The Mississippi Creole

Clay's Speech on the Compromise Bill.

Responsibility of this great measure passes from the hands of the committee and from

They know, and I know, that it

enormous responsibility. I hope that

they will meet it with a just conception, and

appreciation of its magnitude, and the

of consequences, which may ensue

from its

decision one way or the other.

Motives, I fear, which the measure

are concord and increased discord;

civil war—originating in its causes

near Rio Grande, and terminating pos-
sibly

in its consequences with the upper Rio

Grande

in the Santa Fe country—or the resto-

ration of

harmony and fraternal kindness.

I pray, from the bottom of my soul, that

measure is the reunion of the Union. I

pray that it

is the dove of peace which, taking

flight from the dome of the Capitol,

shall bear

glad tidings of assured peace and

harmony to all the remotest extremities

of this distracted land. I believe that it will

be welcomed with all these beneficent effects.

Let us discard all personal desires,

of place, all longing after the gilded

crumbs which fall from the table of power.

Forget popular fears, from whatever

source

they may spring. Let us go to the

fountain of unadulterated patriotism.

Performing a solemn lustration, return

pure

of all selfish, sinister and sordid

influences

,and think alone of our God, our

country,

our consciences, and our glorious

Union without which we shall

become

to hostile fragments and sooner or later

the victims of military despotism or

domination,

President, what is an individual man?

Almost invisible without a magnify-

ing glass—a mere speck upon the immense sur-

face

of the universe—not a second in time

compared with the immeasurable, never failing, never

decaying

and never-ending eternity; a drop

in the ocean of waters; a grain of sand, which

when

gathered to the dust from which it

sprang,

shall be no longer remembered. Shall a being so small, so petty, so

evanscent, oppose itself to the

march of a great nation, to subsist

and ages to come—oppose itself to

the long line of posterity which, issuing from

us,

will endure during the existence

of the

world! Forbid it, God! Let us look

upon our country and our cause; elevate ourselves

to the dignity of pure and disinterested patri-

otism,

and enlightened statesmen, and save

our

country from all impending dangers.

In the march of this nation to great-

ness and

power, we should be buried beneath

the wheels that propel it onward. What are

we, or what is any man worth, who is not ready

willing to sacrifice himself for the benefit

of his country when it is necessary?

Mr. President, allow me to make a

appeal to some Senators—to the whole

Senate. Here is my friend from

(Mr. Mason,) of whom I have

been without hope. I have thought of

revolutionary blood of George Mason

flows in his veins—the blood of his own

grandfather—of his own accomplished father—

in

my cherished friend for many years.

Knowing, as I think he must know,

wishes of the people of his own State—

with the knowledge he possesses of

public sentiments there, and of the high

reflections cast upon him by his noble ances-

try,

can he hazard Virginia's greatest and

glorious work —that work at least which

perhaps more than any other State, con-

tributed

her moral and political power to

establish?

Can he put at hazard this noble Union,

its beneficent effects and consequen-

ces,

in the pursuit of abstractions and meta-

physical

theories—objects unattainable or im-

practicable

in their nature—while the honor of our

common native State, which I reverence

as much as he does,

and the honor of the

whole South are preserved unimpaired by this

measure?

to the senators from Rhode Island

and Delaware,

who stood by me, and by

vicissitudes of my political life; two

little patriotic

States, which,

if there

is a breaking

up

of the Union,

will be swallowed

up

in the common

ruin, and left without support.

What becomes of their power

and their greatness?

Will they

up

in the common

ruin?

Let such an event as I have alluded to occur,

and where will be the sovereign power of

Delaware and Rhode Island? If this Union

shall become separated, new unions, new con-

federacies will arise. And with respect to

this—if there be any—I hope there is no one

in the Senate—before whose imagination is

not

flitting the idea of a great southern confeder-

acy,

to take possession of the Balize and the

mouth of the Mississippi—I say in my place

never! never! Never will we who occupy the

broad waters of the Mississippi consent that

any foreign flag shall float at the Balize

or upon the turrets of the Crescent City—

never—never! I call upon all the South.—

Sir, we have had hard words, bitter words,

bitter thoughts, unpleasant feelings towards

each other in the progress of this great meas-

ure. Let us go to the altar of our country

and swear, as the oath was taken of old, that

we will stand by her; that we will support her;

that we will uphold her constitution; that we

will preserve her Union, and that we will pass

this great, comprehensive, and healing system

of measures, which will hush all the jarring

elements, and bring peace and tranquility to

our homes.

Let me Mr. President, in conclusion, say,

that the most disastrous consequences would

occur, in my opinion, were we to go home, do-
ing nothing to satisfy and tranquilize the coun-

try upon these great questions. What will

be the judgment of mankind? what the judg-

ment of that portion of mankind who are

looking upon the progress of this scheme of

self-government as being that which holds the

highest hopes and expectations of ameliora-

ting the condition of mankind—what will

their judgment be? Will not all the mon-

archs of the Old World pronounce our glori-

ous Republic a disgraceful failure? What

will be the judgment of our constituents

when we return to them, and they ask us, How

have you left your country? Is all quiet—all

happy? Are all the seeds of distraction or

division crushed and dissipated? And, sir.

when you come to the bosom of your family—

when you come to converse with the partner

of your fortunes, of your happiness, and of your

sorrows—and when, in the midst of the com-

mon offspring of both of you, she asks you,

Is there any danger of civil war? Is there

any danger of the torch being applied to any

portion of the country? Have you settled the

questions which you have been so long dis.

cussing and deliberating upon at Washington?

Is all peace and all quiet? What response,

Mr. President, can you make that wife of

your choice and those children with whom you

have been blessed by God? Will you go home

and leave all in disorder and confusion—all

unsettled—all open? The contentions and

agitations of the past will be increased and

augmented by agitations resulting from our

neglect to decide them. Sir, we shall stand

condemned by all human judgment below,

and of those above it is not for me to speak.

We shall stand condemned by our own con-

stituents, by our own country. The measure

may be defeated. I have been aware that its

passage for many days was not absolutely cer-

tain. From the first to the last, I hoped and

believed it would pass; because from the first

to the last I believed it was founded on the

principles of just and righteous concession—

of mutual conciliation. I believe that it deals

unjustly to no part of the republic: that it saves

their honor, and, as far as it is dependent upon

Congress, saves the interests of all quarters

of the country. But sir, I have known that

the decision depended upon four or five votes

in the Senate of the U. States, and upon whose

ultimate judgment we could not count upon

the one side or the other with absolute cer-

tainty. Its fate is committed to the hands of

the Senate. and to those five or six votes to

which I have referred. It may be defeated.—

It is possible that, for the chastisement of our

sins or transgressions, the rod of Providence

may be still applied to us, may be still suspen-

ded over us. But if defeated, it will be a

triumph of ultraism and impracticability—a

triumph of a most extraordinary conjunction

of extremes—a victory won by abolitionism—

a victory achieved by free-soilism—the victory

of discord and agitation over peace and tran-

quility; and I pray to almighty God that it

may not, in consequence of the inauspicious re-

sult, lead to the most unhappy and disastrous

consequences to our beloved country. [Ap-

plause.

After Mr. Clay concluded, Mr. Barnwell rose and briefly defend-
ed the course of South Carolina, and the

speech of Mr. Rhett.]

Mr. Clay. Mr. President, I said nothing

with respect to the character of Mr. Rhett. for

I might as well name him. I know him per-

sonally, and have some respect for him, But

if he pronounced the sentiment attributed

to him, of raising the standard of disunion

and resistance to the common government,

whatever he has been, if he follows up that

declaration by corresponding overt acts, he

will be a traitor, and I hope he will meet the

fate of a traitor [Great applause in the galle-

ries, with difficulty suppressed by the Chair.]

The President. The Chair will be under

the necessity of ordering the gallery to be

cleared, if there is again the slightest inter-

ruption. He has once already given warning

that he is under the necessity of keeping

order. The Senate chamber is not a theatre.

Mr. Clay resumed. Mr. President, I have

heard with pain and regret a confirmation of

the remarks I made, that the sentiment of dis-

union is becoming familiar. I hope it is con-

fined to South Carolina. I do not regard as

my duty what the honorable senator seems to

regard as his. If Kentucky to-morrow un-

furls the banner of resistance unjustly, I never

will fight under that banner. I owe a para-

mount allegiance to the whole Union—a sub-

ordinate one to my own State. When my

State is right—when it has a cause for resis-

tance—when tyranny, and wrong, and oppres-

sion insufferable arise—I then will share her

fortunes; but if she summons me to the battle-

field, or to support her in any cause which is

unjust; against the union, never, never will I

engage with her in such a cause.

With regard to South Carolina, and the spirit

of her people, I have said nothing I have a

respect for her: but I must say, with entire

frankness, that my respect for her is that inspired

by her ancient and revolutionary character,

and not so much for her modern character.

But, spirited as she is, spirited as she may sup-

pose herself to be, competent as she may think

herself to wield her separate power against

this Union, I will tell her, and I will tell the

senator himself, there are as brave, as daunt-

less, as gallant men as devoted patriots, in my

opinion, in every other State in the Union as

are to be found in South Carolina herself;

and if in any unjust cause, South Carolina or

any other State should hoist the flag of disun-

ion and rebellion, thousands, tens of thou-

sands of Kentuckians would flock to the stand-

ard of their country to dissipate and repress

their rebellion. These are my sentiments—

make the most of them.