The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-02-14

IN the Union itselff Why, sir, what is the state
Of the fact in the Union You lose some slaves
You recover some others. Let me advert to a fact
which ought to have istroduced before because
1t is highly creditabe to the courts and jures Of
the free States. In every case so far as my in
formation extends, where an appeal has been
made to the courts of justice for the recovery Of
fugitives or for the recovery Of penalties in
tiicied upon persons who have assisted in decoy-
ing slaves from their masters, and aiding them
in escaping from their masers-as far as | am
informed the courts have asserted the rights
of the owner, and the juries have promptly re-
turned adequate verdcts in favor vi the owner.
Well sir, this is some remedy. What would you
have If the Union were discovered Why, sir,
then the sew red parts would be independent Of
each other--foreign countries Slaves taken from
the one into the other would be then like slaves
now escaping from the United States into Canada.
! There would be no right Of extraditon-no right
TO demand our saves-no right TO appeal to the
courts Of justice to demand your slaves which es-
cape, or the penalties for decoying them. Where
one escapes now. by running away from his own
OF, hundreds and thousands would escape if the
Union were severed in parts-l care not where
nor how You run the line, if independent sover-
| eighties were established.
Well, sir, finally, will you in a state of dissolu-
! tiOn of the Union he safer with your slaves with.
in the bosom of the States than you are now
| Mr. President, that they will escape much more
| frequently from the border States, no one will
doubt.
But, sir, must take the OCCASION to say that
| in my opinion, there is no right On the part of
! one or more of he States to secede from the
] Union. War and the dissolution OF the Union
! are identical and inseparable. There can be no
! dissolution of the Union, except by consent or by
war. NJ one expect, in the existing state OF
things, that that consent would be given, and war
is the only alternative by which a dissolution
could be accomplished And, Mr.. President, if
consent were given--if possibly we were to sepa-
rate by mutual agreement and by given time, in
less than sixty days after such an agreement had
been executed war would break out between the
free and saveholding portions Of this Union-be-
tween the two independent portions into which II
would be erected by virtue OF the act OF separa-
ton Yes, sir, sixty dsys--in less than sixty
days, believe. our slaves from Kentucky Wonld
be fleeing over in numbers to the other side Of the
river. would be pursued by their owners, and the
excitabe and ardent spirits who would engage in
the pursuit would be restrained by no sense Of
the rights which eppertain to the independence of
the other side Of the river, supposiDg it, then, 10
be the lire of separation. They would pursue
their slaves; they would be repelled and war
would break opt. 81 .esS than sixty days, war
would be blazing forth jD eyeyV part of tbis DOW
happy and peaceable land.
my humble opinion, Mr. President, We should be-
gin at least with three Confederacies-the Con-
federacy of the North. the Conederacy Of the At
lantic Southern States, THE saveholdDg States) |
and the Confederacy Of the valley of the Mssis- |
sippi My life upon it, SIR, that vast population |
that has already concentrated, and will cOncen- |
tTatc, upon the head waters and tributaries Of the
Mississippi, will never consent that the mouth Of |
that river shall be- held subject to the power of |
rvh, hal;
would be the consequences of dissolution of the |
Union But other Confederacies would spring |
up from time TO time, as sedlton and discomfort |
were disseminated over the country. There |
would be the Confederacy Of the Lakes-perhaps
the Confederacy Of New England and the Middle
States
But sir the veil which covers these sad snd
disastrous events that lie beyond possible rup-
ture of this Unap, ~ too thick to be penetrated
or lifted by any mortal eye or hand.
Mr. President, | am directly opposed to any
purpose Of secession, Of separation | am for stay
ing within the Union, and defying any portion of
this Union to exppl me or drive me out of the |
Union. ! am for staying within this Union, and
fighting for my rghts-if necessary, with the |
sword-within the bounds and under the safe
guard of the Union | am for vindicatng these
rights but not by being driven out of the Union |
rashly and unceremoniously by any portion of |
| mean to stand and die as far NJ my individual
purposes or wishes can go-within it 20 protect
myself, and to defy all power upon earth TO expel
me, or drive me from the situation in which am
placed Will there not be more safety in fighting
within the Union than without it2
Suppose your rights to be violated suppose
wrongs to he done you, expressions TO be perpe-
trated upon you cannot you better fight and vim
dicate them if you have occasion to resort to that
lac. citCn q tba wit hp Huio nd
with the sympothies of large portion Of the pop
ulatiOn of the Union Of these States differently
constituted from you, than you can fight and vim
dictate your rights, expelled from the Union, and
driven from it without ceremony and without au-
thority?
said that thought that there was no right on
the part Of one more Of the States TO secede
from this Union think sir, that the Constitution
of the thirteen States was made not merely for the
generation which then existed, but for posterty,
underlined, unlmited-for their posterity, and for
every subsequent State which might come into
the Union, binding themselves by that indissou-
bic bond. 1t is to remain for that posterity now
and forever. Like another of the great relations
Of private life, it was a marriage that no human
authority can dissolve or divorce the parties from
and, if may be allowed to refer to this same ex-
ample in private life, let us say what man and
wife say 10 each other, We have mutual faults
nothing in the form of human beings can be per-
feet Let us then be kind to each other, forbear-
ing, cOncedng; let us live in happiness and |
peace.
Mr. President, have said what solemnly be- |
lieve-that the dissolution of the Union and war |
are identical and nseparable; that they are con-
verible terms
Such war, too, as that would he, following the
dissolution of the Union Sir, we may search |
the pages Of history, and none so furious, 30 |
bloody. so implscable so exterminaiing, from the |
wars OF Greece down, including those of the Com
monwealth Of England and the revolution of |
France-none none Of them ragged with such vio- |
lence or WAS ever conducted with such bloodshed |
and normities, as will that war which shall fol- |
low that disastrous eyent-if that event ever hap
pens-of dissolution.
And what would be its termination Standing |
armies aud navies, TO an extent draining the rev.
enues Of each portion of the discovered empire, |
would be ereated discriminating wars would fol- |
low--not war Of two or three years hut Of inter |
minable duraiion--an DISCRIMINATING war would |
follow, until some Philip or Alexander, some |
Caesar or Napoleon, would rise to cut the Gordian |
knot aud solve the problem of the capacity Of man |
for selegovernment, and crush the liberties of |
both the discovered portions Of this Union. Can |
you doubt III Look at hstory-consult the |
pages Of all history, ancient or modern look at |
human nature-look NJ the character Of the con-
I, st in which you would be engaged in the suppo-
sition of a war following the dissolution Of the |
Union such as | have suggested-and ask you
fit is possible for you to doubt that the 60Pl but
perhaps distant termination of the wholS'will be |
some despot rreading down The liberties Of the
people that the final result will he the extnc-
tion of this last and glorious light which is leading
all mankind who are gazing upon il, 10 cherish |
hone and anxious expectation that the liberty |
which prevails here will sooner or later be adj |
vanced throughout the civilized world Can yon,
MIR. President, lightly contemplate the conse-
quences Can you yield yourself TO q torrent of