Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1854-03-14

should be guilty Of the gross improperly o.
kissing his wife on Sunday. Here, sir, you see
one OF the most innocent one of the mos,
pleasant acts that q man could perform, de
clared, not felony to be sure, but high mis-
demeanor and the offender mulcted in damages
and in bonds for good behavior in the future
Sir, the good sense of the people of Connects
proper restriction, abolished it /; and / have nc
doubt that the people of Utah will see the mon
strous absurdity and gross improperly of such
bestial license, and abolish polygamy.
will now proceed to examine the so-called
Missouri compromise prohibition, and the char
acter given to it by those who oppose this bill
4 1t is not little remarkable that among al
those who have discussed this question in OPP
position to the bill, not one has quoted the
whole of the eighth section; the proviso has
been studiously left out. The whole section is
as follows:
=" SEC. s. BE IL further enacted, That in all thai
| Territory coded by France TO the United States
under the name of louisiana which lies north o
90 ~ OF north latitude not Included within the
| limits of the State contemplated by This act sla
very and involuntary servitude, otherwise then as
| the punishment of crimes, shall be and is hereby
forever prohibited Pr0cidea Arrays, That any
| person escaping into the same, from whom labor
or service is lawfully claimed in any State or Ter
ritory of the United States, such fugitive may be
lawfully reclaimed and conveyed TO the person
claiming his or her labor service as aforesaid
Sir, shall meet the question on this branch
OF the subject as an original one, and shall dis.
cuss it without the least regard to personal or
political consequences. l shall plant myself
upon what believe the constitutional ground
let the waves of fanaticism foam and breal,
upon me as they may. | will stand there with
tins neverdying inscription upon my banner
that every organized communityor State within
the limits of the United States of America has
the right to exercise, and ought to be permitted
to exercise the powers of self-government.
With this banner thrown to the breeze, | shall
make war upon what / believe to be the doc
trine of congressional usurpation touching
the people of the Terrific res, as fearlessly as |
would upon what believe to have been parlia-
mentary usurpation upon the rights of the colo
MES. Unnecessary usurpations on the part OF
the former are no less odious and reprehensible
now than they were on the part of the latter in
l776. Now what is this Missouri compromise,
and what the character given to it by senators
who oppose this bill? Sir, it has been held up
rs q sacred, an inviolable and irrepealable
compact-as "law beyond the power of the
action Of the government" The honorable
senator from Massachusetts Mr.. EVERETT has
attempted to fasten upon the lamented and
distinguished Webster the last declaration |
have quoted, that the Missouri compromise was
law irrepealable and beyond the power of the
government. And how does the senator at
| tempt to show that In no way except by the
most forced implication-an implication not
warranted by the language of that great states
man. Sir, he never left anything in doubt in
regard to what he meant in any speech.
Mr.. Webster, in his 7th of March speech,
had been speaking of the character of the
country embraced within the Territories of Utah
and New Mexico, the former extending from
80 to 420 north, and the latter from 320 to $50
north, having AZ of latitude on the south, and
g on the north of the Missouri compromise
llne with the Arkansas river at the north and
the Rio Grande to the west, and being upon
the same plain Of elevation of the southern por-
tion ofthe Territory now proposed to be organ
lied, and extending 50 further south than the
proposed Territory of Kansas. Yes, sir, the
Territory of New Mexico extends 50 further
south than any part of the Territory now pro-
posed to be organized.
Mr.. Webster on that occasion, | repeat, was
speaking of the character of these Territories
thus situated; and he asserted that, in his judg-
ment, the laws of God and the laws of nature
forbid the existence of slavery there It was in
speaking in regard to this, and this alone, that
he declares, in his own emphatic style, what
has been quoted by the senator from Massa-
chusetts:
"And now say, SIR as the proposition upon
which stand this day. and upon the truth and
frnness of which intend TO act until il is over
| thrown, that there is not at this moment within
the United States single foot of land the charac-
ter OF which, in regard 10 its being freeso terri
tory or slave territory, is not fixed by some law
and some irrepeaabIe law, beyond the power of
the action OF the government"
Now sir, the senator assumes-and it is
nothing but assumption at Mr.. Webster, bv
such language, uttered in such connection,
meant, of course, to give to the Missouri com
promise the character ola compact" Not one
word did Mr.. Webster say about compacts or
Missouri compromise lines. Now, sir, notwth-
standing the very learned senator has been
requested by that great and lamented man
"to superintend the publication of his works."
| must be permitted to deny that that gives the
senator any right or authority whatever to in
terpoate into the speech Of the 18th of March,
1850, opinions which are not to be found in
that speech. / think the senator will fail to
find anything there about compacts or the Mis-
souri, compromise, in connexion with the de-
claration quoted by him.
But says the senator, Mr.. Webster meant,
| of course, to give to the Missouri compromise
| VIC cndrdcter Vi u conlpact which the govern
ment, IN good faith, could not repeal" Now,
sir, permit me to say that Mr.. Webster said no
such thing. He said nothing about good
faith" and it is not a little remarkable that the
senator interpolates these words, thereby chang.
| ing the sense from an absolute to conditional
declaration. BY this Interpolation, he makes
Mr.. Webster say that the law may be repealed
by breach of good faith, while Mr.. Webster,
speaking for himself says the laws are " be.
You'd the po,cer of the action of this govern
ment."
Mr.. Webster, in that speech, was discussing
more particularly the character of the territory
extending over ten degrees of latitude, from
the thirty-second, the southern boundary of
New Mexico, to the forty-second, the northern
boundary of Utah and, while doing SO, the
whole territory of the United States north of
Utah and New Mexico engrossed his mind, and
he exclaimed, referring to the laws of God and
nature, of which he had been speaking:
"And / now say, sir, as the proposition upon