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TH E CON ST 1T UT IONA L1 ST. JAMES GARDNER, JR. TERMS. aily. per annum 00 Tri-Weekly, per annum G 00 If paid in advance... .• * 500 per annum....*i,-. 3 OC> If paid in advance.... 2 50 To Clubs, remitting $lO in advance, FIVE C*>PIES arc sent. This will put our Weekly pa- j per id the reach of new subscribers at TWO DOLLARS A YEAR. ILF’Subscribers who will pay up arrearages, and send four new subscribers, with the money, can get the paper at 52 00. (CJ’All new subscriptions must be paid in ad vance. (Ef’Postage must be paid on all communications and letters of business. [F rom the Baltimore Patriot, 2Uh inst.] H3NRY CLAY’S SPEECH! We have received from the North Ameri can and U. S. Gazette, an authentic copy of the speech, as reported and corrected for that paper. Wc at once lay it before our readers in a second edition. Speech of Mr. Clay, At the Mass meeting in Lexington , Kg., on Saturday, November 13, 1817. After the organization of this meeting, Mr. Clay rose and addressed it substantially as follows : Ladies and Gentlemen: The day is dark and gloomy, unsettled and uncertain, like the conditioner our country, in regard to the unnatural war with Mexico. The public mind is agitated and anxious, and is filled with serious apprehension as to its indefinite continuance, and especially as to the consequences which its termination may firing forth, menacing the harmony, if nht the’ existence, of our Union. It is under those circumstances, I present I myself before you: No ordinary occasion •vtoiild haVe drawn mo from the retirement in Which 1 live ; but, whilst a single pulsation of the human heart remains, it should, if neces sary, be dedicated to the service of one’s coun try. And I have hoped, that, although I am a private and humble citizen, an expression of the views and opinions I entertain, might form some little addition to the general stock of information, and afford a small assistance in delivering our country from the perils and dangers which surround it. I have come here with no purpose to attemp to make a fine speech, or any ambitious ora torial display. I have brought with me no rhetorical bouquets to throw into this assem blage. In the circle of the year autumn has oome, and the season of fiowers has passed away.- In the progress of years, my spring time has gone by, and I am too in' the tumn of life, and feel the frost of age. My de sire and aim are to address you, earnestly, calmly, seriously and plainly, upon the grave and momentous subjects which have brought us together. And lam most solicitous that not a solitary word may fall from me, offensive to any party or person in the whole extent of the Union. War, pestilence, and famine,by the common consent of mankind, are the three greatest ca lamities which can befall our species; and war, as the most direful, justly stands foremost and in front. Pestilence and famine, no doubt for wise, although inscrutable purposes, arc inflictions of Providence, to which it is our duty, therefore, to bow with obedience, hum ble submission and resignation. Their dura tion is not long, and their ravages are limited. They bring, indeed, great affliction whilst they last, but society soon recovers from their effects. War is the voluntary work of our own hands, and whatever reproaches it may deserve should be directed to ourselves.— When it breaks out, its duration is indefinite and unknown —its vicissitudes are hidden from our view. In the sacrifice of human life, and in the waste of human treasure, in its losses and in its burthens, it affects both bellige rent nations; and its sad effects of mangled bodies of death, and of desolation, endure long after its thunders are hushed in peace. War unhinges society, disturbs its peaceful find regular industry, and scatters poisonous » seeds of disease and immorality, which con tinue to germinate and diffuse their baneful influence long after it has ceased. Dazzlimr by its glitter, pomp and pageantry, it begets a spirit of wild adventure and romantic enter prise, and often disqualifies those who embark in it, after their return from the bloody fields of battle, from engaging in the industrious and peaceful vocations of life. We are informed by a statement, which is apparently correct, that the number of our countrymen slain in this lamentable Mexican war, although it has yet been of only 18 months’ existence, is equal to one half of the whole of the American loss during the seven years’ war of the Revolution ! And I venture to assert that the expenditure of treasure which it has occasioned, when 'it shall come to be fairly asserted and footed up, will be found to be more than half of the pecuniary cost of our Independence. And this is the condition of the party whose arms have been every where and constantly victorious! How did wc unhappily get involved in this war ? It was predicted as the consequence of the annexation of Texas to the United States. If we had not Texas, we should have no war. The people were told that if that event hap pened, war would ensue. They were told that the war between Texas and Mexico had not been terminated by a treaty of peace, that Mexico still claimed Texas as a revolted province; and that, if we received Texas in our Union, we took along with her. the war existing between her and Mexico. And the ■Minister of Mexico formally announced to the Government at Washington, that his nation would consider the annexation of Texas to the United States, as producing a state of war. But all this was denied by the partizans of annexation. They insisted we should have no war, and even imputed to those who foretold it, sinister motives for their groundless predic tion. But, notwithstanding a state of virtual war necessarily resulted from the faet of annexa tion of one of the balligcrcnts to the United States, actual hostilities might have been probably averted by prudence, moderation,and wise statesmanship. If General Taylor had been permitted to remain, where his own good sense prompted him to believe he ought lo remain, at the point of Corpus Christi; and if a negotiation had been opened with Mexico, in a true spirit of amity and conciliation, war possibly might have been prevented. But, in stead of this pacific aqd moderate course, whilst Mr. Slidell was bending his way to Mexico, with his diplomatic credentials. General Tay lor was ordered to transport his cannon, j*nd to plant them, in a warlike attitude, opposite to Matamoras, on the east bank of the Itio Bravo, within the very disputed territory, the adjustment of which was to be the object of Mr. Slidell’s mission. What else could have transpired but a conflict of arms ? Thus the war commenced, and the President, after having produced it, appealed to Congress. A bill was proposed;!© raise 50,000 volunteers, j and in order to commit all who should vote j it, a preamble was inserted, falsely attiibu- j tug the commencement of the war to the act < Mexico. I have no doubt of the patriotic mo- < lives of those who, alter struggling to divest < the bill of that flagrant error, found themselves ] constrained to vote for it. But I must say that no ear thly consideration would have ever ’ tempted or provoked me to vote for a bill,with a palpable falsehood stamped on its face.— Almost idolizing truth, as I do, I never could j < have voted for that bill. i The exceptionable conduct, of the Federal ! party, during the last British War, has excited an influence in the prosecution of the present war, and prevented a just discrimination be tween the two wars. That was a war of Na tional defence, required for the vindication of the National rights and honor, and demanded by the indignant voice of the people. Presi dent Madison, himself, I know, at first, reluc tantly and with great doubt and hesitation, brought himself to the conviction that it might be declared. A leading, and perhaps the most influential member of his cabinet, (Mr. Galla tin,) was, up to the time of its declaration, op posed to it. But nothing could withstand the ! irresistible force of public sentiment. It was a just war- and its great object, as announced at the time, was “ Free Trade and Sailors’ : Rights,” against the intolerable and oppres- • sive acts of British power on the ocean. The | justice of the war, far from b ing denied or 1 controverted, was admitted by the Federal j party, which only questioned it on considera tions of policy. Being deliberately and con stitutionally declared, it was, I think, their duty to have given to it their hearty co-oper ation. But the mass of them did not. They continued to oppose and thwart it, to discou rage loans and enlistments, to deny the pow er of the General Government to march the militia beyond our limits, and to hold a Hart ford Convention, which, whatever were its real objects, bore the aspect of seeking a dis- ! solution of the Union itself. They lost, and { justly lost, the public confidence. But has it not au apprehension of a similar fate, in a 1 state of a case widely different, repressed a fearless expression'of their real sentiments in some of our public men r How totally variant is the present war! This is no war of defence, but one unnecessa ry and of offensive aggression. It :s Mexico that is defending her firesides, her castles and her altars, not we. And how different also is the conduc : of the Whig party of the present day from that of the major part of the Federal party during the war of 1812 ! Far from in terposing any obstacles to the prosecution of the war, if the Whigs in office are reproacha ble at all, it is for having lent too ready a fa cility to it, without careful examination into the objects of the war. And, out of office, who have rushed to the prosecution of the war with more ardor and alacrity than the Whigs ? Whose hearts have bled more freely than those of the Whigs ? Who have more occasion to mourn the loss of sons, husbands, brothers, fathers, than Whig parents, Whig wives ami Whig brothers, in this deadly and unprofita ble strife ? But the havoc of war is in progress, and the no less deplorable havoc of an inhospitable and pestilential climate, Without indulging in an unnecessary retrospect and useless re proaches on the past, all hearts and heads 5 should unite in the patriotic endeavor to bring it to a satisfactory close. Is there no way 1 that this cun be done ? Must we blindly con- j tinue the conflict without any visible object, or any prospect of a definite termination ? This 1 is the important subject upon which I desire j to consult and to commune with you. Who, in this free government, is to decide upon the | objects of a war, at its commencement, or at any time during its existence ? Does the pow- i er belong to the Nation in the collective wis- ! dom of the Nation im Congress assembled, or is it vested solely in a single functionary of the government r A declaration of war is the highest and most awful exercise of sovereignty. 'I he Con vention, which framed our federal constitu tion, had learned from the pages of history that it had been often and greatly abused. It had seen that war had often been commenced upon the most trifling pretexts, that it had been frequently waged to establish or exclude a dynasty ; to snatch a crown from the head of one potentate and place it upon the head of another ; that it had often been prosecuted to promote alien and other interests, than those of the nation whoso chief had proclaimed it, as in the case of English wars for Hanoverian interests ; and, in short, that such a vast and tremendous power ought not to be confided to the perilous exercise of one single man. The ’ Convention, thereof, resolved to guard the war | making power against those great abuses of I , which in the hands of a monarch it was so sus- ! ccptible. And the security against those abu -1 ses which its wisdom devised, was to vest the war-making power in the Congress of the Uni ted States, being the immediate representa tives of the people and the States. So appre hensive and jealous was the Convention of its abuse iu any other hands, that it interdicted 1 the exercise of the power to any State iu the Union, without the consent of Congress. Con gress, then, in our system of Government, is | the sole depository of that tremendous power. The Constitution provides that Congress ; shall have power to declare war, and grant let ters of mai que and reprisal, to make rules | concerning captures on land and water, to raise and support armies, to provide and main tain a navy, and to make rules for tire govern - ment of the land and naval forces. Thus we perceive that the principal power, in regard to war, with all at its auxiliary attendants, is granted to Congress. Whenever called upon I to determine upon the solemn question of peace or war, Congress must consider and de ' liberate and decide upon the motives, objects ' and causes of the war. And, if a war bo com menced without any previous declaration of its objects, as in the of the existing war with Mexico, Congress must necessarily pos sess the authority, at any time, to declare for what purpose it shall be farther prosecuted. If we suppose Congress docs not possess the controlling authority attributed to it; if it be ' contended that a war having been once com ! mcaced, the President of the United States may direct it to the accomplishment of any objects ho pleases, without consulting and . without any regard to the will of Congress, the Convention will have utterly failed in guarding tho nation against the abuses and ambition of a single individual. Either Con gress, or the President, must have the right of determining upon the objects for which a war ' shall be prosecuted. There is no other alter native. If the President possess it and may prosecute it for objects against the will of Con gress, where is the difference between our free government and that of any other nation which may be governed by an absolute Czar, Empe ror or King ? Congress may omit, as it has omitted in the present w r ar, to proclaim the objects for which it was commenced or has been since prosecu ted, and in cases of such omission the Presi dent, being charged with the employment and direction of the national force is, necessarily, left to his own judgment to decide upon the objects, to the attainment of which that force shall be applied. But, whenever Congress shall think proper to declare, by sorne authen tic act, for what purposes a war shall be com menced or continued, it is the duty of the President to apply the national force to the at tainment of those purposes. In tho instance of the last war with Great Britain, the act of Congress by which it w'as declared was prece ded by a message of President Madison enu ( merating the wrongs and injuries of which we | complained against Great Britain. That mes -1 sage therefore, .and without the well known I ■ I II iMflMHwii I objects of the war, which was a war purely of | defence, rendered it necessary that Congress should particularize, in the act, the specific ob jects for which it was proclaimed. The whole world knew that it was a war waged for Free | Trade and Sailor’s Rights, 1 It may be urged that the President and Se- , mate possess the treaty making power, with out any express limitation as to its exercise ; that the natural and ordinary termination of a war is by a treaty of peace; and therefore, that the President and Senate must possess the power to decide what stipulations and con ditions shall enter into such a treaty. Put it is not more true that the President and Senate possess the treaty-making power, without lim itation, than that Congress possesses the war making power, without restriction. These two powers then ought to be so interpreted as to reconcile the one with the other ; and, in expounding the constitution, we ought to keep constantly in view the nature and structure of our free government, and especially the great object of the Convention in taking the war making power out of the hands of a sirgle man and placing it in the safe custody of the representatives of the whole nation. The de sirable reconciliation between the two powers is effected by attributing to Congress the right to declare what shall be the objects of a war, and to the President the duty of endeavoring to obtain those objects by the direction of the national force and by diplomacy. I am broaching no new and speculative theory. The Statute book of the United States is full of examples of prior declarations by Congress of the objects to be attained by negotiations with foreign Powers, and the ar chives of the Executive Department furnish abundant evidence of the accomplishment of those objects, or the attempt to accomplish them, by subsequent negotiation. Prior to the declaration of the last war against Great Bri tain, in all the restrictive measures which Con gress adopted, against the two great belliger ent Powers of Europe, clauses were inserted in the several acts establishing them, tender ing to both or either of the belligerents, the abolition of those restrictions if they would repeal their hostile Berlin and Milan decrees and Orders in Council, operating against our commerce and navigation. And these acts of Congress were invariably communicated, through the Executive, by di plomatic notes, to France and Great Britain, as the basis upon which it was proposed to re store friendly intercourse with them. So, af ter the termination of the war, various acts of Congress were passed, from time to time, of fering to Foreign Powers the principle of re ciprocity in the commerce and navigation of the United States Avith them. Out of these acts have sprung a class, and a large class, of treaties (four or live of which were negotiated, whilst I was in the department of State,) com monly called reciprocity treaties, concluded under all the Presidents, from Mr. Madison to Mr. Van Buren, inclusive. And, with regard to commercial treaties, negotiated with the sanction of prior acts of Congress, where they contained either appropriations or were in con flict with unrepealed statues, it has been ever held as the republican doctrine from Jay’s t' eaty down to the present time, that the pas sage of acts of Congre>s was necessary to se cure the execution of those treaties. If in the matter of Foreign Commerce, in respect to which the power vested in Congress to regu late it and the treaty making power may be regarded as concurrent, Congress can previous ly decide the objects to which negotiation shall be applied, how much stronger is the case of war, the poAver to declare Avhich is confided exclusively to Congress ? I conclude, therefore Mr. President and fel loAV-citizens, with entire confidence, that Con gress has the right, either at the beginning, or during the prosecution of any Avar, to decide the objects and purposes for which it was pro claimed, or for Avhich it ought to be continued. And, I think, it is the duty of Congress, by some deliberate and authentic act, to declare for Avhat objects the present war shall be longer prosecuted. I suppose the President Avould not hesitate to regulate his conduct by the pronounced will of Congress, and to em ploy'the force and the diplomatic power of the nation to execute that will. But, if the President should decline or refuse to do so, and, in contempt of the supreme authority of Congress, should persevere in Avaging the Avar, for other objects than those proclaimed by Congress, then it Avould be the imperative duty of that body to vindicate its authority by the most stringent and effectual, and ap propriate measures. And ifi on the contrary, the enemy should refuse to conclude a treaty, containing stipulations securing the objects, designated by Congress, it would be the duty of the Avhole government to prosecute the war, Avith all the national energy, until those objects Avere attained by a treaty of peace.— There can be no insuperable difficulty in Con gress making such an authoritative declaration. Let it resolve, simply, that the war shall, or shall not, be a war of conquest; and if a Avar of conquest, Avhat is to be conquered. Should a resolution pass, disclaiming the design of conquest, peace AA'ould follow in less than six ty days, if the President would conform to his constitutional duty. Here, fellow-citizens I might pause, having indicated a mode by Avhich the nation.through its accredited and legitimate representatives in Congress, can announce for what purposes and objects this Avar shall be longer prose cuted, and can thus let the Avhole people of the United States knoAv for what end their blood is to be further shed, and their treasure furth er expended, instead of the knoAvledge of it being locked up and concealed in the bosom of one man. We should no longer perceive the objects of the war varying, from time to time, according to the changing opinions of the Chief Magistrate charged with its prose cution. But Ido not think it right to stop here. It is the privilege of the people, in their primitive assemblies, and of every pri- A'atc man, hoAvever humble, to express an opinion in regard to the purposes for which the Avar should be continued; and such an ex pression will receive just so much considera tion and consequence as it is entitled to, and no more. Shall this war be prosecuted for the purpose of conquering and annexing Mexico, in all its boundless extent, to the United States ? I will not attribute to the President of the United States any such design, but I confess I have been shocked and alarmed by manifesta tions of it in various quarters. Os all the dangers and misfortunes which could befall this nation, I should regard that of its becom ing a Avarlikc and conquering poAver the most direful and fatal. History tells the mournful tale of conquering nations ams conquerors.— The three most celebrated conquerors, in the ciAdlized world, AA’ere Alexander, Caesar and Napoleon. The fjrst, after overrunning a large portion of Asia, and sighing and lamenting that there Avere no mere Avorlds to subdue, met a premature and ignoble death. His Lieuten ants quarrelled and Avarred Avith each other, as to the spoils of his Adctories, and finally lost them all. Caesar, after conquering Gaul, re turned with his triumphant legions to Rome, passed the Rubicon, won the battle of Pharsa lia, trampled upon the liberties of his country, and expired by the patriot hand of Brutus. But Rome ceased to be free. War and con quest had enervated and corrupted the masses. The spirit of true liberty Avas extinguished, and a long Jifte of Emperors succeeded, some of whom were the most execrable monsters that ever existed in human form. And that most extraordinary man, perhaps, in all histo ry, after subjugating all continental Europe, occupying all its Capitals, seriously thrca.cp 1 ing, according to M. Thiers, proud Albion it self, and decking the broAvs of various mem bers of his family Avith croAvns, torn from the heads of other monarcha, lived to behold liis own dear France itself in the possession of I his enemies, and Avas made himself a Wretched ; captive and far removed from country, family ! and friend, breathed his last on the distant j and inhospitable rocks of St. Helena. The Alps and the Rhine had been claimed as the natural boundaries of France, but even these could not be secured in the treaties to which she Avas reduced to submit. Do you believe ■ that the people of Macedon, or Greece, of Rome, or of France, were benofitted, indivi dually or collectively, by the triumphs of their great captains ? Their sad lot was immense sacrifice of life, heavy and intolerable burdens, and the ultimate loss of liberty itself. That the power of the United States is com petent to the conquest of Mexico is quite pro . bablc. But it could not be achieved Avithout frightful carnage, dreadful sacrifices of human j life, and the creation of an onerous national | debt; nor could it be completely effected, in all probability, until after the lapse of many years. It Avould be necessary to occupy all ! its strong holds, to disarm its inhabitants, and to keep them in constant fear and subjection, j To consummate the work, I presume that | standing armies, not loss than a hundred ; thousand men, Avould be necessary, to be kept perhaps alAA'ays in the bosom of their country. These standing armies, revelling in a foreign : land, and accustomed to trample upon the } liberties of a foreign people, at some distant I day, might be fit and ready instruments, un der the lead of some daring and unprinci pled chieftain, to return to their country and prostrate the public liberty. Supposing the conquest to be once made, what is to be done with it ? Is it to be gov erned, like Roman Provinces, by Proconsuls ? Would it be compatible with the genius, char acter, and safety of our free institutions, to keep such a great country as Mexico, Avith a population of not less than nine millions, in a state of constant military subjection ? Shall it bo annexed to the United States : Does any considerate man believe it possible that two such immense countries, with terri tories of nearly equal extent, Avith populations so incongruous, so different in race, in lan guage, in religion and in laws, could be blend ed together in one harmonious mass, and hap pily gOA'erncd by one common authority ? Murmurs, discontent, insurrections, rebellion, would inevitably ensue, until the incompati ble parts Avould be broken asunder, and possi bly, in the frightful struggle, our present glo rious Union itself Avould be dissevered or dis solved. We ought not to forget the warning voice of all history, Avhich teaches the diffi culty of combining and consolidating together, conquering and conquered nations. After the lapse of eight hundred years, during Avhich the Moors held their conquest of Spain, the indomitable courage, perseverance and obsti nacy of the Spanish race finally triumphed, and expelled the African invaders from the Peninsula. And, even Avithin our oaa*u time, the colossal poAA r er of Napoleon, Avhen at its loftiest height, was incompetent to subdue and subjugate the proud Castilian. And here, in our own neighborhood, LoAver Canada, Avhich near one hundred years ago, after the conclu sion of the seven years Avar, Avas ceded by France to Great Britain, remains a foreign land in the midst of the British provinces, foreign in feelings and attachment, and foreign in laAA's, language and religion. And Avhat has been the fact Avith poor, gallant, generous, and oppressed Ireland? Centuries have passed since the overbearing Saxon overrun and sub jugated the Emerald Isle. Ri\*ers of Irish blood haA'e flowed, during the long and ardu ous contest. Insurrection and rebellion have been the order of the day; and yet, up to this time, Ireland remains alien in feeling, affection and sympathy toward the poAver which has so long borne her doAATi. Every Irishman hates, Avith a mortal hatred, his Saxon oppressor.— Although there are great territorial differences betAvecn the condition of England and Ireland, as compared to that of the United States and Mexico, there are some points of striking re semblance betAvecn them. Both the Irish and the Mexicans are probably of the same Celtic race. Both the English and the Americans are of the same Saxon origin. The Catholic religion predominates in both the former, the Protestant among both the latter. Religion has been the fruitful cause of dissatisfaction and discontent between the Irish and English nations. Is there no roason to apprehend that it Avould become so betAveen the people of the United States and those of Mexico, if they were united together ? Why should wo seek to interfere Avith them in their mode of Avor ship of a common Saviour ? We believ'e that they are wrong, especially in the exclusive character of their faith, and that we are right. They think that they are right and we wrong. What other rule can there be than to leave the followers of each religion to their own j solemn convictions of conscientious duty to | wards God ? Who, but the great Arbiter of the Universe, can judge in such a question? For my own part, I sincerely believe and hope that those who belong to all the departments of the great church of Christ, if, in truth ami purity, they conform to the doctrines which they profess, will ultimately secure an abode in those regions of bliss which all aim finally to reach. I think that there is no potentate in Europe, whatever his religion may be, more enlightened or at this momenting so interest as the liberal head of the Papal See. But I suppose it to be impossible that those who favor, if there be any who favor the an nexation of Mexico to the United States, can | think that it ought to bo perpetually govern- ; cd by military sway. Certainly no Votary of ; human liberty could deem it right that a vio- ! lation should be perpetrated of the great prin ciples of our own revolution, according to : which, laws ought not to be enacted and taxes ought not to be levdcd, without representation i on the part of those who arc to obey the one, i and pay the other. Then, Mexico is to parti- | cipate in our councils and equally share in our legislation and government. But, suppose she 1 would not voluntarily choose representatives to the national Congress, is our soldiery tofol- I low the electors to the ballot-box, and by force to compel them, at the point of the bayonet, to deposit their ballots ? And how are the nine millions of Mexican people to be repre sented in the Congress of the United States of America and the Congress of the United States of the Republic of Mexico combined? Is every Mexican, without regard to color or caste, per capitum, to exercise the elective franchise ? How is tfie quota of representa tion between the two Republics, to be fixed ? Where is the seat of common government to be established ? And who can foresee or fore tell, if Mexico, voluntarily or by force, were to share in the common government what would be the consequences to her or to us ? ! I Unprepared, ? T s I fear her population yet is, for j the practical enjoyment of self-government, ; and of habits, customs, language, laws and re ligion, so totally different from our own, we should present the revolting spectacle of a confused, distracted, and motly government. J We should have a Mexican Party, a Pacific ! Ocean Party, an Atlantic Party, in addition to the oilier Parties, which exist, or with which we are threatened, each striving to exe cute its own particular views and purposes, and reproaching the others with thwarting and disappointing them, • The Mexican repre sentation, in Congress, would probably form a | separate and impenetrable corps, always ready to throw itself into the scale of any other par ty, to advance and promote Mexican interests. Such a state, of things could not long endure. Those, whom God and geography have pro nounced should live asunder, could never be permanently and harmoniously united to gether; Do avc want for our own happiness or great ness the addition of Mexico to the existing Union of our States? If our population was i too dense for our territory, and there Avas a ! difficulty in chaining honorably the means ol subsistence, there might be some excuse for an attempt to enlarge our dominions. But avc have no such apology. We have already, in our glorious country, a vast and almost boundless territory. Beginning at the North, in the frozen regions of the British Provinces, it stretches thousands of miles along the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mexican Gulf, ! until it almost’ reaches the Tropics. It extends j to the Pacific Ocean, boi*£crs on those great inland seas, the Lakes, which separate us from the possessions of Great Britain, and it era j braces the great father of ri\ r ers, from its up | permost source to the Balize, and the still ! longer Missouri, from its mouth to the gorges' ol the Rocky Mountains. It comprehends the greatest variety ol the richest soils, capable of almost all the productions ofthe earth,except fro and coffee and the spices, and it includes every variety of climate which the heart could Avish or desire. We have more than ten thousand millions of acres of Avaste and unsettled lands, 1 enough for the subsistence of ten or twenty times our present population, ought avc not to be satisfied with such a country ? Ought avc not to be profoundly thankful to the Giv er of all good things for such a vast and boun tiful land ? Is it not the height of ingratitude to Him to seek, by Avar and conquest, indulg ing in a spirit of rapacity, to acquire other lands, the homes and habitations of a large portion of liis common children ? If avg pur sue the object of such a conquest, besides mortgaging the revenue and resources of this country for ages to come, in the form of an onerous national debt, avc should have greatly to augment that debt, by an assumption ofthe , sixty or seventy millions of the national debt of Mexico. For I take it that nothing is more certain than that, if we obtain A'oluutarily or by conquest, a foreign nation, Ave acquire it with all the incumbrances attached to it. In my humble opinion avg 'are uoav bound, in honor and morality, to pay the just debt of Texas, And avc should *be equally bound, by the same obligations, to pay the debt of Mexi co, if it were annexed to the United States. Os all the posse ; slons Avhich appertain to man, in his collejtiA'e or individual condition, none should be preserved and cherished, with more sedulous and unremitting care than that of an unsullied character. It is impossible to esti mate it too highly, in society, Avhen attached to an individual, nor can it be exaggerated or too greatly magnified in a nation. Those Avho lose or are indifferent to it, become just objects of scorn and contempt. Os all the abominable transactions which sully the pages of history none exceed in enormity that ofthe d smera berment and partition of Poland, by the three great Continental PoAvers—Russia, Austria and Prussia. Ages may pass away, and cen turies roll around, but as long as human records endure,all mankind will unite in execrating the rapacious and detestable deed. That Avas ac complished by overwhelming force, and the unfortunate existence of fatal dissensions and divisions in the bosom of Poland. Let us avoid affixing to our name and national chaactcr a similar, if not Avorse, stigma, lam afraid that we do not uoav stand Aveli in the opinion of other parts of Christendom. Repudiation has brought upon us much reproach. All the na tions, I apprehend, look upon us in the pro secution of the present war, as being actuated by a spirit of rapacity, and an inordinate desire for territorial aggrandizement. Let us not for feit altogether their good opinion. Let us com mand their applause by a noble exercise of for bearance and justice. In the doA r ated station AA’hich we hold, avc can safely afford to practice the godlike virtues of moderation and magnani mity. The long series of glorious triumphs, achieved by our gallant commanders and their brave armies, unattended by a single reverse, justify us, Avithout the least danger of tarnish* ing the national honor, in disinterestedly hold ing out the olive branch of peace. We do not want the mines, the mountains, the morasses and the sterile lands of Mexico. Toiler the loss of them Avould be humiliating, and be a per petual source of regret and mortification. To us they might prove a fatal acquisition, pro ducing distraction, dissension, division, pos sibly disunion. Let, therefore, the integrity of the national existence and national territory of Mexico remain undisturbed. For one, I desire to see no part of her territory torn from her by war. Some of our people have placed their hearts upon the acquisition of the Bay of San Francisco in Upper California. To us, as a great maritinc Power, it might prove to boos advantage hereafter in respect to our commer cial and navigating interests. To Mexico Avhich can never be a great maritime Power, it can never be of much adA'antage. If we can obtain it by fair purchase, with a just equivalent, I should bo happy to see it so acquired. As, whenever the Avar ceases, Mexi co ought to be required to pay the debts due our citizens, perhaps an equivalent for that pay may be found in that debt, our govern ment assuming to pay to our citizens AA'hatever portion of it may be applied to that object. But it should form no motiA r c in the prosecu tion of the war, Avhich I Avould n it continue a solitary hour fur the sake of that harbor. But what, it Avill bo asked, shall avc make peace Avithout any indemnity for the expenses of the war? —If the published documents in relation to the late negotiations betAvecn Mr. | Trist and the Mexican Commissioners be true, and I have not seen them anyAvhere contra dicted, the Executive properly waived any j demand of indemnity for the expenses of the i war. And the rupture of that negotiation was | produced, by onr Government insisting upon a cession from Mexico, of the strip ol mostly i barren land between the Nueces and the Rio 1 Bravo and Ngav Mexico, Avhich Mexico refused |to make. So that avc are now fighting, if not ! for the conquest of all Mexico, as intimated in some quarters, for that narrow strip, and for the barren proAnnce of Ncav Mexico, with its few miserable mines. We bought all the province of Louisiana for fifteen millions of dollars, and it is, in my opinion, Avorth more than all Mexico together. We bought Florida at five millions of dollars, and a hard bargain it Avas, since, besides that sum, avc gave up the boundary of the Rio Bravo, to which I think avg were entitled, as the Avestcrn limit of the province of Louisiana, and Avere restricted to that of the Sabine. And avc arc now, if not seeking the conquest of .all Mexico, to continue this Avar indefinitely for the inconsiderable objects to Avhich I have just referred. But, it will be repeated, are avc to have no indemnity for the expenses of the war? Mexi co is utterly unable to make us any pecuniary j indemnity, if the justice of the war on our part entitled us to demand it. Her country has been laid waste, her cities burned or occupied by our troops, her means so exhausted that she is unable to pay eA r on her own armies. And every day’s prosecution of the Avar, Avhilst it I Avould augment the amount of our indemnity, Ayquld lessen the ability of Mexico to pay it. We have seen, hoAvever, that there is another I form in which we are to demand indemnity. It is to be territorial indemnity! I hope, for reasons already stated, that the firebrand Avill not be brought into oqr country, i Among the resolutions, Avhich it is my in tention to present for your consideration, at the conclusion of this address, one proposes, in your behalf and mine, to disavow, in the most positive manner, any desire, on our part - ! to acquire any foreign territory whatever, for i the purpose ot introducing slavery into it I -do not know that any citizen of'the United j States entertains such a wish. I3ut such a motive has often been imputed to the alavo ? States, and I therefore think it necessary to s notice it on this occasion. My opinions on a the subject ot slavery are well known. They j h ay e the merit,if it be one, of consistency, uni i’ fortuity, and long duration. I have ever re t | garded slavery as a great evil, a wrong, for the ’ present, I tear, an irremediable, wrong to its t unfortunate victims. I should rejoice if not a ’ single slave breathed the air or was within the , limits of our country. But here they are, to bo • I d. ea lt with as well as we can, with a due con ! sideration of all circumstances averting the ' safetv and happiness of both races, ’ j Every .State has thosupreme, uncontrolled and exclusive power to decide for itselt whether slavery shall cease or continue within its lim its, without any exterior intervention from any quarter. In States, where the slaves out-number tho whites, as is the case with several, tho blacks could not be emancipated and invested with all the rights of freemen, without becoming the governing race in those States. Collisions ; and conflicts, between the two races, would be inevitable, and, after shocking scenes of rapine and carnage, the extinction or expul | sion of the blacks would certainly take place. In the State of Kentucky, near fifty years ago, I thought the proportion of slaves, in compari son with the whites, was so inconsiderable that we might safely adopt a system of gradual emancipation that would ultimately eradicate this evil in our State. That system was totally different from the immediate abolition of slave ry for which the party of the Abolitionists vs the present day contend. Whether they hare ; intended or not, it is my calm and deliberate belief, that they have done incalculable mis chief even to the very cause which they espous ed, to say nothing of the discord which has been produced between different parts of the Union. —According to the system we attempt ed, near tho close of the last century, all slaves in being were to remain such, but all who. might be born subsequent to a specified day, were to become free at the age of twenty-eight, and during their service were to be taught to I read, write and cypher. Thus, instead of beinjj | thrown upon the community, ignorant and un prepared, as would bo the case by immediate emancipation, they would have entered upon the possession of their freedom, capable, in some degree, of enjoying it. After a hard struggle, the system was defeated, and I re gret it extremely, as, if it had been then adopted, our State would be now nearly rid of that reproach. Since that epoch, a scheme of unmxxed be- I nevolence has sprung up, which, if it had ex isted at that time, would have obviated one of S the greatest objections which was made to. gradual emancipation, which was the continu ance of the emancipated slaves to abide among us. That scheme is the American Coloniza tion Society. About twenty-eight years ago a few individuals, myself among them, met together in the city of Washington, and laid ! | the foundation of that Society. It has gone on amidst extraordinary difficulties and trials, sustaing itself almost entirely, by spontaneous ! and voluntary contributions, from individual benevolence, without scarcely any aid from Government. The colonies, planted under its ! auspices, are now well established communi ties, with churches, schools, and other insti tutions appertaining to the civilized state. — I They have made successful war in repelling i attacks and invasions by their barbarous and savage neighbors. They have made treaties,, annexed territories to their dominion, and are blessed with a free representative government. I recently read a message, from one of their Governors to their Legislature, which, in i point of composition, and in careful attention to the public affairs of their Republic, would • compare advantageously with the messages of the Governors of our own States. lam not i very superstitious, but I do solemnly believe , that these colonies are blessed with the smiles ■ of Providence, and, if we may dare attempt j penetrating the veil, by which lie conceals his ; all-wise dispensations from mortal eyes, that i He designs that Africa shall be the refuge and i the homo of the descendants of its sons and daughters, torn and dragged from their native laud by law less violence. It is a philanthropic and consoling reflec • tion, that the moral and physical condition of I the African race in the United States, even in ’ a state of slavery, is far better than it would , have been if their ancestors had never been • brought from their native land. And if it • should be the decree of the Great Killer of l the Universe that their descendants shall ba I made instruments in His hands in the cstab ' ; lishmont of civilization and the Christian reli j gion throughout Africa, our regrets, on ac count of the original wrong, will be greatly ; mitigated. i It may be argued that, in admitting the in justice of slavery, I admit the necessity of an instantaneous reparation of that injustice.— Unfortunately, however, it is not always safe, practicable or possible, in great movements of ; States and public affairs of nations, to remedy or repair the infliction of previous injiis'i-e.— • In the inception of it, we may oppose and I denounce it, by our most strenuous exertions, but, after its consummation, there is often no i 1 other alternative left us but to deplore its per p 'tration,and to a'quiesce as the only alterna tive, in its existence, as a less evil than the frightful consequences which might ensue from the rain endeavor to repair it. Slavery is one of those unfortunate instances. Tho , evil of it was inflicted upon us, by the parent ; country of Great Britain, against all the en r treaties and remonstrances of the colonies.— i And here it is amongst and amidst us, and wo ; must dispose of it as best we can under all the circumstances which surround us. It con ■ tinned, by tho importation of slaves fioxn Af rica, in spite of colonial resistance, for a pe riod of more than a century and a half, and it may require an equal or longer lapse of time before our country is entirely rid of the evil. ■ And in the meantime, moderation, prud«n«o and discretion among ourselves, and the bless ings of Providence may be all necessary to accomplish our ultimate deliverance from it. ■ Examples of similar infliction of irreparable j national evil and injustice might be multiplied to an indefinite extent. The case of the an ; nexation of Texas to the United States is a re > cent and an obvious one which, if it were i wrong, it cannot now be repaired. Texas i». now an integral part of our Union, with it* [ own voluntary consent. Many of us opposed the annexation with honest zeal and most earn • est exertions. But who would now think of ; perpetrating the folly of casting Texas out of the confederacy and throwing her back upon > ! her own independence, or into the arms of Mexico ? "Who would now seek to divorce her from this Union? The Creeks and Che rokee Indians were, by the most exceptionable means, driven from their country, and trans ported beyond the Mississippi river.—- Their lands have been fairly purchased and occupied by inhabitants of Georgia, Alaba ma, Mississippi and Tennessee. Who ivould now conceive the flagrant injustice of e*> , celling those inhabitants and restoring the | Indian country to the Chcrokecs and Creeks, under color of repairing original injustice.- During the w r ar of our revolution* millions of [ | paper money were issued by our ancestors, as ; the only currency with which they could achieve our liberties and independence.— : Thousands and hundreds of thousands of faml , lies were stripped of their homes and their alf ; and brought to ruin, by giving credit and con fidence to that spuiious currency. Stern net (