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BY WILLIAM S. JONES.
Serins,
THE WEEKLY
CHRONICLE ANPSENTINEL
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WEEKLY CHBONKLE & SESTIXEL
From the Knickerbocker.
THE SONG OP NIGHT.
* I Come, 1 come from the land of dreams,
And shadows I throw on the day’s last beams ;
I come at the genUo twilight hour.
-* And softly close the brigiit-luaf’d flower.
> J steal from the lake and winding stream
' The silvery glow of the sun’s last gleam ;
5’ I breathe on the crest of the gorgeous cloud,
£ . . And its gilded head is in dimness bowed.
v The fleecy foam of the ocean wave,
x' As the sandy shore its waters lave,
[ f But sparkles dim, as sea and land,
i _ Are curtain’d by my sable hand.
On the violet’s breast, on the heechen tree,
* -I fold the wing of the mwmunng bee;
i the bcumlof the graceful fawn
bis bright eye-Jose till the opening dawn.
H... 1 r' '5 ' '
on lheiafant ney,
-Anil l"ie bis lids in tbe midst of play;
PTj ; " Aim! I .’cnily rtcalon the m.itlfn fair.
softly otarmur* her evening prayer.
At my coming the peasant seeks bin cot.
7. And in peaceful dreams are his cares forgot;
While the sons of toil their labors close,
And a refuge find in deep repose.
My shadowy mantle around me 1 fold,
. As the mountain mists are backward rolled ;
When morning's light o’*r my pathway is east,
, I vanish from eaph-—a dream of the past.
r WsraiireTOis'e Farewell Address.—The
question of the authorship of thia important
paper eamc up, not long since, in the
Stet, Louisiana Legislature, when the Senator from
Kg. New Orleans, Mr. Signr, expressed his as- ,
tonishment at hearing a broiher Senator allude '
feap to it as having been written by Gen. Washing
ton. adding that it was the joint production of '
Jefferson and Madison Senator Sigurconsid
ered it a popular delusion to believe the address
to have been written by Washington. The
Crescent settles the question by publishing a
letter of John Jay, in which a full history of
the origin and authorship of the address is
given. We give an extract from Jay’s letter,
which covers the question.
Some time before the address appeared,
Colonel (afterwards General) Hamilton in
formed me. that he bad received a letter from
President Washington and with it the draught
of a farewell address, which the President had
prepared, and on which he requested our opin
«J ion. He then proposed that we should fix on
;r. a day for an interview at my house on the
subject. A day was accordingly appointed
Ou that day Col. Hamilton attended. He ob
served to me. in words to this effect—that, af
j,’ ter having read and examined lhedraught.it ■
3 appeared to him to be susceptible of improve
ment—that he thought the easiest and best way i
was to leave the draught untouched and in its i
r fair state, and to write lhe whole over with
such amendments, alterations and corrections
as he thought were advisable ; and that he had
done so. He then proposed to read it, and to
make it lhe subject of our consideration.—
g. This being agreed to, ho read it; and we pro-
■ caeded deliberately to discuss and consider it.
paragraph by paragraph, until the whole met
with our mutual approbation; some amend
»■ menu were made during the interview, but
mine of much importance. Alth'ugh this i
. . business had not been hastily dispatched, yet. i
'*■ aware of the consequences of such a paper. 1
suggested the giving it a further critical exam- i
« • ination; but he declined it, saying tbai he was ,
pressed for time and w«s anxious to return the i
IgF-t'! 4ll *^ 10 f ,la President without delay. It
«* ' res' g*mw*l
“ - ■-* and nnqtialltk'd. and I mnted it tn a letter to
lhe President.
As the business took lhe course above men
tioned, a recurrence to the draught was an
£S necessary, and it was not read. There was
this advantage in the course pursued—the
President's draught remained (as delicacy re-
I quired) fair, and not obscured by in’erlinea
.. tions, etc. Dy comparing it with the paper
sent with it, he would immedinlely observe lhe
particular emendations and corrections that
were proposed; and would find them standing
in their intended places. Hence he was en
abled to review and to decide on the whole
matter, with much greater clearness and facili
ty than if he had received them in separate
and detached notes, and with detailed roferen
ces to the pages and lines, where they were
t advised to be introduced.
With great esteem and regard, I am, dear sir
your obedient servant, Jons Jay.
| Match Masuvacturx.—Major Noah, of
.*• the Messenger, gives an interesting account of
t an extensive tacifer match manufactory in this
j* city. It covers five lots of ground, on the
corner of Thirteenth Street and Second Ave
nne, The average number turned out daily is
four hundred gross, or about six millions of
g - matches. The machinery employed, is, in
t ' itself, a sight worth seeing. The Major says:
f“ An eight horse power stoam engine on the
y 4 first floor derives the machinery, which cuts
. 4 out blocks of the required size, from three
1 inch plank. Circular saws which make 100
revolutions per minute,divide the blocks into
f the required number of matches, turning out
no less than 290,1)00 per hour! ‘Clark’s
i,~ matches"—a square split match which is gen-
erally used—ts made in a similar way Nor
is this all lhe work done by the saws ; the
cases in whch the matches are packed are
| also made by these ■ revolvers.’ lu short, the
machinery does the regular work in all the
> processes, manufaculuring not unly 290,b00
matches per hour, but 300 round match boxes
within thn same period, to put them in.
About 20 men are amplyed on the first Hoor.”
1 here are boxes to make, which give em
ployment to 100 women at their own houses.
The dipping the match into sulphur, sepera
-5' ting them into bunches, and packing them for
>7 delivery, employs a large number of hands,
together amounting to about 200 men, buvs
and girls —TV. Y. farmer and Mechanic,
The Sea SzarzsT is the South.—A re
markable marine monster was seen by Captain
Blankenship, of the William Seaorook, and his
passengers, on the last trip of the steamer front
•s ChaHeston to thia city. When the steamer was
coming down Port Royal Sound, at about six
. miles inside the bar. several objects were de
scried about a mile distant, which were al first
’ belldC . ti * of ducks. An exainina-
. lumps or elevations, which had an uuduTatory
, *• or changing motion. The steamer was then
, jjt directed towards thia object, which lay near the
. point of land scpciating Beaufort from Broad
River. The water was so shoal as the steamer
went on, that it was found necessary to cast lhe
lead; but when within forty orfifty feetof tho
monster, the sounding was four fathoms.
While in this position, Capt. Blankenship and
his passengers had a very good view of the
creature, whose size and appearance were such
as to inspire some of the passengers with alarm
and apprehension. The monster was lying in
the arc of a circle—his head parting the waler
by » gentle onward mutton. No eyea nor
mouth were visible, as the head was not ele
vated; but tli* head itself, which appeared to
he flattened, is stated to be some ten feet
long and from si* to seven feet wide. From
the head for a distance of some thirty feet, the
I body was depressed beneath the water; but at
thia distance a hump or elevation appeared, and
another 85 feet from the last. A distinctly
round appearance was observed, and the great
est diameter is stated at some seven or
eight feet. The boat approached the monster
in such a uaanoer as nearly to form a chord to
the are described by it, which circumstance
gave a good standard of judgment as to its
length. The concurrent teetimony on this
point is. that it was not less than 120 feet long,
and probably not more than 140 feet. The
noise made by arresting the mouun of the boat,
or the fact of its approach, caused the serpent
(or whatever it must be called) to lower itself
to the water and disappear. Before this, a
greater part of the body was easily seen and
examined: the most of it depressed a little be
low the surface. Its disappearance, the entire
length descending at once, caused a sensible
ripple on the surface. The steamer now left
die spot, but the creature was again seen to
ria* and presents similar appearance a short
tiara after the ateamer moved off.
Such are the particulars. » far as we have
•oea able to glean them from the testimony us
p*»*oos on board. We should have
wed that the eolor appeared to be of a
®»ep. glossy brown. in which one passenger
be det«tsd . uo<e of mimetmng hke a
7 X * P
ruppoeed to have been
»a dto T^ , , r -'° l ,iw bu,Wl »« by
»20 .:w< i . Ouw(t^ he •'»»>« estimated at about
iw.OXJ. h ,h * /< “*“ insurance of
POLITICAL.
THE
SLAVERY QUESTION.
SPEECH OF MR. WEBSTER,
OF MASSACHUSETTS.
In the U. S. Senate . March 7.
The Vice President. The resolutions sub
mitted by the Senator from Kentucky were
made the special order of the day at 12 o’clock.
On this subject/the Senator from Wisconsin
(.Mr. Walker) has the floor.
Mr. Walker. Mr President, this vast audi
ence has not assembled to hear me; and there
is but one man, in myopinion, who can assem
ble snch an audience. They expect to hear
him, and 1 feel it to be my duly, as well as my
pleasure to give lhe floor therefore to lhe
Senator from Massachusetts. I understand it
is imtnaterial to him upon which of these ques
tions he speaks, and therefore I will not move
to postpone the special order.
Mr. "Webster. I beg to express my obliga
tions to my friend from Wisconsin. (Mr. Walk
er.) as well as to my friend from New York,
v Mr. Seward, ) for their courtesy in allowing
me to address the Senate this morning.
Mr. President, I wish to speak to-day not as
a Massachusetts man, nor as a Northern man.
but as an American, and a member of the
United States, ft is fortunate that there is a
Senate of the United States —a body not yet
moved from its propriety, not lost to a just
sense of its own dignity, and its own high re
sponsibilities. and a body to which the country
looks with confidence for wise, moderate
patriotic, and healing doctrine. It is not to
be denied that we live in the midst of strong
agitations, and in the midst of every consider
able dangers to our institutions of government
The imprisoned winds are let loose. The East,
the West, the North, and the stormy South, all
to throw the whole ocean into cora
* motion, to toss its billow*, to the skies, and to
disclose its profoundest depths. I do not
expect, Mr- President, to hold, or to be fit to
huld. OtfcM- m-Ai. cuiDfett of the
elements? but I fe»*a a dnty fe perform, end I
mean to perform it with fidelity—not without*
»enae of the surrounding <hirisers, but not
- ia pa/J ja- am, not for
fX/tb'e Siwf, if there must be. but
for the good of the whole, andjhenrefervauo»
of the whole ; and-tnw®* 5 that which will
keep mo to my doty during this struggle,
whether the sun and the star, shall appear or
shall notappear for many days. I speak to-day
for the preservation of the Union. “ Hear me
for my cause.” I speak to-day, out of a soli
citous and anxious heart, for the restoration to
lhe country of that quiet and that harmony
which make the blessings of this Union so
rich and so dear to us all. These are the top
ics that I propose to myself to discuss; these
are tne motives, and the sole motives, that in
fluence me in the wish to communicate my
opinions to the Senate and the country; and if
I can do any thing, however little, for the pro
motion of these ends, I shall have accomplish
ed all that I desire.
Air. President, it may not be amiss to recur
very briefly to the events which, equally sudden
and extraordinary, have brought the political
condition of the county to what it now is. in
May, 1846. the United States declared war
against Mexico. Her arms, then on the fron
tiers, entered the provinces of that Republic ;
met and defeated all her troops ; penetrated
her mountain passes, and occupied her capital.
The marine force of the United States took
possession of her forts and her towns on lhe
Atlantic and on the Pacific. In less than two
years a treaty was negotiated by which Mex
ico ceded to lhe United States a vast territory,
extending seven or eight hundred miles along
the shores of the Pacific; reaching back over
the mountains, and across the desert, until it
joined the frontier of the State of Texas. It
so happened that, in the distracted and feeble
state of the Mexican Government, before the
declaration of war by the United States against
Alexiro had become known in California, that
the people of California, under the lead of
American officers, perhaps generally, over
threw the existing Provincial Government of
California—the Mexican authorities—and run
up an independent flag. When the news ar
rived at San Francisco that war had been de
clared bi lhe United States against Mexico,
this independent flag was pulled down and the
stars and stripes of this Union hoisted in its
stead. So, sir, before the war was over, the
powers of the United States, military and na
val, had possession of San Francisco and Up
per California, and a great rush of emigrants
from various parts of lhe world took place
into California in 1846 and 1847. But now,
behold another wonder.
In January of 1848, the Mormons, it is said,
or some of them, made a discovery of an ex
traordinarily rich mine o( gold—or, rather, of a
very great quantity of gold, hardly fit to be
called a aiine, for it was spread so near the
surface—on the lower part of the South or
American branch of the Sacramento. They
seem to have attempted to conceal their dis
covery for some time ; but soon another dis
covery, perhaps of greater importance, was
made of £old, hi another part of ttte American
eries spread far and wide. They excited more
and more lhe spirit of emigration towards
California, which had already taken place ; and
persons crowded in hundreds, and flocked to.
wards the bay of San Francisco. This, as I
have said, took place in the winter and
spring of 1848. The digging commenced in
the spring of that year, and from that lime lo
thia the work of searching for gold has been
prosecuted with a success not heretofore
known in the history of this globe. We all
know, sir, how incredulous the American
public was at the accounts which reached us
at first of these discoveries; but we all know
that these acconta receive, and continue to
receive daily confirmation, and down to the
present moment 1 suppose the assurances are
as strong, after the experience, of these seve
ral months, of mines of gold apparently inex
haustible in lhe regions near San Francisco,
in California, as they were at any period of the
.earlier dates of the accounts, it so happened,
sir, that, although in the time of peace, it be
came a very important subject for legislative
consideration and legislative decisions to pro
vide ■ proper Territorial Government for Cal
ifornia, yet diffieroncea of opinion in the coun
cils of lhe government prevented the establish
ment of any such Territorial Government for
California at the last session of Congress. Un
der this state of things, the inhabitants of San
Francisco and California—then amounting lo
a great number of people—in the summer of
last year, thought il to be their duty to establish
a local Government. Under the proclamation
of General Riley, tbo people chose delegates
to a Convention —that Convention inet at
Monterey. They formed a constitution for the
State of California, aud il was adopted by the
people of California in their primary assem
blages. Desirous of immediate connexion
with the United States, its Senators were ap
pointed and Representatives chosen, who
have come hither, bringing with them the au
thentic constitution of lhe State of California;
and they now present themselves, asking, in
behalf of their Slate, that the State may be
admitted into this Union as one of lhe United
States. This constitution sir, contains an
express prohibition against slavery or involun
tary servitude in the Slate of California. It is
said, and I suppose truly, that of the members
who composed that Convention some sixteen
were natives and bad been residents of the
alaveholding States, about twenty-two were
from the uoiialaveholding States, and the re
maining ten members were either native Cali
fornians nr old settlers in that country. This
prohibition against slavery, it is alleged—
Mr. Hale. Will the Senator gtv , way until
order is restored f
The Vice President. The Sergeant-at-Arms
will see that order is restored, and no tuor*
persona admitted to the floor.
Mr. Webster. And it is this circumstance,
tion, which has contributeiTm raise—
say it has wholly raised—the dispute as to the
propriety of the admission of California into
the Union under this constitution. It is not to
be denied, Mr. President—nobody thinks of
denying—that, whatever reasons were assigned
at lhe commencement of the late war with Mex
ico, it was prosecuted for the purpose of the
acquisition of territory, and under the alleged
argument that the cession of territory was the
only form in which proper compensation could
be made to the United States by Mexico for the
various claims and demands which the people
of this Government had against her. At any
rate it will be found that President Polk’s mes
sage at the commencement of the session of
December, 1847, avowed that the war was to
be prosecuted until some acquisition of ter
ritory was made. And, as the acquisition was
to be south of the line of the United States,
in warm climates and countries, it was natural
ly, I suppose, expected by the South that what-
I ever acquisitions were made in that region
would be added to the slaveholding portion of
the United States. Events have turned ent as
was not expected, and that expectation has not
been realized; and therefore some degree of
disappointment and surprise has resulted, of
course. In other words, it is obvious that the
question which has so long harraaaed the coun
try. and at some times vary seriously alarmed
the minds of wise and good men has come
upon us fora fresh discussion—the question of
• slavery in these United States.
Now. sir, I propose—perhaps at the expense
of detail and consequent detention of the Sen
ate—to review historically this question of
slavery, which, partly inconsequenceof its own
merits, and partly, perhaps mostly, io the man
ner it is discussed in one and the other portion
of the country, has been a source of so much
alienation and unkind feeling between the dis
forent poitions of the Union. We nil know,
sir, that slavery has existed in the world from
time immemorial. There wee slavery, in the
earliest periods of history, in the Oriental na
tion*. There was slavery among the Jews;
the theocratic go* eminent of that people made
no injunction against it There was slavery
among tM Greeks, and the ingenious philoso
phy of the Greeks found, or sought to find, a
justification for il exactly npon the grounds
which have been assumed for such a justifica
tion in this eonatry; that is, a natural and ori
ginal difference among the races of mankind,
the inferiority of the black er colored race to
the white. I'D* Greeks justified their tJRe®
es slavery npon that ground premeely. They
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From the London Illustrated Times.
FRIGHTFULOCURENCE AT
WOMBWELL’S MENAGERIE.
On Saturday evening last, an inquest was
hold at the Golden Lion Inn. Chatham, before
J. Hind, Esq., coroner for West Kent, touch
ing the death of Ellen Bright, a young girl,
aged 17 years, who was killed on the previous
evening by a tiger, in the establishment of Mr.
George Wombwell, which had arrived in that
town for exhibition on the preceding day.
The deceased, who was denominated “ the
Lion Queen,” had lhe honour of performing
before her Majesty some time since, at Wind
sor Castle ; and, as will be seen from the evi
dence, was going through the usual evolutions
with a lion and tiger at the time she met with
her melancholy death.
Stephen King, the first witness examined,
said lie had been in the employ of Mr. Womb
well, as keeper, for the last six years. The
deceased was a niece of Mr. Wombwell, and
daughter of John Bright, a bugle-player in the
band. It was the business ot the deceased to
go into the dens and perform with the beasts,
which she had been in the habit of doing seve
ral times daily for the last twelve months. On
Friday evening, shortly after nine o’clock, she
went into lhe den in which a lion and tiger
were kept, for the purpose of performing as
held the Alrican, and in some pans the Asiatic,
tribes t<> be inferior to- the white race ; but they
did not show, I think, by any close process of
logic, that, if this were true, the more intelli
gent and the stronger had therefore a right to
subjugate lhe weaker. The more manly phi
losophy and jurisprudence of the Romans
placed the justification of slavery on entirely
different grounds.
The Roman jurists, from the first and down
to the fall of the empire, admitted that slavery
was against the natural law, by which they
maintained that all men, of whatsoever clime,
color, or capacity, were equal; but they justi
fied slavery, first, upon the ground and au
thority of the law of nations—arguing, and
arguing truly, that at that day the conventional
law of nations admitted that captives in war,
whose lives, according to the notions of the
times, were at the absolute disposal of the cap
tors, might, in exchange for exemption from
death, be made slaves for life, and that such ser
vitude might descend to their posterity. The
jurists of Rome also maintained that by the
civil law there might be servitude—slavery,
personal and hereditary—first, by the volunta
ry act of an individual who might sell himself
iuto slavery ; second, by his being received in
to a state of slavery by his creditors in satisfac
tion of a debt; and thirdly, by being placed in a
stale of servitude or slavery for crime. At the
introduction ol’ Chrulianity into the world, the
Reman world was full of slaves, and (suppose
VUijejsto be found no injunction against that
r by the nnapafaFifiSr— d man io «y» le y ch i i 9fff l
Apostles. The object of the instruction im
parted to mankind by the founder of Christian
Uy, was to touch the heart, purify the soul, and
improve the lives of individual men. That
object went directly to the first fountain of all
political and all social relations of the human
race—the individual heart and tnind of man.
Now, air, upon the general nature and cha
racter and influence of slavery, there exists a
wide difference between the Northern portion
of this country and the Southern. It is said
on the one aide that, if not the subject of nny
injunction or direct prohibition in the New
Testament, slavery is a wrong: that it is found
ed merely in the right of the strongest; and that
it is an oppression, like all unjust wars, like all
those conflicts by which a mighty nation sub
jects a weaker nation to their will; and that
slavery, in its nature, whatever may be said of it
in the modifications which have taken place, is
not in fact according to the meek spirit of the
gospel It is not kindly affectioned. It does
not “seek another's and not its own." It does
not “let the oppressed go free.” These are
sentiments that are cherished and recently with
greatly augmented force, among lhe people of {
the Northern States. It has taken hold of lhe 1
religious sentiment of that part of the country, I
as it has more or less taken hold of the religious
feelings of a considerable portion of mankind.
The south, upon the other side, having been
accustomed to this relation between the two
races all thoir lives, from their birth ; having
been taught In general to treat the subjects of
this bondage with care and kindness—and I be
lieve, in general, feeling for them great care
and kindness —have yet not taken this view of
the subject which I have mentioned. There
are thousands of religious men, with conscien
ces as teuder as any of their brethren ai the
North, who do not see the unlawfulness of
slavery ; and there are more thousands perhaps
that, whatsoever they may think of it iu its
origin, aud as a matter depending upon natu
ral right, yet take things as they are, and. find
ing slavery lo be an established relation of the
society where they live, can see no way in
which—let their opinions on the abstract ques
tion be what they may—it is in the power of
(he present generation to relieve themselves
from thia relation And. in this respect, can
dor obliges me to say, that I believe they are
just as conscientious, many of them, and of the
religious people all of them, as they are in the
North in holding different opinions.
Why, sir. the honorable Senator from South
Carolina, the other day, alluded to the great
separation of that great religious community,
the Methodist E. Church. That separation
was brought abont by differences of opinion
upon this peculiar subject of slavery. I felt
great concern as that dispute went on about
the result, and I was in hopes that the differ
ence of opinion might be adjusted, because I
looked upon tliat religious denomination as
4Ute of lhe great props of religion and morals
TErougltouPtny , a O-m.
gia. The result was against my wishes and
against my hopes. I have read all their pro
ceedings, and all their arguments, but I have
never yet been able to come to the conclusion
that there was any real ground for that separa
tion; in other words, that no good could be
produced by that separation. Sir, when a
question of this kind lakes hold of the religious
sentiments of mankind and comes to be dis
cussed in religious assemblies of the elergy and
laity, there ie always to be expected, and al
ways to be feared, a great degree of excite
meat. It is in the nature of man. manifested
by bis whole history, that religious disputes
are apt to become warm, aud men’s strength
of conviction m proportionate to their views
of the magnitude of the questions. In all such
disputes there will sometimes men be found
with whom everything is absolute—absolutely
wrong or sbsolutely right. They see lhe right
dearly; they think others ought to do it, aud
they are disposed to establish a broad line of
distinction between what they think right and
what they hold to be wrong. And they are
not seldom willing to establish that line upon
their own convictions of the truth and the jus
tice of their own opinions. and they are wil
ling to mark and guard that line by placing
along it a series of dogmas, as lines of bounda
ry are marked by posts and stones. There
are men who, with clear perceptions, as they
thiak, of their duly, do not see how too hot a
pursuit of one duty may involve them in the
violation ol others, or how too warm an era
bracement of one truth may lead to a disregard
of other truths equally important. As I heard
it stated strongly, uot tnaay days ago, these
persons are disposed to mount upon some du
ty as a warhorse, and to drive furiously, on
snJ upon, and over all other duties that may
stand in lhe way. There are men who. in
limes of that sort and disputes of that sort, are
of opinion that human duties may be ascertain
ed with the precision of mathematics. They
deal witb morals as with mathematics, and they
think what is right may be distinguished from
what is wrong witb lhe precision of an alge
braic equation. They have, therefore, none
too much charity towards other* who differ
fretn them. They are apt. too, to thiak that
nothing is good but what is perfect and that
there are no compromise or modifications to
bo made tn submission to difference of opinion,
or in deference to other men's judgment If
their perspicacious vision enables them to de
tect a spot on the (ace of lhe suit, they think
that a good raeenn why the sau should bo
AUGUSTA, GA., VVEDNESDAf MORNING, MARCH 20, 1850.
DEATH OF THE “LION QUEEN, f
usnal—the tricks played by her being princJ"
pally with the former animal. She had only
been in two or three minutes, but had gone
through the main part of the performance
excepting that of making the lion sit down in
a particular part of the cage, when—the tiger
being in her way—the deceased struck it lightly
with a small whip which she carried in her
hand. The beast growled, as if in anger, aud,
crouching close to the bottom of tho den,
stretched out its paw, as if at her leg or dress
causing the deceased to fail sideways against
the cage; the animal at the same moment
sprang at her, and, seizing her ferociously by
the neck, inserted the teeth of the upper jaw
in her chin, and, in closing its mouth, inflicted
frightful injury in the throat with his fangs.
He then appeared to change his position,
making a second gripe across the throat
of his victim. A keeper, who was stand
ing on the step of the den, armed with a
whip, immediately rushed to her assistance,
but the animal did not loose its hold
until struck over the nose violently with an
iron bar; and whilst King held the tiger, the
poor woman was removed from the cage,
bleeding profusely, and life ail but extinct.
She was taken into one of the caravans, where
she was immediately attended by two medical
gentlemen, who happened to be present at lhe
time of the occurrence.
struck down from Heaven. They prefer the
chance of running into utter darkness to living
in heavenly light, if that heavenly light be not
absolutely without any imperfection. There
are impatient men—too impatient always to
give heed to the admission of St. Paul, “that
we are not to do evil that good may come”—
too impatient to wait for the slow progress of
moral causes in the improvement of mankind.
They do not remember that the doctrines and
the miracles of Jesus Christ have, in eighteen
hundred years, converted only a small portion
of the human race ; and among the nations that
are converted o Christianity they forget how
many vices and crimes, public and private,
still prevail, and that many of them, public
crimes especially, which are offences against
the Christian religion, pass without exciting
particular regret or indignation. Thus wars
are waged, and unjust wars. I do not deny
that there may be just wars. There certainly
are, but it was the remark of an eminent per
son, not many years ago, on the other side of
tne Atlantic, that it was one of the greatest re
proaches to human nature that wars were
sometimes necessary. The defence of nations
sometimes causes a war against the injustice of
other nations.
Now, sir, in this stale of sentiment upon the
general nature of slavery lies the cause of a
great portion of those unhappy divisions, es
asperations, and reproaches which find vent
aud support iu different parts of the Union.—
Slavery does exist in the United States. It
And now let u* consider, air, for a mo n) ent,
what was the state of sentiment North and
South in regard to slavery at the time thi 9 con
stitution was adopted. A remarkable change
has taken place >ince, but what did the wise
and great men of all parts ol the country think
of slavery J—-in what estimation did they hold
it in 1787, when this constitution was .adopted I
Now, it will be found, sir, if we will carry our
selves by historical research back to that day,
and ascertain men's opinions by authentic re
cords still existing among us, that there was
no great diversity of opinion between the
North and the South upon the subject of slave
ry, and it will be found that both parts of the
country held it equally an evil—a moral and
political evil. It will not be found that either
at the North or at the South there was much,
though there was some, invective against
slavery as inhuman and cruel. The great
ground of objection to it was political; that it
weakened the social fabric; that, taking the
place of free labor, society was less strong and
labor was less productive ; and therefore we
find from all llio eminent men of the time the
clearest expression of their opinion that slave
ry was an evil. And they ascribed it, not with
out truth, and not without some acerbity of
temper and force oflanguage, to the injurious
poli yof the mother country, who. to favor
the navigator, had entailed these evils upon
the colonies. I need hardly refer, sir, to the
publications of the day. They arc matters of his
tory on the record. The eminent men, the most
eminent men and nearly all the conspicuous
men of the South, held the same sentiments;
that slavery was an evil, a blight, a blast, a
mildew, a scourge, and a curse. There are
no terms of reprobation of slavery so vehe
ment in the North of that day as in the Sooth
The North was not so much excited against-it
as the South, and the reason is. I suppose, be
cause there was much less at the North, and
the people did not see, or think they saw, the
evils so prominently as they were seen, or
thought to be seen, at the South.
Then, sir, when this constitution was fram
ed, this was the light in which the Convention
viewed it. The Convention reflected the
judgment and sentiments of the great men of
the South. A member of the other House,
whom I have not the honor to know, in a re
cent speech ha* collected extracts from these
public documents. They prove the truth of
what lam saying, and the question then was,
how to deal with it, and how to deal with it as
an evil? Well, they came to this general re
sult They thought that slavery could not be
continued in lhe coumry if the importation of
slaves were made to ce**e, and therefore they
provided that after a certain period the impor
tation might be by the act of the
new Government. Twenty years was pro
posed by some gentleman, a Northern gentle
man. I think, and many of the Southern gen
tlemen opposed it as being too long. Mr
Madison especially was something warm
against it. -1.-:,.-, ..... „i,
ot this mischief into lhe country to allow the
importation of slaves for seen a period. Be
cause we must take along with us, tn the
whole of this discussion, when we are con
sidering lhe sentiments and opinions in which
this constitutional provision originated, that the
I conviction of all men was that if the importa
tion us slaves ceased, the white race would
multiply faster than the black race, and that
slavery would therefore gradually wear out
and expire. It may not be improper here to
allude to that. I had almost said, celebrated
opinion of Mr. Madison. You observe, sir, i
that the term slave or slavery is not used iu the <
conetitution. The constitution does not re
quire that “fugitive slaves” shall be delivered
up. It requires that “persons bound lo ser- >
vice in one State and escaping iuto another, ■
shall be delivered up.” Mr. Madison opposed I
the introduction of the term slave or slavery ■
into the constitution; for he said he did not
wish to see it recognised by the constitution of
the United Suites of America that there eould i
be property in men. Now. sir, all this took
place at the Convention in 1787 ; but connec
ted with this—concurrent and contempora- :
ueous—is another important consideration not
sufficiently attended to. The Convention for
framing thi* constitution assembled in Philadel
phia in May. and sat until September. 1787.
During all that time the Congress of the United 1
State* was in session at New York. It was a ;
matter of design, as we know, that the Conven- i
tion should not assemble in the same city i
where Congress was holding its sessions. Al
most all lhe public men of the country, there
fore, of distinction and eminence, were in one
or the other of these two assemblies; and I .
think it happened in some instances that the
same geotfeiaeu were members of both. If I
mistake not, such w-* the case of Mr. Rufus
King, then a member of Congress from Mas
sachusetts. and at the same lime a member of
i tbe Convention to frame the constitution from
that State. Now, it was in the summer of
1787. the very time when tbe Convention in
Philadelphia was forming this constnuiion, that
lhe Congress in New York was framing the .
ordinance of 1787. They passed that ordi
nance on tbe 13th July, 1787, at Naw York, i
the very month, perhaps tbe very day, on
which tbeae questions about the importation
of slaves and the character of slavery were
debated in the Convention at Philadelphia.—
And, so far as we can now learn, there was a
perteatoooourreaoe of opinion between these
• The animal had never exh|M|
symptoms of animosity irefoto. All
mats appeared very fond of deceased; and she
of them. Witness had frequently heard Mr.
Wombwell say he wished there was no Lion
Queen. Witness thought, if she had kept the
whip from the animal, it would not have at
tacked her. Deceased had-auver exhibited any
symptoms of fear, and had frequently gone
into lhe den to the animals when there had
been no company present, for practice and
amusement. It had been said that, perhaps,
it happened because the beast had not been
fed, and it was a few minutes past their time.
In answer to that, witness could only say. he
had frequently seen her go amongst the animals
on a Monday, when they had not been fed on
the previous day.
Richard Cooper Todd, surgeon, attached to
the Royal Artillery, statio*«| in Brompton
Barracks said he was witnessing the exhibi
tion at the time of the occurrence, and was
standing quite close to the rope in front of the
den. He saw the deceased eptar, and on going
in the liger did not appear to be friendly with
her; she struck him and he lay down. She
then proceeded to her performances with the
lion, and afterwards turned round and again
struck the tiger. It appeared augrv, and im
mediately seemed to turn upon the deceased,
rearing upon his hind legs, andsiezing her by
respective bodies; and it resulted in this or
dinance of 1787, excluding slavery as applied
to all the territory over which tbe Congress of
the United States had jurisdiction, and that
was all the territory northwest of the Ohio.
Three years before, Virginia and other States
had made a cession of that great territory to
the United States. And a most magnificent
act it was. I never reflect ujtmt it without a
disposition to do honor and justice—and jus
tice would be the highest honor—to Virginia
for that act of cession o( her northwestern
territory. I will say, sir, itis one of her fair
est claims to lhe respect aud gratitude of the
United States, and that perhaps h is only se
cond to that other claim which attaches to her :
that in her counsels, and from the intelligence
and patriotism of her leading statesmen, pro
ceeded the first idea put into practice for lhe
formation ol a general Constitution of the
Uniled States. Now, sir, the Ordinance of
1787 applied thus to lhe whole iqflfitory over
which the Cor.gress of <hu UnilMwßtates had
jurisdiction. It was adopted nearly three
years before the Conslitu ift»i s.t'.Jas (foiled
States went into operation; th* or
dinance took effect
while lie.’ CoiKiii'iiion of U 4
having been framed, was s-nt the
States to be adopted by
and then a’Guvetiiiiient had
under it. This ordinance, thi xpopera
tionand force when the aKop
ted and ilus Go verniucnt
r *TS(f. President, three thiugffisa
a* historical truths. One is, (bat .herw&sßan
expectation that on the cea.sihg tjf tb*Ofoor
tation of slaves from 'Africa! vibuld
begin to run out. That was emec-
ie, that as far
power iu Congress to preveayßA’-BBMtff of
slavery in the United States, Bfe. power‘A’as
executed in the most absolute wtnniue? atrti to
he fullest extent. An hon. IhMijSgrWh'.ise
health does not allow him to
A Senator. He is here. (Referring to Mr.
Calhoun.)
Mr. Webster. I am very Idqipy to hear
that he is—may he long be in health and the
enjoymentof it to serve his country—said the
other day that he considered as the first
in the series of measures calculated te enfee
ble the South and deprive them of lheir just
participation tn the benefits and privileges of
this Government. He says very properly that
it was done under the old confederation and
before this constitution went into effect; but,
my present purpose is only toai»4. -Mr. Presi
dent, that it was done with the entire and
unanimous concurrence of the whole Souih
Why there it stands' The vote of every
State in the Union was unanimous in favor of
the ordinance, with the exception of a single
individual vote, and that individual was a
Northern man. But. sir, the ordinance abol
ishing or rather prohibiting slavery northwest
of the Ohio, has lhe hand and st.al of every
Southern member in Congress,
This was the state o( things,, sir. and this tbe
state of opinion under which those two very
important matters were arranged, and those
two important things done; tr.iitis, the estab
lishment of the constitution wart a recognition
of slavery as it existej in the States, and the
establishment of the ordinance prohibiting, to
the full extent of all territory owned by the
United States, the introduction of slavery into
those territories. And here, sir, we may pause.
We may reflect for a moment upon the entire
coincidence and concurrence of sentiment
between the North and the South upon this
question at lhe period of the adoption of lhe
oonaiitntion. Butopinions, sir, have changed
—greatly changed—changed North and chang
ed South. Slavery is not regarded iu the
South now as it was then. I see an honora
ble member of this body paying me the honor
of listening to my remarks; he brings to me,
sir, freshly and vividly the sentiments of his
great ancestor, so much distinguished in his
day and geueratoin, so worthy to be succeed
ed by so worthy a grandson, with all lhe senti
ments he expressed in the Convention in Phil
adelphia upon this subject.
Here we may pause. There was unanimity
of sentiment, if not a general concurrence of
sentiment, running through the whole commu
nity, and especially entertained by the eminent
men of all portions of the aouwry, in regard
lo this subject. But soon a began at
iipieiou sues siiowed itself--th*North jrowsug
iiiAkiutt wlioee not’&ibjaet tu be
itifluencen by what appears to them to be their
present and emergent and exigent interest. 1
impute to the South no particularly interested
view in the change which has come over her.
I impute to her certainly ne dishonest view.
All that has happened has been natural. It has
followed those causes which always influence
the human mind and operate upon it. What,
then, have been the causes which have created
so new a feeling in favor of slavery in the
•South—which have changed lhe whole nomen
clature of the South on the sabject—and from
being thought of aud described in the terms I
have mentioned and will not repeat, it has
now become an institution, a cherished institu
: tion there: no evil, no scourge, but a great re-
ligious. social, and moral blessing, as 1 think I
have beard it latterly described? I suppose
this, sir, is owing to the sadden uprising and
rapid growth ot the cotton plantations of the
South. So far as any motive offaouor. justice
and general judgement could act, it was the col
l low interest that gave a new desire lo promote
slavery, to spread it and to use its labor. I
again say that tins is produced by the causes
which we must always expect to produce like
effects—their whole interests became connected
with it. If we look back to the history of the
; commerce of this country at the early com
mencement of this Government, what were
our exports I Cottea w»s hardly, or bet to a
very limited extent, known. The tables will
show that the exports of cotton for the years
1790 and *9l were hardly more than forty or
fifty thousand dollars a year. It has gone on
increasing rapidly until ii may now tie, perhaps,
in a season of great product and high prices, a
hundred millions of dollars Then there was
more of wax, more of rice, more of almost
every thing exported from the Soam th ao o f
cotton. I think I have heard it said, when Mr.
Jefferson negotiated the treaty of 179 g wuj,
England, he did not know that cotton was ex
, ported at all from the United States; and I
1 iiave heard it said that, after the treaty which
gave to the United State* the right to carry
ibeir own commodities to England m their own
ships, the custom-house in London refused to
admit cotton, upon an allegation that it could
not be an American production, there being,
as they supposed, no cotton raised in America.
They would hardly think so now!
She fell vn her back and ths tiger
ftjgßtlMd over her, 'Ub more of her
until removed from the den, when he hastened
to her assistance. She was perfectly insensible
and had lost a groat deal of blood, and her face
and lips were very pale. She was still alive,
tbe heart was beating; but she was perfectly
unconscious. Witness placed hisjhand on the
wound in the neck to stop the bleeding and ad
ministered some brandy to deceased, but she
was unable to swallow it, and in a very few
minutes her heart ceased to beat. There were
four wounds on the left side of the neck, a
slight wound on the right leg, and another on
the chin, caused by the teeth of the tiger, whose
jaw had caused a very large wound under the
chin, which, aided by the shock her system had
sustained, produced death.
The jury returned a verdict to the effect
that deceased was killed by a male tiger whilst
exhibiting in its den, and expressed a strong
opinion against the practice of allowing per
sons to perform in a den with animals.
The occurrence excited very painful interest
and a great number of persons were present
during the inquiry.
The alarm and confusion among the specta
tors at file moment of the frightfnl scene baffies
description, most of those present pressing on
each other in their efforts to escape. Fortu
nately, however, none were seriously injured
Well, sir, we know what follows. The
age of cotton became a golden age for our
Southern brethren. It gratified their desire
for improvement and accumulation at tbe
same time that it excited it. The desire grew
by what it fed upon, and there soon came
to be an eagerness for territory, a new area or
uew areas forthe cultivation ofthe cotton crop,
and measures were brought about, somewhat
rapidly, one after another, under the lead of
Southern men at the head of the Government,
they having a majority in both branches of the
Government, to accomplish their ends. The
honorable member from Carolina observed
that there has been a majority all along in favor
of the North. If that be true, sir, the North
acted either very liberally and k’ndly, or very
weakly ; for they never exercised that majority
five times in the history of the Government.
Never Whether they were out-generalled,
or wholher it was owing to other causes, I
shall not stop to consider, but no man ac
quainted with the history of lhe country can
deny that the general lead in the politics of the
country for three-fourths of the period that has
elapsed since the adoption oftheconstitution has
been a Southern lead. In 1802, in pursuit of
the idea of opening a new cotton region, the
United States obtained a cession from Georgia
ofthe whole of her we»ter» terrifory, now em
bracing the rich and growing State of Alabama.
In 1803 Louisiana was purchased from
France, out of which the States of Louisiana,
staveholding state*, tn lata the cession of
Florida was made, bringing another cession of
slaveholding properly and territory. Sir, the
honorable member from S. Carolina thought he
saw in certain operations of the Government,
such as the manner of collecting the revenue
and the tendency of those measures to promote
emigration into the country, what accounts fir
the more rapid growth of the North than the
South. He thinks they were not the operation
of time, but of the system of government es
tablished under this constitution. That is a
matter ofopinion. To a certain extent it may
be so; but it does seein to me, thatif any ope
ration of the Government could be shown in
any degree lo have promoted the population
and growth and wealth of lhe North, it is much
more sure that there are sundry important and
distinct operations ofthe Government, about
which no man can doubt, tending to promote,
and which absolutely have promoted the in
crease of the slave interest and the slave terri
tory of lhe South. Allow me to say it was not
time that brought in Louisiana ; it was lhe act
of men. it was not time that brought in Flo
rida; it was the act of men And lastly, sir, to
complete those acts of men who have contrib
uted so much to enlarge the area and the sphere
of the institution of slavery, Texas, great and
vast and illimitable Texas, was added to the U
nion in 1345; and that, sir, pretty mnch closed
the whole chapter, and settled the whole ac
count. That closed the whole chapter, that set
tled the whole account, because the annexation
of Texas upon lhe conditions and under the
guaranties upon which she was admitted, did
not leave an acre of land capable of being cul
tivated by slave labor betweeu this capital and
the Rio Grande or the Nueces, or whatever is
lhe proper boundary of Texas—not an acre,
not one. From that moment the whole coun
try from here to the western boundary of Tex
as, was fixed, pledged, fastened, decided to be
slave territory forever, by the solemn guaranties
of law.
And I now say, sir. as the proposition upon
which I stand this day, and upon the truth and
fairness us which I intend lo act until it is over
thrown, that there is not at this moment within
the United States, or any territory of lhe Uni
ted States, a single foot of land the character
of which, iu regard to its being free soil territo
ry or slave territory is not fixed by some law,
and some irrepealable law, beyond the power
of this Government. Now, is it not so wiiti
respect to Texas ? Why, it is most manifestly
so. The honorable member from South Caro
lina, at the time of the admission of Texas,
held an important post in the Executive De
partment of the Government, He was Secre
tary of Slate. Another eminent person of
great activity aud adroitness in affairs, I mean
the late Secretary of the Treasury, (Mr. Walk
er,) was a leading member of this body, and
took the lead in the business of annexation ;
and I must say that they did their business
faithfully; there was no botch in it. They
. winded it off, and made as close joiner work
ikiever was put together. Resolutions of an-
were brought into Congress fitly join
tet, together—compact, firm, efficient, conclu-
Wve upon the great object which they bad in
'iVjew.
Allow me to read the resolution It is the
third clause of the second section of the reso
lution of the Ist March, 1845, for the admission
of Text*. That clause reads in these words:
“ New States, ol convenient size, not exceeding
four in number, in addition to said Slate of Texas,
and having sufficient populalion, may hereafter, by
the consent of said Stite, be firmed out of the Ter
ritory thereof, which shall be entitled to admission
under tbe provisions of lhe Federal Constitution.
And raeh States as duty be formed out of that por
tion of said Territory lying south of thirty-six de
grees thirty minutes nerth latitude, commonly known
as tbe Missouri compr anise line, shall be admitted
into the Union with or without slavery, as the people
of each Stste asking admission may desire; and in
such State or States as shall be f ruled out of sa d
Territory north of sak Missouri compromise line,
slavery or involuntary servitude (except for crime)
shall be prohibited.”
Now what is here stipulated, enacted, secur
ed? Itis that all Texas south of36° 30', which is
nearly the whole of t, shall be admitted into
the Union as a slave Slate —it was a slave
State, and therefore came in as a slave State—
and that new States shall be made oat of it,
and that such Slates as are formed oat of that
portion of Texas lying south of 36° 30' may
come in as slave Stakes to the number of four,
in addition to tbe Stale then in existence, and
admitted at that time by these resolutions. I
know no mode of legislation which can
strengthen that. I know no mode of recog
nition that can add a tittle of weight to it. I
listened respectfully to tne resolutions of my
honorable friead Irom Tennessee. (Mr. Bell.)
He proposed to recognise that stipulation with
; Texas, But auy add.uonal recognition wonld
weaken the force of it; because it stands here
on tbe ground ofa contract for a consideration.
It is a law founded oix a contract with Texas
and destined to carry that contract into effect.
A recognition founded on any consideration
and auy contract would not be so strong as it
now stands on the face rs tbe resolution. Now
I know no way, I candidly confess, in which
this Government, acting in good faith, a* I
trust it always will, eau relieve itself from that
stipulation and pledge, by any honest course
of legislation whatever. And. therefore, I
aay again that, so tar as Texas is concerned—
the whole of Texas south of 36° 30', which I
suppose embraces all lhe slave territory —there
is no laud, not an acre, the character of which
is not established by law, a law which caunot
be repealed without the violation of a con
tract.
I hope, sir, it is now apparent that my propo
sition, so far as Texas is concerned, has been
maintained, and the provision in this article —
and il has been well suggested by my friend
from Rhode Island, that that part of Texas
which lies north of thirty-four degrees of north
latitude may be formed into three States—
is dependent in like manner upon the consent
of TexA, herself a slave State.
Well now, sir, how came it ? How came
it that withiai these walls, where it is said by
the honorable member from South Carolina
ihat the free States have a majority—this reso
lution of annexation, such as I have described it,
found a majority in both Houses of Congress '!
Why, sir, it found that majority by the vast addi
tion of Northern votes added to the entire South
ern vote, or at least nearly the whole of the
Southern votes. Il was madenp of Northern
as well as of Southern votes. In the House of
Representatives it stood, I think, about eighty
Southern votes for the admission of Texas,
and about fifty Northern votes for the admis
sion of Texas. In the Senate the vote stood
for the admission of Texas twenty-seven, and
twenty five against it; and of those twenty
seven voles constituting a majority for the ad
mission of Texas in this body, no less than
thirteen of them came from the free States —
four of them were from New England. The
whole of these thirteen Senators from the
free States —within a fraction you see of ode
half ,of all the votes in thia body for the ad
mission of Texas, with its immeasurable extent
of slave territory—were sent to this body by
sc soil votes.
pre is not so remarkable a chapte, in
onr hfobry of political events, political part ,
and .poetical men, as is afforded by this m. as
iire ftir'tlie admission of Texas, with this ■»>'
! foAiwfojterritory, that a bird cannot fly over -in
[Laughter.] Sir, New England,
of her votes, supported this
f;£j<Ti;ree-iouriha of the votes of lIHMB
rfff. f' <nrr7nrrTT in
tiere. Th'” j) w.fe-pxjc
< Maine, bnt I ah? haj. ,y tu saMtspt
■ ijsrte <il th* honorable js«mßer
thoTaeiiate the day Before
Hamlin.) and who was then a Rrnfft
t aeu'.iilive from Maine in tho other House i-ist
Lthtsre was a vote or two from Maine—aye; anti
I there was one vote for it from Massachusetts
I the gentleman then representing and now
I living in the district in which the prevalent:*: of
fifitaa-soil sentiment for a couple of years so
Wt defeated the choice of any member to
represent it in Congress. Str, that body of
Northern and Eastern men, who gave those
votes at that time, are now seen taking upon
themselves, in the nomenclature of politics,
the appellation of the Northern Democracy.
They undertook to wield the destinies of ths
empire—if I may call a republic an empire—
and their policy was, and they persisted in it,
to bring into this country all the territory they
could. They did it under pledges—absolute
pledges to the slave interest in the case of
Texas, and afterwards in lhe case of these new
conquests. My honorable friend from Geor
gia, in March, 1847, moved the Senate to
declare that the war ought not to be prosecuted
for acquisition or conquest, for the dismem
berment of Mexico. The same Northern
Democracy entirely voted against it. He did
not get a vote from them. It suited the views,
lhe patriotism, the elevated sentiments of the
Northern Democracy to bring in a world here,
among the mountains and valleys of California
and New Mexico, or any other party of Mexi
co, and then quarrel about it—to bring it in
and then to put upon it the saving grace of the
Wilmot proviso. There were two eminent
and highly respectable gentlemen from the
North and East, then leading gentlemen in this
Senate—l refer, and Ido so with entire res
pect, for 1 entertain for both of those gentle
men in general a high regard to Mr. Dix, of
New York, and Mr. Niles, of Connecticut—
who voted for the admission of Texas. They
would not have that vote any other way than
as it stood; and they would have it as it did
stand. I speak of the vote upon the annexa
tion of Texas. Those two gentlemen would
have the resolution of annexation just as it is,
and they voted for it just as it is, and their eyea
were all open to it. My honorable friend, the
member who addressed us the other day from
South Carolina, was then Secretary of State.
His correspondence with Mr. Murphy, the
charge d’affaires of the United States in Tex
as, had been published. That correspondence
was all before those gentlemen, and the Sec
retary had the boldness and candor to avow in
that correspondence that the great object
sought by the annexation of Texas was to
strengthen tfoe slave interest of this country.
Why, sir, be said, in so many words
Mr. Calhoun. Will the honorable Senator
permit me to interrupt him fora moment?
Mr. Webster. Certainly.
Mr. Calhoun. lam very reluctant to
interrupt the honorable gentleman; but up
on a point of so much importance, I deem
it right to put myself rectus in j curia, I
did not put it upon the grouift assumed by the
Senator. I put it upon this ground : that
Gresußritatn hud announced to thia country, in
so many words, that her object was to abolish
slavery in Texas, and through Texas accom
plish the abolishment of slavfiy in the United
the world- ThejtrSiUfld 1 put it on
Was, thath would make an exposed frontier,
and, if Great Britain succeeded in her object,
it would be impossible that that frontier could
be secured against the aggression of lhe aboli
tionists ; that this Government was bound, un
der the guaranties of the constitution, to pro
tect us against such a state of things.
Mr. Webster. That comes, I suppose, sir,
to exactly the same thing. It was that Texas
must be obtained for the security of the slave
interest of the South.
Mr. Calhoun. Another view is very distinct
ly given.
Mr. Webster. That was the object set forth
in the correspondence of a worthy gentleman
not now living, who preceded the honorable
member from South Carolina in that office
There repose on the files ofthe Department of
State, as 1 have occasion to know, strong let
ters from Mr. Upshur to the United States
minister in England, and I believe there are
some to the same minister from the honorable
Senator himself, asserting to this extent lhe sen
timent of this Government that Great Britain
was expected not to interfere to take Texas out
of tbe hands of its then existing Government,
aud make it a free country. But my argu
ment, my suggestion is this : that those gentle
men who composed the Northern democracy
when Texas was brought into the Union, saw
with all their eyes that it was brought in for
the purpose of Being maintained as slave ter
ritory to the Greek Kalends. I rather think lhe
honorable gentlemen who was then Secretary
of State might, in some of his correspondence
with Mr. Murphy, have suggested that it was
not expedient to say too much about this ob
ject, that it might create some alarm: but, sir,
he did avow it boldly and manfully ; he did
not disguise his conduct.
Mr. Calhoun. Never, never.
Mr. Webster. W bat he means he is very
apt to say
Mr. Calhoun. Always, always.
Mr. Webster. And I honor him for it.
This was in 1845. Then, in 1847, flagrante
hello between the United States and Mexico,
the proposition I have mentioned was brought
forward by my friend from Georgia—the North
ern democracy voting straight ahead against it.
Their remedy was lo apply to the acquisitions,
after they should come in, the Wilmot proviso.
What follows ? These two gentlemen, worthy
and honorable and influential men—and if they
had not been they coaid not have carried the
measure—these two gentlemen, members of
this body, brought in Texas, and by their votes
they prevented tbe passage of the resolution
of lhe honorable member from Georgia, aud
then they went home aud took the lead ii< the
Free soil party. And there they stand, sir!
They leave us here, bound in honor and
conscience by the resolutions of annexation—
they leave us here to take the odium of fulfill
ing the obligations iu favor of slavery which
they voted us into, or else the greater odium of
fulfilling the obligations in favor of slavery
whicb they voted us into, or else the greater
odium of violating those obligations while they
are al home making rousing and capital speech
es for tree-soil and no slavery. [Laughter.]
And, therefore, 1 say, sir. that there is not a
chapter in our history, respecting public meas
ures aud public men, more full of what Should
create surprise ; more full of what does create
in my mind, extreme mortification, than that of
lhe conduct of this Northern democracy.
Mr. President, sometimes, when a man is
found in anew relation to things around him,
and toother men, be says the world has changed,
and that he has uot changed. I believe, sir,
that our self-respect leads us often to make this
declaration in regard to ourselves when it is
not exactly true. Au individual is more apt to
change, perhaps, than *ll the world around him
is to enange. But, under the present circcmstan
ces, and under the responsibilty which I know
I incur by what I am now stating here, I feel at
liberty to recur lo the various expressions and
statements, made at various times, of my opin
ions and resolutions respecting the admission
of Texas, and all that has followed. Sir, as
early as 1836, or in the earliest part of 1837,
a matter of conversation and correspondence
between myself and some private friends was
this project of annexing Texas to the United
Slates ; and an honorable gentlemen with
whom I have said I had a long acquaintance. *
friend of mine, now perhaps in this chamber—
-1 mean Gen. Hamilton of South Carolina —
was knowing to that correspondence. I had
voted for the recognition of Texan indepen
dence, because I believed it was an existing
fact, surprising and astonishing as it was, and
I wished well to lhe new republic ; bull man
ifest-id from lhe first alter opposition to bring
ing ber with her territory into the Union. 1
had occasion, sir, in 1837 to meet friends in
New York, cusome political occasion, and I
then stated my sentiments upon the subject.
It was tbe first lime that 1 had occasion to ad
vert to it; aud I will ask a friend near me
the favor to read an extract from tbe speech
for the Senate may find it rather tedious to lis
ten to the whole of it It was delivered in Ni
blo's Garden in 1837.
Mr. Greene then read the following extract
from the speech of the honorable Senator, te
which be referred.
“ Gemlemea, we all see that, by whomsoever pos
sessed, Texas is likely to be a slavebolding country;
and 1 frankly avow my enure unwillingness to do
any thing which shall extend the slavery of the
| Airman race on this conunent, or add other elave
bnfd-ng States to the Union.
VoL.LXIV—NEW SERIES VOL. XIV—NO. 12.
When Isay that 1 regard slavery in nse.f as a
grjat moral, social, and political evil, I only use lan
guage whick hasbecn adopted by distinguished men,
themselves citizens of slavehoMing States.
“ I shall do nothing, therefore, to favor or enconr
age Its further extension. We have slavery already
among us. The constitution found it among us; it
recognised it, and gave it solemn guaranties.
“ To tbe full extent of these guaranties, we are all
bound in honor, injustice, and by tbe conrtitution.--
All the stipulations contained in the constitution in
favor of the slavehglding States, which are already
in lhe Union, ought to be fufilled, and, so far a* de
pends on me, shall be fulfilled in the fulness of their
spirit and to tbe exactness of lheir letter. sl »’ er y •’
it extets in the States is beyondthe reach of Congress.
It is a concern of the Suites themselves. They hare
never submitted it to Congress, and Congress ho* no
rightful power over it.
“I shall concur, therefore, in no act, no measure,
no menace, no indication of purpose which sha in
terfere or threaten to interfere with the exclusive au
thority ofthe several States over the subject ,o‘ ““ve
ry, as it exists within their respective limits. A
this appears to me to be matter of plain and impera
tive duly. , , . .
“ But when we come to speak of admitting new
States, the subject assumes an entirely different as
pect. Our rights and our duties are then both dif
ferent. ♦ • ♦
“ 1 see, therefore, no political necessity for the an
nexalion of Texas to the Union —no advantage* to be
derived from it; and objections to it of a strange, and,
in my judgment, 9f a decisive character.”
Mr. Webster. I have nothing, sir, to add
to nor to take back from those sentiments.
That, the Senate will perceive, was in 1837.
The purpose of immediately annexing Texas
at that lime was abandoned or postponed ;and
it was not revived with any vigor for some
years. In lhe mean time it hod so happened
that I had become a member ofthe Executive
Administration, and was for a short period in
ilte Department of State. The annexatics of
Jexnehad become a subject ofconversatioww*-
Jo; confidential—with the President and (reads
: 84-W-.i>artmenls, as well as with other
i iMa<; No serious attempt was then made to
j.about. Hdfetbe DepartjiMHii ofiKafe
WM. 1843, aud shortly after 1 lesMM
way connected with official
»g in T- Ha-, with hetStave
igipcAtation, into the UntfeiF States. 1:
i, VVoshingtou at the time, and
f spniiare now here who will remember’Sfckf ]
! w%4se<l an arranged meeting for conversiatfofij]
■ it. I went home to Massachusetts I
Sr&faimed the existence of that purposgybei
5 could get no audience, and but little attenticn
Berate did not believe it, and soma were. kkhv
in their own pursuits. They had
fauna, or to their merchandise, and it
was impossible to arouse any sentiment in
New England or in Massachusetts that should
combine lhe two great political parties against
this annexation: and. indeed, there was no
hope of bringing the Northern democracy in
to that view, for tbe leaning was all the other
way. But, sir, even with whig*, and leading
wbigs, I am ashamed to say, there was a great
indifference towards tho admission of Texas
with slave territory into this Union. It went
on. I was then out of Congress. The an
nexation resolutions passed the Ist of March,
1845. Texas complied with them; the Leg
islature of Texas complied with >he conditions
and accepted the guaranties ; for the phrase
ology of the language of the resolution is, that
Texas is to come in “upon the condition* and
under the guaranties hernia prescribed.” I
happened to be returned to the Senate in
March, 1845, and was hare in December, 1845,
when the acceptance by Texa of the condi
tions proposed by Congress were laid before
us by the President, and an act (or the con
summation of the connexion was laid before
the two Houses. The connexion was not
completed. A final law doing the deed of an
nexation ultimately had not been passed; and
when it was upon its final passage here, I ex
pressed my opposition to it and recorded my
vote in the negative; and there that vote
stands, with the observations that I made upon
that occasion. It happened that between 1837
and this time, on various occasions and op
portunities, I had expressed my entire oppo
sition to the admission of slave States, or the
acquisition of new slave territories, to be ad
ded to the United States I know, sir, no
change in my own sentiments or my own
purposes in that respect. I will now again
ask my friend from Rhode Island to read
another extract from a speech of mine, made
at a whig convention in Springfield, Massa
chusetts, in the month of September, 1847.
Mr. Greene here read the following extract:
“We hear much just now of a panacea for the
dangers and evils of slavery and slave annexation,
which they call the ‘ Wilmot Frooiso.* That cer
tainly is a just sentiment, but it is not a sentiment to
found any new party upon. It is not a sentiment on
which Massachusetts wbigs differ. There is not a
man in this hall who holds to it more firmly than
I do, nor one wbo adheres to it more than another.
“ I feel some little interest in this matter, sir.—
Did not I commit myself in 1838 to the whole doc
trine, fully, entirely ? And I must be permitted to
say that I cannot quite consent that more recent
discoverers should claim tbe merit and take out a
patent.
“ I deny the priority of their invention. Allow
me tosay, sir, it is not their thunder. ♦ ♦ ♦
“ We are to us? the first and last and every ocoa
sion which offers to oppose lhe extension of slave
power.
“ But 1 speak of it here, as in Congress, as a polit
ical question, a question for statesmen to act upon.—*
We must so regard it. I certainly do not mean to
say that it is less jgumrtani ijia. zaonxLpaua-*4'.sjau=.
tliat it is not more important in many other points of
view; but, as a legislator, or in any official capacity,
I must look at it, consider it, and decide it as a mat
ter of political action.”
Mr. Webster. On other occasions, in de
bates here, I have expressed my determination
to vote for no acquisition, or cession or an
nexation, North or South, East or West. My
opinion has been that we have territory
enough, and that we should follow the Spartan
maxim, “improve, adorn what you have, seek
no further.” I think that it was in some ob
servations that I made here on the three mil
lion loan bill that I avowed that sentimenj.—
In short, sir, the sentiment baa been avowed
quite as often, in as many places, and before
as many assemblies, as any of the humble sen
timents of mine ought to be avowed.
But now, that, under certain conditions,
Texas is in with all her territories, as a slave
State, with a solemn pledge '.hat if she is divi
ded into many Slates, those States may come
in as slave States south of 36° 3*/, how are
we to deal with it? I know no way of hono
rable legislation but, when the proper time
comes for the enactment, to carry into effect
all that we have stipulated to do. I do not en
tirely agree with my honorable friend from
Tennessee, (Mr. Bell,) that, as soon as the
time comes when she is entitled to another
Representative, we should create a new State.
The rule in regard to it I lake to be this: that,
when we have created new Slate* out of
Territories, we have generally gone upon the
idea tha: when there i* population enough to
form a State, sixty thousand or some such
thing, we would create a State ; but it may be
thought quite a different thing when a State is
divided, aud two or more Stales made out of it.
It does not follow, in such a case, that the same
rule of apportionment should be applied.—
That, however, is a matter for tne considera
tion of Congress when the proper lime ar
rives. 1 may not be here. 1 may have no
vote io give on the occasion, but 1 wish it to
be distinctly understood to day that, according
to my view of the matter, this Government is
solemnly pledged by law to create new States
out of Texas, with her consent, when her
population shall justify such a proceeding, and
so far as such Stales are formed out of Texan
territory lying south of 36° 30', to let them
come in as slave States. That is the meaning
of the resolution which our friends, the North
ern Democracy, have left us to fulfil; and I.
for one, mean to fulfil it, because 1 will not
violate the faith of lhe Government
Now, as to California and New Mexico, I
hold slavery to be excluded from those Terri
tories by a taw even superior to that which ad
mits and sanctions it in Texas. I mean lhe
law of nature —of physical geography—lhe
law of the formation of the earth. That law
settles forever, with a strength beyond all
terms of human enactment, that slavery can
not exist in California or Now Mexico. Un
derstand me, sir; 1 mean slavery as we regard
it; slaves in the gross, of lhe colored race,
transferable by sale and delivery like other
properly. I shall not discus* that point. I
leave it to the learned gentlemen who have
undertaken to discuss it; but I suppose there
is no slave of that description in California
now. I understand that peonism, a sort of pe
nal servitude, exists there, or rather a sort of
voluntary sale of a man and hie offspring for
debt, as it is arranged and exist* in some parts
of California and New Mexico. But what 1
mean to say is, that African slavery, as we see
it among us, is as utterly impossible to find it
self, or to be found in Mexico, as any other
natural impossibility. California and New
Mexico are Asiatic in their formation and
scenery. They are composed of vast ridges
of mountain* of enormous height, with some
times broken ridges of deep valleys. The
sides of these mountains are barren, entirely
barren, their tops capped by perennial snow.
There may be in California, now made free
by its constitution, and no doubt there are,
some tract* of valuable land. But it is not so
in New Mexico. Pray, what is the evidence
which auy gentleman has obtained on this sub
ject, from information sought by himself or
communicated by others. 1 have inquired and
read all 1 could in order to obtain information
on thistubject. What is there in New Mexi
co that could by any possibility induce any
body to go there with slaves ? There are
some narrow strips of tillable land on the
borders of the rivers ; but the river* them
selves dry up before midsummer is gone. All
that the people can do is to raise some little
articles, some little wheat for tlieir tortillas, and
all that by irrigation. And who expects to see
a hundred black men cultivating tobacco,corn,
cotton, rice, or any thing else, ou lands in
New Mexico made fertile only by irrigation*
I look upon it, therefore, as a fixed tact, to
use an expression current lo tbe day, that
I bout California and New Mexico are destined
tu be free, so far a* they are settle I at all,
which 1 believe, especially in regard to New
Mexico, will be very Utile for a great length of
time ; free by the arrangement of things by
tbe Power above a*. 1 have therefore to say,
in this respect also, that this country is fixed
for freedom, to as many persons as shall ever
live there, by as irrepealable and more irre
pealable a law than the law that attache* to
the right of holding slave* in Texas; and 1
will say farther, that if a resolution or a law
were now before us lo provide a Territorial
Government for New Mexico, I would not
vote to put any prohibition into it whatever.
The use of such a prohibition would be idle,
as it respects any effect it would have upon
the Territory; and I would not take pains to
reform an ordinance of Nature, nor to ra-en
act the will of God. And I would put in no
Wilmotproviso for the purpose of a taunt or
a reproach. I would put into it no evidence
of the votes of superior power, to wound the
pride, even whether a just pride, a rational
pride, or an irrational pride, to wound the
pride of the gentlemen who people the South
ern States. I have no such object, no such
purpose. They would think ita taunt, an in
dignity ; they would think it to be an act tak
ing away from them what they regard a prop
er equality of privilege; and whether they
expect to realize any benefit from it or not,
they would think ita theoretic wrong; that
something more or less derogatory to their
character and their rights had taken place. I
propose to inflict no such wound upon any
body, unless something essentially important
to the country, and efficient to the preservation
of liberty and freedom, is to be effected.—
Therefore, I repeat, sir, and I repeat it be
cause I wish it to be understood, that Ido not
propose to address the Senate often on this
subject. I desire to pour out all my heart in
as plain a manner as possible; and I say,
again, that if a proportion were now here.for
a Government for New Mexico, and it was
moved to insert a provision for a prohibition
of slavery, I would not vote for it.
Now, Mr. President, I have established, so
far as I proposed to go into any line of ob
servation to establish, the proposition with
which I set out. and upon which I propose to
stand or fall; and that is, that the whole lerxi- ,
tory of the States in the United States, or tri
the newly-acquired territory of the Umied
Slates, has a fixed and settled
Esedand settled by law. which cannot lo
psided in the case of Texas withoutjh yfosi
r liojj ts public faith. and cannot be
iinan power in regard to I
Mexico; that, under’OSe •“
■ laws. evc£ of SJn'tory »•
■ -5r New Mexico. and ans body shod!-? psi--
■pftxse.a Wilmot Proviso, i should trdxtrt
t:fv as Mr. Polk treated that provision l<«
e»«-Hding slavery from Oregon. Mr/J'JM!k,,
I waaknown to be in opinion decidedly '
Wilmot proviso; but he felt
■ si?y;of establishing a Government for the ter
l-wry of Oregon, and, though the proviso was
Ljhufc he knew it would be entirely nugatory;
"'anS, since it must be entirely nugatory, since
it took away no right, no describable, no esti
mable, no weighable or tangible right of the
South, he said he would sign the bill for the
sake of enacting a law to form a Government
in that territory, and let that entirely useless,
and in that connexion entirely senseless pro
viso remain. For myself, I will say that we
hear much of the annexation of Canada; and
if there beany man, any of the Northern
Democracy, or any one of the Free Soil par
ty, who supposes it necessary to insert a Wil
mot proviso in a territorial Government for
New Mexico, that man will of course be of
opinion that it is necessary to protect the over
lasting snows of Canada froin the foot of
slavery by the same overpowering wing of an
act of Congress. Sir, wherever there is a
particular good to be done; wherever there is
a foot of land to be staid back from becoming
slave territory, I am ready to assert the princi
ple of the exclusion of slavery. lam pledged
to it from the year 1837; 1 have been pledged
to it again and again ; and I will perform those
pledges ; but 1 will not do a thing unnecessa
ry, that wounds the feelings of others, or that
does disgrace to my own understanding.
Mr. President, in the excited times in which
we live there is found to exist a state of crim
ination and recrimination between the North
and the South. There are lists of grievances
produced by each; and those grievances, real
or supposed, alienate the minds of one portion
of the country from the other, exasperate the
feelings, subdue the sense of fraternal con
nexion and patriotic love and mutual regard.
I shall bestow a little attention, sir, upon these
grievances produced on the one side and on
the other. 1 begin with the complaints of the
South. I will not answer, furthor than I have,
the general statements of the honorable Sena
tor from South Carolina, that the North has
grown upon the South in consequence of the
manner of administering this Government, m
the collecting ofits revenues, and so forth
They are disputed topics, and I have no incli
nation to enter into them. But I will state
these complaints, especially one complaint ot
the South, which has in my opinion just foun
dation ; and that is, that there has been found
at the North, among individuals and among
the legislators of the North, a disinclination
to perform fully their constitutional duties in
regard to the return of persons bound to ser
vice who have escaped into the free States.—
In that respect, it is my judgment that the
South is right and the North is wrong. Every
member of every Northern Legislate re-ls
bound by oath to support the cvusututiou ot
the United States; end this article of the con
stitution, which says m these Simes they shad
deliver irp fugitives Ww-
ing in honor and conscience as
cle. No man fulfils h'la.duty Mty-Lugw*-
lure who sets himself to aiid excuses, evasions,
escapes from lift*constitutional duty. I have
always thought that the constitution addressed
itself to the Legislatures of the Stales them
selves. or to the States themselves. It says
that those persons escaping to other States
shall be delivered up, and I confess I have al
ways been of the opinion that it was an in
junction upon the States themselves. When
it is said that a person escaping into another
State, and becoming therefore within the ju
risdiction of that Stale, shall be delivered up,
it seems to me the import of the passage is,
that the State itself, in obedience to the con
stitution, shall cause him to be delivered up.
That is my judgment. I have always enter
tained it, and I entertain it now. But when
the subject, some years ago, was before the
Supremo Court of the United States, the ma
jority of the judges held that the power to
cause fugitives from service to be delivered
up was a power to be exercised under the
authority of this Government. Ido not know,
on the whole, that it may not have been a for
tunate decision. My habit is to respect the
result of judicial deliberations and the solem
nity of judicial decisions. But, as it now
stands, the business of seeing that these fugi
tives are delivered up resides in the power of
Congress and the national judicature, and my
friend at the head of the Judiciary Committee
has a bill on the subject uow before the Senate,
with some amendments to it, which I propose
to support, with all its provisions, to the ful
lest extent. And 1 desire to call the attention
of all sober-minded men, of all conscientious
men in lhe North, of all men who are notcar
ried away bv any fanatical idea or by any
false idea whatever to their constitutional ob
ligations. I put it to all the sober and sound
minds at the North as a question of conscience.
What right have they, in their legislative ca
pacity, or any other, to endeavor to get round
this constitution, to embarrass the free exer
cise ofthe rights secured by the constitution to
the persons whose slaves escape from them?
None at all; none at all. Neither in the forum
of conscience nor before lhe face of the con ■
ablution are they justified, in my opinion. Os
course it is a matter for their consideration
They probably, in the turmoil of the times,
have not stopped to consider of this; they
have followed what seems to be the current of
thoughtand of motives for lhe occasion, and
they neglect to investigate fully the real ques
tion, and to consider their constitutional obli
gations ; as lam sure, if they did consider,
ihey would fulfil them with alacrity. There
fore, 1 repeal, sir, that here is a ground of
complaint against the North well founded,
which ought to be removed, which it is now in
the power of the different departments of this
Government to remove; which calls for the
enactment of proper laws authorizing the ju
dicature of this Government, in the several
Slates, to do all that is, necessary for the re
capture of fugitive slaves, and for lhe restora
tion of them to those who claim them. Wher
ever I go, and whenever I speak on the sub
ject —and when I speak here I desire to speak
io the whole North—l say that the South has
been injured in this respect, and has a right to
complain ; and the North has been too care
less of what I think the constitution peremp
torily and emphatically enjoins upon it as a
duty.
Complaint has been made against certain
resolutions that emanate from Legislatures at
the North, and are sent here to us, not only on
Hie subject of slavery in this District, but
sometimes recommending Congress to con
sider the means of abolishing slavery in the
.States 1 should be sorry to be called upon to
present any resolutions here which could not
be referable to any committee or any power
in Congress, and, therefore, I should be un
willing to receive from lhe Legislature of Mas
sachusetts any instructions to present resolu
tions expressive of any opmiou whatever on
the subject of slavery, for two reasons ; be
cause, first, 1 do not consider that the Legis
lature of Massachusetts has any thing to do
with it; and next, Ido not consider that 1, as
her representative here, have any thing to do
withit. Sir, it has become, in ray opinion,
quite too common ; and, if the Legislatures of
toe States do not like it, lhey have a great
deal more power to put it down than I have
to uphold it. It has become, in my opinion,
quite too common a practice for the State Leg
islatures to present resolutions here on all
subjects, and to instruct us here on all sub
jects. There is no public man that requires
instruction more than I do, or who requires
information m ire than I do, or desiresit more
heartily; but Ido not like to have it coma in
quite too imperative a shape. I took notice,
with pleasure, of some remarks upon this sub
ject made lhe other day in lhe Senate of Mas
sachusetts, by a young man of talent and char
acter, from whom the best hopes may be en
tertained. I mean Mr. Hilliard. He told the
Senate of Massachusetts that he would vote for
no instructions whatever to be forwarded to
members of Congress, nor for any resolutions
to be offered, expressive of lhe sense of Mas
sachusetts as to what their members of Con
gress ought to do. He said that he saw no
propriety in one set of public servants giving
instructions and reading lectures to another
set of public servants. To their own master
all of them must stand or fall, and that master
is their constituents. 1 wish these sentiments
could become more common, a great deal
more common. I have never entered into the
question, and never shall, about the binding
force of instructions.