The Whig standard., 1844-06-12

as
munication, as the policy Of the British govern
ment an armed doctrine--a doctrine armed, az
we who are exposed to it's consequences know
full well, whether they be designed or not by
/ those who patronize it--a doctrine armed with
the torch of the inceAdary and the instrument of
midnight murder. And, like that same arpej
doctrine which Burke denounced, it, too, " has
it's faction of opinion Of interest, and Of fanatcism
| in every country" Even here, in our own coun-
try, it has its allies, if not its instigators--for
among the most painful and revolving develop
ments contained in the papers which have been
submitted to u.s. is the evidence they present that
the movement of the British government on this
subject has been specially invoked by dbolitio7s-
lists from America.
Let me not be misunderstood, MI. President,
in what / have said on this subject, under the
deepest convictions Of what ID due to the dignity
az we'll as 10 the peace and safety OF our common
| country. ! am no advocate Of slavery. never
have BEEN deeply lament it's existence in any
portion Of our country, as have freely and unre-
| servedly declared in this hall. | believe and
fondly hope that it's tendency is to ultimate ex.
tinction But any attempt to force or precipitate
that consunmation by foreign influence or do
mestic faction can have none other but the most
calamlous consequences to both Of the races COM
cerned, and especially TO that on whose behalf all
this pragmatical and dangerous interference has
been employed. The history of African slavery
in America proves that its tendency is to recede
farther and farther to the South and Southwest,
until if left to the operation Of those natural laws
which govern the progress Of society every where,
with such auxiliary measures as the States Inn
mediately concerned best know how and when
to apply, firmly believe it will finally disappear
| from our borders, and the whole African race IN
America be transferred to those tropical regions
most congenia to their constitution, and where
they eau mingle, in social and civil equality, with
races which, presenting fewer and less marked
traits of original difference, are known to feel no
invincibe repugnance to the association Here
no such association can ever take place; and any
attempt to force it can havs 10 other eject than
to bring on that fatal catastrophe TO the inferior
| and dependent race which has been 30 clearly
| pointed out by the most enlightened and profound
foreign observer who has ever written on the so
cial and political institutions of America. The
/ object of true and rational humanity, then,
should be to place no artificial impediment in the
way Of this natural flow Of the African population
| in America to the South and the Southwest, but
| to leave Texas, whether aS foreign and lnde-
pendent State, or as member OF the American
Union, perfectly free to act in this matter accord
ing to her rghts and her own enlightened and re-
sponsble conscience
The review into which have been drawn, Mr..
President, Of the policy and proceedings Of Eng
land in regard to American questions, must satisfy
us all that we have to encounter the constant
competition and the watchful jealousy of colossal
power at every step in the march of our national
greatness, even in our own hemisphere. She
claims " "ascendancy" in the language OF her own
statesmen, every wherein the Hew az well as IN
| the old world. She aspires, at the same time, to
moral censorship and surveillance over all Chris
| tendon, while she pursues her own interests in
every quarter of the globe, without regard to the
opinions or the interests of other nations. would
nculcate no unworthy jealousy, far less any illib-
cral hostility towards England; but would pur-
| sue the race of competition into which we are
/ thrown with heron our own continent ana IN
our own seas at least-with a spirit and an en-
| ergy worth Of such rival. Let us not shrink
'ngioriously from the destnes which God and
nature have assigned US. In that same letter ON
Regicide Peace" from which my honorable
friend from Massachusetts, Mr.. Choate) read us
sentence or two on another subject, the immortal
author delivered some noble maxins Of patriotism
and Of high national policy, which are strongly
recalled by the circumstances Of our present po-
sion. He tells us that there is in State affairs
"a courageous wisdom" and, on the other hand,
aa false reptile prudence, the result not OF eau
ton, but Of fear;'' and he proceeds to add what
the history of nations, as well individuals, fully
confirms, that there is nothing go rash as fear"
for it rarely puts of, while i Is sure TO aggravale
| in the end, the very evils from which Il would
| fly. The highest prudence. 10 my opinion, 10 in
a" courageous wisdom j" and while would me-
yer be tempted by interest 10 pursue an unjust
object, so, on the other hand, would never be
turned aside from the prosecution of an object
both just and necessary by the suggestions OF
trnid and over cautious policy, which, IN the
end, is always the rdshest ab vl.e, "a
If, then, the reacqusition Of Texas be the oo-
lject of high national expedency and importance.
which think have shown it to DC, the next
| question is, have we a right 10 acquire It under
the circumstances and in the manner proposed! Z
Has Texas, first, right 10 dispose of herselts
This question has been argued, as il, though Tex
as be actually Independent, something 10 yet
wanting 10 make her righGuAy Independent.
But, sir, this distinction has as little warrant in
the established doctrines Of public law, as in the
nrnciples Of our own immortal act of Indepen-
dence. The great oracle Of the modern law Of
nations, (Valteb) says expressly that, every
nation that governs ITSELF under what form soever.
without dependence on any foreign power, 10 a