The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1849-04-01

eud, utterly inconsistent with the unity Of their politi
cal relationship as dangerous to the continued main
tenance OF their common interests and common peace,
In this gloomy conjunction of affairs a new plan of
government for the Territories is preseneda plan OF
mediation and OF peace; one which has no connexon
with any sectional interest or sectional feeling OF any
kind Whatever which stands aside from all that
of heart burning jealousy and disturbance and which,
having serious constitutional objections to encounter,
promises, all these accounts to put immediate and
pacific end to most angry, harassng and portentous
national dispute. These its general aspects AS TO
It's particular what though IT be and
tried and awkward-what though it consolidate into one
political community vast unweldy, disconnected, and
hapeopled reglon-what though it admits to the i'm
mediate enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of
American citizenship thousands of foreigners who know
nothing about them-what though II conflicts with
own preconceiyed determinations and views upon this
subject rubs peradvenure, against any pearranged
political calculations and hopes which any of lis may en-
lerain,what of all these objections and all others that
can be added to them. making the most OF them and the
worst of them-what they all when gathered together
and piled up to their opmost aggregate, Pelon upon
Ossa, but the small dust of the balance when weg he'd
aganst-what it may fairly hope to ACCOMPLISHING pa
clhcauon and perpetual union OF more than twenty mil
lions of freemen
Let remember, sir, that our business is no longer
the simple and comparatively easy one OF framing the
best possible government for territory, considered nle
pendeny and apart from its relations to the Union Our
true business the contrary is the very opposite Of
this is to provide government for the territories
which, being constitutional and sufficient for them, shall,
at the tme be best in its primary reference to the
peaceful relations, and therein the universal welfare of
Inc states. Our work IN tniS m alter Is no longer limited
to the Territories, either in its motives effects 1t
goes under the force and pressure of events to the whole
counry il goes TO all those vast and unutterabe issues
for good or evil which depend upon maintaining or not
maintaining that country Just as now sone powerful,
prosperous, united whole 1t is, therefore, eminenty and
above all others, work with which cnpIng,
fault-nding nor bgOted sectional, pettfOgging
spirit has anything to do. 1t is which nothing less
than the largest patriotism, earnestly loyalty, wisely ope
rating for the very largest and hottest ends of public good
ever adequately rightly accomplish 1t is work
of all for all-Of each the
country and of entire devotion to that country. And
whilst we to whom is conded stand here to execute
common brotherhood for common good, our ears
must be heavy and heart hard. beyond the ordinary
lot OF our kind unless hear and feel the of
mother land, coming all other voices, and calling
upon each one OF us, In soft and thrilling tones, "My
son, my son, be true TO thy trus-bs true to me-" He
who at such moment so responsible to himself great
its issues TO the country that has honored himhe
who, at such moment is afraid to be good man, has
already, to say the least of him. begun be bad one
Ii gentlemen, Mr. Chairman, still tenacious OF their
objection; to the plan pTopasea and DO not fnd in the
sves enough to renqulsh hem let look fora moment
to the peculiar structure of government and if
cannot derive from that an additional and sufficient per-
suasive for this purpose That government-to the
language which employed by General Washington,
as president of the convention that formed it, to
mend ii 10 the adoption OF the people and the Sates-that
government was founded IN ga spirit of amity ana of mu-
tua Difference and concession" 1t is, therefore, in its
nature and orig and history, and throughout the whole
range of IFS purposes and provisions, directly opposed to
everything that is sectional separate, peculiar 1t
iects its worst and most fatal enemies all exclusive
ness and all uitrasm whether OF opinion or OF action
Ii associates with extremes OF any kind whatever
and hence not only has the general policy of the govern
ment been remarkably free from the control oil extreme
views, but whenever particular measure partaking OF
that character has be fotuousy forced upon it, has
failed to go down. speedily and certainly, under
the molerating AID equalzing spirit of the general
system.
true and natural vgor you put your shoulder to the
foundation principles upon which rests, and that
their strength and stability are never disturbed This,
indeed Is an indispensable safeguard IN all governments,
matter what their form for if the parent principle of
them be relaxed, neglected misapplied, anguer, de-
cay, or dissolution will inevitably follow
Most of the governments of the world are nothing bet
than notifications of the principle of force, but they
possess in this very circumstance very great means OF
themselves by the external power of
organization Our government, on the contrary, in both
its subiivdcd and its compounded forms, resting entirely
upon the voluntary principle or consent OF the governed
maintain itself upon the external aids OF Its
otherwise its healthy and legitimate
vgor than upon the supporting concurrence OF the ma
tona will. But consent in our case-he case OF fed
erative govemment-is the modified or harmonzed will
OF the various parties collected into one, and Is but
another for compromise; and So in fact, our gov
is, to all nents and purposes government OF
compromise. Look away sir, from all that you know
of the external history OF the consttntiontrom all that
you have read of the opinions, suggestions, and
statements of its trainers turn your eye inward upon
the instrument itself; it over line by line; count up
all q its provisions, and COMPROMISE is the outsand
ing and characteristic feature which is ndeby stamped
upon every page of it 1t was once said by French
critic OF fine literary performance which he was re-
viewing, that after he had written the words bene, pull
cre opne at the top OF every page, his work OF crit
clsm was accomplished SO it may be said Of our con-
lltut'on-tha after writing the word compromise upon
every part of it, your work OF descriptive history is
This especially of all those portions of where
the relative rights OF the States concerned Wherever
these rights were involved there all pror hypothesis
of government all abstract and heoretc ideas of perec
ton, at once abandoned, and some conventional
adjustment resorted to instead, by which the largest pac
ticabe of equality, JUSTICE union, and content
ment, was expected to be established These, indeed,
were the great and ultimate ends for which the const
government, any local sectional objects
allowed TO frustrate thwart them. The result was,
that all the external NATIONAL and aggregate interests of
the States collected into and placed under the
troll of central head, whilst all their separate and
local interests left to the home governments out of
which they arose, and to which they properly belonged.
Pressed these States had been the very earth by
the heavy foot of unnatural power after they
had confeleated with another for mutual assistance,
better understood, from experience, than they did,
that security and strength and life itself, lay in their
most intimate and closest union with another; that
if separate and disunited, they would only be less
capable by far both for internal prosperity and external
defence but must later sink under the grasp OF
foreign usurpe under lealouses aggressions,
and conflicts with another UNION then, was the
wisdom of our revolutionary day. UNION is the wisdom
of day, and will continue to be the wisdom OF
every day that is yet to cone, until the nations OF the
earth have capacities and ambition to crafty, and
this poor heart OF ours-that world of iniquty within
itself-has foul passions to iname, to msdirect
dehle it.
The well advised and cordial faith with which the
trainers of our constitution committed themselves to this
great historic TRUTH and the political consequences to
which it led the way-that our highest wisdom in
closest union with another-s strikngly eXemph-