The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1848-04-08
Vol, II, No. SO. Whole No. SIS.

price alnouSand tllncs the value oil all lis pur-
chnses; or Take peace, contenlng yourselves
with the honor we have reaped by the militia
ry achievements of the arny;---will you tnke
peace without territory, and pres erve the in
tegrity of the Constitution ofihe Country?
nm entirely willing TO stand upon that ques-
zion. Twill therefore take tho issue: Peace
todh no nelo states, keeping our money ourselves:
or Wdr I'LL neip states shall be acquired, and Udst
s'Dns paid That's the true issue. an will
ing to leuve that before the people and TO The
people, because II is question for themselves
fthey support me aud think with nc, very
well. II otherwise--if they will have terrific
ry--and add new states to the Union, LEI them
do so; and let them he the hrlicers Of their
own fortune for good or for evil.
But sir, we tremble before Executive pow
er. The truth cannot be concealed. We
irembie before Executive power! Mr. Polk
will take no less than this. five don't take
this, the Kings anger may kindlc, and he
will give us what il worse.
But now, sir, who and what is Mr. Polk!
| speak of him with no manner Of disrespect.
] mean, thereby, only TO ask who and what is
the President ofthe United States for the
current moment. lie is i'm the last yenr of
his administration. Formally, officially, it
can only be drawn out till the 4th of March.
hlereally and substantially, we know that
TWO short months, will or mdy,produce events
that will render the duration of that ofiical
term of very little importance. We are on
the eve of Presidential election. That ma
chine which is resoried to TO collect public o.
pinion, will be put in operation two months
hence. We shall see IFS result. II may he
that the present incumbent of the Presiden-
tial Office will be again presented to his par
~ friends and admirers, for their sufifnges
for the next Presidential term. do not say
how probable orimprobable this is. Perhaps
il is not entirely probable. Suppose this not
to be the result? What then?~ Why, then,
Mr. Polk becomes as absolutely insignificant
as any respectable man among the public
men of the United States. Honored in pr-
vate life, valued for his private character
respectable, never eminent, IL public liie,-
! he will, from the moment new star arises,
have just as little influence asyou, or !, and
so far MS myself am concerned, that certainly
is little enough.
Sir, political partisans and aspirnnts and
Office seekers, are not StwROW7S. They do
not
"--tlirn 10 their God when he sets,
The same look which they turned when
he rose"
No, sir, if the respectable gentleman now
| at the head Of the government he agreed up
on,tbere will he those who will commend his
consistency,--w will be bound to maintain
| llJ--lOi IlilSiCSl VI purify VIII
requireit 1t will be done Ifotherwise who
is there in the whole breadth aud length of
| the land, that will care for the consistency of
| the present incumbent of the office? There
will then be new objects. "Manilest desti-
ny" will have pointed out some other man.
Sir, the euogies are now wrtten-the com
mendatons Of praise are already elaborated.
! do not say every thing fulsome, but every
thing panegyrical, has already been written
Ill L
the Convention shall adjourn. When imam
fest destiny" shall be unroled, all these
strong pnnegyrcs, wherever they may light
nude before hand, laid up in pigeon holes,
studied, framed, emblaZoned and embossed,
slull all come out; and then there will be
found somebody in the United States whose
merits have been strangely overlooked, mark
ed out by Providence, kind of miracle,-
while all will wonder that nobody ever
thought of him before,-as n fit aud the only
fit man to be at the head of this great Repub-
lie!
| shrink not, therefore. from any thing that
feel TO be my duty, from any apprehension
ofthe importance and imposing dignity, and
the power of ,piL, ascribed to the present in
cumbent of Office. But wish tp0 possessed
that power ofwill. wish we had that firm
ness-firmncss -frmness:
Isl sit,-nullun numen absit."
Yes, sir, wish we had adherence. wish
we could gather something from the spirit
of our brave corps, who have met the enemy
under circumstances most adverse, aud have
stood the shock. wish we could initiate
Zachary Taylor in his bivouac on the field
of Buena Vista. He said lie " would remain
for the nights he would feel the enemy in the
morning and try his position" wish, before
we surrender, we could make up Our minds
to '.fcel the enemy, md try his position and
think we should find him, as Tay Tor did, UNI
der the early sun, on his way 10 San Louis
Potosi, That's judgment.
But, sir, come to the all absorbing CUES
ton, more particularly Of the creation OF new
states. t...- ..... -. In
When | came into the councils Of the
country, Louisiana had been obtained I'M
der the treaty with France. Shortly al
ter, Florida was obtained under the trea-
ty with Spain, These two countries, we
know, of course, lay on our frontier, and
commanded the outlets of the great rivers
which flow into the gulf As have had oc-
casion to say in the first ofthcse instances the
President ofthe United States, Mr. Jefferson,)
supposed that an amendment ofthe consltu-
ton was REQUIRED. He acted upon that sup
position. MIR Madison was Secretary ofSiate
and, upon the suggestion of Mr. Jefferson,
proposed that the proper amendment 10 the
Constitution should be submitted to bring
Louisiana into the Union. Mr. Madison drew
It and submitted it to Mr. Adams, as have
understood Mr. Madison did not go upon
any general idea that new States might he
admitted. He did not proceed to a general
amendment Of the Constitution IN that res
pect But the amendment of the Consiitu-
lion which he proposed and subIn'ttedto Mr.
4. :.