The Cecil Whig., 1854-04-29

depending before us, and thai in any form in
VI hich il may come from thtm, whether us a
unit or as integers.
Sill less do | admit the right Of intcrvcn-
of Intermediates, and who might not be able
to mcddlc at Ill with our business were il
not for the ninis'rations of our bo;nty.
speak Of the public printers who get their
daily bread and that hutt,1eA On both sides
bY our daily printing, and who require TIC
y mocratic members ofih:S House, und,r tic
instant penalty Of rol.ica! danmtion, to
give III their adhesion to every bill which
they call administration, and that, in eve
~ change it may Undergo, although more
c!Iangcabc than the neon. For that class Of
,n.crmcdecrs havcno parliamentary law 10
administer nor any quotation from Burke tc
apply nothing but Il E.lle f,Lic 20 read The
value (which, as in al rood fal,s lis in its
moral II is i'll French and mtitld 'J.'anc
Ct son ma;trc' which being done into En-
g;i,h, signifies The as cad his alu.ier:" and
frns thus
IN ass took it into his head to scare his
master, AID put on a lions skin and went
and stood i'll the path. And when he saw
his master coming he commenced roaring, as
he thought; but he only hraycd and the mas
ter knew Il was his ass so he went up TO him
with cudg,l and beat him nearly 10 death"
That is the end of the fable, and the moral
oft is, "a caution to all asses to tale care
how they undertake 10 scare thtir masters"
Great applause
Mr.. Chairman, this House will have fallen
rblow lis constitutional mission, if it suf.
iri's itself to be governed by authority, or
dragoontd by its own hirclings. am a man
of 10 bargains, but act o. cllly with any man
that acts for the public good and in tls spirit
offer the right hand Of political friendship to
every mcl'.bcr Of this body that will stand
together to vindicatc its privileges protect its
rtspoc:ability, and maintain il in tie high
place for which it was in;end,d--thc master
branch of the American Government
The question b, fore Us is to get rid cf the
Missouri compromise l.nc: and to a lawyer
thatis an easy question. That compromise
is in the form Of "A statute: and ono statute is
reIcalablc by another. That short view is
enough for lawyer. To statesman it is
something different; and refers the question of
its repeal not 70 law books, but TO reason Of
State roiicy-to the circumstances uutlpr
which it was enacted, aud the consequences
which are to flow from it's abro9a:ion This
compromise of 1920 Is, not mere statute, to
last Tor a day; it was intended fo pcrpctuity.
and 50 declared itself. 1t is an enactment to
settle "a controversy did settle it-and
cannot be abrogatld without rcviv;ng that
controversy.
1t has given the country peace for above
thirty years; how many cars of disturbance
will its ab"oeat ton bring! That is the State
man Squcston and without assuming to be
Il uch of statesman, claim to be enough so
to consider Tie consequences of breaking
settlement which laciiiod a continent. re-
member the Missouri controversy, and how ii
destroyed all social feeling, and all capacity
for beneficial legislation, and merged al pc
li;iral principle III an angry contest about
slavery dividing the Union into two parts.
and drawing up the Two halves into opposite
and confronting lines, like cn,mies on The
field of battle. ! do not wish TO sec such times
again and, therefore, am against rcyiying
thu by breaking up the settlement which
qucttd thom.
Five times in the beginning of this century
five different times, and without any dis
tinction between northern and southern mcnl-
bcr;-tlid Congress refuse 10 "impair" the
slavery compromise Of 1877, notwithstanding
five times asked for by the people of the tcrg:-
tory. Oh, sluattcr sovereignty! where were
you then! 1t was a case for you to have
shown your htad-to have arisen in your
mieht-and established your supremacy for
ever. 1t was a case ola convention of the
sovcrriens themselves: and neither this con-
vcntion nor the Congress had dream of their
sovorcghnty. The convention pctiionod
Congress as ward would its guardian, or
children under age would petition theirfathcr,
and Congress answered like = good guardian
CT good father, that it would not give them
an evil although they begged for it. Be-
nightcd times these, and infinitely behind the
present age. The mares nest had not then
been found in which has been laid the mar.
yclous egg out of which has been hatchcd
the nondescript fowl, yclcpt "squattter soyer
eighty" The illustrious principle of non
intervention had not then been invented. The
ignoramuscs Of that day had never heard Of
it, though now to be learned in every horn.
book, and, | believe, 10 where else but in the
horn books.
Five times in the beginning of this century
did Congress refuse to impair the slavery
compromise of 81: and now, in the middle of
the century, and after thirty years of peace
under the Missouri mpronlisc-the offspring
and continuation of tliatof S7-wc are called
upon, not merely to impair, for a season, but
to destroy forever, far greater compromise
Extending to far more tcrrtory-and grow