Nashville daily patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1855-1857, 1856-04-18

conceive the difficulties of the position in which
this decision placed me. When the Presidents are
elected they have three or four months before tax
ing their Office to select men suited TO act heads
of departments, but this duty came upon me In
half day. requested the members OF the Taylor
cabinet to stay thirty days and TO give me sn op-
portunity to look around and select their success
sors,. but they respectfully declined Thus, while
the storm was coming up in the North and in the
South, | was suddenly called to administer the
government, without q cabinet and without time
TO select one; but thank God was not long IN this
situation was go fortunate az TO obtsn cabinet,
the members of which and myself always agreed
in opinion; and in all its acts, We acted together
In that cabinet your own honored Kentucky was
honorably represented Still, said Mr.. Fillmore,
the great difficulty remained. The question arose
what was to be dones
In Texas and New Mexico, civil war threaten
ed. Texas made preparations to take possession
of portion of New Mexico he felt 1t his duty TO
maintain the laws of his country. One OF the laws
required that the people of the Territory of New
Mexico should be protected Asa means OF pro-
tecting, he Immediately ordered portion oil the
army and munitions of war to the frontier OF Tex
as to do duty there The army was put in motion,
and then and not till then, did Congress act upon
the subject Texas and New Mexico acquiesced in
the action of Congress Mr. Fillmore spoke of the
adoption of the compromise measures OF 1850, es
pecially Of the fugitive slave law This law, he
said had some provisions in it to which he had OBJ
jections. He regretted the necessity OF its being
passed at ALL but the constitution required the CIV
ing up Of fugitive slaves and it was not for him to
decide whether this was compact; he had sworn
to maintain it. and he would do to his last hour
When the bill came TO him from the two houses,
in the midst of hurry aud confusion end difficulties,
be examined it, and doubt came up in his mind
whether il was not unconstitutional denying the
right OF habeas corpus to the fugitive slave. he
referred the question to our accomplished Kentucky
lawyer, his Attorney General. who gave his opinion
that the law not a violation of the constitutions;
and thereupou, said Mr.. Fillmore, gave my sigma
ture to the bill, but in doing so, drew down upon
my devoted head as | knew | should, the walls of
wrath from abolitionsm and free sosm Mr..
Fillmore regretted that he had felt called to say
so much of himself, and went on to speak Of those
who stood by him in the great struggle of $50.
He said that he would gladly name IN that cOnnec
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one man, or FIVE men, or ten men-the crisis was
one in which the true patriots of the nation, no
matter what they had been called, wings or demo-
Gratis or any other name, rose above all personal
and partiZan considerations and looked only the
good Of the country He referred beautifully to the
noble parts taken by the illustrOus dead Mr.. Clay
Mr.. Webster, and the late Vice President King
The speaker said that though he had, by bis ef-
forts in behalf Of the compromise, lost for a time
the confidence of portion of his fellow citizens and
especially in his State he loved that State as
dear mother, and unwilling to believe that be
had proved recreant son. De trusted that the
excitement of the moment would pass away, and
shat she would at last that he had at least acted
with honest intentions, if he had not acted the bet
ter part. But, fellow citizens said he let me refer
to your own State. When the gathering tempest
of fansticism, abolition fanaticism, rolling up
from the North and an equally violent tempest OF
anaticism, secession fanatcism, rolling up from
the South, where then did the State of Kentucky
stand? She stood like rock amid the serges OF
the oceaR-she stood firm and mistaken, the pillar
of the constitution. His euogy of Kentucky was
exceedingly handsome, and this portion Of his speech
like all the other portions, received with the
most enthusiastic applause. Few public speaker
ever made so fine impression upon a Louisville
audience as he.