary to the express prohibitions of the Constitution,
Ave can enact that a man with $60,000 Avorth of bank
notes of Maryland shall forfeit the Avhole amount if
he attempts to pass one of them in the Territory of
California. We may say if a man carry a menagerie
of'Avild beasts there worth $500,000, and undertakes
to exhibit them there, he shall forfeit them. The

444 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
man comes back Avith his menagerie, and says that
the laAv forbade him to exhibit his animals there ; it
AA'as thought that, as an economical arrangement, such
things should not be tolerated there. That you may
do : he of the lions and tigers goes back, having- lost
his Avhole concern. But now you take a slave to
California, and instantly 3'our poAver fails; all the
poAver of the sovereignty of this country is impotent
to stop him. That is a strange sort of argument to
riie. It has ahvays been considered that Avhen a
State forms its constitution it can exclude slavery.
Why so? Because it chances to consider it an evil.
If it be a proper subject of legislation in a State, and
Ave have absolute legislative power transferred to us
by virtue of this bloody power of conquest, as some
say, or by purchase as others maintain, I ask — Avhy
may Ave not act? Again; considering- this as an
abstract question, are there not duties devolving
upon us. for the performance of which we may not
be responsible to any earthly tribunal, but for AA'hich
God who has created us all Avill hold us accountable ?
What is your duty, above all others, to a conquered
people? You say it is your duty to giA'e them a
Government — may you not, then, do everything for
them AA'hich you are not forbidden to do by some
fundamental axiomatic truth at the foundation of your
constitution? Show me, then, hoAv your action is
j)recluded, and I submit. Though I belicA'e it ought
to be otherwise, yet, if the Constitution of my country
forbids me, I yield. The constitutions of many
States declare slavery to be an evil. Southern gen-

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 445
tlemen have said that they Avould have done aAvay
AA'ith it if possible, and they have apologized to the
Avorld and to themselves for the existence of it in
their States. These honest old men of another day
never could haA^e failed to strike oft' the chains from
eA^ery negro in the Colonies, if it had been possible
for them to do so Avithout upturning- the foundations
of society.
I do not revive these things to wound the feelings
of gentlemen. I knoAv some of them consider this
institution as A'aliiable; but many of them, I also
know, regard it as an evil. But slavery is not in
Oregon, it is not in California; and AA'hen I find that
you have trampled doAvn the people in order to ex
tend your dominion OA'er them, I feel it to be my
duty, Avhen you appeal to me to make laAvs for them,
and the Supreme Court has said that I have the
power to do so, to avert ft-om them this evil of slavery,
and establish free institutions, under AA'hich no man
can say that another is his property. I do not doubt
this poAver. I knoAV that it has been considered of
old, from 1787 till the present hour, to be vested in
Congress. The judicial tribunals in the West haA'e
considered it so, and the Supreme Court of the United
States have said in that decision, so often referred to,
that it was so. Have they found any restrictions
upon us ? No. And what Avould you do if you were
in Oregon to-day, and it were a State ? What would
you do, and you, and you? Would any man here,
if he Avere acting in a legislative capacity, say, "I
feel myself bound to admit this evil into this country.

446 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
for the benefit of some of the States who are over
burdened with slaves." If this were true, it would
be the duty of the free States, in that fraternal spirit
Avhich ought to prevail between the various States
of the Union, to admit slaves whenever the slave
States became overburdened with them. Do we so
act in legislating for our States? No; we say, "enjoy
your slaves, or free them, as you Avill, but it is our
wish that there shall be no slavery here." You may
implore a State, if you will, to take slaves into its
bosom for your convenience, but they do not feel
themselves bound by any Government obligation to
do it. Am I not, then, bound to lay the foundations
of that State for whose future progress I am to be
responsible, in the way which I think the most likely
to produce beneficial results to the people there ?
And when I find myself possessed of this power, and
clothed with commensurate responsibility, no threats
of dissolution of the Union, no heartburnings here
or there, and, least of all — ^that which we have heard
much of out of doors — ^the coming Presidential elec
tion, shall deter me from pursuing this course. I
am for making- a laAV, in the language of the Ordi
nance of 1787 ; I would' have it enacted that slavery
shall never exist in that country. Then, when my
black man comes to the Supreme Court of the United
States, as provided in this bill, he comes with a
positive law in his favor, that court must overrule
the decision of the case in Peters, or else such appeal
must be sustained. Then we will have acted upon
the subject — we will have forbidden slavery. I

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 447
observed that some gentlemen who handled this
subject, were very careful to repeat, with emphasis,
that slavery may go where it is not prohibited. That
is the reason I prefer the Ordinance of 1787 to the
so-called Compromise Bill. I have no doubt that
every Senator aa'Iio assented to that bill convinced
himself that it was the best we could pass. I have
no doubt that our friends from the North thought it
Avould be effective in preventing slavery in these ter
ritories. But I see that the Senator from South
Carolina does not think so. He supports the bill for
the very reason that it will admit slavery ; the
Senator from Vermont, for the reason that slavery
is forbidden by it. Now, in this confusion of ideas,
I desire that Congress, if it have any opinion, ex
press it.
If we have any power to legislate over these Ter
ritories, how long would it take to write down the
sixth article of the Ordinance of 1787? Those of
us who think that ought to be a fundamental law in
the organization of Territories, will vote for it ; and
those of us who believe otherwise, will A^ote against
it ; and whichever party triumphs, Avill give laAv to
Oregon and California, bearing- the responsibility.
But I must say that I do not like what appears to
me^I say it in no offensive sense — a shufiiing oft'
the responsibility which is upon us now, and Avhicli
Ave can not avoid. The Supreme Court may over
rule our decision ; but if we think we have power to
ordain that slavery shall not exist in that Territory,

418 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
let US say so; if not, let us so decide. Let us not
evade the question altogether.
That honorable Senators Avho reported this bill
had its passage A^ery much at heart, I have no doubt;
nor do I feel disposed to deny that every man of
them believed that it Avas just such a measure as was
calculated to giA^e tranquillity to the agitated minds
of the people of this country. Well, I do not care
for that agitation further than that I AA'ill look to it
as a motive to inquire carefully what my powers and
my duties are. I haA'e heard much of this — I have
been myself a prophet of dissolution of this Union ;
but I have seen the .Union of these States surAdve so
many shocks, that I am not afraid of dissolution.
Perhaps, indeed, Avhen this cry of wolf has been long-
disregarded, he may come at last Avhen not expected ;
but I do not believe that the people of the South
are Avilling to sever themselA^es from this Republic
because we Avill not establish slaA^ery here or there.
If we haA'-e no poAver to pass the Ordinance of 1787,
let the people of the South go to the Supreme Court
and have the question decided. It will only be a
few months till the court resumes its session here,
and the question can then be tried. If the decision
be against us, the gentlemen of the South can at
once commence their emigration to these Territories.
Let us, then, make the laAV as we think it ought to
be made now.
I am the more confirmed in the course which I am
determined to pursue, by some historical facts elicited

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 449
in this A'ery discussion. I remember what was
said by the Senator from Virginia the other day. It
is a truth, that Avhen the Constitution of the United
States Avas made. South Carolina and Georgia refused
to come into the Union unless the slave trade should
be continued for twenty years ; and the North agreed
that they would vote to continue the slave trade for
twenty years ; yes, voted that this new Republic
should engage in piracy and murder at the will of
tAvo States ! So the history reads ; and the condi
tion of the agreement was, that those two States
should agree to some arrangement about navigation
laAA's! I do not blame South Carolina and Georgia for
this transaction any more than I do those Northern
States who shared in it. But suppose the question
Avere now presented here by any one, whether we
should adopt the foreign slave trade and continue it
for twenty years, would n6t the whole land turn pale
Avith horror, that, in the middle of the nineteenth
century, a citizen of a free community, a Senator of
the United States, should dare to propose the adop
tion of a system that has been denominated piracy
and murder, and is by laAV punished by death all
over Christendom ? What did they do then ? They
had the power to prohibit it ; but, at the command
of these two States, they allowed that to be intro
duced into the Constitution, to which much of slavery
now existing in our land is clearly to be traced. For
Avho can doubt that, but for that woful bargain,
slavery would by this time have disappeared from
all the States then in the Union, with one or two
29

450 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
exceptions? The number of slaves in the United
States at this period was about six hundred thou
sand; it is now three millions. And just as you
extend the area of slavery, so you multiply the diffi
culties which lie in the way of its extermination. It
had been infinitely better that day that South Caro
lina and Georgia had remained out of the Union for
a while, rather than that the Constitution should
have been made to sanction the slave trade for
twenty years. The dissolution of the old Confedera
tion would have been nothing in comparison with
that recognition of piracy and murder. I can con
ceive of nothing in the dark record of man's enormi
ties, from the death of Abel down to this hour, so
horrible as that of stealing- people from their own
home, and making them and their posterity slaves
forever. It is a crime which we know has been
Aisited with such signal punishment in the history
of nations as to warrant the belief that Heaven itself
had interfered to avenge the wrongs of earth.
In thus characterizing this accursed traffic, I
speak but the common sentiment of all mankind.
I could not, if I taxed my feeble intellect to the
utmost, denounce it in language as strong as that
uttered by Thomas Jefferson himself. Nay, more —
the spirit of that great man descending- to his grand
son, in your Virginia Convention, denounced the
Slave Trade, as now carried on between the States,
as being no less infamous than that foreign slave
trade carried on in ships that went down into the
sea. I speak of Thomas Jefferson Randolph. If you

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 451
would not go to Africa, agd thence people California
Avith slaves, may you not perpetuate equal enormities
here ? You take the child from its mother's bosom —
you separate husband and wife — and you transport
them three thousand miles off to the shores of the
Pacific Ocean.
I know that this is a peculiar institution ; and I
doubt not that in the hands of such gentlemen as
talk about it here, it may be made veiy attractive.
It may be a A'ery agreeable sight to behold a large
company of dependents, kindly treated by a benevo
lent master, and to trace the manifestations of grati
tude which they exhibit. But in my eyes a much
more grateful spectacle Avould be that of a patriarch
in the same neighborhood, with his dependents all
around him, invested with all the attributes of free
dom bestowed upon them by the common Father, in
whose sight all are alike precious ! It is, indeed,
a "very peculiar" institution. According to the ac
count of the Senator from Mississippi [Mr. Davis] ,
this institution exhibits all that is most amiable and
beautiful in our nature. That Senator drew a picture
of an old, gray-headed negro woman, exhausting the
kindness of her heart upon the white child she had
nursed. This is true ; and it shows the good master
and the grateful servant. But, sir, all are not such
as these. The Senator concealed the other side of
the picture ; and it was only revealed to us by the
quick apprehension of the Senator from Florida [Mr.
Westcott] , who wanted the power to send a patrol all
over the country to prevent the slaves from rising to

452 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
upturn the order of society ! I had almost believed,
after hearing the beautiful, romantic, sentimental,
narration of the Senator from Mississippi, that God
had, indeed, as he said, made this people in Africa'
to come over here and wait upon us, till the Senator
from Florida waked me up to a recollectiori of the
old doctrines of Washing-ton and Jefferson, by assur
ing us that Avherever that patriarchal institution
existed, a rigid police should be maintained in order
to prevent the uprising of the slave. Sir, it is indeed
a peculiar institution. I know many good men, who,
as masters, honor human nature, by the kindness,
equity, and moderation of their rule and goA^ernment
of their slaves ; but put a bad man, as sometimes
happens, as often happens, in possession of uncon
trolled dominion over another, black or white, and
then wrongs follow that make angels weep. It is, sir,
a troublesome institution ; it requires too much law,
too much force, to keep up social and domestic secu
rity ; therefore, I do not Avish to extend it to these
new and as yet feeble Territories.
Is it pretended that slave labor could be profitable
in Oregon or California? Do we expect to grow
cotton and sugar there? I do not know that it
may not be done there ; for, as the gentleman
from New York has told us, just as you go Avest
upon this continent, the line of latitude changes in
temperature, so that you may have a very different
isothermal line as you approach the Pacific Ocean.
But I do not care so much about that. My objection
is a radical one to the institution everyAvhere. I do

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 453
believe, if there is any place upon the globe which
we inhabit where a white man can not work, he has
[no business there. If that place is fit only for black
men to work, let black men alone work there. I do
not know any better law for man's good than that
old one, which was announced to man after the first
transgression, that by the sweat of his brow he should
earn his bread. I don't know what business men
have in the world, unless it is to work. If any man
has no work of head or hand to do in this world, let
him get out of it soon. The hog is the only gentle
man who has nothing to do but eat and sleep. Him
we dispose of as soon as he is fat. Difficult as the
settlement of this question seems to some, it is in
my judgment only so because we will not look at it
and treat it as an original proposition, to be decided
by the influence its determination may have on
the Territories themselves. We are ever running
away from this, and inquiring how it will affect the
"slave States" or the "free States." The only
question mainly to be considered is. How will this
policy affect the Territories for which this law is
intended ? Is slavery a good thing, or is it a bad
thing, for them ? With my views of the subject, I
must consider it bad policy to plant slavery in any
soil where I do not find it already growing. I look
upon it as an exotic that blights with its shade the
soil in which you plant it ; therefore, as I am satisfied
of our constitutional power to prohibit it, so I am
equally certain it is our duty to do so.
In the States Avhere law and long usage have made

454 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
the slave property, as property I treat it. It is there,
and while there it should and will receive that pro
tection which the Constitution and the good neigh
borhood of the States afford and require at our
hands. But I should be false to my best convictions
of duty, policy, and right, if by my vote I should ex
tend it one acre beyond its present limits. I may be
mistaken in all this ; but of one thing I am satisfied —
of the honest conviction of my own judgment; and
no imaginary interruption of the ties which bind the
A'arious sections of the Confederacy shall induce me
to shrink from these convictions, whenever I am
called upon to carry them out into law.
But we are told that when the Constitution was
made, there existed certain relative proportions be
tAveen the power of the slave and the power of the
free States. I understood the Senator from South
Carolina, that we were under obligations to preserve
forever these relative proportions in the same way.
[Mr. Calhoun. — I said nothing of the kind.]
I am very happy to be undeceived. I understood
the Senator 4o conceive that this is a question of
power. It is not so. It is a question of municipal
law, of civil polity. The men who framed the Con
stitution never dreamed that there was to be a con
flict of power between the slave and the free States.
They never dreamed that the South was to contend
that they would always be equal in representation in
the Senate to the North. They had no idea of that
equilibrium of power of which we have heard so

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 455
much. The circumstances of that period forbade
any such supposition. Looking at all these circum
stances (and I have no doubt those far-seeing men
regarded them carefully), you would have had four
teen free States and nine slave States. But every
man who had much to do with the formation of the
Constitution expected and desired that slavery should
be prohibited in the noAv States ; and they even ex
pected to have it abolished in many of the States
where it existed. Thoy had no idea of conflict; and
if the ultra fanatics in the South, as well as those in
the North, would let the subject alone, we should
have much less difficulty in a proper settlement of
the question.
While the extreme fanaticism of the North, it is
said, Avould burst the barriers of the Constitution and
rush into the slave States to enforce their abolition
views, trampling on your laws and madly overturning
existing institutions there, the South vents its fiery
indignation in tones of unmeasured reproach. But
have Southern gentlemen considered their position
before the world on this question? You declare the
opinion that slavery does not exist either in Oregon,
California, or New Mexico ; all these immense regions
are now, and for many years have been, free from
negro slavery. And now what do the ultra fanatics
of the South ask? Sir, they avow their determina
tion to rush into these free territories, overturn the
social systems there existing, uproot all establish
ments founded in and molded by an absence of
slavery, and having thus swept away the former

456 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
free systems, plant there forever, the system of in
voluntary servitude. Sir, Southern gentlemen must
say no more about the fanatics of the North endeavor
ing to uproot your institutions, while you imitate the
example of those fanatics in your treatment of the
free soil of this Union. Sir, there is no difference
between the two cases.' The fanatics of the South
are but a counterpart of those of the North. If
there be any difference, it is only this : The fanatic
of the North has this apology — ^he proposes, at least
in theory, to enlarge and extend the boundaries of
human, rights. The fanatic of the South, strangely
inc6nsistent with the obvious tendencies of the age,
seeks to extend, at one sweep, human black slaA^ery
oA^er a country, new and sparsely settled, larger in
extent than most of the governments of the old
world. This does appear, to my poor judgment, not
merely at war with the spirit of the age, with the
better spirit, I would say, of men in all ages; nay,
more — I must be pardoned if I declare it wears the
aspect of absurdity, arrogance, and teriierity. Sfr, I
have spoken out my opinions freely, boldly, but in
no spirit of unkindness to any man or any section of
our common country. I know how widely different
are the views of other gentlemen from mine. I know
how habit, usage, time, color our thoughts, and indeed
form our principles often.. But I must here repeat
my belief, that if we could set about this business in
the spirit of those who founded this Republic, Ave
should have no difficulty in enacting the Ordinance
of 1787. Sir, it is best to repeat what they did. In

ON TliE COMPROMISE BILL. 457
1787, they made the Constitution. In 1787, they
made that celebrated Ordinance for the north-west.
Sir, this doctrine of free territory is not new ; it is
coeval with the Constitution, born the same year, of
the same parents, and baptized in the same good old
republican church. And noAV, when we are about to
establish these new republics, much larger than the
old, why should Ave not imitate their example, re-
enact their laws, and thus secure to this new Republic
on the Pacific the glory, the prosperity, the rational
progress, which have shed such luster around that
founded upon the shore of the Atlantic?
A Senator Avho sits before me [Mr. Fitzgerald],
has with great propriety explained to the Senate the
position in which he is placed on this subject, as
connected with his friend. General Cass, not now a
member of this body. The subject, as bearing on
the opinions and prospects of both General Cass and
General Taylor, has been often adverted to in this
debate. While I am yet on my feet, I desire to say
a word or two on this aspect of the debate.
I speak of one absent from this chamber Avith
every feeling of respect, and with some reluctance.
It is said, and I believe truly, that General Cass has,
Avithin the last two years, entertained two opinions
on this subject, the one in direct conflict with the
other. In other words, he has changed his ojoinion
respecting it; whereas he was at one time in faA^or
of extending the Ordinance of 1787 over all noAV
territory ; tww, he denies the power of Congress to
do so. Thus it follows that he would arrest all such

458 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
legislation by interposing- his veto. His position at
present is fixed. But, sir, this facility in forming
and changing opinions in a gentleman at his time of
life, gives some hope that in the future he may not
obstinately persevere in his error. Sir, one who on
such subjects can change in the two past years his
opinion, gives hopeful expectation that he may
change back in the two years to come. As Major
Dugald Dalgetty would say, " He will be amenable
to reason." His opinion, it seems, is, that the whole
subject is to be given over to the unlimited discretion
of the Territorial Legislatures. As to General Tay
lor's position in regard to this and all like subjects
of domestic policy, I here declare that if I did not
consider him pledged by his published letter to Cap
tain Allison not to interpose his veto on such subjects
of legislation, he certainly could not get my vote,
nor do I believe that of any northern State.
[ Mr. Hannegan. — I would like to be informed by the Senator
from Ohio, as he has referred to General Cass's position, and as
he is about to give his support to General Taylor, if he can give
us General Taylor's views on the subject, and what his opinion
will be, when expressed in a message to Congress?]
I can not.
[Mr. Hannegan. — I understand the Senator from Ohio to
say, that if General Taylor would interpose a veto upon the
subject, he would not vote for him under any circumstances.]
I would not, nor would any Whig in Ohio, unless
indeed we found him opposed to just such another
man who had a great many bad qualities beside.
[A laugh.] But, sir, I have to say that I do not

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 459
believe that General Taylor could get the electoral
vote of a free State in America, if it Avcre not for
the belief that prevails, that upon this subject, as
Avell as upon any other of domestic policy, Avhere
the poAver of Congress had been sanctioned by the
A'arious departments of Government, and acquiesced
in by the people, he Avould not, through the A'^eto
poAver, interfere to crush the free will of the people,
as expressed through both branches of Congress.
I repeat, sir, that if Congress, haA'ing the power as
defined by the Supreme Court, acted on by Congress
in A'arious cases, as shown by your legislation, sanc
tioned in so many Avays, and till noAv cheerftilly
acquiesced in by the people, should enact the Ordi
nance of 1787 over again, and extend it over the three
Territories in question, and the man in the White
House should interpose his veto, and again and again
thrust his puny arm in the way of the legislative
power, and arrest for a long time the popular will, I
will not say he would be impeached, tried, and (if
the laAV were so) have his head brought to the block.
Patience might in its exhaustion give way to exas
peration, and the forms of law and the majesty of
judicial trial all fall before the summary vengeance
of an abused and insulted people.
I know very Avell that the Senate is weary of this
debate. I wish now only to state another fact, which
Avill show Avhat it is AA'hich our brethren of the South
now demand. If you take the area of the free States
and the slave States as they exist, and compare
them, you will find that the latter predominate.

460 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
When the Constitution was formed, and Avhen all
the territory Avhich you then had was brought into
the Union, the free States had an excess of 100,000
square miles over the slave States ; but Avhen you
had acquired Louisiana, Florida, and Texas, and
added them to the Union, and Avhen you have added
the claim of the South, that they will carry their
slaves into Oregon, New Mexico, and California,
Avhat will then be the condition of the free States ?
The slave States will have one-third more power in
the Senate of the United States than the free States
could OA^er have.
Sir, if this is to be viewed at all as a question
of poAver, AA'hat I have stated would be the exact
result of yielding to the present claim of the South;
and this Avill be the result, unless you prohibit the
introduction of slavery into these Territories. Sir,
I haA'e seen the working of this system. Plant
thirty slaveholders among three hundred inhabit
ants Avho are not slaveholders, and they will main
tain their position against the three hundred. Let
one man out of fifty be a slaveholder, and he Avill
persuade the forty-nine that it is better that the
institution should exist. It is capital and social
position, opposed to labor and poverty. How this
war may wage in the future, I will not say; but
thus far the former have ever been an over-match
for the latter.
But, sir, I do not like this AdoAv of such a subject.
If it Avere merely a comparison of strength or con
test for relative poAver, I could yield without a strug-

ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 461
gie. But I am called on to lay the foundations of
society over a vast extent of country. If this Avork
is done Avisel}- hoav, ages unborn shall bless us, and
Ave shall have done in our day Avhat experience
approved and duty demanded. If this work shall
be carelessly or badly done, countless millions that
shall inherit that A^ast region will hereafter remem
ber our folly as their curse ; our names and deeds,
instead of praises, shall only call forth execration
and reproach. In the conflict of present opinions,
I have listened patiently to all. Finding myself
opposed to some with Avhom I have rarely ever
differed before, I have doubted myself, re-examined
my conclusions, reconsidered all the arguments on
either side, and I still am obliged to adhere to my first
impressions, I may say my long-cherished opinions.
If I part company with some here, whom I habitu
ally respect, I still find Avith me the men of the
past, whom the nations venerated. I stand upon
the Ordinance of 1787. There the path is marked
by the blood of the Revolution. I stand in com
pany with the "men of '87," their locks wet with
the mists of the Jordan over which they passed,
their garments purple with the Avaters of the Red
Sea through which they led us of old, to this land
of promise. With them to point the way, however
dark the present, Hope shines upon the future, and
discerning their foot-prints in my path, I shall tread
it with unfaltering trust.

IN DEFENSE OF JUDGE McLEAN.
[Mr. Foote, of Mississippi, at the conclusion of his remarks,
by way of personal explanation, in thc United States Senate, on
the 23d of January, 1849, read an extract from " Councils, Civil
and Moral, of Sir Francis Bacon," which he commended to his
honor Justice McLean, who had the day before, published a card
in the National Intelligencer, correcting a misrepresentation of
certain of his letters written the preceding year. This extract,
Mr. Foote remarked, contained "valuable hints" from which he
hoped Judge McLean would profit — among others the follow
ing: "Judges ought to be more learned than witty, more reverend
than plausible, and more advised than confident; above all things,
integrity is their portion and proper virtue."
Mr. Coravin's remarks sufiiciently explain the nature and pur
port of the accusation against Judge McLean. Mr. Coeavin said] :
I DO not rise, Mr. President, to interrupt further
the ordinary course of business by the prolongation
of this interlude, at all, but only to acquit myself
from a sort of imputation which the Senator from
Mississippi has pleased to cast upon me.
[ Here Mr. Foote disclaimed any intention to cast an imputa
tion upon him.]
Mr. President, I dare say, from the apparent per
sonal address which the Senator from Mississippi
made to me, as one who did not choose to rise here
in defense of Judge McLean upon the accusation
presented by that gentleman the other day, that he
(462)

DEFENSE OF JUDGE MCLEAN. 463
Avould have it inferred — at least others might infer —
that I, by my silence, was yielding my acquiescence
or agreement to the vioAvs taken by him of those two
fugitive letters, out of which this grave charge has
been manufactured.
I did not think it worth while, the other day, when
the Senator from Mississippi, on a motion to amend
a post-office bill, took this view of the conduct of
my friend. Judge McLean, to say one word in his
defense ; for Avith the utmost deference in the world
to the opinions then and now expressed by the Sen
ator from Mississippi, I did not perceive that, with
the facts before the public, it was possible for his
remarks to cast in any mind, other than one very
much like his own on particular subjects, the slight
est imputation whatever on the purity of character
or the judicial rectitude of Judge McLean. All that
I could perceive in the matter brought forth by the
Senator from Mississippi, was the expression of an
opinion upon two subjects, about which everybody
knows there has been a A'ery great contrariety of
opinion in this country. Judge McLean, in a letter
to some friend, who had evidently written to him on
the subject, wishing to kiioAV his opinions on that
great political question — the origin and conduct of
the Mexican war — ^had expressed his views in rela
tion to the matter upon which he was interrogated.
It may be possible he may be mistaken. In the
minds of that class of politicians who agree with the
Senator from Mississippi upon the subject. Judge
McLean may have been considered in error in regard

464 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
to the origin of the Mexican war, and the means
Avhich, in his judgment, should be applied to bring
it to a speedy and honorable termination. But is it
possible that the Senate of the United States is to be
a court of error upon the preferment of a charge by
any one, either in a newspaper or here, to correct the
political opinions of a judge of the Supreme Court,
Avho, on being interrogated by one of his felloAv-
citizeris in a letter, ventures to express his views
upon one of these much agitated topics? I could
not conceive that the Senate of the United States or
the people of the United States, could expect that a
man, because he happens to hold the highly-respect
able and responsible station of a judge of the Supretne
Court of the United States, can have no opinion in
common with his fellow-men upon a subject that has
called forth the expression of feeling and opinions
from almost every citizen of the republic. I do not
conceive that, because the ermine to which the Sen
ator has so emphatically alluded„is upon his shoulder,
his tongue is therefore ever to be silent. He is en
titled to a vote, in common with every man in the
Republic, for a President, for a member of Congress,
and of course he must exercise his own judgment
upon such subjects with other men; and I had sup
posed that such exercise of his judgment, and ex
pression of it, too, would be tolerated by his felloAv-
citizens. Mr. President, Judge McLean has said in a letter
to somebody (arid ^really I do not know to Avhom
that letter was addressed, nor did I apprehend ex-

DEFENSE OF JUDGE MCLEAN. 465
actly its purport when alluded to the other day by
the Senator from Mississippi), that he supposes
slavery was not considered as having an existence in
any country until its existence was established by a
law. For that, I understand the Senator from
Mississippi thinks that Judge McLean is in some
degree culpable. Well, now, it seems that the
Supreme Court of the United States have, in effect,
so decided, and Judge McLean has referred to the
decision of the Supreme Court, which, in his judg
ment, establishes this question of law. He has
commented upon the decision of the court Avhich has
thus adjudicated the question-; and I ask if it can be
possibly manufactured into judicial impropriety for a
judge of the Supreme Court to repeat what are the
acknowledged decisions of that Court? I ask if it is
likely that the people of this country, who have very
long and very properly reposed great confidence in
Judge McLean in various positions, political as well
as judicial, can be brought to believe him guilty of
moral turpitude for such an act?
[Mr. Foote here interposed a suggestion that the subject
upon which Judge McLean had expressed his opinion in the
letter complained of, is yet an open question, and undecided
in the aspect given to it, by any court. He alluded to the
arguments of distinguished jurists in the Senate, who cooperated
in the Compromise Bill of the previous session, to show that
such were their views, and that the question had never been
adjudicated; and it was in the face of the fact that it would be
likely to come before Judge McLean for adjudication that the
latter thought proper to pronounce his opinion. This he chal
lenged Mr. Corwin to "deny" or "vindicate" if he could.]
30

466 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
I thought that question was settled before the
date at which this letter was written.
[Mr. Foote. — I stated the other day that the bill, although
defeated at the last session, would probably be revived during
this session and passed.]
I do not remember whether that bill, to which
the gentleman from Mississippi has alluded, called
the Compromise Bill, had gone to its grave before
this letter was Avritten by Judge McLean or not,
nor do I think it material.
Judge McLean has orily ventured to express, in
relation to the subject of.., slavery, what is the pre
vailing professional opinion in that circuit in which
he resides. I am sure I am not mistaken in this ;
and I dare say the Senator from Mississippi knows
it also. I do not intend, Mr. President, to enter
into a controversy here in relation to the correct
ness of that opinion. I will only add to the high
authority of Judge McLean upon that subject, one
other — that is my own. I dare say the Senator
from Mississippi will consider that as settling the
question. That will be respected, I hope. It is
my opinion, and I have not been able to gather
from Blackstone' s Cmnmentaries anything to the con
trary. I know that there are few, very few, high
authorities differing from Judge McLean and my
self on that point. But if that be the fact, does
it necessarily follow, Mr. President, when Judge
McLean is merely so unfortunate as to differ from
the Senator from Mississippi, and other gentlemen
©f the highest professional respectability in the coun-

DEFENSE OF JUDGE MCLEAN. 467
try, that he is therefore unfit to preside in the cir
cuit north-west of the Ohio river, or sit upon tlie
bench of the Supreme Court of the United States ?
I ask the Senator from Mississippi in all candor, if
it Avould, under such circumstances, be quite fair to
arraign in some sort as criminal the conduct of a
man for the mere expression of his opinion upon a
mooted question of law? Why, sir, if this were to
be the rule by which we would try the judges of
the Supreme Court, we should have to expel two
or three of them from the bench at every term,
They have their books of reports full of dissenting
opinions. I know the Senator from Mississippi feels much
upon this subject. I dare say he is anxious to pre
serve the judicial purity of the bench. But while
he is guarding us on this vital point — and all must
give high commendation to the motive which gov
erns him in this — would it not be well for the
grave Senators who sit here and listen to these accu
sations, which can result in nothing but recrimina
tion, to remember that we, too, under certain cir
cumstances, should be enrobed in this sacred and
inviolable purple, and that it would be well for us
not to prejudge any question which may possibly
come before us. If Judge McLean has done any
thing unworthy of his judicial character, and worthy
our notice at all, then I think he has done that
Avhich ought to bring him before us on an impeach
ment. How, then, would the Senator from Missis
sippi, with his judicial gravity, backed by Bacon

468 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
and Cicero, appear? I am afraid that some here
did not quite understand the gentleman's Latin, and
I beg the Senator to translate it for the benefit of
country gentlemen like myself. How should Ave look
Avith the ermine on our shoulders, if Judge McLean
were here on trial? We should, doubtless, strut
through the scene with senatorial dignity, having
prejudged the cause at the instance of the Senator
from Mississippi. I dare say, the Senator from
Mississippi would sit and adjudicate too upon this
very question which he had himself already pre
judged! I do not mention this because I suppose
it possible for any one to conceive for a moment of
the existence of an impeachment against this excel
lent gentleman, for anything contained in his letters
declining to become a candidate for the Presidency,
unless, indeed, you impeach a man for the rarest of
all qualities, modesty. I do not know but the exhi
bition, or even possession of that quality may be by
some gentlemen considered a crime, but I do not
think there is anything in Bacon or Cicero that
would warrant us in taking off the head of the
Judge for his exhibition of this amiable frailty.
I do not know, and I will not venture to state,
further than on the authority of Judge McLean
himself — and I read his letter very hastily — that
the Supreme Court have decided this very question ;
but I think a fair interpretation of the judgment
of the Supreme Court in the case of Rhodes and
Slaughter, referred to by Judge McLean, would Avar-
rant him in saying that they had decided a propo-

DEFENSE OF JUDGE MCLEAN. 469
sition from which it is deducible that slavery is a
matter of municipal legislation, and could not exist
without it. But he is not infallible — he may be
mistaken. I wish he was infallible. I wish others,
]Mr. President, that I will not name, were so too.
But I must say to the Senator from Mississippi,
what I dare say he may have known, or heard of, that
if it is supposed that the production of these letters, or
any possible inference that can be drawn from them,
will shake the confidence of. those who have known
Judge McLean personally during his whole political
and judicial life, that all who indulge this belief, will
find themselves ( as mortal men often are ) sadly
mistaken. It will not be believed that a man who
has passed through the stations which he has filled,
with so little exception ever taken to his public con
duct, has, at this period of his life, gone so far astray
as to forfeit the good opinion of his fellow-citizens
in that place which he has occupied with so much
honor to himself, and, I will venture to say, with so
much usefulness to the country, which he has so
faithfully served for twenty years.
Mr. President, let me again state that I do not
rise to present the slightest objection to the expres
sion of the views the Senator from Mississippi takes,
knoAving that they are honestly his own peculiar
views. Nor do I object in the slightest degree to his
promulgating his opinions of Judge McLean or any
other judge, at all times, and on all occasions, any
where and everywhere, but I felt myself compelled,
representing, as I do, in part, the State in which

470 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
Judge McLean has resided during the whole of his
mature life, to say thus much, lest my friends might
suppose (as the Senator from Mississippi, I suppose,
did) that I silently acquiesced in the justness of his
remarks on this and a former occasion.

ON THE ACTION OF OHIO TOUCHING
FUGITIVE SLAVES.
[Pending the discussion of the slavery question in the United
States Senate, April 3d, 1850, upon the resolutions submitted by
Mr. Bell, which Mr. Foote moved to be referred to a committee
of thirteen (Mr. Underavood, of Kentucky, having concluded) ,
Mr. Corwin and Mr. Foote rose together, Mr. Coravin asked;]
Will the Senator from Mississippi yield me the
floor a few minutes, for the purpose of explaining a
point in the laws of Ohio, referred to by the Senator
from Kentucky?
[Mr. Foote yielded the floor.]
Mr. President, the Senator from Kentucky has
been pleased to animadvert with some severity upon
the legislation of Ohio touching fugitive slaves. I
am satisfied if my friend from Kentucky would
review carefully what has been done on this subject
by the Legislature of Ohio, he would find reason to
retract a portion of his remarks, and certainly to
abate much of that asperity of feeling which his mis
taken views have inspired. I only desire to occupy
the Senate a moment, while I correct what I deem a
mistake as to the constitutional character of the law,
said by the Senator from Kentucky to have been
revived by the statute of 1843. This act of 1843
repealed the celebrated act passed, as we know, by
(471)

472 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
the Ohio Legislature, at the instance of commissioners,
Messrs. Morehead and Smith, appointed by the
authorities of Kentucky. The law of 1839, passed
at the instance of the Kentucky commissioners, pro
vided against kidnapping, among other things.
Sir, if the provisions of the act, which was revived
by the law of 1843, Avere just such as the gentleman
has represented, I will not pretend to say here, with
out examination, whether they were or were not con
stitutional. The law of 1843 was, at that time, the
only law in Ohio providing against kidnapping.
When that law was repealed, it was necessary to
re-enact the old or a similar law against the very
common offense of kidnapping. To this end a laAv
which had been very long in force, and which had
been suspended by the act of 1843 was revived. I
have not this revived law before me, but I believe it
was simply an act making it penal to take by force
out of the State any free man, black or white. Such
laws, I imagine, or laws A'-ery similar, may be found
on the statute books of many if. not all the States.
Now, Mr. President, if the act revived does, as the
gentleman supposes, contain a provision forbidding
the seizure of any colored person, under any pretense,
without warrant first obtained, and was therefore
unconstitutional, and an infraction of the rights of
slaveholders, then the celebrated act of 1839, passed
at the instance of Kentucky, by her commissioners
Smith and Morehead, Avas also unconstitutional ; for
I am very sure it contained a provision making it a
penitentiary offense for any person to seize a colored

TOUCHING FUGITIVE SLAVES. 473
man until he should first obtain process for that pur
pose from a judicial officer.
Sir, we hear loud complaints of the revived Ohio
laAV, such as that it disturbed the fraternal relations
of Ohio and Kentucky. It was just what Kentucky
herself had asked, and agreed to in the celebrated
act of 1839. By that law, if a Kentuckian laid his
hand on a black man in Oh^o, to arrest him as a
slave, without first filing an affidavit and obtaining a
warrant, he must go to the Ohio penitentiary. These,
sir, were the terms fixed by treaty between the two
States ; these were the happy, peaceful, fraternal re
lations of the two States as settled by themselves.
Sfr, it seems to me, if the present law of Ohio against
kidnapping be unconstitutional, she [Kentucky] has
no right to complain, since she herself asked for and
agreed to the same provision, in the act of 1839.
Mr. President, this is a matter of small signifi
cance, it is true; but it is well to settle the matter
of history aright before it finds its way into Greeley's
Almanac, so that posterity may not be deceived. I
will only add, sir, that whatever the letter of our
laAvs may have been, I have never known or heard
of a case in Ohio, where any person was punished
for arresting a slave under any circumstances, where
the person charged could prove that he was really
the owner, or agent of the owner, of such slave.

ON THE BILL FOR THE RELIEF OF
WM. DARBY.
In the U. 8. Senate, April 23, 1850.
[This bill proposed to give the venerable author of " Darby's
Gazetteer" the sum of $1,500 for the, use of a Map prepared
from materials collected by Mr. Darby while acting in the capa
city of a Deputy Surveyor for the Government. Mr. Darby was
then of very advanced age, in humble circumstances, subsisting
upon the salary of a clerkship of the lowest grade in the Govern
ment. Mr. Coravin observed] ;
This application was referred to a select com
mittee, of which I happened to be chairman at the
time; and the report from it, just read, was pre
pared by myself. Now I agree with the Senator
[Mr. Turner], who has just taken his seat, that there
is no legal claim presented here ; but I can not agree
with him that there is not an equitable claim, and
just such an equitable claim, I imagine, as has been
repeatedly recognized by both branches of Congress.
The map mentioned, and upon which the memoi:ial
and claim are based, was made upon the individual
researches and labors of the memorialist^ at a very
early period of time, and before, I believe, the
cession of Louisiana was ascertained; and it has
since been, in every treaty which the Government
has chosen to make respecting our boundary in that
quarter, the basis upon which that treaty has pro
ceeded. Now, does it appear to the Senate that
(474)

BILL FOR THE RELIEF OF WM. DARBY. 475
any other person has done the same thing ? , Does it
appear to the Senate that these labors of Mr. Darby
have been of real value to the Government and peo
ple of the United States, and that no other person's
labor has furnished those materials which this Gov
ernment has availed itself of, from time to time, in
settling those questions that have been often the sub
ject of discussion, and of very deep interest, concern
ing our boundaries, arising out of the treaty of the
cession of Louisiana? In these matters, as every
one is aAvare, that has been the map upon Avhich
every treaty has been regulated. The materials for
it were furnished at his own expense, and by labors
which very few are willing to encounter. It is true,
the main object of them was the gratification of his
own curiosity, if you please, for every one who knows
anything of the history of this man, knows that he
has been all his life engaged in these matters, and
that he is a gentleman of uncommon endowments.
Qf these qualities and labors of the man the Govern
ment of the United States have availed themselves
in th§ way in which reference has been made. Sup
pose that Mr. Darby, instead of ascertaining the
boundaries of the territories in that quarter, and
furnishing this information, had gone with a com
pany of men, one of these pioneer expeditions of
which we have heard, and driven off the Indians,
elevated the American flag, and established the
American power on his own responsibility and at
his own expense, in a country which at last should
come into the possession of the United States. Then,

476 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
if Mr. Darby presented a memorial, showing at what
great expense he had marched through the country,
and established the flag of the United States where
it had not before been known, and carried the Ameri
can eagle into lands where it had never soared before,
and killed several Indians, perhaps, all of which the
Government had availed itself of, how many sections
of land would you give him ! How many sections of
land have you given for such services ? How many
propositions now lie on your table of such a char
acter? Now, the country derives benefit from all
this. The one is the achievement of gunpowder, and
the other of science, for your benefit, and not merely
for your benefit, but for the benefit of all men.
Now, by these facts which he has collected, and by
these labors, of which you have availed yourself, you
have been benefited, and yet you have never paid
Mr. Darby for them. What is equity, I beg to know,
as contradistinguished from legal obligations ? Here
is work and labor done of which you have had the
benefit, and there (pointing to the bill) is the bill of
particulars, sir, and why not give him compen^tion
therefor ?
[Senator Dawson here remarked, " We will pass it."]
Very well, then, I have nothing more to say.

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES.
[On the 19th of August, 1859, Mr. Coravin addressed a large
political assemblage at Ironion, Lawrence County, Ohio, upon the
questions of the day. His speech on that occasion was reported in
the Cincinnati Gazette, a revision of which is now presented to the
readers of this volume. Among the distinguished persons present
at the meeting, and to whom allusion is made in Mr. Coravin's
remarks, were William Dennison, Jr., the Eepublican candidate
for, and since elected, Governor of Ohio, and Laban T. Moore,
member of Congress elect from the ninth district, Kentucky.
Mr. Coravin said :]
My Fellow-Citizens:
If it were a part of my design, in visiting this por
tion of the State, to exhibit myself as an orator, I
should feel, as my venerable friend,* would feel for
me, after what you have heard. I have no ambition
in addressing my fellow-citizens, at all events, in popu
lar assemblies, to discharge any other duty to myself
or them, than that, if it may be possible, of commu
nicating some information which shall be useful to
them in the discharge of their duty a^ voters.
You who are intrusted with the exercise of that
great office of voting which you have so shamefully
and so strangely neglected in all your lifetime — ^you
who come here to understand, it may be, your duties
from men who come from a distance of two or three
hundred miles, do well; but to you who come to

* The President of the meeting. (477)

478 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
listen to smart speeches or fine orations, allow me to
say in candor, as one interested in the manner in
which this duty is to be discharged, that you had
better have staid at home ; if you have an honorable
calling in the world, or honest occupation in life, you
should have attended to it to-day, instead of coming
to hear me.
You have heard, in the glowing language of my
friend, in the ardor and sincerity of his own spirit,
that bead-roll of offerises, God knows it was a
melancholy catalogue of crime, which he exhibited
against the public men of the State of Ohio and
the United States." Now, whenever any man in
speaking- of the affairs of your Republic, shall be able,
with truth and in candor, to pronounce the officers
of the Government uuAvorthy the trust reposed in
them ; to have violated their pledges, if it be so, or
willfully neglected the duties of the various posts to
Avhich they have been assigned ; if OA'^er any man can
say that of your public men, with truth, then he has
proriounced a condemnation upon the whole system
of the American Republic, for he has said that men
intrusted with the duty of appointing officers do not
know hoAv to go about the discharge of their duty, or
do not care in what manner they do discharge it. If
there be any man Avhose heart is filled with shame
and anguish, when he hears these things said — if
there be any man who feels thus, I hold it is impos
sible, in the nature of things, that he will not, for the
moment, doubt the propriety of giving universal
suffrage to any people.

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 479
Now some of my Democratic brethren will go
away and say that I am a Federalist, on account of
Avhat I have said here to-day, but I have felt it my
duty to say thus much, everywhere. I have no
doubt of the intelligence of the people. I have no
doubt of the general integrity and of the honesty of
the hearts of the mass of all the parties that ever
existed in this Republic; but I assert that I have
doubts whether the people of this country do faith
fully attend to the election of their officers. Why do
I say this ? Because, if you will believe what has
been said by either of the great political parties, for
the last thirty years, the public men whom you have
had in office, have been unworthy of the places which
they have filled. Whose fault is it that your State
of Ohio is inflicted with a heavy loss of |750,000 —
money Avrung from the pockets of the people, by
direct taxation ? It is gone, and you know not where
it is. It is your fault. You elected the men to office.
Let me suppose that some monarch at Washing
ton City was invested with the power of appointing
the agents of States to office, to do as he pleased with
the government of the States, and that monarch
appointed servants as .unfaithful to their duties as
yours are said to have been, what would you do with
him ? My life upon it, if there was one drop of the
blood that coursed in the veins of your forefathers
left warm within you, there would be found some
patriotic man to drive the dagger to the heart of that
despot. What then is to be done with you, who vote
for and elect all these men ?

480 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
I believe it is now conceded by very many of the
Democratic party that the present Chief Magistrate
has lamentably disappointed even those who elected
him. He has not disappointed those who opposed
his election, for they predicted that everything would
go Avrong under his administration. There are very
few Democratic aspirants to office in the North, or
West, who dare aA'-ow themselves friends of the
President. Thus it seems that this officer is now con
demned by many of those who voted for him. How
came they to elect such a man as that ? Had they
not sense and sagacity enough to know a man whose
life had been before them on their public records for
thirty or forty years ? Were they so ineffably stupid,
that they did not investigate that man's life, to know
him before they appointed him to that high office ?
They could have done it, but did not do it. The
great office of electing President and Governor and
Legislatures, State and Federal, the great office AA'hich
you hold, you sadly neglect. I assert that the duties
of the Presidency have been discharged with quite
as much fidelity as has been shown by many of the
people of the United States in the exercise of their
great office — the elective franchise. This is not so-
because you are not intelligent — nor because you
are bad men, but because every man has the same
interest and power that you have, and you say,
"Let somebody else do it." "I will not interest
myself in this, or I will be called a politician — the
brethren of my church won't like it ; why should I
disturb myself about this thing? I have my own

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 481
affairs to attend to, and I Avill attend to them, and
as for this business of regulating the affairs of the
Republic, I will leave that to those felloivs who want
office." That is the way you think about it ; that is
the way you have acted with it. If you had not
acted in that way, I tell you that few of these calam
ities which you have noAv to deplore would have
occurred ; few of these great instances of blundering-
Avould have happened. Why have you not done
this ? I say, you will not attend to this business ; if
you did, if you had done so, then I think it must fol
low, as a legitimate conclusion, that you don't knoAV
how. So much for the consideration of my brethren
in this private little class-meeting of ours, of two
or three thousand persons, where we are consider
ing the state of religion in the American Church,
and lighting up a candle and putting it into every
man's hand that he may search his own bosom.
Let those gentlemen who feel themselves quite too
respectable arid decent to mingle in our elections,
remember that God Almighty will hold them respon
sible for the manner in which they discharge their
duty as voters. That right and privilege is not given
to them for their benefit, or to be used at their pleas
ure, but for my benefit, for your benefit, and for the
benefit of the thirty millions of people in the United
States. If one sees an unworthy man go to the polls
and take possession of the Government, and he will
not prevent it, if there be such a thing as future
responsibility — as we all believe — that man will
31

482 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
have something to answer for upon that final day
when all of us must account for our acts.
Do you suppose that the old men who published
that Declaration of Independence, which gave birth
to your national existence, for the maintenance of
which they appealed to the God of nations, approve
of this neglect ? They felt their own Aveakness, they,
acting upon the commonly accepted principles of
human reason, felt that they would perish in the con
flict into which they were then about to enter ; and
at last, as poor feeble man ahvays does when he feels
he has nothing to lean upon but his own arm, he
goes to the Almighty for help in that hour of trouble.
They appealed to Him, and He answered well in the
day of their trial ; and all the struggles they endured,
all the blood they shed, all the pains and privations
they suffered, were simply to end in just one thing —
in communicating to every rational free man equal
power to govern the nation. That office they com
municated to you — 'the voting people of the country.
Did they suppose — could they have believed that the
people of this country, the respectable people of the
land, would so scorn the great and priceless estate
Avhich they left them, as that they would not attend
to appointing the agents to take care of it, but that
some mercenary spirit was to take care of them ?
If each member of the community had an interest
in a banking- institution, , or in a joint stock manu
facturing company, where his reward was to be but a
feAv paltry dollars per cent, on his capital — ^if a

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 483
meeting was called to appoint a president or an
agent of that company, he would attend this meet
ing, to elect this president and director of the paltry
bank or joint stock concern; but Avhen the president
and directors are to be elected to take care of the
liberties of the whole country, oh, these men are too
decent, too respectable, to attend. It is not respect
able to be a politician, they tell us, or they are too
careless, or they have half an acre of buckwheat
Avhich might not be got in and saved, if they left
home on the election-day.
That is the way you act with your privileges. Let
us cease complaining of the men you elect, and of the
laws they make. One thing we knoAv to be perfectly
certain, the stockholders do not attend to the election
of the president and dfrectors, or if they do, they
don't know how to do thefr duty.
Don't let us blame our Presidents so much! Don't
let us anathematize the men we have elected to these
offices of State, too much ! Let us abuse the people
who elected them. They are to blame for wrongs
done, if any have been done. If you elect a judge,
and he does not attend at court, and if an innocent
man is hung because he was not there to try him,
what do you with him? You take him to Columbus
and impeach him. He is removed from office, and
the brand of disgrace and ignominy is placed upon
his brow. But you can be absent from elections, and
let unworthy men be elected to office. You don't
like some party or other. The judge might say
he did not like his associate; he did not like

484 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
to sit near him — ^he had not a very sweet breath.
I tell you, sirs, that is quite as valid as many of the
excuses that men make for staying away from elec
tions. What have you been doing now, to go no further
back than the last, few years — sixteen or seventeen ?
All of you of mature age, remember the year 1840
very well. What did all the people of the United
States do then? They rose up with mingled feel
ings of merriment and indignation — ^for it was diffi
cult to tell which prevailed that year, the events of
the administration of Mr. Van Buren, had been so
singularly out of the way, nowise conformable to
anybody's notion of things, it was difficult to say
whether it was looked at with indignation, contempt,
or merriment. Many of his officers Avere running
away with the people's money — ^you know how Ave
used to show up the leg-treasurers! Three-quarters
of the people started up and declared, we will
have no more Democratic government; we will
haA'-e Whig government. The principles upon which
these two parties were contending, then, for your
suffrages, were diametrically opposed. Upon due
deliberation and solemn consideration (for I do hope
you sometimes consider these things), it was de
termined by an unexampled majority of the country
that, henceforth, Whigs and their principles should
be the rule of conduct in the United States. It
was so ! Your decree, when you make it, is always
omnipotent. Four years pass away — ^they go by — and what

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 485
happens then? You haA^e again to appoint a Presi
dent of this great joint>stock company of ours. The
people have tAvo men presented to them. One has
been alluded to by my friend, Mr. Dennison — Mr.
Clay, of Kentucky — a man who has been spoken of
so much, that it would be idle to attempt to employ
terms adequate to express the feelings with which
one who knew him as well as I did, regarded the
great loss we have sustained by his death; a man
of whom the nation was proud, a man who had a
European reputation, who was regarded as the great
champion of regulated liberty, by men of intelligence,
all over the world ; in addition to this he had endow
ments which it has pleased God very rarely to give
to mortal man; an integrity as pure as the highest
integrity of the highest and best of the ancient
people who have descended to us as demi-gods.
Nobody questioned this in the election at all. It was
named and repeated every hour. He did not like
the annexation of Texas to the United States; not
because he himself had any personal objection to
any accumulation of slaA^e States in the country, but
because he believed it would disturb the harmony of
the Republic as it then existed. The harmony and
prosperity of this land were the idols of his heart.
Another man was also presented to the American
people — a very ordinary man. (I wish to speak of
him in no terms of disparagement.) You all know-
something of Mr. Polk. He never pretended to be
the equal of Mr. Clay. Mr. Polk differed from him
with regard to the annexation of Texas. He desired

486 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN,
that that independent Republic, living under the
shadow of our wing, should be annexed to the United
States. He was a democrat of the Denaocrats. I
knew him well. You know that I speak truly of his
history. As a politician he was opposed to every
thing now proposed by the Opposition in the slave
States, and by the Republican party in the free
States, as the proper system of government in this
country. Well, Clay proposed to the country to
continue the Whig government begun by Mr. Har
rison, and but partially carried out by his successor.
You had determined, four years before that, hence
forward you would only have Whig principles and
Whig rulers. Four years passed by, and with the
mighty difference between the two men, you deter
mined by a very large majority you would have no
more Whig government, but would have Democratic
government, even when you could have the pleasure
and the pride of voting for one of the gToatest states
men the world ever knew. The stockholders changed
their opinion greatly in these four years, or elsb they
did not vote their principles at all.
Well, as we know human nature is full of imper
fection, and as men are gaining light every day in
the world, we fondly hoped by the school-houses and
churches Avhich we had erected, we would get some
intelligence. We began to suppose that we were
mistaken in 1840, and that we had learned that the
Democratic was the true rule of government in the
country. Four years more rolled round, which' brings us to

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 487
1848. The country, in the meantime, had been
involved in a foreign war, and it is very rare, when
the ambition of our Republic is concerned, and that
ambition is put into conflict with another nation, that
the men of the nation do not take sides with him
Avho wages the Avar. What did we in 1848? With
about the same unanimity as before, we declared that
we would have no more Democratic government, we
will haA^e a Whig government, even though we have
to deposit this great power of statesmanship in the
hands of a man fresh from the battle-field, who was
never in the councils Of his country. The stock
holders have changed back again!
Four years more rolled around, • and 1852 comes
upon us, and finds us still increasing in light and
knowledge. Mind, in 1848 we jumped back just
eight years. We found, I suppose, that the light
had been leading us astray — ^that we failed in 1844.
Now we are at the stand-point of 1840 again. In
stead of keeping our resolution to continue a Whig
government, we have found out that we were mis
taken a second time, and we take not General Scott,
who was by no means an ordinary man. He was a
Whig, and you put away that illustrious general and
that eminently qualified statesman, and took a man
who was not quite his equal in peace or war. I wish
to speak in no Avay disrespectful of Mr. Pierce, but I
say that you fell so much in love with democratic
government, that you threw away a Whig who was
eminently qualified as a statesman and renowned as a
warrior, and took a man not renowned in either way.

488 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
Now this, and all of this, is applicable to all of us.
What would you think of any man — to illustrate —
of any farmer, who would take one of those fine
patent plows and plow down his barren ground, and
raise a good crop upon his land which he had thrown
aside as useless, gather his crop into his garner,
reap the reward of his labor, thank God for his
fruitful harvest and pocket the money it brings to
him; and then Avhen he had another crop to raise,'
should say, "By that plow I got a good crop, a better
one than I expected, but as I have the power to do
as I please with my own land, I will try the old
'go-devil' plow this year." You all know what a
"go-devil" is. You know it is a harrow with three
prongs, a very good thing in its way, but by no
means a good thing to break up ground with.
Well, he takes his "go-devil" and he kicks his
gTound about, and he gets no crop, and you all
know well he can't get much of a crop that way,
anyhow. Now he gets in debt. He says: "Well, I
was a great fool to take that 'go-devil;' I Avill get
that patent plow to work again." The third year he
uses that plow again, and he gets another good crop,
and gets out of debt. He gets his money into his
pocket, and goes to his thanksgiving dinner, eats
his turkey and thanks God for his goodness. The
fourth year, however, he says: "Have I not a right
to do as I please, I will take that old 'go-devil'
again;" and he takes it, and the result again is
quite devilish.
That is precisely .what you, the people of the

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 489
United States, haA^e done with your power of voting.
That is exactly what you haA^e done. Do you wonder
that those veteran old statesmen in Europe, such as
Metternich, or WaloAvski, and Palmerston and Derby,
who have read over and over again all that is said
about popular government and all that has been
written, and have seen it always remarked that
especial care must be taken to guard against the
carelessness and vacillation of the people, do you
wonder when those old gentlemen see what you have
done, how you haA^e acted with the exercise of this
right of suffrage, as if you did not care what became
of your country, or did not know what ought to be
done, changing four times in four successive elections
from Whig to Democrat and from Democrat to
Republican, that they should doubt your discretion?
It seems as if you did not know how to do this Avork.
Do you suppose that any man who acted with his
plows as I have stated to you, could ever make a Avill
in the world? I tell you no judge would allow such
a man's will to go on record, because such a man
must be insane. If that man were to make a deed
of a house and lot, and his heirs were to prove this,
it would be declared null and void. If his heirs
should want to set aside such a man's deed, let them
send for me, and I will set it aside before any intelli
gent jury in your country, because the man must
be insane.
Yet you have done the same thing Avith this right
of voting. You have acted in just that way, and
now, Avhen we lift up our hands Avith indignation, at

490 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
the bad conduct of our rulers, don't let us blame the
"go-devil" because he did not go twelve inches into
the ground, because he can't. That is what we have
done. Let us cast the beam out of our own eye, and
then we will see clearly the mote that is in the poor
President's eye. I pray you, ponder these things.
Do they not, as we hear it said sometimes, "look to
a man up a tree" like truth?
Now, my fellow-citizens, it is because of these
thing-s, and because I am, as a citizen, interested in
this matter, that I have the impudence at all to come
and speak to you about it. We are to elect a Presi
dent and Directors soon again, and I am interested
in that election, just as you are, and if you are weak
enough to listen to me, I must speak what I believe,
and speak such belief plainly to plain men.
We here have parties ! I am not one of those who
believe that politicab parties are natural necessities.
I am not one who believes that as men of sense and
discretion, we have need to differ about this thing at
all. I admit that parties are made necessary by the
present imperfections of mankind. But while I
Avould admit as much, I would beg of you to put
away the little^ mean and trifling ambitions and
asperities of parties, and my life on it, if you would
do that there would not be so much party in the
country as there is. You should have a President
who would summon the whole faculties of his head
and the better emotions of his heart,, and concentrate
them upon the idea that he was the representative
of the only free government on the face of the earth,

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 491
and the one supposed to be the model of all to come
after us in all nations of the Avorld, that want to be
free — ^if we could but get a man that would elevate
himself so high as to think that, and act upon it —
newspaper paragraphs would be somewhat changed.
We have seen lately a statement in the papers to
this effect. Some post-master, far away in the
prairies of Illinois, the gross receipts of whose office
might be equal to five dollars a year, had the im
pudence to poke his head out of the little log cabin
in Avhich his office Avas held, and say that he thought
Stephen A. Douglas was a respectable man. He
was overheard by some poor man — not poor in
property, but poor in soul, who had a little starved
and miserable soul in him, who wrote to this
mighty representative of the only free country on
the face of God's earth, taking care of the liberty
of thirty millions, that he did not like Mr. Douglas,
Avhile the other man, the post-master, did. He
begged that the President would send forth a man
date to that poor little fellow on the prairies, Avho
was collecting his five dollars per year ( I dare say
about the fifth part of the expense of his fuel for one
winter), to go out of office and let some man come
in who did not like Mr. Douglas.
That is a fact, so they say. Don't let me now be
holding up Mr. Buchanan as an exception. Such
has been too much the case with every President
since this party spirit has been so much in vogue.
Whig and Democrat, etc., have been guilty of the
same sin. I know, when you are electing a man to

492 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
make laws for you, you must elect one whose notions
agree with yours; but I do not know, that when you
have a clerk at Washington, and the Whig party
believe the penknife he uses ought to pay thirty per
cent, ad valorem duty, and that poor clerk has not
been able to see that distinctly, although he is a
capital book-keeper and a faithful man, but in his
soul and conscience, he thinks it would not be right
to pay so much duty as that, that you should turn
him out of office, and say that he is not fit for a book
keeper. It is not respectable. I know that, because
I hav'e seen it tried. No man can feel like a gentle
man, if God has made him one, and do that thing.
If that man holds his tongue, Ave will not question,
him as to that; but if he is to go to Congress and
make laws for us, to establish that duty on the pen
knife, then we will ask him about it.
All of this we have done, and this has increased
that party asperity, and induced men to take sides
with the party in power, and, of course, the meanest
men in the country Avill get the offices on that prin
ciple, the little executive offices and the little minis
terial offices. That is what we haA^e all done. Let
us quit it. Let us see if we can not quit it. If you
Avant a man to represent your republic abroad,
find a man who has some of the qualifications of
a gentleman — I mean a gentleman of God's making,
not a fellow in fine clothes, though of course he
ought to be dressed decently when he goes courting.
Let him be a man of respectability. You haA'-e
enough of these men. Don't appoint a man who

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 493
shall be spoken of as a friend of mine told me one
of our representatiA'es was spoken of. My friend
had been charge d'affaires at Brussels, a great while —
four years; Avhile there, he became acquainted Avith
a French diplomat, and that French diplomat had
seen a man, at a foreign court, who represented our
government as charge d'affaires. He was a very
stupid man; he did not speak any language very
well. Noav, said this French gentleman, "Why
don't you send fine specimens, good-looking men,
who speak some language?" "Oh!" said my friend,
"don't they all speak some language?" "No," was
the answer, "I met a gentleman at Copenhagen who
speaks no language at all. He speaks some infernal
patois, Avhich they call Ohio." Of course, your repre
sentative was treated with contempt. The French
man thought he Avas the best man we had.
We should not be very particular about his politics
either; for our domestic politics have very little to
do Avith Our foreign missions. The man who would
select a Judge of the Supreme Court or Circuit Court
of the United States, to discharge the great duties of
that station, because he was a Democrat or a Repub
lican, without reference to other qualifications, his head
ought to roll upon a block. Judicial qualifications
haA^e nothing to do with Republican policy or Demo
cratic policy. Judges decide matters of law, not
measures of policy.
The opposition to the Administration on the other
side of the river has been chiefly concerned in a dis
pute as to what shall be done with the slave property

494 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
in the south. You have heard what friend Dennison
has said. He says, it is the doctrine and resolute
determination of the Republican party of Ohio, and
he might have added, of all of what is called the free
States of the Union, to exert the power which they
hold belongs to them, under the Constitution of the
United States, by Congressional action to prohibit
slavery in any territory where it does nOt already
exist. My own impression is that that ought to be
done. That is my belief about it.
I am not so very particular about this, as a mere
matter of doctrine, because I think that there will be
much more important duties for us to perform when
Ave get to Congress, than to dispute about this ab
stract proposition. Slavery exists, as you know, in
certain portions of the United States. The only ter
ritories that can ever be subject to slavery, are those
of Utah, New Mexico and Washington ; and into
either of these, it would be madness to take slaves
now. Kansas has settled the question for herself,
after fighting- a pretty hard battle, under this doctrine
of "squatter sovereignty."
But it is said. Congress has no power over this
subject of slavery in the territories. It is said, you
find, in the Constitution, the phrase, "popular sove
reignty," or "squatter sovereignty," or that the ideas
represented by such language, is there, or fairly im
plied from language which is there. This is what
Ave do read in the Constitution touching the power
of Congress over Territories. " Congress shall have
power to make all needful rules and regulations re-

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES, 495
spec ting the Territory, or other property of the United
States." Now if the framers of the Constitution had
intended, that the then North-western Territory and
all Territories for all time to come should have the
right, without any control of Congress, to enact and
execute any laAv, Avhich the inhabitants or squatters
should please, Avould they not, after Avhat I have
recited, have gone on to declare, that "the inhab
itants of any territory should have power to make
all needful rules and regulations for their internal and
' municipal government? ' " It is very clear that they
Avould have done so had they intended any such
power as what is now called popular sovereignty
should be exerted by the people of a Territory. But
they inserted no clause to that effect, they left this
power in Congress alone, and the history of our legis
lative, and judicial decisions and executive acts, all
show for more than half a century, that such was the
meaning and intent of the Constitution.
The words used in the Constitution which I have
read to you, have been criticised with a display of
much philological learning. Words in use in the
every-day talk and transactions of life are often used
carelessly, and by different persons in very different
senses; words that have application to peculiar
sciences or arts have, when applied to such science
or art, a well-defined and fixed meaning. This is
true of all words, in any language, which have refer
ence to the science of law. Now the words " rules
and regulations," used in the Constitution, have a fixed
andAvell understood meaning. We should bear in

496 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
mind that the men who framed and wrote the Consti
tution were not only wise and good men, having
large acquaintance with the great principles of civil
jDolity, but they were, many of them, learned men
and very learned lawyers. When they made use
of terms which have been well defined in books
which treat of law, they knew, and intended, that
these words or phrases should carry with them the
same meaning which had been assigned them in the
books from whence they derived them. I dare say,
most of our advocates for popular sovereignty will
allow that Gen. Hamilton, one of the most influ
ential members of the Convention, had read and
studied Blackstone's Commentaries, Blackstone de
fines law to be a "rule" of action prescribed by
the Supreme Power commending what is right, etc.
When the Constitution ordained that Congxess should
have power to make all needful "rules" concerning
the Territory — and it simply provided that Congress
should have power to make all needful "laws" con
cerning the Territory — so the language imports,
and so more than fifty years of practice prove, did
"the Fathers" understand the w^ords they had used.
We must never lose sight of this historical argu
ment. On this subject it is worth all the philology
of all the schools. There is a history pertaining to
this question, as there is belonging to the Christian
Church and to most of the great points of theology
and divinity, arising out of the Bible, which is the
constitution for that Church. Now, what do all
preachers of the Christian religion do, when a dis-

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 497
pute arises touching the meaning of a text. If they
can be satisfied by any explanation given by its
author, either by Avords or acts, then the question is
settled at once. By the plainest principle of com
mon sense, if the author of any Avriting AvhatoA^er,
declares the meaning of his own Avords, that is to
be taken as the true meaning and intent of such
author. If a question arises about the proper inter
pretation of a passage in the writings of Paul, Mat
thew, or John; if it can be shown that either of
them declared Avhat such text did mean, or, by his
constant practice, and conduct, shoAved that the
Avriter did understand it to mean this or that, then
I presume, the most hypercritical disputant would be
obliged to agree to such, as being the proper sense
of the passage in dispute.
Now the question I ask, in this, as in all other
cases where the true intent and meaning of the
Constitution is in question, is, what did "the Fa
thers" intend? Let their acts answer. I presume
no one of the modern school of patriots Avill assert
that the Fathers were rogues, and Avent straightway,
after they made a Constitution, to break it. I could
here tire your patience, exemplary as it is, by a long-
recital of their acts, showing that they understood
the Constitution to give Congress full, and com
plete, and exclusive power, to legislate, in all cases,
and on all subjects, for the Territories. Let a very
few historical references on this point suffice, for
the present.
The Territory of Indiana, between the years 1803
32

498 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
and 1810, petitioned Congress, I think as often as
three times, to enact a law which would authorize
that Territory to hold slaves. Sometimes they asked
it for a limited time, sometimes to have it in a
modified form. Now what did Congress do with
these petitions? Did they refuse to refer them to
a committee, on the ground that Congress had no
power to make any law (as now contended) for Ter
ritories? No such thing. They referred all these
petitions to committees, from time to time, as they
were presented. What did the committees do in
the premises ? Did they report, that Congress had
no power over the subject, and ask to be dismissed
and discharged from its further consideration ? Not
at all. On the contrary, they examined the peti
tions, they deliberated, they reflected ; they consid
ered the territory and its people as their territory,
and their proper constituents. They acted as guard
ians of Indiana Territory, as having been so consti
tuted by the Constitution, which had imposed this
duty upon Congress, from which duty they could
not release themselves. In one instance, I believe,
one committee reported favorably to the prayer for
slavery, but that report was noA^er sanctioned by the
A'-ote of Congress, nor was it rejected. It lay on the
table, and was not acted upon by Congress at all.
In another instance, the justly celebrated John Ran
dolph, of Roanoke, was chairman of the committee
to whom one of these petitions Avas referred. He
was then a Jeffersonian Republican. He was not
one to assume power not granted by the Constitu-

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 499
tion. Nor Avas he likely to be ignorant of any of
those arguments, noAv-a-days quite common, in faA-or
of the advantages of slave labor. He Avas a Vir
ginian, a slaveholder, and beyond any caAdl or doubt,
he ivas "of the first families." He, I suppose, had
not learned yet Avhat his successors in Virginia,
perhaps of the first, perhaps of the second families,
have discovered, that is, that hy virtue of the Con
stitution, slavery Avas in Indiana all the time. Nei
ther did the stupid people of Indiana, Avho begged
Congress for slavery, knoAV this great secret. Plad
some modern laAA'yer but been "then and there" to
pronounce "the magic word," "the response of the
oracle" as given now, "over all the Territories the
Constitution carries and sanctifies slavery, ' suo pro-
prio rigore' " — had Randolph and Caesar A. Rodney
"but known this much," Avhat labor, what painful
thought and anxious care would have been spared
to them ! Alas for " the Fathers," they did not know
Avhat tJieir own Constitution meant — they did not
understand the work of their own hands ; they did
not, it seems, comprehend the import of their oAvn
thoughts, and, more to be deplored than even this,
the --old fogies" of Indiana had not heard of "poixi-
lar sovereignty," or if they, by any lucky chance, had
heard these pregnant and magic Avords, they surely
did not apprehend their meaning. But let us be
graA^e, for the subject certainly is one of the gravest
importance. You see, my fellow-citizens, that, in the
early infancy of our Constitutional history, all men,
all Congresses, clearly asserted the right of Congress

500 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
to prohibit slaA^ery in territories. Randolph reported
against the prayer for slavery, and said, in his reports,
in substance, that the Territory would find ample
compensation for the temporary want of labor, in
more rapid emigration, and in "being finally free
from the evil influences of slavery ; and so the com
mittee and Congress, in this way, asserted their
power to make laAvs for Indiana Territory, and refused
to permit slavery there. Now we have found out
Avhat the Fathers did under the Constitution which
the Fathers made, and so we have reached the main
fact, that is, they said, by their acts, "When Ave
made the Constitution, we intended to give, and did
give. Congress power to enact laws for territories."
But ten years pass away, and the year 1820 comes,
freighted Avith its cares, its wise men and their
deeds — very weak men these of 1820, according
to our modern standard ; very foolish deeds theirs,
according to the judgment of unshaven, unbearded
boys of 1859. But what was the year of grace 1820 ?
We old gentlemen who were of that day, and by
special providence have been permitted to see the
great light of this, can recall many of the events,
aspects and feelings of 1820, with pleasure to our
selves, and not, we hope, without profit, as furnish
ing a small contingent of that now much despised
article, experience, once deemed the true, and un
failing school of wisdom.
Our Republic, from its first emergence into the
dignity of independent nationality, was never more
truly national, or, if you please American, than in

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 501
this year 1820. We had then but recently come out
of the Avar of 1812, Avith Great Britain. At the
close of that AVar, "political parties" were all, all
dead — one only remained, and that was an United
American party, We Avere united in heart, in feel
ing, in principle, and in policy. Mr. Monroe Avas
President at this time. He was singularly free from
party asperity in feeling, and not at all troubled with
hobbies or crotchets. Mr. Madison's administration,
AA'hich preceded, had been characterized by a happy
admixture of the best of the principles and policy of
both of the Federal and Republican parties, and Mr.
Monroe Avalked in his footsteps. The cabinet of
Mr. Monroe was composed of men, each of whom
might be truly said to be "a man." John Quincy
Adams was Secretary of State; William H. Craw
ford, Secretary of the Treasury; John C. Calhoun,
Secretary of War; Samuel L. Southard, Secretary
of the NaA'y; William Wirt, Attorney-General.
John McLean was Post-Master General, but this
officer Avas not then a member of the cabinet. Each
one and all of these eminent men may be said to ha\'e
been great and good men. Their history justifies
me in this opinion. While these men composed the
Executive department of the government. Congress
admitted Missouri into the Union. The northern
boundary of Missouri was the line of latitude 36° 30' ;
north of this line there were no white inhabitants;
all north of it was territory, the same now known
as Kansas and Nebraska. Missouri was admitted
with slavery, for good reasons, which I will show you

502 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
presently. But at the same time (1821) the then
Congress enacted a law Avhich declared, that all
the territory comprehended in the Louisiana purchase
lying north of latitude 36° 30' should be forever /re*?
territory. By this law slavery Avas forever forbidden
in all the territory now organized as Kansas and
Nebraska Territories. The question was then settled
by Congress again, as Ave now contend it should have
been, and is still, "that Congress had the power to
prohibit slavery in Territories." So far, we find the
legislative department of the Government agreeing,
by an unbroken series of decisions, that this poAver
did exist, and, what we should never forget, " that it
was also expedient, and for the public good, to pro
hibit slavery in the Territories, wherever it did not
exist before such prohibition."
Now for the executiA-e department. We have seen
that Mr. Monroe was president at this time, and we
have already heard Avho, and what sort of men com
posed his cabinet. We now know, that this A'ery
question was submitted for decision to that cabinet,
and that every member of it, including Mr. Monroe,
agreed that Congress had poAver, under, and by
virtue of the Constitution, to enact that law — that is,
they decided that Congress had the power to prohibit
slavery in Territories, and Mr. Monroe accordingly
approved and signed that bill. Noav, I ask, Avhere
then was the Constitution, Avith slavery under its
arm in all territories, as they now say, bearing its
blessed freight abroad, "suo proprio rigore f Where
was "popular sovereignty" then? Where Avas the

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 503
Avatchful eye of Monroe, the appointed keeper of the
Constitution? Where Avas the profound learning- of
Adams ? Avhere the calm Avisdom and rigid con
struction of CraAvford? Where slept the keen
sagacity and analytic poAvers of Calhoun ? Avherc
the laAV learning, and deliberative mind of Southard?
and above all, what fatal opiate had drugged the all-
accomplished mind of Wirt into lethean forgetfulness ?
My countrymen, my friends, can you believe that
President Pierce and his cabinet, and a few such
gentlemen as Ave all know, in Congress, in the year
of grace, 1854, knew more of the true meaning of
the blessed Constitution of this country, than the
men of 1803, of 1804, of 1810, or those whom I
have named, in 1820 and in 1821 ? It is not neces
sary that I should draw the parallel, or compare, or
contrast the intellect or the patriotism of these tAvo
classes of men. The men of 1821 enacted the pro
hibition of slavery in the territory north of 36° 30'.
The men of 1854 repealed that law. Compare the
two; let every man be his own Plutarch, I can not
now speak their lives.
Let us now pass over the time between 1821 and
1848. In the latter year, Oregon Territory Avas or
ganized. Pause here a moment and consider how
this became necessary. The anxious, busy, sleep
less, hardy Yankee had been whaling in the Pacific.
He had read of Grey and Kendricks' Avanderings in
that sea, of their sailing up the Columbia river. He
had, perhaps, anchored at the mouth of that river
with his "home returning freight" of oil. He had.

504 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
it may be, mixed a can of SAvitchel there and looked
out upon the land. He comes home, and forthwith
the logger in Maine prepares to migrate. The man
in Connecticut, and in Massachusetts, quits his cotton-
mills, his cutleries, his comb-factories, and lo! the
next tidings you hear of Jonathan, he is down on
the Pacific, with "shop up and shingle out" ready for
business. From that moment, no whale nor salmon
shall have a "christian burial" west of the Stony
Mountains. Minks, seals, otters, and all fur-bear
ing creatures, ye are hats and caps and no "living
thing," from thenceforth forevermore. It is clear
that such a people should be "organized," and so it
Avas done in the year 1848. In that bill, slavery in
Oregon territory was prohibited, and Mr. Polk, then
president, "approved" and signed it. In the inter
mediate time betAveen 1821 and 1848, very many acts
of Congress, enacting, or recognizing the same prin
ciple (the power of Congress to make laws for Terri
tories) were passed, signed and approved. But still
further, in all the organic laws made for all territo
ries, I think (perhaps there may be an exception or
tAvo ) where Congress authorize a territorial legisla
ture to enact laws, they go on to provide in substance
that all laws enacted by such legislatures shall be
reported to Congress, and if Congress shall dis
approve them, they shall be null and void. This you
Avill find in the acts of 1850, organizing Utah and
New Mexico. The same provision is in the organic
law of Washington territory, passed in 1852. Does
not that provision assert the omnipotent legislative

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 505
poAver of Congress over territories, in total forgetful
ness of popular sovereignty, or even constitutions,
"sno propria rigore" extending slavery. All such
laAvs have been enacted by Congresses of every hue
of politics, A'arious as these shades haA'e been, and
approA'ed by Presidents of all parties. Thus Ave
have the legislative and executive departments from
the adoption of the United States Constitution up to
1852, a period of over sixty years, affirming- the
Republican doctrine held by us, my Republican
brethren, this 19th day of July, 1859. Now we see
AA'here the "Fathers'" foot-prints are, the road is'
plain, Avell paved, and straight. The milestones
are red with revolutionary blood. We can not be
lost in it. With God's blessing, and I humbly trust
Avith his approval, Ave Avill aver, this day, that neither
Presidents nor President-makers, nor principalities
nor poAvers, shall stop us in our march onward in
that road.
jNIy fellow-citizens, I invoke your patience while
Ave look for a moment, into the judicial department.
If Ave can find our Republican principles approved
there, then authority, example, precedent, can go no
further. In the year 1828, the case of " The American In
surance Co., and others, against David Carter," came
before the Supreme Court of the United States —
John Marshall being then Chief Justice. This case
will be found reported in Is^ Peters' Beports, page
511. This question of the power of Congress over
Territories is spoken of by Justice Marshall, in that

506 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
case, in these terms. I will read his words — for the
words of such a man should never be repeated but
with care and reverence. Speaking of the treaty by
which we acquired Florida from Spain, he says: "The
treaty is the law of the land, and admits the inhabitants
of Florida to the enjoyment ofthe privileges, rights and
immunities of citizens of the United States, Lt is unne
cessary to inquire whether this is not their condition inde
pendent of stipulation. They do not, however-, participiate
in political power ; they do not share in the Government
till Florida shall become a State," Noav mark Avhat
foUoAA's : " In the meantime, Florida continues tobe a ter
ritory of the United States, governed hy virtue of that
clause in the Constitution which empowers Congress to
make all needful rules and regulations respecting the ter
ritory or other property belonging to the United States.
Perhaps the power of governing the territories belonging
to the United States, which has not hy becoming a State
acquired the means of self-government, may result neces
sarily from the facts that it is not within the jurisdiction
of any particular State, and is within the power and
jurisdiction of the United States. The right to govern
may be the inevitable consequence of the right to acquire
territory. Whatever may be the source whence the poicer
is derived, the possession of it is unquestioned." Noav,
Avhose opinions shall weigh against those of John
Marshall, and I believe every judge on the bench
then agreed Avith him ? If it has pleased God ever to
create a man with an intellect incapable of deceiA'ing
itself or being- deceived by others, if Divine Wisdom
ever endoAved a human soul Avith the poAver of find-

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 507
ing his Avay to truth safely and certainly, through
all the mists of prejudice and all the artfully-con
trived mazes of sophistry, such a mind was given
to Chief Justice Marshall. You have heard his
opinions ; they are the doctrines on this subject of our
Republican party this day. The executive, legis
lative and judicial wisdom, all accordant for sixty
years, assure us of our faith, and call on us to perse
vere in our practice. But what shall I say of the
Dred Scott decision? Nothing. The question I am
considering- Avas not before the Court in that case,
and therefore could not have been decided "obiter
dicta ; " there maybe discussions relating to the subject,
but no judicial, no authoritative decision on this ques
tion was possible in that case.
I have spoken of the Act organizing Utah and
New Mexico, passed in 1850. You all remember
the long and anxious debate which preceded the
passage of that laAv; the fearful forebodings of some,
the threats of dissolution of the Union by others —
it Avas indeed a sad spectacle, a dark day. It came
upon us by our conquest of Mexico. The treaty
which terminated the Mexican war, gave us Noav
Mexico and California. The treaty, I say, gave us,
these proA'inces, but I should have said, it gave them
up after we, by strong hand, had Avrenched them from
weak Mexico. The treaty was the deed of convey
ance, the right, if right it may be called, was founded
in the bloody victories of Buena Vista, Cerro Gordo,
Chepultepec, and Molino del Rey. The evidences of
our title, are the graves of many thousands of our

508 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
noble and heroic children. There was one bearing a
humble part in your national councils then, Avho
desired to put an end to that Mexican Avar before you
had obtained these provinces. I shall not name that
man. He ventured to prophesy that it would come
to no good end ; that Avhen you had obtained this ter
ritory, Avhether by conquest or purchase, this A'ery
question of the extension of slavery into it would
arise ; that it would be a firebrand in our maga
zine ; it would excite a spirit of discord, Avhich in its
Avild and ungovernable fury might rend the family
ties of the Union, and scatter us in disordered frag
ments away, far and forever away, from the good old
family home builded for us by our fathers, in Avhich
Ave had so long and so happily dwelt. For this that
man Avas burned in effigy often, but yet not burned
up. This prediction Avas not very far from its fulfill
ment in 1850, if all the sinister aspects of that day
may be trusted as giA'ing " signs of the times." It
was, perhaps, proper that we should be A'isited Avith
troubles in managing- such conquests. Retribution is
Avith the God of the nations. May we not forget
Avhere that power is lodged by a certain Constitution
enacted before time began, to be in full force through
out all eternity to come.
I ask you, my fellow-citizens, is there ever to be
an end of this question ? What does the Judge tell
you when he decides a case? He tells you, in the
language of the law, that "it is expedient for the
country that there should be an end to the ques
tion." Your law titles depend upon that. Would

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 509
you not consider it strange, if, tAventy years after,
another court should come and decide the contrary ?
A sensible court would say, this has been decided
tAventy years ago, argued legally, and " it is expedi
ent for the country that there should be an end to
the question." If you Avant to have a written con
stitution that you can rely on at all, you must have
an interpretation put upon the Avords, and let it read
that way until the people choose to change it by
altering- the AVords, otherAvise a Avritten constitution
Avill be made to read this thing one year, and another
thing another year.
Now I wish to read, for the special benefit of weak
brethren, a few words from a couple of the apostles
of modern Democracy. On the 4th day of March,
1850, John C. Calhoun- (the Compromise Bill of Mr.
Clay being then under discussion in the Senate )
spoke as follows : " In claiming- the right for the
inhabitants, instead of Congress, to legislate for the
territories in the executive proviso, it assumes that
the sovereignty over the Territories is vested in the
former, or to express it in the language used in a
resolution offered by one of the Senators from Texas
(Gen. Houston) , they have the same inherent right
of self-government as the people of the States. This
assumption is xitterly unfounded, unconstitutional, and
contrary to the entire practice ofthe Government from
its commencement to the present time." Mr. Calhoun
then goes on with his comments upon the subject,
and says, "Nor is it less clear that the power of legis
lating over the acquired territory is vested in Congress,

510 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
and not, as is assumed, in the inhabitants ofthe Terri
tories," Thus far Mr. Calhoun in 1850.
On the 2d day of June, 1850, this same subject
being- still under discussion, Mr. Douglas thus de
livers himself of his opinions. Let it not be forgotten
that ]\Ir. D. must have reflected much and long on
this A'ery subject, as he had long served as chairman
of the committee on Territories. I read from his
reported speech, doubtless carefully revised by him
self: "But, sir, I do not hold the doctrine, that to
exclude any species of property by law, from any
territory, is a violation of any right to property.
Do you not exclude banks from most of the Terri
tories ? Do you not exclude Avhisky from being in
troduced into large portions of the territory of the
United States ? Do you not exclude gambling-tables,
which are properly recognized as such, in the States
Avhere they are tolerated? And, has any one con
tended that the exclusion of ardent spirits Avas a
A'iolation of any Constitutional priA'ilege or right?
and yet it is the case in a large portion of the ter
ritory of the United States ; but there is no outcry
against that, because it is the prohibition of a specific
kind of property, and not a prohibition against any
section of the Union. ^Miy, sir, our laAvs noAv pre-
A'ent a tavern-keeper from going- into some of the Ter-
I'itories of the United States, and taking a bar Avith
him, and using and selling- spirits there. The laAv also
prohibits certain other descriptions of business from
being carried on in the Territories. / «??i not, there
fore, prepared to say that, under the Constitution we liave

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 511
not the power to pass laws excluding negro slaves from
Territories. It involves the same principle." — (Vol. 21
Cong. Globe, p. 1,115.)
Noav Avhat are Ave to conclude from this array of
the history of this question, and the uniform opinions
of the greatest, the Avisest, and all men down to the
least? Beginning from the first establishment of
our present constitutional government, and ending in
1850, or perhaps more properly in 1852, Avhen Wash
ington Territory Avas organized, reserving ultimate
legislatiA'e poAver over that territory in Congress ? I
ask my brother Democrats, whether of the Buchanan
or Douglas church, shall Ave not adhere to the
opinions of the "fathers?" Have we the enormous
egotism to suppose that Ave, we of this latter day,
have better knowledge of the meaning of our political
gospels than the fathei-s who wrote them? If you
think and believe this folly, why then you are j)ast
praying for, and I am done with you.
We have now settled our constitutional rights as
to the extent and mode in which the Republicans
propose to prevent the further extension of slaA'ery.
I Avish here to say, that I think this prohibitory
poAver should be exerted as to all territory now ours,
and all that shall become ours wherever slaA'ery is
not established when such territory is acquired, Avith
this qualification, that it must be such climate as a
Avhite man, and the white race generally, can live and
Avork in, I think it is a question not yet settled
Avhether the white race, our white race, can Avork
and live in health, in very hot latitudes.

512 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
Let us look for a moment into our duties under
the Constitution toward the slaveholding States.
Much excitement has existed in Ohio and elsewhere
about the "Fugitive SlaA'e Bill" — so it is familiarly
called. This subject has not yet been fairly and dis
passionately presented to the people. It may have
been so presented to courts, and in courts, but not,
as I believe, in our popular meetings. The act of
1850 has many objectionable provisions which are
easily misunderstood, and which are altogether use
less and of no avail in the practical operation of the
laAV. I should not have voted for that law had I
been in the Senate when it passed. I prefer the old
law of 1793; it is free from most of the follies of the
present law, and it is just as easy to reclaim a
fugitive under the first as under the law of 1850. I
imderstand that some in Ohio, and it may be some
on the Kentucky side, have supposed that any man
from Kentucky who comes here in pursuit of a
fugitive, a runaway negro, can command a citizen
of Ohio to aid him in catching him. This is said to
be the opinion in Kentucky. I should like to knoAv
if this be so. My friend, Mr. Moore, uoav on the
rostrum, recently, I am happy to inform you, elected
to Congress from the district in Kentucky opposite
to us, can say whether this be so.
[Here Mr. Moore observed, "That is so."]
Well, that may be your construction, but you, and
all in Ohio, who have (as I believe), to render this
law odious, maintained this construction, are all mis-

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 513
taken. The laAv requires no such thing ; it could not
compel us here to do so, were a thousand laws made
for that purpose. I know the act of 1850 requires
all citizens to aid the master or his agent, or the
officer having process to arrest a fugitive, when smh
master, his agent, or the officer, is resisted hy a mob or
any force which can not he repelled without such aid.
[Mr. Moore here remarked, "We say as you do, if we are
resisted then you must aid us."]
Exactly so, such is the laAv. Now this is precisely
Avhat is enjoined by the laws of Ohio, and I suppose
all the States, when the execution of the laws is
forcibly resisted. In such case, Ave do not aid in re
claiming a slave, but we aid in suppressing a mob,
Ave aid in putting down forcible resistance to law, to
our law, for all laws of the United States are the
laAvs made by the representatives of all the people
of the United States. But some of our people, some
who act with us, very few I think, say this law is not
a binding law, because it is contrary to the Constitu
tion, and above all, they say it is opposed to the
"natural inherent rights of man," Now, I have to
say as to the first of these objections, the courts both
state and federal have decided that this law is not
contrary to the United States Constitution, and that
Congress had power to enact that law. The Supreme
Court of Ohio has very recently, on solemn argument,
so decided. This is enough for me and all law-
abiding men. We must obey and not resist that
laAV. If we do not think it a good law, why go to
33

514 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
the ballot-box, elect men who will alter or repeal it.
The cartridge-box is not to be resorted to in this
country in such matters ; that other more harmless
box, the ballot-box, is our resort in all such cases.
If the majority is agairist us, why we must submit.
There can be no government possible, if any and
every individual may determine for himself, what
law he will obey, and what he will not obey. As to
the inherent right of a slave to run away from his
master, why this inherent right ceases, if the Con
stitution has said his master may follow him and
reclaim him. I think, in such a case, the master's
constitutional rights will be likely to vanquish the
slave's "inherent" right. We can have no inherent
rights in our Government which conflict with rights
established by our organic law, else in the case put
by me now, we must be driven to declare the United
States Constitution itself to be wnconstitjutional. This
Avould be the grossest nonsense. But what says the
Constitution? In the fourth article and the last par
agraph in section two, you can read these words:
"No person held to service or labor in one State,
under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall
in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be
discharged from such service or labor, hut shall he
delivered up, on claim of the party to whom such service
or labor may he dueP Now you see, my Republican
friends, that we are required by this clause of that
sacred instrument not to help away a fugitive or
resist his capture, but it requires of us that he "shall
he delivered up on claim of the party to whom his service

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 515
or labor may he due." This, in plain Avords, means
that a slave who runs aAvay ft'om Kentucky, shall
be by us delivered to his master when he, the
master, or his agent, comes here after him. Noav
you, the Republican party claim that your Congress
may prohibit slavery in Territories. How came you
by such right? Only by virtue of this very United
States Constitution can you claim to do this. Is it
not fair, then, that the right of your southern brother
to reclaim his runaway slave, given to him in this
same Constitution, should be conceded to him. Will
you take so much of the Constitution as you like
to-day, and abrogate what you don't like? Yet this
is just the thing, this is the absurdity which some
foAv people, well-meaning men, perhaps, seem to
require of us. I proclaim here to-day to all whom
it may concern, that such is not the doctrine of the
Republican party of Ohio. If this were its doctrine
it would dwindle into a contemptible minority, in
one day after it should be made known.
There is another question sometimes mooted in
and out of Congress, dividing, it is said, the North
and the South : Shall any more slave States be
admitted into the Union? Now I wish to answer this
question for myself. If you will conquer or purchase
any state, province or territory, wherein slavery is an
established institution, and agree, as you did in the
Louisiana treaty, to admit such province, island, or •
Territory into the Union, Avith such rights as belong-
to the original States, then I say you must admit
them with their slavery. Sucfr treaty is the supreme-

516 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
law of the land. It is so declared by the Constitu
tion. To that supreme law you must submit, in the
case I have supposed. Let me here read an extract
from a speech of John Quincy Adams, in Con
gress, on the admission of Arkansas into the Union,
in 1836c
" Mr. Chairman: — I can not, consistently with my sense of my
obligations as a citizen of the United States, and bound by oath
to support their Constitution, I can not object to the admission
of Arkansas into the Union as a slave State, as Louisiana, and
Mississippi, and Alabama, and Missouri have been admitted by
virtue of that article in the treaty for the acquisition of Louisiana,
which secures to the inhabitants of the ceded territories, all the
rights, privileges, and immunities of the original citizens of the
United States, and stipulates for their admission, conformably to
that principle, into the Union. Louisiana was purchased as a
country wherein slavery was the established law of the land. As
Congress have not power in time of peace to abolish slavery in the
original States of the Union, they are equally destitute of the
power in those parts of the territory ceded by France to the
United States, by the name of Louisiana, where slavery existed
at the time of the acquisition. Slavery is in this Union the sub
ject of internal legislation in the States, and in peace is cogni
zable by Congress, only as it is tacitly tolerated and protected
where it exists by the Constitution of the United States, and as
it mingles in their intercourse with other nations. Arkansas
therefore comes, and has the right to come, into the Union with
her slaves, and with her slave laws. It is written in the bond,
and, however I may lament that it ever was so written, I must
faithfully perform its obligations."
Mr. Adams was not the man to favor slavery, but
he was the man to follow, with fearless intrepidity,
the dictates of truth, justice and honor. He well

ON CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES. 517
understood, if any man ever did, the poAvers of the
States and of the General Government, and he would
not flinch from the great paramount duty of an
x\merican statesman, in yielding to each that Avhich
belonged to each. ]My opinion is, and always Avas,
AA'hat he has so happily expressed in the extract
AA'hich I haA'e read. Let us suppose that you pur
chase the Island of Cuba, Avhich by-the-Avay you Avill
not do soon — Cuba has a Avell and long-established
institution called Slavery — you Avill not, probably (a.s
you did not in the case of California and New Mex
ico), ask the consent of the people of Cuba to come
into the Union or under your goA'ernment in any
form. What is the great and universally accepted
dogma on Avhich all vour institutions rest ? It is thus
expressed, "all righful power of government is de-
riA'ed from, the consent of the people to be governed."
Vlien you buy from the king or queen of Spain thc
right to govern the Island and people of Cuba, Avill you
provide that the purchase money shall not be paid
imtil the consent of the peojile to the transfer shall bo
given bv a vote of all the white male inhabitants of
the Island? If you will, then you will never get Cuba,
unless you take her with slavery. The people Avill
not consent to come under your yoke unless you take
slavery, as an established laAv, also. If you provide
for their admission into the Union Avith equal rights
Avith the other States, then your former practice,
and Mr. Adam's opinion, and mine, and that of e\'ery
other man who regards the sanctity of treaties, will
settle the question.

518 SPEECHES OF THOMAS CORWIN.
JNIy ftiends, I must conclude. I have exhausted
my strength, and am sure I have overtaxed your
patience. One word of advice at parting. If you
A\'ish to silence, for our time, and for a long time, this
disturbing- and dangerous question of slavery, you
haA'e nothing to do but resolve that you will acquire
no more territory for the next twenty years. That
Avhich you now have will never raise the question ; it
is that Avhich you expect to get, which gives the ques
tion all its real importance. You already haA'e about
one-tenth part of the globe, within your territorial
limits. Be content Avith that — cultivate well what
you haA'e ; raise up men, good men, honest men ;
improve the animal man, and be not too careful to
extend your poAver. This done, and the South and
the North, and the East and the West will rush into
each others' arms, and cling closer to each other on
account of the former partial estrangement. Then
we shall be indeed citizens, fellow-citizens, of 07ie coun
try, and that country free, powerful, and happy — all,
all uniting in thankfulness to God for the happy
times in which we live, the great country we live in,
and the glorious institutions we live under. God
bless you all, my friends. I have given you much
good advice to-day, much of which I fear some will
not follow. I charge you nothing for it, but believe
me, and try it. I am sure if you will, it shall profit
you quite as much as counsel for which I dare say
some of you have often paid what you may have
thought was a very large fee.