The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-07-06
THE SOUTHE RN PRESS,
CRY OF WASHINGTON.
SATURDAY. JULY 6. 1850
Senator seward's speech.

essay on tne PendlhS controversy ana on
i the2d inst be delivered il in avery awkSar
mannervin,, the. shape of a speech, ia the
4 Senate, on the Compromise bill, Mr.. Sew
1AsD Is now understood to he the Northern
organ or champion of tie Cabinet in the
ttSehatc, and we, presume this effort was his
i.regular, deIai inithat capacity. i therefore
i tnerits some attention. aE ars ~ &
II The style is fosciberand ornate /: it Is at
. the same tine affected and inflated The
I speech was about an hour long, yet ]! con-
tains no less than Giteeu quotations some
tpoetical and some Latin Besides this osten-
I tstion Of learning, the speech pfetends to
1precsion OF statement and riyour Of logic,
and above all to abstract principles, to high
moral principles, to grand schemes Of policy,
fto-great philanthropic zeal. One who knew
nothing Of MIR. SEwARp's character or his
| tory, except from a careless perusal Of this
speech, would take him to be "a young man
Of talent fresh from college, full Of classics,
full Of theories, full of liberty, with ansexag-
gerated notion of human virtue and of his
own capacity. But an attentive examination
j of it, will, we think, modify such an estimate
materially. The beginning of the speech
illustrates the candor Of this conscientious
patriot. He says, "that if a stranger should
listen to the debates in Congress, he would,
| ask whether California was stranger, an
| intruder, a fugitive, an oppressor, or a.
scourge And having thus, imputed an
assault on California never made, he assumes
her championship in grandiloquent terms.
t"Californa yielded to persuasion rather than
conquest. She has renowned her lineage, Ian
guage, and ancient loyalty. She has brought
us to the. banks Of streams which flow, over
precious sands, and at the base otmountaips'
which yield massive gold. She delivers into
our hands the key that unlocks the long
coveted treasures OF the Eastern world.
California refuses only 10 let us buy and sell
each other within her domain, SO rich in all
the elements of legitimate commerce"
Well, that Is particularly ifiction
| is poetry. In prose, or in truth, however,
the case is little different. We supposed
that the domain of California was ours.
That her people have reached those nouns
tains and streams Of gold by the power, the
courage, and the wealth Of the States OF this
Union, enc half Of the people Of whom she
coolly proposes TO exclude from the enjoyment
of their own property, even although they
are willing to take what she does not use,
and cannot use As for her sohcitude about
Our buying and selling each other on oul
own SOIL :tSis a little too. conscientious fol
her. 10 lose time in regulating the contucj
! nf others WHEN Tina is worth eight dollars q
day, per capita, both in California and Con
gress. Mr.. SEWARD then proceeds to con
fde fully, not only in the patriotism, but the
wisdom of the President. We have heard be-
fore ofthe confidence man" in New York
but MI Seward then proceeds to say what
was perfectly absurd aftof his previous
avowal-- he says every man must rely on
"his own Judgment and conscience. =
Y Mr. SEWARD Their. proceeds to object to
tie conditions on which the compromise plan
admits California. He objects to, them all,
a. The establishment CT Territorial Cow
eminent for New Mexico, silent concerning
slavery @ The establishment Of a like
government in Utah. 3. The compromise
of border dispute between New Mexico
and Texas r. .r ..>.s '@ .,ta
We'll, now, are not The territory OF New
Mexico and Utah quite as much entitedto
government, and to speedy government, as
California? Are they not all parts of the
same acquired territory? And are there not
more people in New Mexico and Utah than
in California; But the question o.. slavery
intervenes. Well, who introduced that ques-
| ton into all plans for governing, andseve..
acquiring this territory Why, Mr.. SEWARD
and his friends, and nobody else.
But the Senator from New Y ork. is OPP
posed to conditions altogether, He is for
voting on single. measure and single
principle at a time: .. ....'. ~ ."1....'>'
The bill before us seems adapted 70 enable
Senators 10 speak on side and to vote on the
other; to comply with instructions and to- eyade
them; to vote for the line Of 36 30, and to vote
against it; to support the Wilmot Proviso, and
yet defeat Its application to the only territories
open to its introduction. / solicit--ife stronger
Language We're courteous, might demand--from
the majority here, q subdivision of the bill, to
enable me TO vote eIfectually for what approve,
without voting equally for what my own |judg-
ment, concuring with instructions, condemns
and thus to place myself, where. | should invite
all others TO place themselves, under exact and
full responsibility 10 the States andto the people.
t.. Aud yet when he comes to the provisions
of the bill for the goyerhmeut Of New
Mexico and Utah, he complains Of the want