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SOUTHERN TRIBUNE.
PUBLISHED WEEKLY, BY
Wm . b . ai vis it iso \.
WM. B. HARRISON, 1
AND J-EdITOHS.
WM. S. LAWTON, }
TEHMa] ~
Fot tlio Paper, in advance, per annum, $2.
If not paid in advance, JB>3 00, per annum.
JIDCE EOLqUITT’S LETTER.
Columbus, May 14th, 1850.
Gentlemen— Your letter informing mo
that I had been selected by the Legisla
ture, a Delegate to the Nashville Conven
tion, ought long since to have been an
swered.
The apoolgy I offer for the seeming neg
ligence, is the severe and continuing ill
ness of my family.
1 feel myself compelled to accept 7he
tvust conferred upon me, by the Legisla
»,ure; and you will permit me to assure
you, that in my own situation and the sit
uation of my family, nothing hut my hon
est conviction of the importance of the
crisis, could induce me to do so. The
small vote given in the State for the dis
trict delegates, and there having been tick
ets cast at the polls against the convention,
is a strong motive for my acceptance. —
The election for delegates having been de
termined by the Legislature, and no issue
having been submitted as to the propriety
of the convention, the small vote for “no
convention” may show the weakness of
those who stand in opposition to the reso
lution, while the small vote for delegates
should not be construed in the same man
ner. I did not go to the polls, because
there were no opposing candidates, and
the election of those gentlemen, selected
l>y the different parties, was certain. Fif
ty votes were as good under the circum
stances, as a thousand. There seems to
have been a secret understanding upon the
part of such as opposed the convention, to
create no excitement before hand, and
hunt up, privately, such as they could
have vote “no convention” on the day of
election. This attempt to disparage the
resolution of the State Legislature, and
to ridicule the proposed convention, makes
it the more necessary, that every delegate,
who feels for the interest of the South,
should be at his post.
ThcNashville Convention must be held,
decisive measures adopted uud those mea
sures carried out by the South, if we hope
to maintain that equality of rights secured
to us by the constitution. It is unfortu
nale, that there exists any division as to the
propriety of holding the Convention;
and it will be doubly unfortunate, sh uld
that convention fail to adopt with unanimi
ty, decisive and efficient measures.
To dally, now, is not only a virtual, but
an actual surrender of our slave property,
to the mercy of Abolitionists. 1 know
full well that very many in the Southern
States feel alarmed for the safety of the
Union, should the Convention assemble
and the action ol the Convention be sanc
tioned by the People. I have no fears
for the Union of these Slates. The oulv
danger we need apprehend, rests in our
making an unjust and dishonorable sacri
fice of our rights, for fear of dissolution.
No matter what course we may adopt, 1
will stand pledged for the safety of the
Union.
If we tamely submit to injustice and
fraud, of course the Union will be pre
served ; and L apprehend that too many o<
our patriotic citizens, have abeady come
to the conclusion,that submission o wrongs,
no matter how flagrant, inflicted by Con
gress, is the only way of preserving the
confederacy.
Laboring under this conviction, they
are willing to remonstrate, complain and
threaten, and when these have proved un
availing, sit down, fold their arms, read
Washington’s farewell address and rise
up singing paeans to our glorious Union.
One misfortune which attends this tn..de
of preserving the Union, is, that those
who inflict the wrongs anticipate the result,
and laugh at its imbecility ; another objec
tion is, that weean make no calculation at
what point our injuries and wrongs are to
terminate.
Let it once be understood, that we are
resolved, let what may come, to preserve
the Union, and we may boast of freedom,
purchased by the blood of our revolution
ary fathers; we may boast a cons.itution,
the work of our tried and patriotic States
men, while we are in a condition as depen
dent and despicable as are the down-trod
den subjects of despotism
1 have been taught to love the Union
with a holy and sacred love ; but 1 have in
tny bosom an indomitable hatred t fraud, \
injustice and oppression. Submission to
wiongs for the “sake of the Union, pro
ceeds upon the principle that we shall ei
ther bo forced to heir them, or destroy the
Government.
This Ido believe; and feel fully satis
fied that the Union will be more certainly,
and more effeclually perpetuated by an un
yielding determination not to suffer impo
sition, no matter what consequences may
flow from resistance.
The coward who lies down quietly un
derinjury and insult, may acquire the rep
utation for being a peaceable citizen, but
will have no more character or property
than calumny and fraud may choose to per
mit him. 1
Tame submission to palpable and known
wrongs inflicted upon us by a majorty in
Congress, may win for us a reputation
of loyalty for the Union ; but will as
-Bure% prove us unworthy the gift offree
■sfflT' - —-
It will be vain to bold up o*c form of
Lrovernmen, as a model to the world while
rights secured by its constitution ore con
tcmptvously disregarded.
I repeat; that the Union will be most
certainly preserved, when it is known uti
mi'takeably that we will not suffer injus
tice ; that we are prepared to sacrifice ev
ery thing we hold dear on earth, rather
than bow down quietly to the papablc iu
lliction of a single wrong.
r l he reasons are obvious.
There is a sense of justice in the human
breast North, as well as South, and they
know well enough when they disregard our
rights and disturb our peace.
1 here is as much love for the Union
North as there is South ; and when it is
known and felt that we will not submit
to aggression, that we would sooner see
the temple of Union tumble into ruins,
and the sunny South swallowed up by
an earthquake; their sense of justice
and love for the Union will control their
action.
We ask nothing but justice ! We only'
desire to enjoy that equality of rights se
cured to us by our common constitution !
This we must and will ham, regardless oj
consequences. 'l'his should be the feeling of
every Southern man; and inspired by this
feeling and this determination, the de e
gates of the slaveholding States should
meet at Nashville, unfurl the banner, upon
whose folds are inscribed in glowing capi
tals “ Justice and the Constitution under
which every Southern State should stand
shoulder to shoulder, and around which
every Southern man should rally, resolv
ed to plant it firmly on the dome of the
National Capitol, or perish in the attempt.
If it be known at Washington; ifil be
known through the length and breadth of
the land, that every Southern State speaks
the same language, and that every South
ern heart vibrates with the same feeling,
our Union will be preserved—a Union
worthy of freemen—a Union that will con
tinue to attract the admiration of the gen
erous and brave throughout the world.
There are, this day, many, very many
men in the Northern and non-slavehold
ing States, which despise the spirit of fa
naticism that is sweeping ovet their section
of the Union, and beat ing down such of
them as dare vindicate our rights under the
Constitution : they have been rnaderWm.s
by our passive indifference to insu t and
injury.
They are impotent in defending the
Constitution as it was fumed, while they
dare hold up that sacred instrument as af
fording protection to slavery ; but when the
issue is changed, and made, as it must be
made upon the fearful consequences tha>
must inevitably flow from disregarding
•>u rights, these noble hearted patriots
will be made strong, and be held at home
in double estimation. If disunion is to
be the result, of aggression, ihen will the
friends of the Union among them, rally a
bout such men and forever put down the
foul spirit that disturbs the peace and pros
perity of the Union. If civil war is to be
the result, then will the friends of justice,
who understand our rights, and the friends
of peace,who are not willing to see the di
viding mountains made the dark mountains
of death, combine, for the purpose of stop
ping the strife and secuiing to the South
that equality of rights and privileges guar
antied by the constitution.
Do we ask for anything in the legisla
tion of Congress, which is not just ! Will
any man, not blinded by fanaticism, say
that we ask anything more than peace and
security in our slave property, and that the
Teiritories of the United States be as open
to us, with our property, as it is to them,
with theirs ? Shall this be denied us and
we submit for fear of disunion ! for fear
ot civil war] Is disunion s» desirable to
the non-slaveholding States, arid Union
so necessary to us, that we must tamely
surrender what is honestly and justly ours
in order to prevent a dissolution ? Is civil
war so much a pastime with the non
slaveholding States, that in order to es
cape this, their holiday sport, we must re
linquish our property, forsake our families
and sacrifice our honoi ?
It'the Union be necessary to our pros
perity, it is equally so to theirs. If civil
vva: be terrific to the South, the picture is
equally appalling to the North. Over the
heads of time-serving, truckling politi.
j cians we demand our rights ? In des ite
the croaking of partizan demagogues
jwe must and will have justice. The only
I question to determine, is, what are the un
questionable rights of the slave States as
equals under the constitution of the con
federacy ? By the treaty with Mexico, the
Uni'ed States have acquired an extensive
territory, over which the laws ofthe Union
have not as yet been extended. To this
territory, the States have equal rights ; and
whatever measure shall exclude one or
more States, or their citizens from an e
qual participation of it, is manifestly un
just. l iie South has contributed as large
ly in blood and treasure as the North, in
procuring this territory.
A part of it has been found rich in gold
and minerals, inviting the industry and
enterprise of our citizens. By what rule
of justice can the Notth exclude the South
fora sharing its enjoyment ? Shall Ibe
told that the South is not to be excluded
from California, if it be admitted as a State
with the present constitution ? Shall Ibe
told that there are Southern men there and
that Southern men can 6till go there with
out let or hinderance! Such replies are as
insulting to our understandings, as the ad
mission of California would he uujust to
our rights ? The principal and most valua
ble part ofthe property in the Southern
States consists iri Slaves, and this property
is to he excluded ! Our enjoyment is
permitted upon terms. The condition up
on which we are permitted tolive in Cali
fornia, is a positive and absolute exclu
sion. We caw live in California upon the
express condition bylaw, that wc abandon
and leave our property behind us !
The Northern citizen goes with all the
property he jrossetset ! Is this equality I
Is this justice ? Ought the South to sub
mit to this exclusion I Let it be admitted
that by this act, we are denied the full en
joyment of rights secured to us by the con
stitution, and if there be one drop of blood
coursing through our veins w inch warmed
the veins of our revolutionary fathers we
will demand it ; and leave die result to
Him who commands the storms. I shall
be told in and out of Congress that the Gen
eral Government will not be responsible
for this exclusion ! That California has
the undoubted right to form her own con
stitution and determine the question of
slavery for herself. That she has deter
mined it, andlhat Congress does no more
than admit a State in the Union.
The shuffling, tricking management and
fraud that has been practiced upon us,in
order to present a reasonable pretext for
submission to injustice, so far from sancti
fying the act, makes it more odious aad de
testable. What is California I Is it not
lie fractional part of a Territory acquired
from Mexico 1 How came it separated
from the balance of the territory] Who
fixed its boundaries] Who was au'hor
ized toll .Id an election ] Who regulated
the qualification of voters? Who has
been appointed to take the census ! Have
the laws of the Union been thrown over
any part of the country? Perhaps it is
the first time in the history of any govern
ment, that an undefined number of men
have attempted the exercise of any such
power.
Upon the common territory of the Uni
ted States over which the laws of the coun
try, to which it is attached, have not yet
been extended, an unknown number of
citizens or aliens, without any authority,
without a claim of right, assemble, carve
nut of this common territory a State, fix
its boundaries, firm its government and
then demand admission into the Union !
And this is the miserable arrangement
by which Congress is to escape responsi
bility and the South to be satisfied. The
unprecedented, unauthorized, lawless ar
rangement to strip the South of her rights
renderes the act doubly hateful.
Il California he admitted with her pres
ent constitution,the fact cannot he disguiß
ed; that Congress does enact the Wil
ling Proviso in its most objectionable form.
Examine the subject. The people who
have formed the constitution for Califor
nia and have arranged its boundaries, had
no right in any acceptation of that word,
to form a government. We know that]
many of them, at the time of forming the
constitution, were citizens of the States
claiming residence in the States, and the
residue were not in a situation, by proper
legislation, to ask for a State government
except in the chatacter of petitioners. As
mere petitioners, they c<-ukl suggest a boun
dary, and offer the draft of a constitution ;
they could do no more. They are not in
the situation of people living in an organ
ized territory, who would have a right, not
only to ask admission as a State, hut would
have the unquestionable right to form a
constitution, which Congress could not
touch, if it bore the republican features of
the government. But if the citizens of N.
York, were to fix boundaries, & form a con
stitution, for California they certainly could
not ask Congress, as a matter of right, that
it should be admitted as a State in the U
nion. Suppose Congress had the power to
admit the State, adopting the constitution
and boundaries indictated ; J ask, emphati
cally, if Congress would not be wholly re
sponsible, for the constitution and boun
daries. Clearly as much so, as if they
should adopt a constitution,made by a sin
gle individual, without respect to bis resi
dence. by ratifying and adopting the
plan suggested by individuals, win. reside
or happened to be upon the territory ; who
had no authority whatever, the act be
comes exclusively the act of Congress.
So that Congress not only makes a consti
tution for a State, (which she has no right
to do,) hut excludes slax'ery by positive
enactment in the most solemn form. The
V\ ilmot Prov iso annexed to a Territorial
Government, would afford such citizens as
might reside upon it, when a constitution
should he formed, the opportunity, if they
so willed, to strike it out ; but bv making
a constitution for the State, this fipportunn
ly will he precluded \\ e have conclu
sive evidence that the people in Califor
nia considered it a matter of no conse
quence, where even thei Senators might
live— for it is known that my old friend
I. Hutlet King, was voter] for as Senator.
To have submitted to the enactment of
the Wilmot Proviso, would have been an
acknowledged, open surrender of our riohts
to submit to his ft udulent arrangement
which effectu 11y can ies out the Proviso, not
only surrenders our just rights, but makes
us parties to the fraud. I am in the habit
•fspeaking plainly, and I must be per
mitted to say,that the good peop’e of Cali
fornia would never have dreamed of such
assumption of power, if it had not been
whispered in their sleeping ears, by agents
sent by the present administration, with
their aid and co-operation. This piece of
trickery, by which the South is to he rob
bed, if she submits to it, is the conception
of party tactics, to save the President from
that disgrace which was likety to follow
his non-committal policy, during the Piesi
dential canvass.
The South supported he re
lused to give his opinions upon the slavery
question in the new territory \ The peo
ple here relied on Lis being a Southern
man and a slove-holder, and felt confident
that his interest would bind him to veto the
Wilmot Proviso.
The North supported him under the firm
conviction that he would not veto such a
measure if enacted by Congress. They
publicly proclaimed him opposed to slave
ry extension, and that lie stood pledged
not to oppose the will of Congress, upon
the subject. Under such circumstances,
it was manifest, if Congress organized ter
ritorial governments, be could not escape
exposure. He would be compelled to dis
appoint the expectation of his supporters
North, or the hopes of his friends South.
To avoid the ruin of his popularity, this
scheme has been suggested ; government
agents sent to enforce it, with the assur
ance, that, though unprecedented, unau
thorized and a fraud upon the South, the
force of Executive popularity and power
would be employed to obtain the approval
of Congress.
Shame ! shame ! upon such conduct.—
Thousands of honest whigs, who gave
Gen. Taylor a warm support, denounce
this shuffling. They prefer their country
to party, and the rights of the South, to the
President’s popularity.
No man in his senses but knew that a
constitution formed in California without
embracing a clause prohibiting slavery,
would be rejected by the present Congress.
With this knowledge, this device was con
cocted with the aid and sanction of a
Southern President, and urged through
the agency of Southern men, to perpe
trate a wrong upon the South. And this
fraud we are expected to approbate for
the sake of party or the preservation of the
Union.
When the South bows their necks sub
missively to such a violation of their rights
they will have lost, foiever, that spirit
which has always characterized her peo
ple What will be the effect of submis
sion upon the des iny of South? If yield
ing now would satisfy our oppressors, there
might he some virtue in bearing the
wrong, for the sake of public tranquility.
But what will be the result of submission!
The certain, sure, and rapid destruction
of all value to slave property; and the po
sitive ruin of the Southern States. This
language is strong ; but in my own opin
ion, npt so strong as will he the sad reali
ty. No man can successfully deny the
fact, that Gen. Taylor sacrificed his inde
pendence, and refused to make public his
opinions and purposes, in relation to the
Wilmot Proviso, through fear of losing
the support c.f Abolitionists! No man
can doubt, but that the noise made in the
non-slaveholding States about frsee-soil
isin, is ihe spirit of pure and unadultera
ted abolitionism, or its products upon the
public mind. The sum and substance of
the vvho.e, resolves itself into this; that
we at e to be stripped of our rights, through
the force and power of Abolitionism.
Wiil this fell spirit cease to disturb out
peace, and leave unmolested, our proper
ty, while it feels its potency in controlling
the destiny of the country, reckless of the
constitution ! Will the Northern section
the Union cease to augment its power,
when they ascertain through its ageney,
the Southern States can be made their de
pendent colonies ? Let the history of the
last few years dictate an answer. In 1835,
and in the earlier part of the year 1836,
the debates in Congress will show that
Northern Representatives denounced the
mischievous disorganizing purposes of the
Abolitionists, not hesitating to declare,
that the prevalence North of these opin
ions, would justly burst asunder the bonds
of the Union. Mr. Wright, then a Sena
tor from the Stßte of New York, among
others, declared that their number was
small and contemp ible, and to quiet all
appiehensiot of the South, related an ef
fort made by them to hold a State conven
tion in Utica, and the uprising of the cit
izens to prevent so wicked an assemblage.
They were not permitted to hold the i
meeting. In fifteen years how different
the state of feeling in this great State ?
The fact that Governor Seward is now a
Senator, elected more for the peculiarity
of his sentiments upon this subject, than
the power of his intellect,, sufficiently an
swers. What is the object of this strong
and increasing body of men, before whose
power General Taylor surrendered his in
dependence, and to propitiate whose fa
vor, the South is now called upon to sac
rifice her rights ? They hare avowed if o
pcnly /nm thefirst — the extire and full
ABOLITION or SLAVERY.
Who then can hope that we shall arrest
their progress by increasing their strength?
What Southern man can he so credulous,
as to believe that by tame submission in
tiie p esenr comroveisy, we shall purchase
exemption from additional aggression ?
The Northern press, to an alarming ex
tent, is now subsidized, sound statesmen
the e, have been overawed, or sacrificed;
itinerant lecturers traverse the land,
preaching a crusade against slavery ; the
pulpit resounds with denunciation, and
infuriate zealots unfurl the banner of
the cross asthestandard around which abo
litionists are to rally. Theii course is made
identical with religion,and any appeal that
can warm the heart or fire the imagination,
is made to men, women and children to
unite in ridding the land from the sin of
slavery.
And can we hope for safety, by giving
them assurance, by yielding, that they
w’ill achieve a bloodless victory ! Are vve
already so intimidated by their power,
that we must hunt out for pre'exts and sub
terfuges to ward off for one short honr, the
suspended blow ?
We must be mild, gen'le and concilia
tory, for fear of waking up the wrath of
the monster whose teeth are sharpened to
devour us. We must breathe softly, fur
fear a strong breath may kindle a spark
that will burn down the temple of Union.
We must bow down submissively before
the lowering storm ; for fear we may be
prostrated by its force, as it passes over
us. And is this really our condition 1 —
Has the constitution no efficiency to afford
us shelter! If so—how important that
we should meet in convention, mingle our
counsels at once and adopt decided mea
sutes for our safety. Let the heart-rend
ing examples of Jamaica and St. Domin
go xvake up every Southern heart to the
necessity of action. Our all is at stake. —
In the name of our holy religion, and in
the sacred name of liberty, the abolition
ists are prostrating the only free govern
ment on earth, and preparing a scene of
bloodshed and massacre unparalleled in
the history of the world.
Let us not wait till the force of the
moving avalanche crush us to powder.—
The torch of the unfeeling incendiary is
lighted; vve have plead, remonstrated,
threatened, and still our hearthstones and
bed chambers are threatened with confla
gration.
The same power that controls now the
federal Legislature, has long s nee resolved
not to stop short of universal emancipation.
The accomplishment of their purposes,
desolates the South and buries in blood
AND RUIN OUR WIVES AND OUR CHILDREN.
We cannot, with safety, delay action
any longer. The fiiebrand has been cast,
and we muit tread it out at once, or perish
for our timidity. This is a perilous con
flict ; it not only involves our honor and
our property, but our very existence.—
I he inexorable necessities of slf preserva
tion call upon us to act, and to act with
promptness, with energy, and with deci
sion.
I am apprised, that very many will con
clude that I exaggreate the danger; that
while I see the fearful condensati nos a
tempest surcharged with the elements of
destruction—they perceive nothing on the
horizon, but afloating cloud, which is now
passing away upon the summer breeze.—
Their best hope is founded upon the pros
pect, that a compromise at Washington
will tranquilize the country. If the report
of the Committee of Thirteen shall he a
dopted, and the South acquiesce 1 shall
feel bound to make personal preparation
for my own safety and the safety of my
family. If that be the best that can be
and ne for the South, my last hope for safety
in Congress expires.
I have already said as much as I need
say about the admission of California. It
requires no argument to show that so far
as this one measure is concerned, the abo
litionists obtain all they could puss ibly ash
or require. They have gotten all they
could get no more.
This part of the proposed compromise
is, therefore, an awful and shameful sur
render of our rights, and our honor.
Does any man believe that those North rn
Senators who are now so clamorous for
the admission of California, would vote
for its becoming a State, but for the clause
in their constitution prohibiting slavery 1
W ould Mr. Webster do it! notwithstand
ing his eloquent and conciliatory speech
made in the Senate which has drawn to
him the affections of a thousand Southern
hearts ? Certainly not; his votes and his
speches in and out of Congress, conclu
sively prove that he would not. He has
proclaimed too often in public assemblies
that the Whig party was the FreeSoilpar
ty, and has branded too often the North
ern Democracy for being friendly to slave
ry extension, to record his vote for the ad
mission of California as a State, if by it
slavery could he admitted. I like the
tone of his speech ; it was calculated to
tame refractory spirits and make them
gentle in the enduranceofinsult and injury
—the man ; while he bridles, saddles anil
cruppers the horse, making him ready for
the spur,is wise before he mounts,to sober
his steed by kindworusaud gentie gestures.
No matter, however, the horse is to be rid
den. In the position of things Mr. Web
ster "’ell knew that the South was to be
subjected to the spur, and it was impor
tant, if possible to prevent kicking up.—
What is offered the South, as an equiva
lent for giving up California? I must
confess, I see nothing. All that savours of
compromise in my estimation is this; that
the abolitionists demand more than is now
proposed to be granted. Congress com
promises their requirements by saying* “ take
two thirds of what you ash now, and wait
af w years for the rest." So far, the re
port of the Committee is a compromise
and no farther. There is nothing propos
ed for the South, except the humiliating
consolation, that she is to submit bravely,
for the sake of peace and the Union.
After admi ting California in the very
shape that the abolitionists desire, the
committee proposes to form governments
for the remaining territory without annex
ing the Wilmot proviso. We are real
ly piteously humbled if we consider this a
boon. We insist that Congress has no
right to exclude us or our property from
any of he territories of the United States.
She dees exclude usfrom by far the most
valunble part, and most graciously stays
her hand as to the balance. Does the
South estimate this as an equivalent ? But
poor as is this show of mercy, 1 believe
that it is mere show; and that when these
territores shall presume to become States,
they will be rejected by Congress unless
their constitutions prohibit slavery. 1
will at least hazard the opinion, that a
majority of members of the present Con
gress from non-slave-holding States will
not dare pledge themselves publicly, in
carrying out this very compromise, to ad
vocate the admission of remaining territory
when it applies for admission as States, if
they are to be slave States. They will
make no such pledge ; for the same pow
er at home which makes them free soil
men in Congress, would crush them if they
dared do it. In this proposition the South
gains nothing. In curtailing the boundary
of Texas, the South sustains a positive
loss, in point of strength on the slavery
question, Texas is now a slave State,
and therefore, by this part of the proposed
compromise, a portion of slave territory is
made free.
By the proposed legislation for the Dis
trict of Columbia. Ido not suppose that
the most visionary imagine that the Soutl
receives a boon, acquires any addition,
right, or gains an atom of strength fori) 3
defence. The only remaining propositin
is, to change the law of 1793, as, ifpZ?
bh-, to enforce a plain clause of the cona'
tution in our favor. And has it come t
this, that we must give up conditionalh,
valuable rights, in order to have the prom,
tsc, that one of the plainest clauses in tl
Constitution shall not be violated ? A ]
is to be passed, by which it is that wl
may by possibility recover fugitive slaves l
The constitution declares they shad be ( l e
livtred up. The Constitution has been
disregarded ; and we are to imagine that,
the same people who have trampled it under
foot,, will obey a law. The supreme law 0 f
the land is treated with utter contempt and
yet, vve are to concluke they will have
respect to a law of Congress. But I am
utterly opposed to the passage of any law
by Congress, which will authorize any
Federa. Officer to take from the jurisdiction
of any State the protection of its citizens
Such a law strikes down at one blow the
sovereignly of the States, and consolidates
the Government. 1 am not the less op
posed to it because it is to be passedf l)r our
benefit. It is wrong in principle, and will
woik badly in practice. Congress cer
tainly has no power to compel any State to
pass or repeal laws—she has no power to
furce any citizen from the protection of
the State in which that citizen lives, and
if the laws of the State recognize a black
man a citizen, whether he he a fugitive or
not, it is setting at nought the sovereignty
ofthe State, to annul the State law by
federal legislation.
If one single citizen of a State can be made
directly subject to a law of Congress, contrary
to the will and legislation of the State in which
he lives, so may every citizen, and the federa.
tire character ot the Government is at anti end.
Congress has no power whatever to pass upon
the propriety or constitutionality of State laws
and to set them aside at pleasure It would re-’
duce the Btateg to the condition of provinces to
the Federal Empire. It would en able the dom
inant party in Congress to execute the most
frightful designs. If they have power to judge
prima facie whether one, claiming citizenship is
a slave or free, and by a law of their own, send
Federal Officers to conduct the individual to a
place designated by themselves for trial; what
will prevent a majority of Congress, who may
believe that slavery in these United States, in
point of law, and right does not exist, and
could not exist under the nature of our free
form of government, from passing a law by
which federal officers shall conduct our negroes
(who would claim the benefit ofthe creed) to
the State of New York, and have the question of
slavery derided by such a judge as Senator Se
ward would make in the premises.
After recognizing and enacting a law by which
we destroy the sovereignty ofthe States, could
we consistently resist the Federal Officer in car
rying out such an enactment ? The Union
while itcontinues what it was when framed, and
what it was intended it should continue to be—
a Union of free, sovereign and independent
States; will be justly considered the greatest
possible political good, and for the maintainame
and support of which, the people of the States
would pour out their blood like water. But even
in their high estimation of it they do not hold it
as the greatest good. There is still One better,
still more precious, which they rate infinitely
higher. It is their liberty. And for the peo
ple to be free, the States must be free: and no
State can be free, the sovereignty of which is
subject to the control of Congress. The States
are not to be kept in order by coercion upon the
part of the Federal Legislature. Whatever the
States havo obligated themselves to do, in their
compact of Union, they are in duty and honor,
hound to perform. In forming the Constitution
they relied upon the mutual good faith of each
other, duly to observe their respective obligations
and deposited power in in no department of the
the General Government to compel their obedi
ence. The citizen owes allegiance to the State,
and the State is under obligation to protect the
citizen. I trust never to see the day when this
salutary safeguard to the citizen, shall be swept
away by usurpation of power in any department
of the Government If I have rightly understood
the proposed compromise by the commitfee f
there is nothing contained in it, calculated to
satisfy the South, or which promises any equiva
lent for tamely submitting to a surrender of our
rights. I appreciate highly the motives, which
I doubt not, influence the action of many patri
otic Senators. They honestly and earnestly de
sire public tranquility, and unfortunately, can
perceive no means of pacification, but in further
concessions by the South.
When the distinguished Senator from Ken
tucky submitted his resolutions, I thought an
adjustment might be effected through hisinstrn
mentnliiy, upon the basis he proposed In my
auxiety to tranquilize the public mind, I do not
care about forms only—l look to the substance.
By Mr. Clay’s influence much was accomplish
ed thirty years ago, to restore harmony to a dis
tracted country. His success then depended
upon the concessions of the South. The slave
States then surrendered all right to emigrate
with their property North of 36 de£., 30 min.,
and they have never violated, nor sought to vio
late their engagement. I hadTiopcd that when
Mr. Clay spoke of admitting California, with
proper boundaries, that he would feel it duo to
make its Southern boundary the old compromise
line, to which the South had so faithfully ad
hered
I did not believe he would feel willing to ask
of the South any farther concessions, and that ho
would enforce the propriety of this arrangemcn*
with all the powers of his masterly eloquence.
I had hope in his success ; with this, the South
would havo been content ; but when the spirit
offanaticism demands an additional surrender
one which carries along with it the certain pros
pret of ultimate ruin —and Congress yields to
their wishes ; wc have but one alternative, it 18
self-reliance. We should make no further sur
render, hut standing fearlessly by the pillars o
the Constitution, resolve to sustain it, or ’0
buried under its ruin*.
