Washington sentinel., 1854-03-04
purchase that property / 90 to his attorney


I to get the papers made out; and win it do for
the attorney 10 say TO my triend "Why, you
have Pettits deed, with full covenants aud
warranty, in which he has stipulated never to
disturb you; and can it be possible now that
he has come here demanding repurchase of
this property?n Would he not reply at once
"No; ho is not seeking to disturb me he has
brought no ejectment against me; he has not
forced or threatened me with vengeance unless
! surrender; but he comes to me with his
money, and asks me, for so much money, to
cancel these covenants and re-conyey to him p
That is precisely what we are doing with
these Indians; no more, nor no less. We tell
them, upon the face of the bill, that their rights
shall be protected, bur that if they see fit to
re-convey we will enter into a new agreement
with them. Who, then, can say that this bill
IS n violation Of pighted faith and of public
honor, and that 1t sets treaties at defiance?
one treatyhods between the contracting powers
until they see fit mutually to abrogate it, and
no longer.
come now to another point of the argu-
ment. ask, is the Missouri compromise
compact? The senator from Massachusetts
DIR. EVERETT says il is, and that Mr. Web.
sterso considered it.. He says that Mr.. Web
ster, on the 7th of March, 1850, made the
following declaration:
And now say, sir as the proposition upon
which stand this day, aud upon the truth and
nrmness Of which intend To act until il is over
/ THROWN
| on see, Mr.. Webster had an idea himself
that 1t might be overthrown but according to
the construction which the senator from Mas.
sachusetts gives to it, there was no possibility
OF oyerthrowing it; and Mr.. Webster is thus
made to use language which is absurd, and
nappicable i'll this connexion. Mr. Webster
says that hls position is: "that there is not at
this moment within the United States single
loot OF land, the character of which, in regard
to It's being ireesoi territory or slave territory,
is not fixed by some law and some irrepealable
law, beyond the power of the action of the
government The senator from Massachu-
setts interprets the language of his ilustrious
irlend IN manner that hampers and contracts
his genius, and does him, us think, infinite
injustice. The senator from Massachusetts
says: "he meant OF course, to give to the Mis-
souri, restriction the character of compact
which the government, in good faith, could not
repeal" | ask, could Mr.. Webster, if he were
living, or can his shade and his memory now,
that he is dead, feel fattered by any such inter-
pretations of his language? Sir Mr. Webster
TILED my idea Of a great man. He was a great
lawyer, great senator, n great Secretary of
State, and in all the positions which he occu-
pied while living, he was emphatically great
de had great thoughts, and large IDEAS; and
as he spoke you could almost see them strug-
cling with each other to find escape from his
generating and prolific brain. They were
heavy, ponderous, and solid; and wherever
they fell, though on the hardest material, they
seemed to make indentations; and as they
found utterance from his lips, they were like
"apples Of gold" charming, delightne, and !
convincing all who heard them of their value.
Such sir, is my estimate Of the great departed
statesman. | know the senator from Massa. |
chusetts would not do his memory injustice;
but does he not do it by the Interpretation
which he has given 70 his words2 Did Mr. |
Webster suppose that the Missouri compro-
mise, an act OF Congress. passed by our prede- |
cessors, was irepealabe BY the power Of this |
government? Never, never did Mr.. Webster
utter such an absurdity, or harbor such a |
thought or such n belief Mr.. Webster knew |
too well what compact was, and what law |
was, and what were their respective constitu.
ent parts.
A compact is an agreement between two or
more persons, who can agree, and do agree, to
abide by it, MS rule for their action, to do this,
and to do that, and to do the other; for the
non-periormance of which suit may be
brought or intorced. Between individuals, your
domestic policy establishes tribunal to which /
they may go for the violation or non-perform.
ance OF q contract or compact. If compact
between nations has been violated, the ultima
ratio is provided There is an appeal to arms, |
the only court known to the laws of nations to |
which natious can appeal to enforce the penalty
Tor noncompliance with compacts or contracts.
What IS law, as contradistinguished from n
compact? 1t is command, an imperious or.
der from the law-maker, commanding what is
right, and forbidding that which is wrong. We |.
sit here, and our predecessors have sat here, 10
make laws, not compacts and agreements We
command that this shall be or shall not he so.
The people have delegated this authority to us
Tor given period, and they cannot resume it
uutil that period is over. There is, then, no
color OF similarity between this law and COM
pact. II it be u compact, who were the con.
tracing parties? Why, the north and the
south, it is said. That is not SO; for here we
of the north, and we of the south, form but one
government, with one President, with one SEN
ate, with one House of Representatives; and
we represent, as such, but one constituent body,
and not two or three, coming together to har. |.
monize by compacts, our different rights. Mr.
Webster, then, never intended to utter such an
idea rs that the Missouri compromise, as il is
called, was an irrepealable compact
Then you may ask me, what did Mr.. Webster
mean? Tor it is not to be presumed that a man
of his great intellect would have used such an
expression as that which the senator from
Massachusetts, quotes without some meaning
The Interpretation which has been given to his
words by the senator from Massachusetts, have
shown to be utterly without foundation, and
without reason. Then, what did Mr.. Webster
mean? He meant to say that that higher law
not the law which the senator from New York
Mr.. SEwARDl once spoke of but that higher
law which rules all our destinics and all man
ageable thngs-had irrevocably stamped upon
this country that it should be free; had irrevo
cably fixed the bounds to which slavery might
go, and those to which it could moi 90. That
IS what Mr.. Webster meant to say; and that
law to which he referred is certain and fixed.
It is the law which the Almighty himself has
laid down. II is, that the earth and its pro.
ductions, or its power TO produce particular pro.