Daily constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 1846-1851, November 28, 1847, Image 2
TH E CON ST 1T UT IONA L1 ST.
JAMES GARDNER, JR.
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[F rom the Baltimore Patriot, 2Uh inst.]
H3NRY CLAY’S SPEECH!
We have received from the North Ameri
can and U. S. Gazette, an authentic copy of
the speech, as reported and corrected for that
paper. Wc at once lay it before our readers
in a second edition.
Speech of Mr. Clay,
At the Mass meeting in Lexington , Kg., on
Saturday, November 13, 1817.
After the organization of this meeting, Mr.
Clay rose and addressed it substantially as
follows :
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The day is dark and gloomy, unsettled and
uncertain, like the conditioner our country,
in regard to the unnatural war with Mexico.
The public mind is agitated and anxious, and
is filled with serious apprehension as to its
indefinite continuance, and especially as to
the consequences which its termination may
firing forth, menacing the harmony, if nht the’
existence, of our Union.
It is under those circumstances, I present I
myself before you: No ordinary occasion
•vtoiild haVe drawn mo from the retirement in
Which 1 live ; but, whilst a single pulsation of
the human heart remains, it should, if neces
sary, be dedicated to the service of one’s coun
try. And I have hoped, that, although I am
a private and humble citizen, an expression
of the views and opinions I entertain, might
form some little addition to the general stock
of information, and afford a small assistance in
delivering our country from the perils and
dangers which surround it.
I have come here with no purpose to attemp
to make a fine speech, or any ambitious ora
torial display. I have brought with me no
rhetorical bouquets to throw into this assem
blage. In the circle of the year autumn has
oome, and the season of fiowers has passed
away.- In the progress of years, my spring
time has gone by, and I am too in' the
tumn of life, and feel the frost of age. My de
sire and aim are to address you, earnestly,
calmly, seriously and plainly, upon the grave
and momentous subjects which have brought
us together. And lam most solicitous that
not a solitary word may fall from me, offensive
to any party or person in the whole extent of
the Union.
War, pestilence, and famine,by the common
consent of mankind, are the three greatest ca
lamities which can befall our species; and war,
as the most direful, justly stands foremost and
in front. Pestilence and famine, no doubt
for wise, although inscrutable purposes, arc
inflictions of Providence, to which it is our
duty, therefore, to bow with obedience, hum
ble submission and resignation. Their dura
tion is not long, and their ravages are limited.
They bring, indeed, great affliction whilst
they last, but society soon recovers from their
effects. War is the voluntary work of our
own hands, and whatever reproaches it may
deserve should be directed to ourselves.—
When it breaks out, its duration is indefinite
and unknown —its vicissitudes are hidden
from our view. In the sacrifice of human
life, and in the waste of human treasure, in its
losses and in its burthens, it affects both bellige
rent nations; and its sad effects of mangled
bodies of death, and of desolation, endure
long after its thunders are hushed in peace.
War unhinges society, disturbs its peaceful
find regular industry, and scatters poisonous
» seeds of disease and immorality, which con
tinue to germinate and diffuse their baneful
influence long after it has ceased. Dazzlimr
by its glitter, pomp and pageantry, it begets a
spirit of wild adventure and romantic enter
prise, and often disqualifies those who embark
in it, after their return from the bloody fields
of battle, from engaging in the industrious and
peaceful vocations of life.
We are informed by a statement, which is
apparently correct, that the number of our
countrymen slain in this lamentable Mexican
war, although it has yet been of only 18
months’ existence, is equal to one half of the
whole of the American loss during the seven
years’ war of the Revolution ! And I venture
to assert that the expenditure of treasure which
it has occasioned, when 'it shall come to be
fairly asserted and footed up, will be found to
be more than half of the pecuniary cost of our
Independence. And this is the condition of
the party whose arms have been every where
and constantly victorious!
How did wc unhappily get involved in this
war ? It was predicted as the consequence of
the annexation of Texas to the United States.
If we had not Texas, we should have no war.
The people were told that if that event hap
pened, war would ensue. They were told
that the war between Texas and Mexico had
not been terminated by a treaty of peace, that
Mexico still claimed Texas as a revolted
province; and that, if we received Texas in
our Union, we took along with her. the war
existing between her and Mexico. And the
■Minister of Mexico formally announced to the
Government at Washington, that his nation
would consider the annexation of Texas to
the United States, as producing a state of war.
But all this was denied by the partizans of
annexation. They insisted we should have no
war, and even imputed to those who foretold
it, sinister motives for their groundless predic
tion.
But, notwithstanding a state of virtual war
necessarily resulted from the faet of annexa
tion of one of the balligcrcnts to the United
States, actual hostilities might have been
probably averted by prudence, moderation,and
wise statesmanship. If General Taylor had
been permitted to remain, where his own
good sense prompted him to believe he ought
lo remain, at the point of Corpus Christi; and
if a negotiation had been opened with Mexico,
in a true spirit of amity and conciliation, war
possibly might have been prevented. But, in
stead of this pacific aqd moderate course, whilst
Mr. Slidell was bending his way to Mexico,
with his diplomatic credentials. General Tay
lor was ordered to transport his cannon, j*nd
to plant them, in a warlike attitude, opposite
to Matamoras, on the east bank of the Itio
Bravo, within the very disputed territory, the
adjustment of which was to be the object of
Mr. Slidell’s mission. What else could have
transpired but a conflict of arms ?
Thus the war commenced, and the President,
after having produced it, appealed to Congress.
A bill was proposed;!© raise 50,000 volunteers, j
and in order to commit all who should vote j
it, a preamble was inserted, falsely attiibu- j
tug the commencement of the war to the act <
Mexico. I have no doubt of the patriotic mo- <
lives of those who, alter struggling to divest <
the bill of that flagrant error, found themselves ]
constrained to vote for it. But I must say
that no ear thly consideration would have ever ’
tempted or provoked me to vote for a bill,with
a palpable falsehood stamped on its face.—
Almost idolizing truth, as I do, I never could j <
have voted for that bill. i
The exceptionable conduct, of the Federal !
party, during the last British War, has excited
an influence in the prosecution of the present
war, and prevented a just discrimination be
tween the two wars. That was a war of Na
tional defence, required for the vindication of
the National rights and honor, and demanded
by the indignant voice of the people. Presi
dent Madison, himself, I know, at first, reluc
tantly and with great doubt and hesitation,
brought himself to the conviction that it might
be declared. A leading, and perhaps the most
influential member of his cabinet, (Mr. Galla
tin,) was, up to the time of its declaration, op
posed to it. But nothing could withstand the !
irresistible force of public sentiment. It was
a just war- and its great object, as announced
at the time, was “ Free Trade and Sailors’ :
Rights,” against the intolerable and oppres- •
sive acts of British power on the ocean. The |
justice of the war, far from b ing denied or 1
controverted, was admitted by the Federal j
party, which only questioned it on considera
tions of policy. Being deliberately and con
stitutionally declared, it was, I think, their
duty to have given to it their hearty co-oper
ation. But the mass of them did not. They
continued to oppose and thwart it, to discou
rage loans and enlistments, to deny the pow
er of the General Government to march the
militia beyond our limits, and to hold a Hart
ford Convention, which, whatever were its
real objects, bore the aspect of seeking a dis- !
solution of the Union itself. They lost, and {
justly lost, the public confidence. But has it
not au apprehension of a similar fate, in a
1 state of a case widely different, repressed a
fearless expression'of their real sentiments in
some of our public men r
How totally variant is the present war!
This is no war of defence, but one unnecessa
ry and of offensive aggression. It :s Mexico
that is defending her firesides, her castles and
her altars, not we. And how different also is
the conduc : of the Whig party of the present
day from that of the major part of the Federal
party during the war of 1812 ! Far from in
terposing any obstacles to the prosecution of
the war, if the Whigs in office are reproacha
ble at all, it is for having lent too ready a fa
cility to it, without careful examination into
the objects of the war. And, out of office, who
have rushed to the prosecution of the war with
more ardor and alacrity than the Whigs ?
Whose hearts have bled more freely than those
of the Whigs ? Who have more occasion to
mourn the loss of sons, husbands, brothers,
fathers, than Whig parents, Whig wives ami
Whig brothers, in this deadly and unprofita
ble strife ?
But the havoc of war is in progress, and the
no less deplorable havoc of an inhospitable and
pestilential climate, Without indulging in
an unnecessary retrospect and useless re
proaches on the past, all hearts and heads 5
should unite in the patriotic endeavor to bring
it to a satisfactory close. Is there no way 1
that this cun be done ? Must we blindly con- j
tinue the conflict without any visible object, or
any prospect of a definite termination ? This 1
is the important subject upon which I desire j
to consult and to commune with you. Who,
in this free government, is to decide upon the |
objects of a war, at its commencement, or at
any time during its existence ? Does the pow- i
er belong to the Nation in the collective wis- !
dom of the Nation im Congress assembled, or
is it vested solely in a single functionary of the
government r
A declaration of war is the highest and
most awful exercise of sovereignty. 'I he Con
vention, which framed our federal constitu
tion, had learned from the pages of history
that it had been often and greatly abused. It
had seen that war had often been commenced
upon the most trifling pretexts, that it had
been frequently waged to establish or exclude
a dynasty ; to snatch a crown from the head
of one potentate and place it upon the head of
another ; that it had often been prosecuted to
promote alien and other interests, than those
of the nation whoso chief had proclaimed it,
as in the case of English wars for Hanoverian
interests ; and, in short, that such a vast and
tremendous power ought not to be confided to
the perilous exercise of one single man. The
’ Convention, thereof, resolved to guard the war |
making power against those great abuses of I
, which in the hands of a monarch it was so sus- !
ccptible. And the security against those abu
-1 ses which its wisdom devised, was to vest the
war-making power in the Congress of the Uni
ted States, being the immediate representa
tives of the people and the States. So appre
hensive and jealous was the Convention of its
abuse iu any other hands, that it interdicted
1 the exercise of the power to any State iu the
Union, without the consent of Congress. Con
gress, then, in our system of Government, is
| the sole depository of that tremendous power.
The Constitution provides that Congress
; shall have power to declare war, and grant let
ters of mai que and reprisal, to make rules
| concerning captures on land and water, to
raise and support armies, to provide and main
tain a navy, and to make rules for tire govern
- ment of the land and naval forces. Thus we
perceive that the principal power, in regard to
war, with all at its auxiliary attendants, is
granted to Congress. Whenever called upon
I to determine upon the solemn question of
peace or war, Congress must consider and de
' liberate and decide upon the motives, objects
' and causes of the war. And, if a war bo com
menced without any previous declaration of
its objects, as in the of the existing war
with Mexico, Congress must necessarily pos
sess the authority, at any time, to declare for
what purpose it shall be farther prosecuted.
If we suppose Congress docs not possess the
controlling authority attributed to it; if it be
' contended that a war having been once com
! mcaced, the President of the United States
may direct it to the accomplishment of any
objects ho pleases, without consulting and
. without any regard to the will of Congress,
the Convention will have utterly failed in
guarding tho nation against the abuses and
ambition of a single individual. Either Con
gress, or the President, must have the right of
determining upon the objects for which a war
' shall be prosecuted. There is no other alter
native. If the President possess it and may
prosecute it for objects against the will of Con
gress, where is the difference between our free
government and that of any other nation which
may be governed by an absolute Czar, Empe
ror or King ?
Congress may omit, as it has omitted in the
present w r ar, to proclaim the objects for which
it was commenced or has been since prosecu
ted, and in cases of such omission the Presi
dent, being charged with the employment and
direction of the national force is, necessarily,
left to his own judgment to decide upon the
objects, to the attainment of which that force
shall be applied. But, whenever Congress
shall think proper to declare, by sorne authen
tic act, for what purposes a war shall be com
menced or continued, it is the duty of the
President to apply the national force to the at
tainment of those purposes. In tho instance
of the last war with Great Britain, the act of
Congress by which it w'as declared was prece
ded by a message of President Madison enu
( merating the wrongs and injuries of which we
| complained against Great Britain. That mes
-1 sage therefore, .and without the well known
I ■ I II iMflMHwii I
objects of the war, which was a war purely of |
defence, rendered it necessary that Congress
should particularize, in the act, the specific ob
jects for which it was proclaimed. The whole
world knew that it was a war waged for Free |
Trade and Sailor’s Rights, 1
It may be urged that the President and Se- ,
mate possess the treaty making power, with
out any express limitation as to its exercise ;
that the natural and ordinary termination of a
war is by a treaty of peace; and therefore,
that the President and Senate must possess
the power to decide what stipulations and con
ditions shall enter into such a treaty. Put it
is not more true that the President and Senate
possess the treaty-making power, without lim
itation, than that Congress possesses the war
making power, without restriction. These
two powers then ought to be so interpreted as
to reconcile the one with the other ; and, in
expounding the constitution, we ought to keep
constantly in view the nature and structure of
our free government, and especially the great
object of the Convention in taking the war
making power out of the hands of a sirgle
man and placing it in the safe custody of the
representatives of the whole nation. The de
sirable reconciliation between the two powers
is effected by attributing to Congress the right
to declare what shall be the objects of a war,
and to the President the duty of endeavoring
to obtain those objects by the direction of the
national force and by diplomacy.
I am broaching no new and speculative
theory. The Statute book of the United
States is full of examples of prior declarations
by Congress of the objects to be attained by
negotiations with foreign Powers, and the ar
chives of the Executive Department furnish
abundant evidence of the accomplishment of
those objects, or the attempt to accomplish
them, by subsequent negotiation. Prior to the
declaration of the last war against Great Bri
tain, in all the restrictive measures which Con
gress adopted, against the two great belliger
ent Powers of Europe, clauses were inserted
in the several acts establishing them, tender
ing to both or either of the belligerents, the
abolition of those restrictions if they would
repeal their hostile Berlin and Milan decrees
and Orders in Council, operating against our
commerce and navigation.
And these acts of Congress were invariably
communicated, through the Executive, by di
plomatic notes, to France and Great Britain,
as the basis upon which it was proposed to re
store friendly intercourse with them. So, af
ter the termination of the war, various acts of
Congress were passed, from time to time, of
fering to Foreign Powers the principle of re
ciprocity in the commerce and navigation of
the United States Avith them. Out of these
acts have sprung a class, and a large class, of
treaties (four or live of which were negotiated,
whilst I was in the department of State,) com
monly called reciprocity treaties, concluded
under all the Presidents, from Mr. Madison to
Mr. Van Buren, inclusive. And, with regard
to commercial treaties, negotiated with the
sanction of prior acts of Congress, where they
contained either appropriations or were in con
flict with unrepealed statues, it has been ever
held as the republican doctrine from Jay’s
t' eaty down to the present time, that the pas
sage of acts of Congre>s was necessary to se
cure the execution of those treaties. If in
the matter of Foreign Commerce, in respect to
which the power vested in Congress to regu
late it and the treaty making power may be
regarded as concurrent, Congress can previous
ly decide the objects to which negotiation shall
be applied, how much stronger is the case of
war, the poAver to declare Avhich is confided
exclusively to Congress ?
I conclude, therefore Mr. President and fel
loAV-citizens, with entire confidence, that Con
gress has the right, either at the beginning, or
during the prosecution of any Avar, to decide
the objects and purposes for which it was pro
claimed, or for Avhich it ought to be continued.
And, I think, it is the duty of Congress, by
some deliberate and authentic act, to declare
for Avhat objects the present war shall be
longer prosecuted. I suppose the President
Avould not hesitate to regulate his conduct by
the pronounced will of Congress, and to em
ploy'the force and the diplomatic power of
the nation to execute that will. But, if the
President should decline or refuse to do so,
and, in contempt of the supreme authority of
Congress, should persevere in Avaging the Avar,
for other objects than those proclaimed by
Congress, then it Avould be the imperative
duty of that body to vindicate its authority
by the most stringent and effectual, and ap
propriate measures. And ifi on the contrary,
the enemy should refuse to conclude a treaty,
containing stipulations securing the objects,
designated by Congress, it would be the duty
of the Avhole government to prosecute the
war, Avith all the national energy, until those
objects Avere attained by a treaty of peace.—
There can be no insuperable difficulty in Con
gress making such an authoritative declaration.
Let it resolve, simply, that the war shall, or
shall not, be a war of conquest; and if a Avar
of conquest, Avhat is to be conquered. Should
a resolution pass, disclaiming the design of
conquest, peace AA'ould follow in less than six
ty days, if the President would conform to
his constitutional duty.
Here, fellow-citizens I might pause, having
indicated a mode by Avhich the nation.through
its accredited and legitimate representatives
in Congress, can announce for what purposes
and objects this Avar shall be longer prose
cuted, and can thus let the Avhole people of
the United States knoAv for what end their blood
is to be further shed, and their treasure furth
er expended, instead of the knoAvledge of it
being locked up and concealed in the bosom
of one man. We should no longer perceive
the objects of the war varying, from time to
time, according to the changing opinions of
the Chief Magistrate charged with its prose
cution. But Ido not think it right to stop
here. It is the privilege of the people, in
their primitive assemblies, and of every pri-
A'atc man, hoAvever humble, to express an
opinion in regard to the purposes for which
the Avar should be continued; and such an ex
pression will receive just so much considera
tion and consequence as it is entitled to, and
no more.
Shall this war be prosecuted for the purpose
of conquering and annexing Mexico, in all its
boundless extent, to the United States ?
I will not attribute to the President of the
United States any such design, but I confess I
have been shocked and alarmed by manifesta
tions of it in various quarters. Os all the
dangers and misfortunes which could befall
this nation, I should regard that of its becom
ing a Avarlikc and conquering poAver the most
direful and fatal. History tells the mournful
tale of conquering nations ams conquerors.—
The three most celebrated conquerors, in the
ciAdlized world, AA’ere Alexander, Caesar and
Napoleon. The fjrst, after overrunning a large
portion of Asia, and sighing and lamenting that
there Avere no mere Avorlds to subdue, met a
premature and ignoble death. His Lieuten
ants quarrelled and Avarred Avith each other,
as to the spoils of his Adctories, and finally lost
them all. Caesar, after conquering Gaul, re
turned with his triumphant legions to Rome,
passed the Rubicon, won the battle of Pharsa
lia, trampled upon the liberties of his country,
and expired by the patriot hand of Brutus.
But Rome ceased to be free. War and con
quest had enervated and corrupted the masses.
The spirit of true liberty Avas extinguished,
and a long Jifte of Emperors succeeded, some
of whom were the most execrable monsters
that ever existed in human form. And that
most extraordinary man, perhaps, in all histo
ry, after subjugating all continental Europe,
occupying all its Capitals, seriously thrca.cp
1 ing, according to M. Thiers, proud Albion it
self, and decking the broAvs of various mem
bers of his family Avith croAvns, torn from the
heads of other monarcha, lived to behold liis
own dear France itself in the possession of
I his enemies, and Avas made himself a Wretched
; captive and far removed from country, family
! and friend, breathed his last on the distant j
and inhospitable rocks of St. Helena. The
Alps and the Rhine had been claimed as the
natural boundaries of France, but even these
could not be secured in the treaties to which
she Avas reduced to submit. Do you believe ■
that the people of Macedon, or Greece, of
Rome, or of France, were benofitted, indivi
dually or collectively, by the triumphs of their
great captains ? Their sad lot was immense
sacrifice of life, heavy and intolerable burdens,
and the ultimate loss of liberty itself.
That the power of the United States is com
petent to the conquest of Mexico is quite pro
. bablc. But it could not be achieved Avithout
frightful carnage, dreadful sacrifices of human
j life, and the creation of an onerous national |
debt; nor could it be completely effected, in
all probability, until after the lapse of many
years. It Avould be necessary to occupy all
! its strong holds, to disarm its inhabitants, and
to keep them in constant fear and subjection,
j To consummate the work, I presume that
| standing armies, not loss than a hundred
; thousand men, Avould be necessary, to be kept
perhaps alAA'ays in the bosom of their country.
These standing armies, revelling in a foreign
: land, and accustomed to trample upon the
} liberties of a foreign people, at some distant
I day, might be fit and ready instruments, un
der the lead of some daring and unprinci
pled chieftain, to return to their country and
prostrate the public liberty.
Supposing the conquest to be once made,
what is to be done with it ? Is it to be gov
erned, like Roman Provinces, by Proconsuls ?
Would it be compatible with the genius, char
acter, and safety of our free institutions, to
keep such a great country as Mexico, Avith a
population of not less than nine millions, in a
state of constant military subjection ?
Shall it bo annexed to the United States :
Does any considerate man believe it possible
that two such immense countries, with terri
tories of nearly equal extent, Avith populations
so incongruous, so different in race, in lan
guage, in religion and in laws, could be blend
ed together in one harmonious mass, and hap
pily gOA'erncd by one common authority ?
Murmurs, discontent, insurrections, rebellion,
would inevitably ensue, until the incompati
ble parts Avould be broken asunder, and possi
bly, in the frightful struggle, our present glo
rious Union itself Avould be dissevered or dis
solved. We ought not to forget the warning
voice of all history, Avhich teaches the diffi
culty of combining and consolidating together,
conquering and conquered nations. After the
lapse of eight hundred years, during Avhich
the Moors held their conquest of Spain, the
indomitable courage, perseverance and obsti
nacy of the Spanish race finally triumphed,
and expelled the African invaders from the
Peninsula. And, even Avithin our oaa*u time,
the colossal poAA r er of Napoleon, Avhen at its
loftiest height, was incompetent to subdue and
subjugate the proud Castilian. And here, in
our own neighborhood, LoAver Canada, Avhich
near one hundred years ago, after the conclu
sion of the seven years Avar, Avas ceded by
France to Great Britain, remains a foreign land
in the midst of the British provinces, foreign
in feelings and attachment, and foreign in
laAA's, language and religion. And Avhat has
been the fact Avith poor, gallant, generous, and
oppressed Ireland? Centuries have passed
since the overbearing Saxon overrun and sub
jugated the Emerald Isle. Ri\*ers of Irish
blood haA'e flowed, during the long and ardu
ous contest. Insurrection and rebellion have
been the order of the day; and yet, up to this
time, Ireland remains alien in feeling, affection
and sympathy toward the poAver which has so
long borne her doAATi. Every Irishman hates,
Avith a mortal hatred, his Saxon oppressor.—
Although there are great territorial differences
betAvecn the condition of England and Ireland,
as compared to that of the United States and
Mexico, there are some points of striking re
semblance betAvecn them. Both the Irish and
the Mexicans are probably of the same Celtic
race. Both the English and the Americans
are of the same Saxon origin. The Catholic
religion predominates in both the former, the
Protestant among both the latter. Religion
has been the fruitful cause of dissatisfaction
and discontent between the Irish and English
nations. Is there no roason to apprehend that
it Avould become so betAveen the people of the
United States and those of Mexico, if they
were united together ? Why should wo seek
to interfere Avith them in their mode of Avor
ship of a common Saviour ? We believ'e that
they are wrong, especially in the exclusive
character of their faith, and that we are right.
They think that they are right and we wrong.
What other rule can there be than to leave
the followers of each religion to their own
j solemn convictions of conscientious duty to
| wards God ? Who, but the great Arbiter of
the Universe, can judge in such a question?
For my own part, I sincerely believe and hope
that those who belong to all the departments
of the great church of Christ, if, in truth ami
purity, they conform to the doctrines which
they profess, will ultimately secure an abode
in those regions of bliss which all aim finally
to reach. I think that there is no potentate
in Europe, whatever his religion may be, more
enlightened or at this momenting so interest as
the liberal head of the Papal See.
But I suppose it to be impossible that those
who favor, if there be any who favor the an
nexation of Mexico to the United States, can |
think that it ought to bo perpetually govern- ;
cd by military sway. Certainly no Votary of ;
human liberty could deem it right that a vio- !
lation should be perpetrated of the great prin
ciples of our own revolution, according to :
which, laws ought not to be enacted and taxes
ought not to be levdcd, without representation i
on the part of those who arc to obey the one, i
and pay the other. Then, Mexico is to parti- |
cipate in our councils and equally share in our
legislation and government. But, suppose she 1
would not voluntarily choose representatives
to the national Congress, is our soldiery tofol- I
low the electors to the ballot-box, and by force
to compel them, at the point of the bayonet,
to deposit their ballots ? And how are the
nine millions of Mexican people to be repre
sented in the Congress of the United States of
America and the Congress of the United States
of the Republic of Mexico combined? Is
every Mexican, without regard to color or
caste, per capitum, to exercise the elective
franchise ? How is tfie quota of representa
tion between the two Republics, to be fixed ?
Where is the seat of common government to
be established ? And who can foresee or fore
tell, if Mexico, voluntarily or by force, were
to share in the common government what
would be the consequences to her or to us ? !
I Unprepared, ? T s I fear her population yet is, for
j the practical enjoyment of self-government, ;
and of habits, customs, language, laws and re
ligion, so totally different from our own, we
should present the revolting spectacle of a
confused, distracted, and motly government. J
We should have a Mexican Party, a Pacific !
Ocean Party, an Atlantic Party, in addition
to the oilier Parties, which exist, or with
which we are threatened, each striving to exe
cute its own particular views and purposes,
and reproaching the others with thwarting
and disappointing them, • The Mexican repre
sentation, in Congress, would probably form a |
separate and impenetrable corps, always ready
to throw itself into the scale of any other par
ty, to advance and promote Mexican interests.
Such a state, of things could not long endure.
Those, whom God and geography have pro
nounced should live asunder, could never be
permanently and harmoniously united to
gether;
Do avc want for our own happiness or great
ness the addition of Mexico to the existing
Union of our States? If our population was
i too dense for our territory, and there Avas a
! difficulty in chaining honorably the means ol
subsistence, there might be some excuse for
an attempt to enlarge our dominions. But
avc have no such apology. We have already,
in our glorious country, a vast and almost
boundless territory. Beginning at the North,
in the frozen regions of the British Provinces,
it stretches thousands of miles along the coasts
of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mexican Gulf,
! until it almost’ reaches the Tropics. It extends
j to the Pacific Ocean, boi*£crs on those great
inland seas, the Lakes, which separate us from
the possessions of Great Britain, and it era
j braces the great father of ri\ r ers, from its up
| permost source to the Balize, and the still
! longer Missouri, from its mouth to the gorges'
ol the Rocky Mountains. It comprehends the
greatest variety ol the richest soils, capable of
almost all the productions ofthe earth,except fro
and coffee and the spices, and it includes every
variety of climate which the heart could Avish
or desire. We have more than ten thousand
millions of acres of Avaste and unsettled lands, 1
enough for the subsistence of ten or twenty
times our present population, ought avc not
to be satisfied with such a country ? Ought
avc not to be profoundly thankful to the Giv
er of all good things for such a vast and boun
tiful land ? Is it not the height of ingratitude
to Him to seek, by Avar and conquest, indulg
ing in a spirit of rapacity, to acquire other
lands, the homes and habitations of a large
portion of liis common children ? If avg pur
sue the object of such a conquest, besides
mortgaging the revenue and resources of this
country for ages to come, in the form of an
onerous national debt, avc should have greatly
to augment that debt, by an assumption ofthe ,
sixty or seventy millions of the national debt
of Mexico. For I take it that nothing is more
certain than that, if we obtain A'oluutarily or
by conquest, a foreign nation, Ave acquire it
with all the incumbrances attached to it. In
my humble opinion avg 'are uoav bound, in
honor and morality, to pay the just debt of
Texas, And avc should *be equally bound, by
the same obligations, to pay the debt of Mexi
co, if it were annexed to the United States.
Os all the posse ; slons Avhich appertain to man,
in his collejtiA'e or individual condition, none
should be preserved and cherished, with more
sedulous and unremitting care than that of an
unsullied character. It is impossible to esti
mate it too highly, in society, Avhen attached
to an individual, nor can it be exaggerated or
too greatly magnified in a nation. Those Avho
lose or are indifferent to it, become just objects
of scorn and contempt. Os all the abominable
transactions which sully the pages of history
none exceed in enormity that ofthe d smera
berment and partition of Poland, by the three
great Continental PoAvers—Russia, Austria
and Prussia. Ages may pass away, and cen
turies roll around, but as long as human records
endure,all mankind will unite in execrating the
rapacious and detestable deed. That Avas ac
complished by overwhelming force, and the
unfortunate existence of fatal dissensions and
divisions in the bosom of Poland. Let us avoid
affixing to our name and national chaactcr a
similar, if not Avorse, stigma, lam afraid that
we do not uoav stand Aveli in the opinion of
other parts of Christendom. Repudiation has
brought upon us much reproach. All the na
tions, I apprehend, look upon us in the pro
secution of the present war, as being actuated
by a spirit of rapacity, and an inordinate desire
for territorial aggrandizement. Let us not for
feit altogether their good opinion. Let us com
mand their applause by a noble exercise of for
bearance and justice. In the doA r ated station
AA’hich we hold, avc can safely afford to practice
the godlike virtues of moderation and magnani
mity. The long series of glorious triumphs,
achieved by our gallant commanders and their
brave armies, unattended by a single reverse,
justify us, Avithout the least danger of tarnish*
ing the national honor, in disinterestedly hold
ing out the olive branch of peace. We do not
want the mines, the mountains, the morasses
and the sterile lands of Mexico. Toiler the loss
of them Avould be humiliating, and be a per
petual source of regret and mortification. To
us they might prove a fatal acquisition, pro
ducing distraction, dissension, division, pos
sibly disunion. Let, therefore, the integrity of
the national existence and national territory of
Mexico remain undisturbed. For one, I desire
to see no part of her territory torn from her
by war. Some of our people have placed their
hearts upon the acquisition of the Bay of San
Francisco in Upper California. To us, as a
great maritinc Power, it might prove to boos
advantage hereafter in respect to our commer
cial and navigating interests. To Mexico Avhich
can never be a great maritime Power, it can
never be of much adA'antage.
If we can obtain it by fair purchase, with a
just equivalent, I should bo happy to see it so
acquired. As, whenever the Avar ceases, Mexi
co ought to be required to pay the debts due
our citizens, perhaps an equivalent for that
pay may be found in that debt, our govern
ment assuming to pay to our citizens AA'hatever
portion of it may be applied to that object.
But it should form no motiA r c in the prosecu
tion of the war, Avhich I Avould n it continue a
solitary hour fur the sake of that harbor.
But what, it Avill bo asked, shall avc make
peace Avithout any indemnity for the expenses
of the war? —If the published documents in
relation to the late negotiations betAvecn Mr.
| Trist and the Mexican Commissioners be true,
and I have not seen them anyAvhere contra
dicted, the Executive properly waived any
j demand of indemnity for the expenses of the
i war. And the rupture of that negotiation was
| produced, by onr Government insisting upon
a cession from Mexico, of the strip ol mostly
i barren land between the Nueces and the Rio
1 Bravo and Ngav Mexico, Avhich Mexico refused
|to make. So that avc are now fighting, if not
! for the conquest of all Mexico, as intimated in
some quarters, for that narrow strip, and for
the barren proAnnce of Ncav Mexico, with its
few miserable mines.
We bought all the province of Louisiana for
fifteen millions of dollars, and it is, in my
opinion, Avorth more than all Mexico together.
We bought Florida at five millions of dollars,
and a hard bargain it Avas, since, besides that
sum, avc gave up the boundary of the Rio
Bravo, to which I think avg were entitled, as
the Avestcrn limit of the province of Louisiana,
and Avere restricted to that of the Sabine. And
avc arc now, if not seeking the conquest of .all
Mexico, to continue this Avar indefinitely for
the inconsiderable objects to Avhich I have just
referred.
But, it will be repeated, are avc to have no
indemnity for the expenses of the war? Mexi
co is utterly unable to make us any pecuniary
j indemnity, if the justice of the war on our part
entitled us to demand it. Her country has
been laid waste, her cities burned or occupied
by our troops, her means so exhausted that she
is unable to pay eA r on her own armies. And
every day’s prosecution of the Avar, Avhilst it
I Avould augment the amount of our indemnity,
Ayquld lessen the ability of Mexico to pay it.
We have seen, hoAvever, that there is another
I form in which we are to demand indemnity.
It is to be territorial indemnity! I hope, for
reasons already stated, that the firebrand Avill
not be brought into oqr country,
i Among the resolutions, Avhich it is my in
tention to present for your consideration, at
the conclusion of this address, one proposes,
in your behalf and mine, to disavow, in the
most positive manner, any desire, on our part
- ! to acquire any foreign territory whatever, for
i the purpose ot introducing slavery into it I
-do not know that any citizen of'the United
j States entertains such a wish. I3ut such a
motive has often been imputed to the alavo
? States, and I therefore think it necessary to
s notice it on this occasion. My opinions on
a the subject ot slavery are well known. They
j h ay e the merit,if it be one, of consistency, uni
i’ fortuity, and long duration. I have ever re
t | garded slavery as a great evil, a wrong, for the
’ present, I tear, an irremediable, wrong to its
t unfortunate victims. I should rejoice if not a
’ single slave breathed the air or was within the
, limits of our country. But here they are, to bo
• I d. ea lt with as well as we can, with a due con
! sideration of all circumstances averting the
' safetv and happiness of both races,
’ j Every .State has thosupreme, uncontrolled and
exclusive power to decide for itselt whether
slavery shall cease or continue within its lim
its, without any exterior intervention from any
quarter.
In States, where the slaves out-number tho
whites, as is the case with several, tho blacks
could not be emancipated and invested with
all the rights of freemen, without becoming
the governing race in those States. Collisions
; and conflicts, between the two races, would
be inevitable, and, after shocking scenes of
rapine and carnage, the extinction or expul
| sion of the blacks would certainly take place.
In the State of Kentucky, near fifty years ago,
I thought the proportion of slaves, in compari
son with the whites, was so inconsiderable that
we might safely adopt a system of gradual
emancipation that would ultimately eradicate
this evil in our State. That system was totally
different from the immediate abolition of slave
ry for which the party of the Abolitionists vs
the present day contend. Whether they hare
; intended or not, it is my calm and deliberate
belief, that they have done incalculable mis
chief even to the very cause which they espous
ed, to say nothing of the discord which has
been produced between different parts of the
Union. —According to the system we attempt
ed, near tho close of the last century, all slaves
in being were to remain such, but all who.
might be born subsequent to a specified day,
were to become free at the age of twenty-eight,
and during their service were to be taught to
I read, write and cypher. Thus, instead of beinjj
| thrown upon the community, ignorant and un
prepared, as would bo the case by immediate
emancipation, they would have entered upon
the possession of their freedom, capable, in
some degree, of enjoying it. After a hard
struggle, the system was defeated, and I re
gret it extremely, as, if it had been then
adopted, our State would be now nearly rid of
that reproach.
Since that epoch, a scheme of unmxxed be-
I nevolence has sprung up, which, if it had ex
isted at that time, would have obviated one of
S the greatest objections which was made to.
gradual emancipation, which was the continu
ance of the emancipated slaves to abide among
us. That scheme is the American Coloniza
tion Society. About twenty-eight years ago
a few individuals, myself among them, met
together in the city of Washington, and laid
! | the foundation of that Society. It has gone
on amidst extraordinary difficulties and trials,
sustaing itself almost entirely, by spontaneous
! and voluntary contributions, from individual
benevolence, without scarcely any aid from
Government. The colonies, planted under its
! auspices, are now well established communi
ties, with churches, schools, and other insti
tutions appertaining to the civilized state. —
I They have made successful war in repelling
i attacks and invasions by their barbarous and
savage neighbors. They have made treaties,,
annexed territories to their dominion, and are
blessed with a free representative government.
I recently read a message, from one of their
Governors to their Legislature, which, in
i point of composition, and in careful attention
to the public affairs of their Republic, would
• compare advantageously with the messages of
the Governors of our own States. lam not
i very superstitious, but I do solemnly believe
, that these colonies are blessed with the smiles
■ of Providence, and, if we may dare attempt
j penetrating the veil, by which lie conceals his
; all-wise dispensations from mortal eyes, that
i He designs that Africa shall be the refuge and
i the homo of the descendants of its sons and
daughters, torn and dragged from their native
laud by law less violence.
It is a philanthropic and consoling reflec
• tion, that the moral and physical condition of
I the African race in the United States, even in
’ a state of slavery, is far better than it would
, have been if their ancestors had never been
• brought from their native land. And if it
• should be the decree of the Great Killer of
l the Universe that their descendants shall ba
I made instruments in His hands in the cstab
' ; lishmont of civilization and the Christian reli
j gion throughout Africa, our regrets, on ac
count of the original wrong, will be greatly
; mitigated.
i It may be argued that, in admitting the in
justice of slavery, I admit the necessity of an
instantaneous reparation of that injustice.—
Unfortunately, however, it is not always safe,
practicable or possible, in great movements of
; States and public affairs of nations, to remedy
or repair the infliction of previous injiis'i-e.—
• In the inception of it, we may oppose and
I denounce it, by our most strenuous exertions,
but, after its consummation, there is often no
i 1 other alternative left us but to deplore its per
p 'tration,and to a'quiesce as the only alterna
tive, in its existence, as a less evil than the
frightful consequences which might ensue
from the rain endeavor to repair it. Slavery
is one of those unfortunate instances. Tho
, evil of it was inflicted upon us, by the parent
; country of Great Britain, against all the en
r treaties and remonstrances of the colonies.—
i And here it is amongst and amidst us, and wo
; must dispose of it as best we can under all the
circumstances which surround us. It con
■ tinned, by tho importation of slaves fioxn Af
rica, in spite of colonial resistance, for a pe
riod of more than a century and a half, and it
may require an equal or longer lapse of time
before our country is entirely rid of the evil.
■ And in the meantime, moderation, prud«n«o
and discretion among ourselves, and the bless
ings of Providence may be all necessary to
accomplish our ultimate deliverance from it.
■ Examples of similar infliction of irreparable
j national evil and injustice might be multiplied
to an indefinite extent. The case of the an
; nexation of Texas to the United States is a re
> cent and an obvious one which, if it were
i wrong, it cannot now be repaired. Texas i».
now an integral part of our Union, with it*
[ own voluntary consent. Many of us opposed
the annexation with honest zeal and most earn
• est exertions. But who would now think of
; perpetrating the folly of casting Texas out of
the confederacy and throwing her back upon
> ! her own independence, or into the arms of
Mexico ? "Who would now seek to divorce
her from this Union? The Creeks and Che
rokee Indians were, by the most exceptionable
means, driven from their country, and trans
ported beyond the Mississippi river.—-
Their lands have been fairly purchased and
occupied by inhabitants of Georgia, Alaba
ma, Mississippi and Tennessee. Who ivould
now conceive the flagrant injustice of e*>
, celling those inhabitants and restoring the
| Indian country to the Chcrokecs and Creeks,
under color of repairing original injustice.-
During the w r ar of our revolution* millions of
[ | paper money were issued by our ancestors, as
; the only currency with which they could
achieve our liberties and independence.—
: Thousands and hundreds of thousands of faml
, lies were stripped of their homes and their alf
; and brought to ruin, by giving credit and con
fidence to that spuiious currency. Stern net
(