Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1850-03-22

the declining CiVillZdlon ot Tie East, on our
own free soil, AMI new and more perfect CT.
vlizttun will arise To bless the earth, under the
sway Of our own cherished and bencfrent De.
nrcralic institutions. We may then reason
ably hope for Greatness, Felicity and Rcnown
cXcelIrp any hitherto attained 10y any nation,
If, sianG,nG firmly on the continent, we lose
not our grasp On the shore of either ocean.
Whether a destiny 50 magnificent would be
only partially defeated, or whether il would be
altogether lost by relax uion of that grasp, sur
passes Our wisdom to determine, and happily is
not important tn be determined. 1t is enough
if we agree that expectations so grand, vet so
reasonable and lust, ought not to be in any
degree disappointed.
And now it seems to INC that The perpetual
unity of our empire han IS on the decision of
this day, aud Of this hour. California is al.
ready Statc--a complete and fully appointed
State. She never again can be less than that.
she can never again be a l',ovnce or a G. lony.
Nor can she be made to shrink and shrive into
the proportions Of federal dependent Territory.
California then, hcnce!orh aud forever, must be
what She is nova State. The question,
whether she shall be one Of the United States
Of America, has depended on her aud ON us.
Her election las been made. Oar consent
alone remains suspended, AMI that consent
must be PRONOUNCED now or never. say now
ur ncvei Nothing prevents it now but want
ui agreement am ny ourselves. Oar harmony
cannot inCr2as, while this On 81 N rcn1ns
open. We shall n.vcr agree to admit & lfor.
MIA unless we agree now.
Nor will California abide delay | do not say
that she con'cmplales ind pc cadence; but if she
does not, il is because s. e docs moi anticipate
rel 'ctinn. Do you say that she can have no
motive Consider, then, her attitude if rel 'ctcd.
l., 4 1 4 At
trales ; she needs titles to that golden domain
Of ours Thin her rdcrS. good titles, too, and
Won must give them ON your own terms, or she
must take them without your leave. She needs
Il Mint, "A Custom House, Wharvcs, Hospitals,
and i,ti'utions Of Learning. She needs fJrti-
licalionS, roads aud railroads. She needs the
protection OF an army and navy. Either your
stars and stripes must wave over Ter ports aud
| ncr fleet, or she must raise aOtl >tandI'd for
herself She needs at least to know whether
you are fr ends or enemies. And. finally, she
! needs what no \ n ,iican community can live
NilLou-sovcrrlgn'y and ludep endeuce--elhcr
4 jns AM equal share of yonrs, or sovereignty
and Independence tf her wn.
VIII YOU say that Cal lonia could not az
! grandiza herself by 'parnton: Would It then
be mean ambition to set Il, within fifty years,
ON the Pacific corst, monuments like those
/ which We ia nix two hunlrcl years have been
well spent in est iGli,hng on ;hp Atlantic coast d:
! VIII YOU say TINT California has no ability to
become independent : She has the same
moral ability for enterprise that nhrrcs in us,
an That biIiiy nplics command of all physi-
cal means. She has advantages Of position
she is ncticlIy further removed from YOU
| tn England. You cannot reach her by rail
ro1d or by unbrOkcn steamboat navigation. You
can send 10 armies over the prairie, the noun
| tam and the dos rrt: nor across the remote and
/ narrow lSthnuS, within foreign uriSdic ion
nor around the Cape of Storms. You may send
navy there, but she has only 10 open her
mines and she can sCduce urmarincrs and APP
propriatn your floating bulwarks to her own de-
fence. Let her only seize your domain within
! her borders, and your commerce III her port :
and She will have at once revenue and credit
adequate to all her necessities. Besides, are
we SO moderate and has tho world become 50
ust we have no rivals and no enemies to lend
their sympathics and aid to compass the dis
memhcrment OF our empire Try not the temp
or or the fidelity of California, at least not now
not yet. Cherish her and indulge her until you
have extended your settlements to her borders
and bound her fast by railroads and canals
! and trlcgr?phS to your interests; until her atii
mites of intercourse are established and habits
of loyalty are fixed and then she can never be
di engaged.
California would not go alone Oregon, Sc
infinitely allied to her, and "a yet 50 loosely
attached to n! will 90 also; and then, at least
the entire Pacific colst, with the Western de-
clivtv of the Sierra Nevada, would be lost il
would not depend at all on us, nor even on the
mere ,orbcrrancc of California, how far east
ward the long Inc across the temperate zone
should be drawn, which should separate the
| Republic Of the Pacific from the Republic Of
thr Atlantic. TERMINUS has pass ID away, witt
| all the dcitlcS Of the ancient Pantheon, but hl'
scoptrc rcmlns, Commerce is the God OF
! l}ounlircs and no man now living can torctcl
| his ultinltc decree.
| But il Is insisted TINT the admission OF Cali.
iorna shall be attended by COMPROMISE o
questions which have arisen ont Of SLAVERY.
am opposed to ANY such compromise, in any
a all the forms in which 1t has been proposed
First: because while admitting the purity AMI
the patriotism OF all from whom it is my lnlsior
tune to differ, | think all Legislative Compro
misses essentially and radically wrong and indie
fcnsiblc. Thry involve the surrender of tn
exercise of Judgment and conscience on dis
tnct and separate questions at distinct and SO
pirate times, with the indispensable advantage
il @ords for asccrtaining truth They involve
a accomplishment of the right to reconsider il
Future the decisions of the Present, on qucs
tons prcmrturcy anticipated, and they are al
umrpltion, as to future questions, OF the pro
vince of future legislators.
Sir, it seem, To me as il slavery had laid il
paraly,i q hand upon myself, aud the bloc
were coussiug less freely than It's wont throng
my veins, when cndeavor 10 suppose tina
such compromise has been effected, and IN!
, utter,ncr forever ia arrested upon all the grea
Questions social 41nral, and political, arlSini
out of a subject 80 important, AN! as yet 80 in
= c0mpr,hrn, lblr. Wnat nm To receive in TIN
compr1mlse F,ccdom in California 1t
! we'll II /, noble acqpiaiiion But what N
!, ! 10 give up A. an equivalent! \ recognition
. Of the claim IN pcrprlnatc slavery III the DIS
. trict of c ,lumbia forbaarance toward moT
4 stringent laws concerning tue arrest ct person
" suspected Of being slaves, found in the fire.
/, States F1rbcarancc from the proviSO of free
>, dom, in the charters Of new territories. Non
=. of the plans oI compromise off red demand les
= than two, aud most Of them insist on all Of thes
: conditions. The equivalent then is, some por
ton of liberty, some PARTON OF human right
! -, Inr lihnrtV aun!IpT -