The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1861-01-28 00:00:00

MR. SEWARD'S SPEECH.

THE important speech of Mr. SEWARD, in the
Senate of the United States, to which we briefly
alluded in our last publication, is now before us
in extenso. During its delivery we are told the
Senate presented an intensely interesting scene.
Added to his teputation as a speaker, there were
two facts whiCh on this occasion increased the
interest in what he might say—namely, his
acceptance of the Premiership in Mr. LINCOLN's
Cabinet) and the certainty that he would fore
shadow the policy of the LINCOLN Administra-
tion. The speech, which occupied two hours in
its delivery, Was undoubtedly worthy of the
occasion, and created the most profound sensa-
tion. Various, and even opposing opinions,
have been prdnenneed as to the bearing of
the oration. Seth° Peoprle in the States look
Upon it as 'a very pFomising• first step towards
a compromise ; while Others, consider that
" with all its soft and silky professions.. of
forbearance, patience, conciliation, and compro_
miser this speeth clones the door of reconciliation,
and proclaims coercion as the deliberately chosen
policy of the President elect:" • We shall let Mr.
5,E1v.A.16 speak for himself in the following
extraets front his long speech, and leave our
readers to judge therekiri as to the cotirso he is
likely to pinsim,

As to his oWii sense of the riedessity of Main-
taining the Union he leaves no doubt when he

says :--

I avow my aelherenbe to the. Union in itg integrity and
with all its parts, *ith friends, with thy Batty, with
my State, *ith tiff codritrY, of Witliottt either, as they
may detertitinc, in every event, whether of peace or war,
-With every consequience of honour or dishonour, of life
or death.

Admitting the danger that now assails the
Union, and with reference to certain ideas for

Saving it,. he says
it It is edsY to tifthidiirtee what measures or con-
duct will not save the Union. The Union
canna be saved by mutual criminations concerning our
respective share of responsibility for the•present evils.
* * A continuance of the debate en the constitu-
tional pOwer 'of Congress over the subject of slavery in
the.territeries will hot save the Union. * * The
-Union cantiot be saved. by Proving that Secession is ille-
gal or uncOnStittitiondl. * * I do lio
,t agree
with those who advise a conventional or tinopfiosed sepa-
ration with a view to what they call a reconstruction.
* * * Congressional compromises are not likely to
save the Union. * * I think it will be wise to
diseiirdtiio prevalent ideas or prejudices, namely : first,
that the Union is to be saved by somebody in particular;
and, seedrully, that it is to be saved by some cunning
and hisintiere tOmpaet of paoilieation.
ihelzidependened o the several States of the
Union, and the sovereignty of the rederal
Government, is thus reconciled :
I fully admit the originality, the sovereignty, and the
independence of the several States within their sphere.
But I hold the federal government to be equally original,'
sovereign, arid independent Within its sphere. And the
gov.eirintertt Of the Stdte can no more absolve the people
residing Within its liiiiits from allegianee W the Union
than the government of the Union can absolfe them
from.allegiance to the State. The constitution of the
United, States, and the laws made in pursuance thereof,
are the supreme law of the land, paramount to all legis-
lation of the States, whether made under the constitu-
tion, or by even their organic conventions. The Union
can be dissolved, riot by secession, with or without
armed force, but Only by the voluntary consent of the
fleriple of tli6 United StateS, Colleeted in the manner
prescribed by the constitution of the -United Eitates.
Nor does he leave auy doubt as to the duty of
Congress when he says :
Congress, in the present case, ought not to be impas-
sive. It ought, if it can, to redress any real grievances
of the offended States, and then it ought to supply the
President with all the means necessary to maintain the
-Union in the fttll ethibition and discreet exercise of its
authority.. Beyond this, *ith the proper activity on the
part of the executive, the responsibility of sating the
Union belOngs to the people, and they are abundantly
competent to discharge it.
Mr. SEWARD then at very great length, and with
much point and clearneSs, points out the advan-
tages of the Union, and the necessarily disastrous
conseqtences qtdisseverance. With reference to
the probable etteeta df tile dreaded catastrophe
upon ,the slave population, :he states most pfo-
perly, as regards one view of this difficulty :
This movement arises out of the relation of African
slaves to the domestic population of the country. Free-
dom is to them, as to all mankind, the chief object of
desires • hitherto, under the operation of the Union,
they hate practically remained ignorant of the contro-
vet?,y, esTecidlly of its bearing on themselves. Can we
hope that flagrant Cifil fage among ourselves
in their very presence, and. yet that they will ternain
stupid and idle spectators ? Does history furnish a satis-
factOiy instruction. upon the horrors of civil war amen;
a people so brave, so skilled in arms, so earnest in convic-
tion, and so intent in purpose, as we are? Is it a mere
chimera which suggests an aggravation of those horrors
beyond endurance when, on either side, there shall occur
the intervention of an uprising ferocious African slave
ticiptilation tit thin, dr six, or perhaps twenty millions ?
The opinions of nianleind crlian.'6, and with them the
policies of nations. One hundred year's AO all tbo com-
mercial European States were engaged in transferring
negro:slaves from Africa to this hemisphere. To-day all
these States are firmly set in hostility to the extension,
and even to the practice of slaVery. Opposition to it'
takes two forms—one European, which is simple direct
abolition, effected, if lied be, by compulsion ; the other
American, which seeks to arrest the African slave trade
and resist the entry of domestic slavery into Territories
where it is yet unknown, whilst it leaves the disposition
Of existing slavery to the considerate action of the
States 1# Which it is retained. It is the Union that
restricls the oppositidn to slaiery in this country within
these limits. If dissolution prevail, what guarantee
shall there be against the full development here of the
fearful and uncompromising hostility to slavery which
elsewhere pervades the world, and of which the recut
invasion of Virginia was an illustration ?
The eloquent senator proceeds to depict in most
eloquent teritS the further evils of disunion ; and
endeavours to show that the reatness of the
country depends upon the maintenatied• of the
1 •
Union intact. Ile shows, moreover, with startling
perispieneity that, in reality, nothing has occurred,
to render disruption una-voidable. Let those who
aft; ript td 116 violently discontented with our
modified timid:l:chi:cal inistitutions in England
mark this RepUblican's words *lien he says
flow strange are the times in which we live t The
coming spring season on one side of the Atlantic will
open on a •general conflict, waged to obtain, through
whatever indirection, just such a system as ours; and
on ,thil side of the Atlantic, within the same parallels of
latititclei it *ill open on fraternal war, waged in a
Moment of frenzied &seen teliti to overthrow and anni-
hilate the same institutions:
The distinction between ItepubtferMism and
and Union is thus put, the latter being set forth
as the doMinant element :
lleyoul a doubt, Union is vitally important to the
Iteptitilieacitiiens of the United States • but it is just
• as impartaiit. The *tiole veopie: Republicanism and
Union are, therefore; rid ceutettible terms. Repub-
licaniSm is subordinate td Urfiotl, as everything else is
arid ought to. be—ltepublicanistri, Democracy, every
other political name and thing, all are stthotdinate—and
they ought to disappear in the presence of the great
question of Union. So far as I am concerned, it shall be
so; it Slunild 131 so.if the question.were sure to be tried
as it: ought only io be determined, by the peaceful ordeal
of the ballot. It shall Sc? all the more since there is
on one' side preparedness to refer It to the arbitrament
of civil War. I have such faith in this Republican
system of mfrs./ that there is no political good which I
desire that I am riot content to seek through its peaceful
forms of adMinistration without invoking revolutionary
action. If others shall Intoke that form of action to
oppose and overthrow Government, they shall not, so
far' as it depends on me, have the excuse that I obsti-
nately left myself to be misunderstood.
Admitting the necessity of some sort of com-
promise, ho makes the following propositions :
Firstly : As regards the abstract question whether, by
the constitution of the United States, the bondsman,who
is made such by the laws of a State, is still a man or
only property, I answer that, within that State, its laws
on that subject are supreme; that when he has escaped
froth that State into another, the constitution regards
him as .a bondsman who may not; by any law or regula-
tion of that State, be discharged from his service, but
shall be delivered up, on claim, to the party to whom
his service is due. While prudence and justice would
combine in persuading you to modify the acts of Congress
on that subject, so as not to. oblige private persons to
assist in their execution, and to protect freemen from
being, by abuse of the laws, carried into slavery, I agree
that all laws of the States, whether free States or slave
States, which relate to this class of persons, or any
others recently coming from or resident in other States,
and whicklaws contravene the constitution of the United
States, or any law of Congress passed in conformity
thereto, ought to be repealed.
Secondly : Experience in public affairs has confirmed
my opinion, that domestic slavery, existing in any State,
is wisely left by the constitution of the United States
excluslvely to the care, managethent and. disposition of
that State; and, if it were in my power, I would not
alterthe 'constitution in that respect. If misapprehen-
sion of my position needs so strong a remedy, I am
willing to vote for an amendment of the constitution,
declaring that it shall not, by any future amendment,
be so altered as to confer on Congress a power to abolish
or interfere with slavery in any State.
Thirdly : While I thirik•that Congress has exclusive
and sovereign authority to legislate on all subjects what-
eier in.the common territories of the United . States ;
lurid while I certainly shalluever, directly or indirectly,
give iny,vote to establish or sanction slavery in'such A

territories, or any where else in the world, yet the
question what constitutional laws shall at any time be
pissed in regard to the territories, is, liko every other
question, to be determined on practical grounds. I
voted for enabling acts in the cases of Oregon, Minne-
sota, and Kansas, without being able to secure in them
such provisions as I would have preferred ; and yet I
voted. isely. So now, lam well satisfied that, under
existing circumstances, a happy and satisfactory solution
of the difficulties in the remaining territories would be
obtained by similar laws, providing for their organisa-
tion, such organisation Were otherwise practica-
ble. If, therefore, Kansas were admitted as a
State under the Wyandot constitution, I think she
ought to b?, and if the organic laws of all
the other territories could be repealed, I could vote to
authorise the organisation and admission ,of two new
States which should include them; reserving the right to
effect subdivisions of them whenever necessary into
several Convenient States, but I do not find that such
reservations could be , constitutionally made. Without
them the ulterior brilbarfassutents Which would result
from the hasty incorporatiOn df Stritb6 of Slicli vast
extent and various interests and character would out-
weigh all the itnmedilie advantage's of suCh a measure.
But if the measure were predicable, I should prefer
a different course, namely—when the eccentric move-
ments of secession and digunion shall hive ended in
whatever form that end may come, and the angry
excitements of the hour shall haire subsided, and calm-
ness once more shall, lutie resumed its accustomed sway
over the publlC mind, then, and ridt till ththi—,One, two,
or three years hence—l should cheerfully adiiiie a eon-
verition'of the people, to,be assembledin prirsuae6e of
the constitution, to consider and decide whether any and
what amendments of the organic. national law ought to
be made. A republican now—as I have heretofore been
a member of other parties existing in my day—l never-
theless hold and cherish, as I have always done, the
principle that this government exists in its present form
only by the consent of the governed, and that it is as
necessary as it is wise to resort to the people for revi-
sions of the ofg,aiiic•la* *hen the troubles and dangers.
of the State certainly transcend the powers delegated by
it to the pUblie authorities:.. gor dught the suggestion
to excite surprise. Governnient in any form is a machine;
this is the most Complex one that the mind of man has
ever invented, or the hand of man has ever fran:el.
Perfect as it is, it ought to be expected that it will, at
least as often as. onet in a century, require some modifi-
Cations to alept it to the changes of society and alterna-
tions of empire.
Fourthly : I hold myself ready now, as alwqya hore-
tofore_, to vote for any properly guarded laws which
shall be deemed necessary to' prevent mutual invasions
of States by cititens. of other States; arid punish those
who shall aid and abet them.
f IViftblyi Notwithstanding the argnments,of the gal-
lant Senator from Oregon (General Lanel,'l remain pf
the opinion' that physical bonds, such as highways, rail-
roads, rivers and canals, are vastly more powerful for
holding civil communities together, than any mere
covenants; though Written on parchment or engraved
upon iron. I remain, therefore, constant to my purpose
to secure, if possible, the construction of two Pacific
railways, one of which shall connect the ports around
the mouths of the Mississippi, and the other the towns
oil the Missouri and the lakes, with the harbours on Our
Western toasts:

After counselling t c Uttnast moderation, for-
bea:rande, and eontiliatiOtif /re ptoebeds with
reference to the' present auspices of the' eonntry
generally
I kneq that we are in the Midst of alarms, and some-
what es:o°2W to accidents Unavoidable in seasons of
tempestuous passiong, We already have disorder, and
violence has begun. I know not W what extent it may
go: Still my faith in the constitution and in the Union
abides, because my faith in the wisdom and virtue of the
American people remains unshaken. Coolness, calmness,
and resolution, areelements of their character. These
have been temporarily displaced, but they are reappear-
ing. Soon enough, I trust, for safety, it will be seen
that sedition grid violence are only local and temporary,
and that loyalty 'and affection to, the Union are the
natural sentiments of the: Whole coyntry, Whatever
dangers there shall be, there will he the determination
to meet them; whatever sacrifices, private or public,
shall "be needful for the Union, they will be
made. I feel sure that the hour has not come for
this great nation to fall. This people, which has been
studying to become wiser and better as it has grown
elder, is not perverse or wicked enough to deserve so
dreadful arid setete a punishment as dissolution. This
Union has not yet accomplished what good for mankind
was manifestly designed by him who appoints the sea-
sons, and'prescribes the 'duties of States and empires. No,
sir, if it were cast down by faction to-day, it would rise
again and reappear in all its majestic proportions to-
morrow. It is the only government that can stand here.
Woe, woe to the man that madly lifts his hand against
it. It shall continue and endure ; and men, in after
tidies, shall declare that this generation, which saved the
Union from such sudeen and unlooked-for dangers, sur-
passed in magnanimity even that one which laid its
foundation in the eternal principles of liberty, justice,
and humanity. , ,

The' effect of the speech of l‘f. SEWARD upon
all who listened to it, says an eye-witness, was
marked. Some of his periods were delivered with
the deepest feeling, and produced upon Senators
and spectators in the galleries the most intense
sympathies with the orator. Old men and young
wept like children, and when Mr. StwARD sat
down, the galleries, that had preserved the most
profound silence during the entire speech, mani-
fested its approbation by the most hearty applause.

We are hopeful that the policy thus sketched
nut by thie talented and influential representative
of the new Government is indicative of a firm
determination to maintain the Union, and at the
same time of a willingness to meet the disunionists
upon such reasonable terms as cannot, in the end,
fail to avert the terrible catastrophe of a civil and
serrile war. The Yankees cannot live without
political excitement, and if they have at present
determined to carry it to an unprecedentedly ex-
treme point, it is to be honed that no accident
will occur, in the meantime, to hinder its sub-
sidence before matters have gone too far for any,
pacific adjiistment.