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SPEECH OF MR. CLAY,
Oft THE SUBJECT OF AISOUITION PETITION*.
Mr. Clat, of Kentucky, rose to present a petition, and
9iid: I have received, Mr. President, a petition to the
Sena'e and House of Representatives of the United Stales,
which l wish t.» present to the Senate. It is signed by
several hundred inhabitant* of the District of Columbia,
an 1 chiefly of tie* ri;.\ .n Washington. Among them I
recognize ihe name of the lii =;Illy esteemed Mayor of the
•- tv, and other ie-p eta! !•■ lame*, s- me of wbi it are per-
s ma'iv and well known t > tne. They express their tegrel
that the sn'-jei t of the abolition of slavi-rv within the l):s
f. ict of Coin at i i -o ltini-s l ■ he pressed upon the ron-irfc-
r iti >n of C utm’s. Fy ittrn isi.l -ate ar.d misguided iiali-
vlduals in ot ,er par's of tile U.itl.eil States. They state
that th< v d > not desire the abolition of s.'uverwwithin the
District, even if Congress possess the very questionable
power of abolishing it, without the consent of the people
whose interests woatd he iinnieiliatelytantl directly afl'-di*d
bv the measure; that it is a question S ilely between the
people of the District and their only constitutional Regis
lituro, purely municipal, a id one in which no » xterior in
fluence or .inter st rati justly interfere ; that, if at any tu
tor.' p-wio I the people of this District should desire the
abolition of shivery within it, they will douhlle.-s make
toeir wishes known, when .t will he time enough to take
the matter into consider ition ; that tiiev d « not., on this
occasion, present, themselves to Congress because they are
slave holders—many of them are no:—some of them are
eortseieotions'v opposed to slavery—lint they appear
cause t a v ji-tlv lespecf the rights of those who own that
rtv, tied because they entertain a deep
imitimied agitation of the question I v
right to inlet fere with it. has ar. inju-
u-ripii m of pi*opc
ivretion that t
ise who have
sue
llfl'l
■no
e.po
the
re and IrauoTliiiy of t no commu
ting and happiness of
vvno
are belli in subjection; they finally protest as wo 1 ;
the litianiho! i/.iul intern rt but of which they complain, ns
against nnv legislation on the part of Congress iti compli
ance then witii. Rut, a-' T wish these respectable petition
ers to he themselves heard, I request that tho.ir petition
Mr. IViddmt, it h it dii« alarming rt«*r of lUe pro-
caVtding* of ilia ultim-abolUinuist* IFat i would seriously
invite every considerate man in tbe country solenudy to
pause, and" deliberately to reflect, not. merely ou oui ex
isting posture, hut upon that dreadful precipice down
which thev would huiry us. It is because these ultra-nl.o-
litionists have cc«*eri to employ the inslromi tits ot reason
mid persuasion, have mode their cause pwiiiirtil, and have
appealed to the l%llu»-bex, thnt I am induced, up*« Wits
occasion, to address you.
There have been three epochs in the history <f our
country at which the spirit Of abolition displayed itself.
Lite best was immediately alter the formation ol the pre-
-ent Federal Goveriiineiit. \\ hpn ti.e Constitutioi: was
about going it.fu opt raliou, its powtrswere not well itn-
derstoml by the community "t huge, nod remained to he
iccomtely internveted and defined. At that period nu
merous abolition soeieties were formed, compiisi g not
merely the Society of Friends, hut many other good men.
i’< titiuns wt re presented to Congress, praying for the abo
lition of slavery. They were received without serious
opposition, referred, and repotted upon by a committee.
The report stated that the (lenda. Governmei t hud no
power to abolish slavery as it existed in the several Stales,
and that these States themselves had exclusive jurisdiction
over the subject. The report was generally acquiesced
in. and satisfaction and tint qnility ensued ; the abolition
soci< tics thereafter limiting tneir < xeitions. in respect to
' the black population, to offices of humanity within the
i scope of existing laws.
j ; The next period when the subject o' slavery, and aboli
tion incidentally, was I renghtinto n lice atid discussion,
1 was that on th.- niemoi'Hble occasion of the admission ot
i the State of Missouri into the U liu-i. The struggle was
j long, strenuous, and fearful. It is t io reeenl to make it
j necessary to do more than merely adveit to it, a‘id to soy.
i that it was finally composed by one of those compromises
' characteristic of our institution*, and of which the Consti-
ainst i . . .
| ni ton nseil is the most s;gi nl instance.
! The third is that in which v\e now find omselves. Ya-
| rions causes, Mr. President, have contributed to produce
I the existing ex.-it. ment on the subject of abo'ilton. '1 he
nil according
<1 Mr. Cinv
may be re J. fit was
proceeded:] I am informed by the coinniilt.ee which re- |
quested me to oil'-r this petition, and believe. that it ox- !
presses the almost uaanimous sentiments of the people of j
the Dis’rtct < f Columbia.
The performance of this service affords me, said Mr. C.,
b logiUnuite opportunity, of which, with the permission of i
tit' Senate, I mean now to avail myself, to say something, j
not onlv ou the particular ob jects of the petition, but upon
toe great and interesting subject with which it is intimately !
associated.
It is well known to the Senate, said Mr. Clav, that I
have thought that the most judicious course with abolition . .
petitions has not been of late pursued by Congress. I have j
believed that, it would have been wisest to have received
principal our. pcuhnps, is the example of British cm ii ci-
patio i of the slaves in the islands adjacent to our country.
Such is the similarity in Inyvs, in lai guage, in institutions,
and in common origin, between Great Britain and the
Untied States, that no great measure of national policy
can be adopted in the one country without producing a
consider ible degree of influence iti tlm other. Confound
ing the total y different cases together, of the poyvcrs of
the British Parliament and those of the Congress of the
United States, and the totally different situations of the
British W est India islands, and the slaves in the sovereign
and independent States of this Confederacy, superficial
men have infcrrrd front thb undecided British experiment
slavery in thrse
State*. The poyyers of the British Parliament are unliin-
iti d. and are often desrribed to be omnipotent. The jiorv-
• nd absolutely excluding
continuance of s'avory in
iii-li British
htI referred them, without opposition, and to have reported j
against their object io a calm and dispassionate and argil- I er * of ‘ho American Congress, on the contrary, are tew,
meutative appeal to the good sense of the whole Comm,mi- ! cnu "°"* l - v ], " n,pd ’ wnipuhiuely excluding all that arc not
tv. I- has been supposed, however, by a majority of Con- P™ n,pd ’ n,,<i ’ " bovp oarof.illy a
gross, that if was most expedient oil he- not t. receive the ; nil P OWPr 0TCr lho pxwtpnnc ,,r c<
petitions at nil, or. if formillv received, not to act defin- I J ,:c 7T ral , lhe ,lavc -’ tn ,°’ "I>°" . , , .
itelv upon them. There is no substantial difference be- ! h^'shitton operated, weie not in the bosom of the knig-
tywn these , pposit" opinion*, since both look to an abso- I dfin ’' ,ot ln r * m * lc n " d fp ’ h|p «* "Tims, having no voice
lute rejection of the prayer of the petitioner*. But there j 1,1 ^ru.lmenl. The Wes. India * nvrholder was neither
is a great diff. reace in'the form of proceeding ; and, Mr. ! ''T™!"-'* '» * ** 1 "roament And
President, son,.- experience in the conduct of human affairs I ” ! ^ lsl 1 mo,t 7 rn T ih * ® n *
h .s taught me to believe that a nrgffrt to observe es.ab- ! U / h ^per.ment ol W est India emn.,r.pn..on, 1 confess
lished forms is often attended with more mischievous con U i nt 1 h " p fearf.il forebodings of a disastrous term,nation
sequences than the infliction of a positive injury. Vfe all | f . W , hn,pvrr * " n >i hc ’ 1 ,h,I ' k '» bp aJmmed
know that, even in private life, a violation of the existing i ,f , ! ,e Br,,, * h Bnrhampn \ “i* "’ r ‘ ! ,hp « p *‘ ,ndla
usage, and ceremonies ofsocimy cannot lake place with- ! * lnvP9 M fre ;; nrn - « « rP *‘ pd the West It,dm freemen
out serious prejudice. I f.. n r, sir, that the ab-ihi mists j »* « !a,rP9 * ,r *' ppd ,,f,, ' p « p pmvp * ! >rin R * p l’ nra,pd b >' a
have acquired a considcral 1- appnrc t force by blending j ’ s f ,dp nc, ' ttn fr « m tf ' p f«r«t p.nanto;. three nr four mill.o.rs
with the object wl.ich they have in view a collateral and ! ft . f A ".can negro slaves had been dispersed over England*
t iiatlv difTerent question arising out «fan alle.lgrd violation Wales, and Ireland, and their ow ners had been
of the right of petition. 1 know fall well, and take great 1 ” pn,hpr * " f ,b * B " ,, * h 1 <*rl.nment—a rase which would
pleasure in testifying, that nothing was remoter from the j l ; #ve presented some analogy tc that of our own country—
i itenlioii of the majority of the Senate, from w hich 1 differ
ed, than to violate the right of petition in any case in w hich,
according to its judgment, that right could be constitution
ally exercised, or where the object of the petition could he
safely or properly grant- d. Still, it must be owned that
the abolitionist* have seized bold of the fact of the trcai-
mrnt which their petitions have received in Congress, and
made injurious Impressions upon the minds of a large por
tion of the community. This, I think, might have been
avoided by tbe course which I should have bt cn glad to
have seen pursued.
And I
new. Mr. Piesider.t. to adveit to some of
those topics which 1 think might have been usefully emho-
does any one l.elieve thnt it would have been expedient or
practicable io have emancipated rhrm. leaving them to
remain, with all their embittered feelings, in tiie United
Kingdom, boundless ns the powers of the British Parlia
ment are ?
Other causes have conspired with the British example
to pr. dure the existing excitement, from abolition. I si.y
it with profound regret, hut wirh no intention to occasion
irritation here or elsew here, that there are perse.ns in both
parts of the Union w ho have sought to mingle abolition
with politics, and to array one portion of the Union against
the other. It is the misfortune in free countries thnt, in
high party times, a disposition too often prevails to seize
died iti t: re:
on by a committee of the Senate, and" which, | hold,if '''ey thing which can strengthen the one side or
I am persmdtd, would have checked the progress, if it
had not altogether anertrd llie efforts, of abolition. I atn
sensible, sir, that this work would have been accomplished
w ith much en atei ability m-d with much happier effect,
under the auspices irf • committee, than it can be bv me.
But. anxious a* I always nm to contribute whatever is in
my power to the harmony, concord, and happiness of this
gre.it people, I fee! myself irresistibly impelled to do wlmt-
ev r is in tny power, incompetent as ] feel myself to be,
to dissuade the public from continuing to agitate a subject
fraught with the mn»i direful consequences.
There arc three elosses of persons opposed, or appa
rently opposed, to the continued existence of slavery in the
U-iited States. The first are those w ho, from sentimcntij
of philanthropy and humanity, arc conscientiously opposed
to the existence of slavery, but who arc no kss opposed,
at the same time, to any disturbance of the peace and
tranquility of the Ut.ion, or the infringement of the pmvets
of the. States composing the Confederacy. In this class
inav be comprehended that praccfttl and exemplary society
of ” Friends,” one of whose establish* d maxims is, an rfb-
horte ice of yvar in all its forms, at.d the cultivation ol
peace and goo.l-wiil amongst mankind. Them t class
consi ts of appatenl abolitionists—that is, those who, hav
ing b «n petsttaded that the right of petition lias been vio
lated by Congress, co-operatc with the abolitionists for
weaken the other. Charges of fostering abolition designs
have been hredlesflv and unjustly made by one party
against ti.e other. Trior to the late election of the pie-
sent President of the Unit - d States, he w as charged with
being an abolitionist, and abolition designs were impuied
to many of his supporter*. Mivh a* I was opposed to
his election, attd atn to his Administration, I neither
shared in making nor believing the trnth cf the charge.
He was srntrely installed in offirc before the same charge
w»« directed against those who opposed his election.
Mr. President, it is not true, and I rejoice that it is not
true, that either of the two great pnrtir# in this countty
iiss any designs or aim at abolition. I should deeply la
ment if it were true. I should consider, if it yy ere t rue, that
the danger to the stability of our system would be infinitely
greater than any which does, I hope, actually exist.
W hilst neither party can fe, I think, justly accused of any
abolition tendency or purpose, both have pr. filed, and
both hare bren injnred, in particular localities, by the
accession or abstraction of abolition support. If the ac
count w re fairly stated, I heiievet.be party to which I am
opposed has profited much more, and been injnred much
■ess, than thnt to yvhieh I belong. Bril 1 am lar, for that
reason, from being disposed to accuse our adversaries of
being abolitionists.
And, now, Mr. Pres-dent, allow me to consider the
tiios-.de purpose of asserting and vindicating that right. | ^veral cases in w hich the authority of Congress is invoked
And the third class htc the rrs! ultra-abolitionists, who
w. e resolved to persevere in the pursuit of their object at nti
h izards, and without regard to any consequence*, however
calamitous they may I e. W ith then; the rights of pro
perty are nothing; the deficiency of the power* ot the
General Government is nothing; the acknowledged aid
lacotitestible powers of the Slates are nothing; civil war,
a dissolution of the Union, and the overthrow of a gov
ernment in which are concentralid the fondest hopes of
the civilized world, are nothing. A single idea has taken
possession of their nsinds, and onward they pursue it,
overlooking till bonier*, reckless and tegatdlcs* of all
consequences. With this class, the immediate abolition
of slavery- in the Di.-trict of Columbia, and in the Tciritory
of i-'h.rida, the prohibition of the tv moral of slaves front
Slate to State, and the r< fusai to admit any n>-w State,
comprising within its limits the institution of domestic
slavery, are but so many means conducing to the nccom
plislimetit of the ultimate hut perilous end at which they
avowedly and boldly aim ; are hut so many short stages
in tlie long and hloodv toad to the distant goal at which
they would finally arrive. Their purpose is abolition,
universal abolition, peaceably if it can, forcibly if it must.
Their object is no longer concealed by the thinnest veil;
it is avowed and proclaimed. Utterly destitute of censti-
tutional or other rightful power, living in totally distinct
communities, as alien to the communities in which the
subject on which they would operate resides, so far as
concerns political power over that subjrtt, as if they lived
in Africa or A*tu, they nevertheless promulgate to the
wor d their purpose to be to mat omit forthwith, and with
out compensation, and without moral preparation, three
millions of negro slaves, under jurisdiction* altogether
separated from llioec under which they live. 1 have said
that immediate abolition of slavery in the- District of Co
lumbia and io the Teiritory of Florida, and the exclusion
of new States, were only means towards lhe attainment
of a much more important end. Unfortunately, they are
not the only mean*. Another, and much more lamenta
ble one. is that which this class is endeavoring to employ,
nf tirruving one portion against another portion ol the
Union. With that view , in all their leading prints and
publications, iha alleged honors of slavery are depicted
i:t the most glowing <t..d exaggerated colors, to excite the
imagination* and stimulate the rage of the people in tlie
free Stat-s against the people in the slave J-tate*. lhe
slaveholder is held up and represented as the most atro
cious ol human being*. Adyeitisements ol fugitive slave*
and of slaves to he sold are carefully collected and Llo-
spirit of detestation and i atred
by these abolition petitioners upon the snbject of domestic
slnrerv. The first relates to it n« it exists in the District
of Columbia. The following is the provision of the Con
stitution of the United State* in reference to that matter
“ To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever
over snch District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may
by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Con
•jess, become the Seat of Government of the United States.’
This prnvi«ion proceeded, in point of time, the actual
cessions which were made by the States of Maryland and
Yirsinin. The object of the cession was to establish «
rc-it of Government nf the United SU/ten; and the grant
in tlm Constitution of exclusive legislation must be under
stood, and should he, a!way* interpreted, ns having relation
to the object of the cession. It was with a full kno\t ledge
of this clause in the Constitution that those two Stales
ceded to the General Government the ten miles square,
coiintitiitirg the District of Columbia. In making the
cession, they suppo*ed that it w*s to ho applied, and ap
plied solely, to the purposes of a sent of Government, for
which it was s*krd. When it was made, slavery existed
in both those Commonweuiths, and in the ceded territory,
as it now- romtinucs to exist in all of them. Neither Mary
land nor Virginia could hare anticipated that, whilst the
institution remained within their respective limits, it*
abolition wou'd be attempted by Congress w ithout their
consent. N#ithci of them would probably have made an
unconditional cession, if they could have anticipated such
a result.
From the ratine of the provision in the Constitution,
and the avowed object of lhe acquisition of the territory,
two duties arise on the part of Congress. The first is, to
tender the District available, comfortable,and convenient,
as a seat of Gavei nment of the whole Union; the other
is, to govern the people within the District so a* best to
promote their happiness and prosperity. These objects
are totally distinct in their nature, and, in interpreting and
exercising the grant of the power of exclusive legisla
tion, that distinction should be constantly borne in mind.
Is it neceswry, in order to render this place a comfortable
seat of the General Government, to abolish slavery within
its limns ? No one can or will advance such a proposi
tion. The Government has remained here near forty
years without the slightest inconvenience from the pre
sence of domestic slavery. I* it necessary to the well-he-
iag of the people of the District tLut slavery should he
ahalishi-d liom amongst them f They not only neither
ask nor desire, hut are almost unanimously opposed to it.
It axi*;s here in the mildest and must mitigated form. In
a population 'af 39,834 there w are, at the last emimcrti
zoned forth, to TnJuse
against cue entire and the largest section of the Union. | t j,^ population of the United States, hut 6,119
And like a notorious agitator upon another theatre, they | , i i...
would hunt down and proscribe from tin* pale of civilixf d
society the inhabitants of that entire section. Allow me.
Mr. 1’res idem, to say, that whilst 1 recognize in the justly
wounded feelings of the Minister o( tire United States nt
the Court of St. James, much to excuse the notice which
he was provoked to take of that agitator, in my humble
opinion, he would heller have consulted the dignity ol hi*
station and of his country in treating him with contemptu
ous silence. lie would exclude us from European society
— he who himself can only obtain a contraband admission,
urui is received with scornful repugnance into it I It he
he no more desirous of our society than we are ot his, he
nnv lest assuied that a state of eternal non-intercourse
will exist between us. Yes, sir, I think the American
Minister would have best pursued the dictate* of true dig-
ity by regarding the language of tbe nieml • r of tiie
British House of Commons as the malignant ravings of
the plunderer of his own country, and the Hue 11*r of a
foreign and kindred people.
But the means to which 1 have already adverted are not
ths only ones which this third class of ultra-abolitionists
aro employing to effect their ultimate end. They began
their operatffuus by professing to employ only persuasive
means in appealing to the humanity, and enlightening the
understandings, of the slaveholding portion of the Union.
If there were some kindness in this avowed motive, it
m tst be acknowledged that there was rather a presump
tuous display also of an assumed superiority in intelligence
an 1 knowledge. For some time they continued to make
tb ‘so appeal* to our duty and our interest; hut impatient
wi:b the slow influence of their logic upon our stupid
minds, thev reoenlly resolved to change their system of
ae ion. To the agency of their powers of per*ua*»«n, they
ijo v propose to substitute the. powers of the ballot box;
und he must hi' blind to w bat .is passing before us,'who
does' not perceive that the inevitable tendency of their
proceedings is, if t ese should lie found insufficient; to in
yoke, finally, jjte m ire potent puv. its of the bayonet.
! tlavus. The number ha* not probably murli increased
eince. They are dispersed over the ten miles square, en
gaged in the quh t j.to suit* of husbandry, cr in menial of
fices in domestic life- If it were r.ece**ary to the efficien
cy of this place as a feat of tiie General Government to
abolishslavety, which is utterly denied, the abolition should
he confined to the necessity which prompt* it, that i*, to
tin* 1 mil* of the city of Washington itself. Beyond those
limits, persons concerned in the Government of the United
States hove no more Io do with the iuhobitunts of the Dis
trict than they have with the inhabitants of the adjacent
counties of Maryland and Yirginia which lie beyond the
District.
To abolish slavery within the District of Columbia,
whilst it temains in Virginia and Maryland, situated, us
that District is, within the very heart of these States,
would expose them to great practical inconvenience and
annoyance. The District would become a place of refuge
and escape for fugitive fluvos from the two States, and a
place from which a spirit of discontent, insubordination,
and insurrection might he fostered and encouraged in the
-two Btntcs. Suppose, as was at one time under consider
ation, Pennsylvania hud granted ten mile* square within
its limits for the purpose of a seat of the General Govern
ment : could Cungrrss, w ilhout a violation of good faith,
have introduced and established slavery within the bosom
of thnt Commonwealth, in the ceded territory, after *he
had abolished it so long ago us the ypar 1780 ? Yet llie in
convenience to FcnnsylvaYin in the case supposed would
have been much les* than that to Virginia and Maryland
in the case we. are arguing.
It was upon this vi.-w of the subject that the Senate, at
its lost session, solrmnlv declined that it would be a vio
lation of implied faith, resulting from the transaction of
the session, to abolish slavery within tbe District of Co
lumbiii. And would it not he f By implied faith is meant
that when n grant is made for one nvowed and dec inn <1
purpese, know n to the parties, the grant should not be per
verted to »»**! 1 .or fityw, «***"» *d ami it-i-elaiftl, at.d
injurious to the gtaulur. The grant, in the case we are
considering, of tUe territory ol Columbia, *«* h r * iref
nf Government. Whatever power is necessary to ac
complish that object is carried along l*y ll.fi grant. But
the abolition of slavery is not necessary to the enjoyment
of this site a* « se.i: ot the Geni ml Cover ment. lit**
srnnt in tins Const it itimJ, nf e*c1u»iv« pow er of legisla
tion (wow idle District,xw made toenauns the exeicise of
nu oKi-lusM-e aatliomy of tiie General Government to len
der this place a safe and secure'sent of Government, ai.d
>o promote the well-being M' the inliabiinn* jjf the Dis
trict. The power granted ought to In- inter, reted ar.d ex
ercised solely toth- end for w hich it w s* sranted. Ti e
language nf the grant was n<>eee«ari!y broad, comprehen-
>ive, and exclusive because all the exigencies wh-.cti might
arise to render this a secure seat of the General Govern ment,
could not have liecn fmswn and provided for. The lun-
zuage may possibly he sufficiently con piel.cnsive to in
ti.ude a power of abolition, hut it would not at all thence
lollnw that the power could be rightfully exercised. The
case may be resembled to that of a pleni|Miteiitiary invest
ed with a plenarv power, but who, at the same time, has
positive instruct! ms from his Government as to the kind
•if treaty which ne is to negotiate ai-itfciMirlude. If he
violates those instructions, ami corn-bubs a different tren-
ly, his Government is nut In-lit d by it. And if the foreign
Go vert ment is aware of tin* violation, it acts in had faith.
Or it may lie ill list rated bv an example drawn from pri
vate life. I am an endorser for nty friend on a note dis
counted in bank. I le applies to me to endorse another to
renew it, which Ido in blank. Now, this gives him power
to make any other use of nty note which he [.leases. Bui
if, inst- ad of applying it to the intended purpose, he goes
to a broker and soils it, thereby doubling my responsibility
for him, lie commits a brent li of trust, and a violation of
the good lailh implied in il e whole transaction.
But, Mr. Piesider.t, if ibis reasoning were as errone
ous as 1 believe it to he correct ni d coT.elusive, is the nf-
fn.rof the liberation of six thousand negro slaves in this
District, disconnected with ike three millions of slaves in
the United Fines, of sufficient magnitude to agitate, dis
tinct, and embitter this great Conti dcraey T
The m xl casein which the petitioners usk tlio exercise
of the power of Congres*, relates to slavery in the Terri
tory of Florida.
Florida is the extreme southern portion of the United
States. It is houndi d on all its land sides by slave States,
and is several hundred miles from the i on rest free Slate.
It almost extend* within the tropics, and the nearest
important island to it on the water side is Cuba, a slave
island. This simple statement of its geographical posi
tion should of itself decide the question. When, by the
treaty oi 1519 with Spain, it was ceded to the United
Slntcs, slavery existed with it. By the terms of that
treaty, the effects at.d property of the inliahit&ul* are sc
cured to them, ai.d they aio allowed to remove and take
them away, if they think proper to do so, without limita-
tdn a* to time. If it were expedient, therefore, to abol
ish slavery in it, it could not he done consistently w ith the
treaty, without granting to the ancient inhabitants a rea
sonable time to remove their slaves. But furihir. By
tbe con-promise which took [dace on llie passage of the
act for the admission of Missouri into tiie Union, in tlio
year 1810. it w as agreed anil understood that the line of
86 deg. 30 min. of north latitud* should maik the boun
dary between the free States end the slave States tube
ereated in ihc territories of the United States ceded by the
treaty of Louisiana; those situated south of it being slave
Stairs, arid thi.se north of it, free States. But Florida i.«
souih of that line, and consequently, according to the spir
it of the andi'rsUtrding which prevailed at ti.e period al-
inded to, should he a slave Slate. It may he true that the
compromise docs not in terms embrace Florida, and t. at
it is not nl solntely binding and obligatory ; but all candid
and impartial ir.cn must agree that it ought not to be dis
regarded w ilhout the nmst weighty consideration*, and
that nothii g could be 'nine to be deprecated than to open
anew the bleeding wounds which were happily bound up
and healed by that compromise. Florida is the only re
maining Territory to be admitted into tbe Union with the
institution of domestic slavery, while Wisconsin and Iowa
are now nearly ripe for admission w ithout it.
The next instance in which the exercise of the power <>f
Congress is solicited is that of prohibiting what is denom
inatrd by the petitioners the slave trade betw een the States,
or, as it is described in abolition petitions, the traffic in
human beings bstween the States. T his exercise of the
power of Congress is claimed under that clause of the
Constitution which invests it wi.h authority to regulate
commerce with foreign nation*, and among the several
States, and with the Indian tribes. The power to regu
late commerce among the several States, like other pow
ers in the Constitution, has hitherto remained dormant in
respect to the interior trade by land between the States.
It was a power grunted, like ail the other [lower* of'tlie
General Govarnment, to secure peace and harmony among
the Stales. Hitherto it has not been necessary to exercise
it. All the cases in which, during the progress of time, it
may become expedient to exert the genera! authority to
regulate commerce between the Slates, ennnot he conceiv
ed. \Ye may easily imagine, however, contingencies
which, if they were to happen, might require the interpo
sition of the common authority. If, for example, the State
of Uhio were, by law, to prohibit any vessel entering the
port of Cincinnati, from the port of Louisville, in Ken
tucky, if thnt case he not already provided for by the law s
which regulate our coasting-trade, il would he competent
to the General Goveri ment to annul the prohibition ema
nating from State authority. Or if the Slate of Kcmurkv
were to prohibit the introduction, within its limit*, of any
articles of trade, the production ef the industry of the in
habitants of the State of Ohio, the General Government
might, by its authority, supersede the State enactment
But I deny that tho General Government has any authori
ty, whatever, from the Constitution, to abolish w hat is call
ed ihe slave trade; or in other-w ords, to j rrhibit the fe
moral of slaves from one slave State to another slave
State.
The grart in tho Constitution is of a power of rvgvln-
tiou, and not prohibition. It is conservative, not destruc
tive. Regulation ex c-i termini implies the continued ex
istence or prosecution of the thing regulated. Prohibi
tion implies total discontinuance or annihilation. The
regulation intended was designed to facilitate and accom
modate, not to obstruct and incommode the commerce to
he regulated. Can it. he. pretended that, under this power
to regulate commerce among the Slates, Congress has the
power to prohibit the transportation of live stock which,
in countless numbers, are daily passing from the Western
and interior Slates to the Southern, Southwestern, and At
lantic Suites ? The moment the incontestable fuct is ad
mitted, that negro slaves are property, the law of movea
ble property irresistibly attache* itself to them, and se
cures the right of carrying them from one to another State,
whete (bey are iccognised as property, without any hin
drance whatever from Congress.
But Mr. President, I will not detain the Semite longer
on the subject of slavery within the district and in Florida,
and of the right of Congress to prohibit the removal of slaves
from one Stnte to another. T hese, as I have already inti
mated with ultra-abolitionists are hut so many masked bat
teries, concealing the real and ultimate point of attack.
That point of attack is the institution of domestic slavery as it
exists in these States. It is to liberate three millions of
slaves held in bondage within them. And now allow me
• ir, to glance at the insurmountable obstacles which lie
in the way of the accomplishment of this end, and at some
of the consequences which would ensue if it were possible
to attain it.
The first impediment is the uttcrand absolute want of all
power on the paitof the General Government to effect the
purpose. The Constitution of the United States crealesB
limited Government, comprising comparatively few pow
ers, and leaving the residuary mass of pi.litica! power in
the possession of the several States. It is well known that
the subject of slavery interposed one of the greatest difficulties
in the formation of the Constitution. It was happily earn
promised and adjusted in a spirit of harmony and patriot
ism. According to that compromise, no power whatever
w as granted to the General Government in respect to do
mestic slavery, hut that which relates to taxation and rep
resentation, and the pow er to restore fugative slaves to their
law ful owners. All other power in regard to the institu
lion «f slavery was retained exclusively by the States, to he
exercised by them severally, according to their respective
view s of tiieir own peculiar interest. The Constitution of
the United States never could have been formed upon the
[ii inciple of investing the General Government w ith author
ity to abolish the institution at its pleasure. It never can
be continued for a single day if the exercise of such power
he assumed or usurped.
But it may be contended by these ultra-'abolitionists that
their object i« not to stimulate the action of the General
Government, but to operate upon the Stales themselves ill
which the institution of domestic slavery exists. If that
be their object, w hy are these abolition sockties and move
ments confined to the free Stales? Why are slave States
cruelly assailed 1 W hy do the abolition presses teem with
publications tending to excite hatred and animosity on tbe
part of the inhabitants of the free States aguinst those of
the slave Slates? Why is Congress petitioned? The free
States have no more right to inteifere with institutions in
the slave States, confided to the exclusive jurisdiction of
those States, than they would have to interfere with institu-
tions existing in any foreign country. What would be thought
ot tbe formation of societies in Great Britain, the issue of
numerous inflammatory publications, and the sending nut
of lecturers throughout the kingdom, denouncing and aim
ing at the destruction of any of the institution* nf Fram e ?
Would they be regarded a* proceedings warranted by goad
neighborhood. Or what would he thought of the forma
tion of societies iu the slave States, the issue of violent and
inflammatory tracts, and the deputation of missionaries,
pouring out impassioned denunciations against institutions
under the exclusive control of the free eituu-s? Is their
purpose to appeal to our understandings, aad to actuate
our humanity ? And do they expect to accomplish that
purpose hy holdiug us up to the scorn, and.contempt, and
detestation of the people of the free States and the whole'
civilized world ? The slavery which exists among us is
our affair, not theirs ; and they have no rome just concern
with it than they have with slavery as it exists throughout
tbe world. Why not leave it to us, as the common Consti
tution of our country has left it, to be deult with, under
the guidance of Providence ns best we may or can f
The uext obstacle in the w ay of abolition arises out of
the fact of the presence in the slave States of three millions
of slaves. They arc there, dispersed thioughout the laud.
part aud parcel of a nr peculation. T1 ey were bn agbl 'eater into competition with the while class, dimim-hii;
■ . ... • i r . i l . t *. a .x* .1 ‘ I. 1. _ 1 ..., .maLindT rise- litirilsnltiU <■
into the country originally uudei i.e nu thorny of the pa- | tho wages of their labor, and augmenting the hardships of
rent Government wliilrt we were colon i s, nud tl eir im- their condition.
portmtiui wa* continued in spue of aii the remonstrances
of our ancestors. If the question were an oiiginm ques
tion, whether, their being t o slaves within the countty. we
should introduce them, and iurprj unite them into euc so
ciety, that Would ben totally different question. Few.if any,
of the cii ixens of the United Stales ivouid he found to favor
thoir introduction. No nnn in it would oppose, upon that
supposition, their admission with irorc determined resolu
tion ai.d coi.sciei tions repugnaiie* than I ahoiiltl. But that
is not rite question. The slaves a>e here; io practical
scheme for their removal or separa ion tr-m ns h;t* been
vet devised or proposed ; and tre true enquiry is, what is
la st to he done with them. In human affairs we nre often
constrained bv the fori e of ciT-oun-stnurcs and the nrtua!
state of things, to do w hut we would not Unit that stnte ot
things did not exist. 1 he slaves an* here, ni.il here must
remain, in some condition ; and* 1 repeat, how niv they to
he best goveri ed ? V\ hat is best In he done for their
l.nppirpss and i-ur own? In tho slave Finn s the alterna
tive j* ihnt the w hite mail must govern the black, or the
hiiiek govern the while. In several of those. Stales, the
number of the slave is greater than that of the while pop
ulation. An immediate abolition of slavery in them, as
these ultra abolitionists propose, would he followed l>y n
desperate struggle for immediate ascendency of the black
nice over the white race, or rather it.wu uld he followed hy
instantaneous edlii ions between liie races, which would
break out into ii civil war that would end in the extermi
nation or the subjugation ot the one race or the other, ln
-uch an alternative, who can he«il;ite? Is it not fx-tterlor
both parries that the exist nz .• tntr of thine* should he pre
served instead of exposing them to the horrJuc 9 riles and
contests which would inevitably attend an initned ate abo
lition ? This is our true ground of defence for the continu
ed existence of slaveiy in «ur country. Ii is that which
our Revolutionary ancestors assumed. Ii is that which
in mv opinion, forms our justification in tho eye of all
Christendom.
A third impediment to immediate aboliliou is tube found
in the immense nmnniil ot capital w hich is invested in slave
property! The total number ot slave* in Ihe United States
according to the last enumeration of the population was a
little upwards of two millions. Assuming their increase
at a ratio, which it probably is, of five percent, per annum,
their present number would he three million*. 1 he aver
age value at slaves at this time is Mated by persons well in
formed to be ns high ns five hundred dnllm* ea< h. i o be
certainly within the mnik h t us suppose that it is only four
hundred dollars. 1 he total value, then, by that estimate,
of the slave property in the United Stales is twelve hun
dred millio. s ofdollnrs. This properly is diffused through
out all classes and conditions of society. It is owned by
widows and orphans, hy the aged and infirm, as well ns the
sound and vigorous. It is the subject of mnrtgiges, deeds
of trust, ami family settlements. It has been made the
basis nt numerous debts contracted upon its laith, and is
the sole reliance, in many instances, of creditors within and
without the slave Slates, liir the payment ot the deb' * due
to them. And now it is rtishly pie.poscd, hy a single fiat of
legislation, to annihilate this immense amount of proper
ly ! To annihilate it without indemnity ar.d without com
pensation to its owner! Does any cor side rate man be
lieve it to he pnstiMeto effect surh an ohject without con
vulsion. retoln'ion and bloodshed?
I know that there is a visionary dogma which holds that
negro slaves cannot 1-e the subject nf property. I shall not
dwell long w ith this speculative abstraction. That is pro
perty which the law declares to be property. Two hun
dred years of legislation have sanctioned and sanctified
negro slaves as property. Under all the forms of gov
ernment which have existed upon this continent during
that long space of time—under the British Govern
ment—under the Colonial government—under all the
State Constitutions and Governments—and under the
Federal Government itself—they have been deliberately
and solemnly recognised as the legitimate subjects of pro
perty. To the w ild speculations of theorists and innova
tors stands opposed the fact, that in an uninterrupted peri
od of 200 years’ duration, under every form of human legis
lation, and by all the departments of human government
African Negro Slaves have been held and respected, have
descended and been transferred, as lawful and indisputa
ble property. They w ere treated as property in the very
British example which is so triumphantly appealed tons
w orthy of our imitation. Although the West India plant
ers had no voice in the United parliament of the British
Isles, an irresistible sense of justice extorted from that Leg
islature the grant of twenty millions of pounds sterling to
compensate the colonists for their loss of property.
If, therefore, these Ultra-nboiitionist# nre seriously de
termined to [ursuo their scheme of immediate abolition,
they should nt once set about raising a fund ot twelve hun
dred millions of dollars, to indemnify the owners (;f slave
property. And the taxes to raise that enormous amount
can onlv he jostlv assessed npon themselves or upon tiie
free States, if they can persuade them to assent to such an
assessment; for it would he n mockery ot nil ju.-tiee, and
an outragengainst all equity, to levy ary portion of th* tax
upon the slave States to pay fot their own unquestioned
properly.
It" the considerations to which 1 have already nvertrd
aro not sufficient to dissuade the abolitionists fioni further
perseverance in their designs, theinterest of the very cause
w hich they profess to espouse ought to chock their career.
Instead of ndv aiming, hy their efforts, that rnusr, they have
thrown hack for half a century the prospect of any species
of emancipation, ol the African race, gradual or immediate,
in any of the States. Tiny have done more; they have
increased the tigors of legisiation against sla\c-s in most, ii
r,ot all of the slave States Forty years ago the question
was agitated in the. State of Kr mucky of a gradual i man
cipation of the slaves within its limits. By gradual eman
cipation 1 inrun that slow but cautious liberation of slaves
which was first adopted in Pennsylvania at thy instnnee
of Dr. Franklin, in the year 1730, and, nrcording to which
tho generation iri being were to rnnnin in slavery, hut nil
their offspring horn afier ii specified day, were to be fiee nt
the age of twenty-eight, and, in the mean time, were to re
ceive preparatory instruction to qualify them for the enjoy
ment of freedom. That was the species of emancipation
w hich, nt the epoch to which I allude, was dicussed in Ken
tucky. No one w as rash enough to pie.pose, or think of irn-
media e abolition. No one was rash enangh to think ef
throwing loose npon the community, ignorant, and unpre
pared, the untutored slaves of the Stnte. Many thought,
and - 1 amongst them, that as each of tho slave States had
a right exclusively to judge for itscll in respect to tlie in
stitution of domestic slavery, the proportion of slave* o-rn-
parod with the white population in that Slate, nt that time,
was so inconsiderable, that a system of gradual emancipa
tion might havo been safely adopted without any hazard to
the security and interrst of lho commonwealth. Ami 1
still think that the question of such emancipate n in the
farming Stales, is one, whose solulion depends npon ti e re
lative numbers of the two rare* in any given Stnte. Ii 1
had been a ritizen ol the State of Pennsylvania, when
Franklin’s plan w as adopted, • should have voted for it,
because hv no possibility Could the black race ever acquire
the ascendency in that State. But if 1 had been then, or
were now,a citizen of any of the planting states—the South
ern nr Southwestern States—1 should have opposed, nod
continue to oppose, any scheme whatever of enixncipa-
lion, gradual or immediate, because of the dnnger of an
ultimate ascendency ol ihr biuck race, or of a civil contest,
which might terminate in the extinction of one ra c or an
other.
The proposition in Kentucky for a gradual emancipation
did not prevail, hut it was sustain! d hy a Inrge and lospecra-
hle minority. "Hint minority had incirosed, and was in
creasing, until the abolitionistscommrnred tlioii operations.
The effect has been to dissipate all prospects whatever, for
the present, of anv scheme ofgradunl or other emancipation.
The People of that State have become
d a- d u!a
ed hy these abolition movements, and the nnml.rr who
w ould now favor a system even of gradual emancipation, is
probably less limn it was in the years 1798—9. At the
session of the Legislature held in 1837—"8, the question of
calling a convention was stil niiltrd to the consideration of
the People by a Inw passed in conformity wiih the Con
stitution of the State. Many motives existed for the pass
age of the law, among them that of emancipation had iis
influence. AA hen the question was passed upon ly the
People nt their last annua! election, only about ooc-fourth of
the whole voters of the Slate supported n call ef u comet-
lion. The apprehension of the danger of abolition was the
leading consideration amongst the people for opposing the
call. But for that, hut for the agitntiou of the question of
abolition in States whose po; ulniu n 1 t d no right, iu the
opinion of the People of Kentucky, to intetfetc in the
matter, tin* vote for n convention would have been much
larger, if it had not been rnrried. 1 felt tuyself constrain
ed to take immediate, Lo.il, and decided, grounds against
This is not all. The abolitionist* strenuously oppose
all separation of the two rare*. I conk ss to you, sir, that
1 have seen with regret, grief, and astonishment, Uteir
resolute opposition to the project of colonization. No
scheme was ever presented to the acceptance of man,
which, whether it he entirely practicable or not. is charac
terized hy more unmixed humanity and benevolence than
that of transporting, w ith their own Consent, the free peo
ple nf color in ihe United States to the land of their :m-
reslnrs. It has the powerful reeommei datinn that what
ever it does is good; ai.d if it effects nothing, it inflict*
no one evil or mischief U|K>n any portion of «ur society.
There is no nectvoiary liosti.ity between the objects of col
onization and ahalinon. Colonization deals omv with the
free nianot color, and that with his own free voluntary con
sent. I• has nothing to do with slavery. It disturbs no
property, seeks to impair no power in the slave
Stales, nor to attribute nnytotbfi General Government.
All its action and nil its ways and means tiro voluntary,
depending upon tne blessing of Providence, which hither
to Inis graciously smiled upon it. And vet, beneficent and
harmless as colonization is. no portion of the People of
tin? United States denounces it with so much persevering
zeal and such umixed bitterness a* aio the abolitionists.
'i hey put t Item selves in direct opposition to nnv separa
tion whatever between the two races. They would keep
them forever pent up together within-the same limits, per
petuating their animosities, and constantly endnngtring
the pence of the community. They proclaim, indeed, that
color is nothing; that the organic and characteristic dif
ferences between the two races ought to be entirely over
looked and disiegardcd. And, elevating themselves to a
sublime hut impracticable philosophy, they would teach
us to eradicate all the repugnances of our nature, and to
lake to our bosoms and our boards the black man as wc
do tho w iiite, on the same fooling of equal social condi
tion. Do they not perceive that in thus confounding all
ihe distinctions which Go i himself has made, they arraign
the wisdom and goodness of Providence itself ? Jt has
been llis divine pleasure to make the black man black
and the white man white, and to distinguish them by oth
er repulsive constitutional differences. It is not necessary
for me to maintain, nor shall I endeavor to prove, that it
was any part of His divine intention that the one race
should be held in perpetual bondage by the other; hut
this I will say, that those whom He has created d.flei'eut,
and has declared, by their physical structure and color,
ought to he kept asunder, should not be brought together
by auv process whatever of unnatural amalgamation.
But it the dangers of the civil contest w hich 1 have sup
posed could be avoided, separation or amalgamation is
the only peaceful alternative, if it w re possible to effec
tuate rhe project of abolition. The abolitionists oppose
ail colonization, and it irresistibly follows, whatever thev
may protest or declare, that they are in favor of amalga
mation. And who nre to bring about this amalgamation?
[ have heard of none of these ultra-abolitionist- furnish
ing in their own families or persons examples of intermar
riage. AA ho is to begin it ? Is it their purpose not only
to crcare a pinching competition between black labor and
white Ichor, hut do they intend also to contaminate the
industrious and laborious classes of society at the North
by a revolting admixture nf the black element?
It is frequently asked, AY hat i* to become of the Afri
can race among n< ? Are they forever to rsmain in bon
dage? That questions vat asked more than half a centu
ry ago. It has been answered hy fifty years of prosperity
kul little chequered ftom this cause. It will he repeated
fifty or a hundred years hence. The true answer i«, that
the same Providence who has hitherto guided and gov
erned us, and averted all serious evils front the existing
relation between the two raers, w ill guide and gnvern our
posterity. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof. We
have hitherto, with that blessing, taken care of ourselves.
Posterity wilt find tiie means of its ow n preservation and
prosperity. It is only in the most direful event which
cn;i befal this People that this great interest, and all other
"1 our greatest intere.-ts. would be pivt in jenpordy. Al
though in particular dislric s the black population is
gaining upon the white, it only constitutes one-fifth of ihe
wh.de population ef the United States. And, taking the
aggregates of the two races, the European is consta itlv,
tltoujh slowly, gaining upon the African portion. This
fact is demonstrated by the periodical etiii-ns of our pop
ulation. Let
boding* about the
nti-mpt to lift the veil, and contemplate what lies beyond
it. I too have venture'll on a speculative theory, w ith w hich
I will not now trouble you, hut which lots been published
to the world. According to that, in the progress of time,
some one hundred and fifty or two hundred years hence,
hut few vestiges of the black race will remain among our
posterity.
Mr. President, at the period of the formation of our
Constitution, ami afterwards, our patriotic ancestors ap
prehended danger to the Union from two causr*. One
was, the Alleghany Mountains, dividing the waters which
flow into tho Atlantic Ocean from those which found their
outlet in the Gnif of Mexico. They seemed to present a
naiurai separation. That danger has vanished before
the nr.ble achievements of the spirit of internal im
provement, and the immortal genius of Pulton. And
now, no where is found a more loyal attachment to the
Union than among those very AV’rstern people, who, il w as
apprehended, would he the first to hurst its ties.
llie other cause, domestic slnrciv, htippilv the sole re
maining cause which is likely to disturb our harmonv,
continues io exist. It was this which created the greatest
obsiaclc and the most anxious solicitude in the delibera
tion* of tbe Convention that adopted the general Consti
tution. And it is this subject that lias ever been regarded
with the deepest anxiety l y all who are sincerely desirous
of the pm munency of our Union. The Father of his Cnun-
snhverting tie Union. And henentl the ,
would be bu.ied, sooner or later, ,he liberty of b^b ln ’° #
Bu: it one dark spot exists on ,,ur tmfitical f ^ rac * s '
not obscured by the bright and eff„l gt . B t am | p" it
that beams all around us? AVas ever a Pv... uV”?
blessed as we are, if true to oureslve* ? r>*i T *°
other nation contain m itfiiu its bosom so mm v cl!!'. *"7
lissom *omu»v clemo*?. J
prospenty. of greatness, am] of glory t Our 'onlv r • ra ° f
gerltes ahead, conspicuous, eleratid, »,„] visible j '
clearelv discerned at' the commencement, and di-tinrtl 1
throughout our whole career. Shall we wantonl* r ,
It, anil destroy all the glorious anticipations ,.f ,[,* .
tiny that awaits us ? I beseech the abolitionist* t |jlf ', lf
solemnly to [muse in their mud and f.,t„] cm r*.. ' t
the infinite variety of objects of humanity and”'' An,i,l,t
which invite the employment of tiieir
select some one moro harmless, that d
upon that
’Wievoieac
k t ,h, n
deluge our country in blood. 1 caFf d b*n l u
■ of the cl»*gy, which has lent itself to lhcV"m I ^
1(111 J c<*r,a*m..- . . (* i • . ' ™ H(] a L( j
ruinous schemes, no, to forget the holy natu.e cf t | P ,y .
mission of the f onuder of our Religion, and pr fi ( 7
peaceful examples. 1 entreat that portion of L1,"
women, who have given their countecnee to aUkT J ’
remember that Uiey are ever most loved and honore/"^
moving in their own appropriate and delightful t
and to reflect that the ink which they ,hr,fin *, l/' 7
with their fair hands abolition petitions, mat prove u 'l
prelude to the shedding of the blood ; n , ,b *
Ii.bj.in.al
discountenance, by the,, upmio,, ami rhch-
sures which must inevitably lead”" exB,n Pk» mm
consequence*. And let ns ail as '''* m °' 1 r '* 1 »mtte»,
and us brothers, cherish in
wntch bore our ancestors triumphantly thr, . 1. , l rn " Uo
ot the Revolution, a-, if mlhe.ed to'it w ill , ' he 'H* 1 *
posterity through all that may, i„ tho J:*, 1 cu “ d,u; ‘ tk*ir
videtice, he reserved for them. d of
Sol.II.OlfUT OF A WOUTD-BX-tOAFEH IV II r ,
like to know w bat’s to be done row ; *- . P ’ } should
—ail the goodies is gone, and I a j,.\ * ' W . ear s ’* "‘vr
body can’t call on their f. lends . N '”
The Turkics has all disappeared—the ham* ' ' "n "°
—the punch is all evaluated—and you c * “ va " , ■ i,, ’ ,1
but kirks lor ail your civilities. .
It ain’t no easy matter to live in this world
oceans o, time and money, besides lots of w,
them what’s got the time always lack, th* m „ E „. ,
h ’ JW «=*•—
1 wish ’twas a]wavs New Y ear’s _ T,\. -x t i
Almanes—they does’nt know nothV wbatl" V '!Z
l,C S ° lKl; «* unI >" a fr* iodiw iri an I snow-storm^ Jjl'
rycattes what they trouble tbeirselves about I ’7 ,
New-Year s come once a month. But it ain’t „„
-as the fish said what tried to climb up the apple ,“7*
1 wish I cou d keep a bouse of “Entertainment L
mr.n and beast,” then I shouldn't hare to go to :
gry and thusiy ; and if 1 hadn’t got no sixpence I “t
hve on stock. It’s a capital thing this s,„ck if ^
time I get a sixpence I'll - • - =- - ■ ' ’ 1U
c,ll ‘ 1 £<-t liuth'u
It co-u
wexatiou; ail( f
• i - put it in the banks, then uoho.i.
can t say I an, t got no stock to draw upon. I> e „ p}#
f, d 7 l kn °" r 0lh >’’ « ihey'does'ul p-it ,,U
the bank. But :
sixpence dors'nt grow up like wye-oki—
an, thro the ground is all friz up a*d ,»*
noth a £row, no how. • n 1 mat.
Sixpence w on’t grow if you p W V » ; they »«’, lik
later*; you plant later*, and th. v 1 , ,Ifc
and multiplies; but vou plant «ixr * 7 Un ^ & r "**
.1 > > j : plant sixpences^ and ther rums,
to noth,., unless you p | allt VlD tJ , e _ ba „ k e - T
‘“ u .*
1 fuse
troubled with the
:k" r - ‘-f
that s six; and them I m out of Louse and hoa.c, m J®*
seven out*. 1 fern’s what the doctors calls the s. en W
[da.-nes-a, d «lt’.W, cure ’em no how. Brand*
temper. 09 ” ^ “ OUrs ~‘ h9 - aggrawte. tb. dt
i wi,h I wasn’t a gentleman; it’, only them what’, *{.
fiteied with the AYhat’s the mcaniu’ of ge.uJetnan?
YA hi.it s a man woat * gentle Noth’,,’ cu'.ln’t he „„
[.lamer, no how. Gentle mron. ,„ ft , csi!(1> J
never make* „° no.se-that’s soft ; I never kicks up
—that * mild; I never quarrel* with nohodv—that’*
cease, then, to indulge in gloomy fore- j P cactl jbtc; and 1 rmist hr a man. or I should wear petit
e impenetrable future. But, if we may cont * -—Ergo.lfl ah, t a gentleman, it’s their fauit what
made the definitions.
J V \ i vL I f ’'Tra a l * ,afer; . t,,en r , ’ s ,hp " np * w l'»t’s the bet
oft. 'Y hat, the meaning of loafer? YY'hv it is rerr
plain—II S a man what rats a loaf. There"’, a baker-.
that *, the man wh.it bakes the h.af; there’s a maker-
)oafe' ' d m ’ n " U "‘ ak r ,h * l,Mf; a,:d tiie " 'bre'*
loajet— that s the man what rats the loaf
mconwentent to make a loaf without noth’*'f make it £
Bin he f r ''V* t U ” WP *T to bora hisseif.
!'. ,:, J fcr "but eats n-prowided he’s get a sixpence
to wash it down with—ain’t -or „ 7, “ ‘ *’•
T ■ , -r . , "-O r got no inroHwenience no h
I «ish 1 was only adequate,! for the office. 1 wish 1 ■
a loafer.
ow.
\TU
CnoMWEI.1. at Sc Hour.. A biographer a Wr quoted,
..e»cnbrs these school davr ■ ' 1
i ith characteristic
t . . v - —- -* «••»■••• ivrisi.c force;
and, remembering the writer’s prejudice, we have little
difficulty
try, in bis last affecting and solemn appeal td his fellow-! ... -- — u| „. u
citizens, deprecated, n« a most calamitous i vent, the geo- | en,l Y ““ e and usual to children of bis Licth and quant;.
L„' er i lhoo * h ,lp " ic he trespas^d upon that .es/ rrt
Prior to th* agitation of this subject of tdxditioa, tlierc
wus a progressive melioration in the condition of slaves
thioughout ali the slave States. In some of llicni, schools
of instruction were opened hv humane and religious persons.
These are all now checked; aad a spirit of iusuhoidination
having shown itself ill sonic localities, traceable, it is be
lieved, to abolition movements and exertions, the legisla
tive authority ha# found it expedient to infuse fresh vigor
into tho police, at.d lmvs which regulate the conduct of the
slaves.
And now, Mr. President, if it were possible to over
come the insurmountable obstacles w hicb lie io ti.e way of
immediate nhnliti. n, h-t os briefly contemplate some of
tip? consequence whirh would inevitably ensue. One of
these has been occasionally alluded to in the progress of
these renmiks. It is the struggle which would instanta
neously arise between the two races in most of the South
ern and Southwestern Ftn'les. And uliHtu dreadful strug
gle would it not be ! Embittered by all the recollections
of the past, by the unconquerable pr* jndiro* which w ould
prevail between the two races, and stimulated by ali the
impel and fears of tbe future, it would he u contest in
which the extermination of the blacks, or their ascendan
cy over the whites, would be the sole alternative. Prior
to tbe conclusion, or during the progress of such a contest,
vast numbers, probably, of tbe black race would migrate
into tbe free States; and what effect would such n migra
tion have upon the laboring classes in those Slates!
Now tbe distribution nf labor in the United States is
geographical: the free laborer* occupying one side of the
line', and the slave laborers tbe other ; each class pursu
ing its own ayqcntions almost altogether ucmixed witli
the other. But, on the supposition of iuitnedinte aboli
tion, the black class, migrating into the fie* Slates, would
praphicaf divisions which it might produce. The Con
vention wisely left to the several States rhe power over
tiie institution of slavery, as a power not necessary to th*
plan of union which it devised, and as one with who U the
General Government could nut be invested w ithont j,lam-
tog the seeds of certain destruction. There let. it remain
undisturbed by any unhallowed band.
Sir, I nm not in the habit, of speaking lightly of the pos
sibility of dissolving this happy Union. Thu Senate knows
that I have d. precated allusions, on ordinary occasions,
to that direful event. The country will testify that, if
there he any tiling in the history of mv public career
worthy of recollection, it ia the truth »nd sincerity of mv
ardent devotion to its lasting preservation. But vve should
lie false in our allegiance to it, if we did not discriminate
between the iinagintuy ar.d real dangers by which it mav
be assailed. Abolition should mi longer bo regarded as
an imaginary danger. The abolitionists, let ire suppose,
succeed in their present aim of uniting the inhabitants of
llie tree Stales as one man, against the inhabitants of the
slave Stales. Union on the one side will beget union on
the other. And this pmces - of reciprocal conso illation
will he attended wiih all tl e violent prejudices, cmbitfeicd
passion*, ai d implacable animosities which ever degraded
or deformed human nature. A virtual dissolution of the
Union will have taken place, whilst the forms of its exis
tence icmain. The most valuable element of union, ii.k-
tual kindness, llie feelings ot sympathy, the fraternal
bonds, which now happily unite us, will have, been extin
guished forever. C..o section will stand in menacing and
hostile array against the other. The collision nf opinion
will he quickly followed by th* clash of arms. I will not
attempt to describe scene, which now hnppijv lie conceal
ed from our view. Abolitionists themselves would shrink
back in dismay and horror at the contemplation of desola
ted field*, confiagrntrd cities, murdered inhabitants, and
the overthrow of the fairest fabric of human gnvtrr.nirnt
that ever rose to animate the Lopes of civilized man. Nor
should th- se abolitionists flatter themselves that, if thev
can succeed in their object of uniting the people of tiie
fiee States, they will enter tbe contest with a numerical
superiority that must ensure victory. All history and ex
perience proves the hazard and oncer Inintv of war. Ami
we ore adminished by Holy YA'rit that the taco is not to
the swift, nor the battle to the strong. But if thev wpic
to conquei, whom would they conquer? A foreign for—
one who had insulted our flag, invaded our shores, anti
laid nur countty waste? No, sir; no, sir. It would ho
a conquest without laurels, without giorv—a self, a suici
dal conquest—a conquest <>f brothers over brothers,
achieved by one over another portion of the desci iitiants of
common aserstors, who, nobly pledging their tries, their
fortunes, and their sacred honor, had fought, and bled, side
by sale, in many a bard battle no land and ocean, severed
our country Imni the British Crown, and rstuLlishcd our
national imlepender.ee.
The inhabitants of the slave States are sometimes, accu
sed hy their Northern brelhem with displaying mo much
rashness and sensibility to the operations and proceedings
of abolitionists
he ptevaifod nothing against hi* obstinaie and rrrvru. ia-
runanon. The learning and rivilitv he bad
, . . ^ j ....... coining iq.»a
him like fits of enthusiasm, r:o« a hard Modem for a nrflt
ly their, the rel biej
. . ) ' ""g pidgeons, at d eatiig
and merchandizing of th-m, and that so publiclv that kt
became dreadfully suspected to all the admre, t 'court.t.
Yoi-kg Ckokvvell at a Chiustjtas Pautt.— HcmFi,
in his “Flagellum,” relates it thus—"By these liwdrac-
imns he had so alienated the affect ions of his uncle rid
godfather Sir Oliver Cromwell, that he could not endure
(Ik- sight of hin:; l.:ivii,g 7 j n hi* j tesenoe, in ihe
great ball of his house, where lie magnificently trend
King James, at his assumption to the crown of’Engined,
t" n . ( fi'ts'tmts time, (which was always highly observed
by him hy feasting and keeping o[ en house,) placid this
unhandsome and unseemly trick or frolic, wiih the rein
tiou of which the reader vv iij he pleased to indulse n:r.
because I have seen if recounted bv n mrikf
recounted by a worthy and IrorKfi
har d. Jt was Sir Olivet 's custom in that festival, to cl-
terrain in his house a Master of Misrule, ortho Revels. t»
make mirth for the guests, and to direct the dance* aid
the music, and generally all manner of sports and gambols;
tots fellow Cromwell, having besmeared bis own clothes
and hands with surreverenre, accosts in the midst of »
fiolicking dance, and so gritm d him ai.d others upon every
tuni, that such a stink was raised, that the spectators
could hardly endure the room ; whereupon the said Mas
ter ol misrule, perceiving ti.e matte., caused Lim to be
laid bold on, and by his command to be thrown into a
[.und adjoining to the house, and there to h** sous’d over
head .irui eais, and rinced of that filth nnd pollution stick
ing to him; which was accordingly executed, Sir Oliver
suffering .bis nephew to undergo the punishment of his ufi-
mninmly foliv.”
rils LATK Ciialxs Gilfkrt.—The quondam manager
of the Bowery theatre was a pern liar fellow, and one of
the most fasei.mli.ig men of his day. At All ar y he met
with a Air. Lemair, a Frrnehronn, of when) he borrowed
money until lie nenilv ruined him. Leman* was one dsv
in a lowering rage nt (he runse of his rnisfoi tm e», anil
u*( d to toil the follow ing characteristic story of hi, fried ;
Monsit ur Charles Gilfret, he ro.re to Albany. Ii*
( i - c-- have ruined me in my business—me* affaires, lie borrow
But, before they can he rightly judged. • d, ‘ * argent (the silver dollar) fn ui me to large a dm
there should he a reversal of conditions. Let me suppose
that the people of the slave S:ates were to form societies,
subsidize pn ssrs, make large pecuniary contributions, send
forth numerous missionaries throughout all their own bor
• lers, and enter into machinations to burn the beautiful cap
itals, destroy the productive manufactories, mid sink in
the ocean the gallant ships of the Northern States. YA'ould
these ineeudiury proceedings be regarded us neighborly
and friendly, anil consistent with tbe fraternal sentiments
which should ever be cherished by one portion of the Union
towards another? Would they excite no emotion? Occa
sion no manifestations of rlissatisifaction, nor lead to anv
acts nf retaliatory violence ? But the supposed case fulls far
short of the actual one in u most essential circumstance.
In no eontigency could these capitals, manufactorys, and
ships rise in rebellion and massacre inhabitants of the
Northern States.
I um, Mr. President, no friend of slnvery. The Search
er of all Hearts knows thnt every pulsation of mine beats
high and strong in the cause of civil liberty. Wherever
it is safe und practicable, I desire to see every portion ol
the human family in the enjoyment of it. But I prefer the
liberty of my own country to thnt Af any other people ;
and the liberty of my own ruce to that of any other race.
The liberty of the descendants of Africa in the United
States is incompatible w ith the safety and liberty of the
European descendant*. Their slaveiy forms aw exception
—an exception resulti: g from a stern and inexorable neces
sity—1» the general liberty in the United States. YY’e did
not nrginate, r.or are we responsible for, this necessity.
Their liberty, if it were possible, could only he established
by violating the incontestable powers of the States, and
Fie go to New-York, and promise to send him, right away,
ver quick. But, voyez-vuus, when 1 write to him, ho re
turn me von respose ji-ronveiiai.le, von inipu.h nt answer
at.il suv, I may go the evil for look for him. 1 leave Al
bany instantly, deterroim d to have the grand personal sa
tisfaction for the affront he put upon me. 1 walk straight
away fioni de bateau a vajieur, de steamboat. I go up to
mv iMiarding house. I procure von laige sti« k, rush nut
of de pension to meet him. By and bv, hientnt, I see him.
von large vay off, very remotely. 1 iiimirdiately button
up tny coat vith strong determination, and hold my stick
fierce in my hand, to Freak his neck several time*. Y en
he come near, mv indignation rise. He put out his hand-
I reject him. lie smile, and look over his spectacles '-t
me. 1 say, you von aroundseh, roqain infame. He sniile-
de more, and make no grand effort, one great trial, to
pacify ray grande indignation, ard before he leave me he-
borrovv twenty dollars from me once more, by gar! A
ver pleasant man vas Monsieur Charles Gilfert; ver nice-
man to borrow Faigent, ma foi.”—.V. ¥. Mirror.
Thx Ekvht K’s.—Tbe Hon. Henry Clay was A-notni*
nated the Eight K’s by a coterie of wags iu Wnshingtyn,
during the last session of Congress. He acquired th’* tltle
thus, A gentlemen sitting in the gsl'e.y d lir t" :r ‘ Ie '
Chamber during an interesting debate, wisbid to ' "*■
Mr. Clay, to bis friend, a foreigner, who -•»* '''ni,
wit boat'disturbing the Ilcnse, and wrote upon 11 rar “ " r
him thus, “ The gentleman to the left of the Speaker, m
klarat kolored koat with krimsoa kolor. is Mr._ Way;
member of Kougresse from Kentucky. —-N* I ■ Literary
Gazette.
prepaid
, - ’,? separating false from true. "From A EC
.. lp.iue, ic says, and rhe slighted xrhowlirastir of tl«
tree-school of .hat town (Huntingdon); „,:c.e hi, U*k
began to persecute him, and learning t„ c n mence ii,
treat ureconnleable enemy ; for Lis master, lu.aes.lv sU
severely observing that, and olhe.s his fault,, (whir j, hi*
weeds sprung out of ui. rank and nuruitivat.ble naturr.)
did by correct,on, l.Mpe to better Lis man,:** ; a„d wJi
a uiltgent hand and crrrf.il rye to Linder the il.i. k growth
ot those vices which were to prrdominant amt visibleia
IlShJ
or two, and th. o a tiuant or otfoso for twice a,
month*—or no sen .’erf constancy.
“ Among,he rest of those ill qualities,” cen.innr* tl is
impartial biographer, “which fructusird in him «t this
age, he was very notorious for robbing of onhaid-; »
puerile crime, ami an ordinary trespass
* i i 7 '7 "I “ , - ,r tut m
sear.dalou, and m.uricn. by the f.rquent s r .,vle, ar.1
damaces of trees, breaking of hedge, ar.d fociosmes, era-
mmed hy ibis apple-dragon, that many solemn comrUiat.
were made, both to his father ard u.astrr, for iid.es,
thereof: vvli.rl, mtssid not tiieir satisfaction and expia'.i. n
out of h,s lode; „„ which so much pain* we.e fort, that
that vetv offence ripened in hin, aft, ,ward* to lhe ,kmw-
u.g down of all boundaries of law or conscience. From
ibis he passed unto another more manly
of dove-houses, stealing llie