The mountain sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1844-1853, 1853-03-03
SPEECH OF HON. j. CLEMENS,
OF ALABAMA.


OF ALABAMA.
,,.,:,.orod in the Senate February = 1858, on
+ho ;oint resolution declaratory of T. views
nf the United States respecting colonization
tho nth American continent by European
lowers and respecting the island OF Cuba.
Str, CLEMENS said
Mr PRrsIpExT When the senator from Nlr-
ripia mir. Masonl introduced hls resolution IN
ssoIaton TO the tripartite convention proposed by
racI,nd and France. | was confined to a bed of
a;fnees hut | gathered from the reported de-
Ln.os ,bot he had consulted with no one but the
sonotor from Michigan Mr.. Cass and the Sec
-s,.rv of State Now, sir, l do not deny the
;rdiyidual right of those senators, under ordl-
nary circumstances, To exclude whom they please
from their consultations hut tins is not an or
din,rv occasion. nor are they ordinary men,
mir. Masonl is chairman of the Committee
On F6reion Relations the other Mr.. Cass has
had bestowed upon him the title of IdteT Ssna-
~, Whatever they do commits the party To
which they are attached, and think 1t but thlr
that those of US who are expected TO De .hounu
bv their action should have had some notice IN
advance of Whit that action was 10 ne INNS
-roranver that the wishes Of the President elect
,L,,I3 b.va heeu ascertained-that prominent
T,amhers of hisown party should have hesitated
before placing him in n position so embarrassing
a, that in which he now finds himself Ii II
,bon,d furn out, as sincerely hope it may,
,bat he does not accord with many OF the opln-
;ons which have been advanced upon this floor,
he is placed in the very outset of his career, in
direct opposition to leading members of his par
- If on the other hand, he should concur
1i,b them il would have been more respectful
IN let him take the first steps. and not to have
snatcbed. with such impatient hands, the wreath
lvood or bad) which his were already extended
10 grasp On This and other accounts the reso-
lution of the senator from Virginia seemed to
Il. . for from IL
cbican. which are based upon it, equally inde-
fensibIe
Mr. President. there are periods in the histo-
~ Of individuals. when one false move must be
followed by years of suffering when the neg
lect or improper use of the right moment, or the
right occasion, infuses poison INTO the body
bOtc no remedy can reach. Weare approach
ing such a period if it is not already upon US
From the line of conduct now to be adopted
much that is rood. or much that is evil, will
surely eusue. To render all l have to say per
fectly inteihgible, it will be necessary TO enter
upon n brief review OF the past.
Heretofore the advice of Washington has
been respected and we have succeeded IN steer
ing clear of the tangled web of European pol
tics Besides the growth OF the American Uni
On has been so rapid as to defy the calculations
Of European craftsmanship. The merchant,
when he found rival taking away his most pro-
fable traffic, the manufacturer, rs year by year
the demand for his productions diminished, the
fsberman when he Yankee sails invading
the haunts of the great monsters OF the deep,
al these understood that a new power had
sprunp into existence, and felt that they were
engaged in n rivalry in which European energy
and European intelligence were destined 10 be
oyershadowed But kings and cabinet ministers
could not COMPREHEND that few scattered col
onies short time since a feeble dependency
On the Crown of Britain, had indeed become 81
powerful nation. The monarch who looked
back upon n line of n hundred sires could com
prehend no stable form of government save that
which was endeared TO him alike by interest
snd by educational prejudice. II, In his impe-
rial Dreams the vision of America ever rose be-
fore his ewes it was only as a people whose own
uubridled passions would drive them into an1r-
ehy whose turbulence and dissensions would
furnish another reason to the woI Id for commit
ting all government to sceptered hands
Ia the mean time, the neglected and despised
republic was moving steadily and rapidly along
the road to wealth, To power, and TO honor but
its strength was unmarked and its vlgor un-
known abroad. The war with Mexico followed.
A little handful of citizen soldiers overrun n
nation of seven millions of inhabitants and die
tated the terms of peace from her national cap
ltal. Here. was a lesson which even kingly dull
hess could not misunderstand nor ministerial
seryility msinterpret. Suddenly the whole
tone of the public journals of Europe was
changed. Prior to that time they had derided
our progress and laughed at the tehleness of our
Military force. 1t was assumed 20 be impossi-
BE for government like ours TO carry on a war
Of foreig / conquest. Foolish editors, writing
at the dictation of still more foolish masters,
argued themselves and their readers into the
Conviction that the first summons of the drum
70 an aggressive war would be the signal of ruin
sni destruction to the Onion. That summons
Game a powerful nation was vanquIshed and
50 little were the energies of our people taxed
at home it would scarcely have been known that
War was going on for the reports OF bat
aes and victories which hoated upon every gale
irom the south
Thus vanauished one delusion. and with il the
Old system of political tactics. 1t was no Ion
ger our weakness, but our strength, which he
sssae the subject of comment. The aggressive