not cease; war would only inflame it to a greater | machinery of our system is necessarily complex. A height. It is a part of the eternal conflict between truth and error-between mind and physical forcethe conflict of man against the obstacles which oppose his way to an ultimate and glorious destiny. It will go on until you shall terminate it in the only way in which any State or nation has ever terminated it by yielding to it—yielding in your own time and in your own manner, indeed, but nevertheless yielding to the progress of emancipation. You will do this, sooner or later,, whatever may be your opinion now; because nations which were prudent and humane, and wise as you are, have done so already. Sir, the slave States have no reason to fear that this inevitable change will go too far or too fast for their safety or welfare. It cannot well go too fast or too far, if the only alternative is a war of races. But it cannot go too fast. Slavery has a reliable and accommodating ally in a party in the free States, which, though it claims to be, and doubtless is in many respects, a party of progress, finds its sole security for its political power in the support and aid of slavery in the slave States. Of course, I do not include in that party those who are now co-operating in maintaining the cause of Freedom against Slavery. I am not of that party of progress which in the North thus lends its support to slavery. But it is only just and candid that I should bear witness to its fidelity to the interests of slavery. Slavery has, moreover, a more natural alliance with the aristocracy of the North and with the aristocracy of Europe. So long as slavery shall possess the cotton-fields, the sugar-fields, and the ricefields of the world, so long will Commerce and Capital yield it toleration and sympathy. Emancipation is a democratic revolution. It is Capital that arrests all democratic revolutions. It was Capital that in a single year rolled back the tide of revolution from the base of the Carpathian mountains, across the Danube and the Rhine, into the streets of Paris. It is Capital that is rapidly rolling back the throne of Napoleon into the chambers of the Tuileries. Slavery has a guaranty still stronger than those in the prejudices of caste and color, which induce even large majorities in all the free States to regard sympathy with the slave as an act of unmanly humiliation and self-abasement, although Philosophy meekly expresses her distrust of the asserted natural superiority of the white race, and confidently denies that such a superiority, if justly claimed, could give a title to oppression. pivot may fall out here, a lever may be displaced there, a wheel may fall out of gearing elsewhere, but the machinery will soon recover its regularity, and move on just as before, with even better adaptation and adjustment to overcome new obstructions, There are many well-disposed persons who are alarmed at the occurrence of any such disturbance. The failure of a legislative body to organize is to their apprehension a fearful omen, and an extra-constitutional assemblage to consult upon public affairs is with them cause for desperation. Even Senators speak of the Union as if it existed only by consent, and, as it seems to be implied, by the assent of the Legislatures of the States. On the contrary, the Union was not founded in voluntary choice, nor does it exist by voluntary consent. A Union was proposed to the colonies by Franklin and others, in 1754; but such was their aversion to an abridgment of their own importance, respectively, that it was rejected, even under the pressure of a disastrous invasion by France. A Union of choice was proposed to the colonies in 1775; but so strong was their opposition that they went through and through the war of Independence without having established more than a mere council of consultation. But with Independence came enlarged interests of agriculture-absolutely new interests of manufactures-interests of commerce, of fisheries, of navigation, of a common domain, of common debts, of common revenues and taxation, of the administration of justice, of public defence, of public honor; in short, interests of common nationality and sov ereignty-interests which at last compelled the adoption of a more perfect Union-à National Government. The genius, talents, and learning of Hamilton, of Jay, and of Madison, surpassing perhaps the intellectual power ever exerted before, for the establishment of a Government, combined with the serene but mighty influence of Washington, were only sufficient to secure the reluctant adoption of the Constitution that is now the object of all our affections and of the hopes of mankind. No wonder that the conflicts in which that Constitution was born, and the almost desponding solemnity of Washington, in his Farewell Address, impressed his countrymen and mankind with a profound distrust of its perpetuity! No wonder that while the murmurs of that day are yet ringing in our ears, we cherish that distrust, with pious reverence, as a national and patriotic senti ment! There remains one more guaranty-one that has But it is time to prevent the abuses of that senti'seldom failed you, and will seldom fail you hereaf- ment. It is time to shake off that fear, for fear is ter. New States cling in closer alliance than older always weakness. It is time to remember that ones to the Federal power. The concentration of Government, even when it arises by chance or accithe slave power enables you for long periods to con- dent, and is administered capriciously and oppres trol the Federal Government with the aid of the new sively, is ever the strongest of all human institutions, States. I do not know the sentiments of the repre- surviving many social and ecclesiastical changes sentatives of California; but, my word for it, if they and convulsions; and that this Constitution of ours should be admitted on this floor to-day, against your has all the inherent strength common to Governmost obstinate opposition, they would, on all ques-ments in general, and added to them has also the tions really affecting your interests, be found at your side. With these alliances to break the force of emancipation, there will be no disunion and no secession. I do not say that there may not be disturbance, though I do not apprehend even that. Absolute regularity and order in administration have not yet been established in any Government, and unbroken popular tranquillity has not yet been attained in even the most advanced condition of human society. The solidity and firmness derived from broader and deeper foundations in national justice, and a better civil adaptation to promote the welfare and happiness of mankind. The Union, the creature of necessities, physical, moral, social, and political, endures by virtue of the same necessities: and these necessities are stronger than when it was produced-stronger by the greater amplitude of territory now covered by it-stronger by the sixfold increase of the society living under its beneficent protection-stronger by the augmenta- | He knows as well and feels as strongly as I do that tion ten thousand times of the fields, the workshops, this Government is his own Government; that he is the mines, and the ships, of that society; of its pro- a part of it; that it was established for him, and ductions of the sea, of the plough, of the loom, and that it is maintained by him; that it is the only truly of the anvil, in their constant circle of internal and wise, just, free, and equal Government, that has ever international exchange-stronger in the long rivers existed; that no other Government could be so wise, penetrating regions before unknown-stronger in all just, free, and equal; and that it is safer and more the artificial roads, canals, and other channels and beneficent than any which time or change could bring avenues essential not only to trade but to defence into its place. stronger in steam-navigation, in steam-locomotion on the land, and in telegraph communications, unknown when the Constitution was adopted-stronger in the freedom and in the growing empire of the seas-stronger in the element of national honor in all lands-and stronger than all in the now-settled habits of veneration and affection for institutions so stupendous and so useful. The Union, then, Is, not because merely that men choose that it shall be, but because some Government must exist here, and no other Government than this can. If it could be dashed to atoms by the whirlwind, the lightning, or the earthquake, to-day, it would rise again in all its just and magnificent proportions to-morrow. This nation is a globe, still accumulating upon accumulation, not a dissolving sphere. You may tell me, sir, that although all this may be true, yet the trial of faction has not yet been made. Sir, if the trial of faction has not been made, it has not been because faction has not always existed, and has not always menaced a trial, but because faction could find no fulcrum on which to place the lever to subvert the Union, as it can find no fulcrum now; and in this is my confidence. I would not rashly provoke the trial; but I will not suffer a fear, which I have not, to make me compromise one sentiment, one principle of truth or justice, to avert a danger that all experience teaches me is purely chimerical. Let, then, those who distrust the Union make compromises to save it. I shall not impeach their wisdom, as I certainly cannot their patriotism; but, indulging no such apprehensions myself, I shall vote for the admission of California directly, without conditions, without qualifications, and without compromise. For the vindication of that vote I look not to the verdict of the passing hour, disturbed as the public mind now is by conflicting interests and passions, but to that period, happily not far distant, when the vast regions over which we are now legislating shall have received their destined inhabitants. I have heard somewhere here, and almost for the first time in my life, of divided allegiance-of allegiance to the South and to the Union-of allegiance to States severally and to the Union. Sir, if sympathies with State emulation and pride of achievement could be allowed to raise up another sovereign to divide the allegiance of a citizen of the United States, I might recognise the claims of the State to which, by birth and gratitude, I belong to the State of While looking forward to that day, its countless Hamilton and Jay, of Schuyler, of the Clintons, and generations seem to me to be rising up and passing of Fulton-the State which, with less than two hun- in dim and shadowy review before us; and a voice dred miles of natural navigation connected with the comes forth from their serried ranks, saying: "Waste ocean, has, by her own enterprise, secured to herself your treasures and your armies, if you will; raze the commerce of the continent, and is steadily ad- your fortifications to the ground; sink your navies vancing to the command of the commerce of the into the sea; transmit to us even a dishonored name, world. But for all this I know only one country if you must; but the soil you hold in trust for usand one sovereign-the United States of America, give it to us free. You found it free, and conquered and the American People. And such as my alle-it to extend a better and surer freedom over it. giance is, is the loyalty of every other citizen of the United States. As I speak, he will speak when his time arrives. He knows no other country and no other sovereign. He has life, liberty, property, and precious affections, and hopes for himself and for his posterity, treasured up in the ark of the Union. 3 Whatever choice you have made for yourselves, let us have no partial freedom; let us all be free; let the reversion of your broad domain descend to us unincumbered, and free from the calamities and the sorrows of human bondage!" NEBRASKA AND KANSAS. THE proposed Territory of NEBRASKA comprises all that part of the Territory of the United States included within the following limits, except such portions thereof as are hereinafter expressly exempted from the operations of this act, to wit: beginning at a point in the Missouri river, where the fortieth parallel of north latitude crosses the same; thence west on said parallel to the summit of the highlands separating the waters flowing into Green river or Colorado of the west from the waters flowing into the great basin; thence northward on the said highlands to the summit of the Rocky mountains; thence on said summit northward to the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude; thence west on said parallel to the western boundary of the Territory of Minnesota; thence southward on said boundary to the Missouri river; thence down the main channel of said river to the place of beginning. The proposed Territory of KANSAS consists of all that part of the Territory 'of the United States included within the following limits, except such portions thereof as are hereinafter expressly exempted from the operations of this act, to wit: beginning at a point on the western boundary of the State of Missouri, where the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude crosses the same; thence west on said parallel to the eastern boundary of New Mexico; thence north on said boundary to latitude thirty-eight; thence following said boundary westward to the summit of the highlands dividing the waters flowing into the Colorado of the West or Green river, from the waters flowing into the great basin; thence northward on said summit to the fortieth parallel of latitude; thence east on said parallel to the western boundary of the State of Missouri; thence south with the western boundary of said State, to the place of beginning. The following proviso applies to both NEBRASKA and KANSAS: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to impair the rights of person or property now pertaining to the Indians in said Territory, so long as such rights shall remain unextinguished by treaty between the United States and such Indians, or to include any territory which, by treaty with any Indian tribe, is not, without the consent of said tribe, to be included within the territorial limits or jurisdiction of any State or Territory; but all such Territory shall be excepted out of the boundaries, and constitute no part of the Territory until said tribe shall signify their assent to the Presi dent of the United States to be included within the said Territory, or to affect the authority of the government of the United States to make any regulation respecting such Indians, their lands, property, or other rights, by treaty, law, or otherwise, which it would have been competent to the government to make if this act had never passed. MR. DOUGLAS'S REPORT IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, JAN. 4, 1854. The Committee on Territories, to which was referred a bill for an act to establish the Territory of Nebraska, have given the same that serious and deliberate consideration which its great importance demands, and beg leave to report it back to the Senate with various amendments, in the form of a substitute for the bill: THE principal amendments which your commit-denced by the fact, that one-half of the States of tee deem it their duty to commend to the favora- the Union tolerated, while the other half proble action of the Senate, in a special report, are hibited, the institution of slavery. On the other those in which the principles established by the hand it was insisted that, by virtue of the Consticompromise measures of 1850, so far as they are tution of the United States, every citizen had a applicable to territorial organizations, are pro-right to remove to any territory of the Union, posed to be affirmed and carried into practical and carry his property with him under the prooperation within the limits of the new Territory. tection of law, whether that property consisted in The wisdom of those measures is attested, not persons or things. The difficulties arising from less by their salutary and beneficial effects, in al- this diversity of opinion were greatly aggravated laying sectional agitation and restoring peace and by the fact, that there were many persons on both harmony to an irritated and distracted people, sides of the legal controversy who were unwilling than by the cordial and almost universal appro to abide the decision of the courts on the legal bation with which they have been received and matters in dispute; thus, among those who claimsanctioned by the whole country. In the judged that the Mexican laws were still in force, and ment of your committee, those measures were consequently that slavery was already prohibited intended to have a far more comprehensive and in those territories by valid enactment, there were enduring effect than the mere adjustment of the many who insisted upon Congress making the matdifficulties arising out of the recent acquisition of ter certain, by enacting another prohibition. In Mexican territory. They were designed to esta-like manner, some of those who argued that the blish certain great principles, which would not Mexican laws had ceased to have any binding only furnish adequate remedies for existing evils, force, and that the Constitution tolerated and probut, in all time to come, avoid the perils of a tected slave property in those territories, were similar agitation, by withdrawing the question of unwilling to trust the decision of the courts upon slavery from the halls of Congress and the politi-that point, and insisted that Congress should, by cal arena, and committing it to the arbitrament direct enactment, remove all legal obstacles to the of those who were immediately interested in it, introduction of slaves into those territories. and alone responsible for its consequences. With Such being the character of the controversy, in the view of conforming their action to what they respect to the territory acquired from Mexico. a regard the settled policy of the government, sanc- similar question has arisen in regard to the right tioned by the approving voice of the American to hold slaves in the proposed territory of Nebraspeople, your committee have deemed it their duty ka when the Indian laws shall be withdrawn, and to incorporate and perpetuate, in their territorial the country thrown open to emigration and settlebill, the principles and spirit of those measures. ment. By the 8th section of an act to authorize If any other consideration were necessary to ren- the people of the Missouri Territory to form a conder the propriety of this course imperative upon stitution and State government, and for the adthe committee, they may be found in the fact, that mission of such State into the Union on an equal the Nebraska country occupies the same relative footing with the original States, and to prohibit position to the slavery question, as did New slavery in certain territories," approved March 6, Mexico and Utah, when those territories were 1820, it was provided: "That in all that territory organized. ceded by France to the United States under the It was a disputed point, whether slavery was name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six prohibited by law in the country acquired from degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, not inMexico. On the one hand it was contended, as a cluded within the limits of the State contemplated legal proposition, that slavery having been pro- by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, hibited by the enactments of Mexico, according otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereto the laws of nations, we received the country of the parties shall have been duly convicted, with all its local laws and domestic institutions shall be, and is hereby, for ever prohibited: Proattached to the soil, so far as they did not conflict vided always, That any person escaping into the with the Constitution of the United States; and same, from whom labor or service is lawfully that a law, either protecting or prohibiting slavery, claimed, in any State or Territory of the United was not repugnant to that instrument, as was evi- States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her the property of the United States; nor shall the labor or service, as aforesaid." lands or other property of non-residents be taxed Under this section, as in the case of the Mexi- higher than the lands or other property of resican law in New Mexico and Utah, it is a disputed dents." point whether slavery is prohibited in the Ne- "Writs of error and appeals from the final debraska country by valid enactment. The decision cisions of said supreme court shall be allowed, and of this question involves the constitutional power may be taken to the Supreme Court of the United of Congress to pass laws prescribing and regulat- States in the same manner and under the same ing the domestic institutions of the various terri- regulations as from the circuit courts of the United tories of the Union. In the opinion of those States, where the value of the property or the eminent statesmen, who hold that Congress is in- amount in controversy, to be ascertained by the vested with no rightful authority to legislate upon oath or affirmation of either party, or other comthe subject of slavery in the territories, the 8th petent witness, shall exceed one thousand dollars, section of the act preparatory to the admission of except only that, in all cases involving title to Missouri is null and void; while the prevailing slaves, the said writs of error or appeals shall be sentiment in large portions of the Union sustains allowed and decided by the said supreme court, the doctrine that the Constitution of the United without regard to the value of the matter, proStates secures to every citizen an inalienable right perty, or title in controversy; and except, also, to move into any of the territories with his pro- that a writ of error or appeal shall also be allowed perty, of whatever kind and description, and to to the Supreme Court of the United States, from hold and enjoy the same under the sanction of the decisions of the said supreme court created by law. Your committee do not feel themselves this act, or of any judge thereof, or of the district called upon to enter into the discussion of these courts created by this act, or of any judge therecontroverted questions. They involve the same of, upon any writ of habeas corpus involving the grave issues which produced the agitation, the question of personal freedom; and each of the sectional strife, and the fearful struggle of 1850. said district courts shall have and exercise the As Congress deemed it wise and prudent to refrain same jurisdiction in all cases arising under the from deciding the matters in controversy then, Constitution and laws of the United States as is either by affirming or repealing the Mexican laws, vested in the circuit and district courts of the or by an act declaratory of the true intent of the United States; and the said supreme and district Constitution and the extent of the protection courts of the said Territory, and the respective afforded by it to slave property in the territories, judges thereof, shall and may grant writs of haso your committee are not prepared now to recom-beas corpus in all cases in which the same are mend a departure from the course pursued on that granted by the judges of the United States in the memorable occasion, either by affirming or repeal- District of Columbia." ing the 8th section of the Missouri act, or by any To which may be added the following proposiact declaratory of the meaning of the Constitu- tion affirmed by the act of 1850, known as the tion in respect to the legal points in dispute. fugitive slave law: Your committee deem it fortunate for the peace That the provisions of the " act respecting fugiof the country, and the security of the Union, that tives from justice, and persons escaping from the the controversy then resulted in the adoption of service of their masters," approved February 12, the compromise measures, which the two great 1793, and the provisions of the "act to amend and political parties, with singular unanimity, have supplementary to the aforesaid act, approved Sepaffirmed as a cardinal article of their faith, and tember 18, 1850, shall extend to, and be in force, proclaimed to the world, as a final settlement of in all the organized territories," as well as in the the controversy and an end of the agitation. A various States of the Union. due respect, therefore, for the avowed opinions of From these provisions it is apparent that the Senators, as well as a proper sense of patriotic compromise measures of 1850 affirm and rest upon duty, enjoins upon your committee the propriety the following propositions-First: That all quesand necessity of a strict adherence to the princi- tions pertaining to slavery in the territories, and ples, and even a literal adoption of the enactments in the new States to be formed therefrom, are to of that adjustment in all their territorial bills, so be left to the decision of the people residing far as the same are not locally inapplicable. therein, by their appropriate representatives, to Those enactments embrace, among other things, be chosen by them for that purpose. less material to the matters under consideration, Second That "all cases involving title to the following provisions: slaves," and "questions of personal freedom," are "When admitted as a State, the said Territory referred to the adjudication of the local tribunals, or any portion of the same, shall be received into with the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of the Union, with or without slavery, as their con- the United States. stitution may prescribe at the time of their ad- Third That the provisions of the Constitution mission." of the United States, in respect to fugitives from "That the legislative power and authority of service, are to be carried into faithful execution in said Territory shall be vested in the governor and all "the organized territories" the same as in the a legislative assembly." States. The substitute for the bill which your "That the legislative power of said Territory committee have prepared, and which is commendshall extend to all rightful subjects of legislation, ed to the favorable action of the Senate, proposes consistent with the Constitution of the United to carry these propositions and principles into States and the provisions of this act; but no law practical operation, in the precise language of the shall be passed interfering with the primary dis- compromise measures of 1850. posal of the soil; no tax shall be imposed upon |