Litchfield enquirer., 1859-03-03
SPEECH OF SENATOR THOMPSON ~5'~ 7'9 OF KENTUCKY, faaF Ya f7s
 -.. ON THE ACQUISITION OF CUBA. :. -ozs.ss tva7a5es4 { Gomf;mnad
(Continqsed.)

MT. PreSldent, do not believe, with the Senator from New Hampshire Mr. Hale), that our course of empire is, by any political trick, at least iD this instance, going in south ern direction. That has been the natural course of emigration, from the time when the Goths and the Vandals came down upon the sunny plains of Italy, to the present time. It is the instinct of human nature to hunt out the best lands, find where they are, locate and settle on them. In the far-off North. during the long, cold, Winter nights, the children, as they sit around the fire, perhaps chill-blained or frost-bitten, eat figs and oranges and dates, and they are told that they come from coun- try where there is no snow and no ice, but a balmy breeze, and their notions start as though they want to get off to that better country. 70 Christ! it is goodly sight to see
 What Heaven has done for this delicious land What fruits of fragrance blush on every tree What goodly prospects OCT the whole expand"
 They have but one sentiment, and that is, to go down there and better their condition. It is the natural tide and flow of emigration. It is by instinct, and they follow it. do not think, properly, that consideration of the nggerfquestion ought to have been connected with this matter but it has been forced into it, and forced upon us.
 The Senator from Louisiana, (Mr. Benja- min) gave us an essay, graphic and eloquent ]; poem, l might say-a poem, mean, as to eloquent diction, not a poem as to facts-up- on the wrongs England has inflicted on her West India Colonies but the whole of it is no more relevant to this question than to ex- anime whether Wilberforce, if he were alive, would repent of what he did or not The Sen ator from New Hampshire, for whose great bility, for whose good judgment, and es- pecially for whose good feeling, have eminent respect, overrates these things, ovcrestimates them. He is against the acquisition of more slave territory. The Senator from Louisiana gave us beautiful description of Cuba he spoke of the Cubans, of the Creoles, and the free negroes and it is under the influence of descriptions, such as he gave, that our people rush that way, and there is delusion upon them. They are what they call in the coun- try enthused"-run mad on the subject.
 Know ye the land where the cypress and myrtle Are emblems of deeds that are done in their cliule
 here the rage of the vuture the love of the turte Now melt into sorrow, now madden to crime? Know ye thel land of the cedar and vine,
 Where the flowers ever blossom the beams shine, Where the light wings of Zephyr oppressed with perfume,
 Wax faint Der the gardens of Gul in her bloom Where the citron and olive are farest of fruit, And the voice of the nightingale never is mute;
 Where the nts the earth and the hues of the sky In color though varied, in beauty may vie
 And the purple of ocean is deepest in dye;
 Where the virgiss soft the they twne, And all save the spirit of man is divine 2
 '1is the cline of the East ts the land of the Sun Can he smile such deeds his children have done?
 This is enthusiastically, in spirit and in feel ing, imagined, and by vast number applied to Cuba. I trust I shall be able to show that this question is not to be met in that way l regret also, that the Senator from New Hamp- shire, in his speech made objection to the ac- uuisition because he does not like the Cubans on account of their Catholic religion. Mir. President. under the Constitution, believe every man has the right to worship God ac- cording to the dictates of his own conscience to do it in safety under his own vine and fig tree, without fear and trembling, and to follow whatever those dictates are. 1 would pre- scribe religion and faith to no man. l will not say it is illiberal l will not discuss the question whether that faith is inconsistent with republican institutions rather think, myself it is adapted to the genius and turn of the people where it exists. One thing I know l have lived half my life with Ameri- can Catholics, and better citizens have never known-loyal, true, industrious, as good as any. speak of American Catholics in this country; do not know what the case may be elsewhere. Surely that could be no ohjec- tion with me if Cuba was to come in.
 The Senator from Georgia, (Mr. Toombs, the other day was for annexing Cuba !; and 1 understood him to say that he was for annex ing Canada, too Whether he said that in irony or in earnest, I am unable to say but it is monstrous proposition. The people of Canada are of Anglo French descent, and in the first place, do not think them fit for Republic. I have never seen Frenchman in my life that had notion of such Republic as ours. They have tried it in old France sev- eral times but the very night of liberty and republican institutions for Frenchman is to | get chance to vote for an Emperor. Pick him master to do up his thinking about gov ernment, and he is satisfied. Mercurial and curious in his nature, he is unsuited to Re- public like ours. When the Senator talks | against Great Britain, he ought to recolect that Great Britain is landholder on this con tinent Take her possessions and provinces in Canada, and all over North America, run I hing as they do to the polar regions, embra-
 cng all beyond our boundary except the Rus
 sian possessions at Petropaulovski, and she has
 Q larger tract of land on this continent than
 we have-more acres, though they are not so
 valuable aud if we annexed that cold coun-
 try, with the people in villages, having small
 States, as exemplifed in New England, they
 would overrun us would not wish to he sii iS
 a republic having gentleman here from Tan
 couver, and another from Nova Scotia, and
 another from Dayis's Straits, and a hundred
 of them at that, to overpower me by their
 vote and by their voice. I never approved or harbored desire for rupture of the Union ;