JUNE, 1850.] The Compromise-Admission of California. seem, I speak with perfect sincerity when I say, that his enemies, if he had an enemy, were also his friends. And yet his popularity was not of an intense character: it was too universal to be intense. It did not meet with sufficient resistance to give it the highest degree of compactness. It seemed to exist, or rather live by a general law of nervous connection with the community; and there is no portion of the community whose sensibilities will not be touched by his death. Upon the nearer social ties that have been broken, I choose not to make any remarks. The disconsolate heart shrinks from the gaze of the world, and what our eyes may not look at, let our lips forbear to mention. MONDAY, June 17. [31ST CONG. The The Compromise-Admission of California. Mr. WEBSTER. On the 7th of March, sir, I declared my opinion to be, that there is not a square rod of territory belonging to the United States, the character of which, for slavery or no slavery, is not already fixed by some irrepealable law. I remain of that opinion. opinion, sir, has been a good deal canvassed in the country, and there have been complaintssometimes respectful and decorous, and sometimes so loud and so empty as to become mere clainor. But I have seen no argument upon any question of law embraced in that opinion, which shakes the firmness with which I hold it, nor have I heard any discussion upon any matter of fact, as to that part of the opinion which rests on facts, which leads me to doubt the accuracy of my conclusions as to that part of the opinion which regarded the true construction, or I might with more propriety say, almost the literal meaning, of the resolutions by which Texas was admitted into the Union. I have heard no argument calculated, in the slightest degree, to alter that opinion. The Resolved, That the proceedings of this House in committee, I believe, with one accord, concurred relation to the death of the Hon. FRANKLIN H. EL-in it. A great deal of surprise, real or affected, MORE, be communicated to the family of the deceased by the Clerk. Mr. W., at the close of his remarks, submitted the following resolutions: Resolved, That this House has heard with deep sensibility the announcement of the death of the Hon. FRANKLIN H. ELMORE, a Senator in Congress from the State of South Carolina. Resolved, That, as a testimony of respect for the memory of the deceased, the members and officers of this House will wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days, Resolved, That this House will, as a body, forthwith repair to the Senate Chamber, to attend the funeral of the deceased. The resolutions were unanimously adopted. The SPEAKER stated, that in compliance with the resolutions just adopted, the House would now proceed to the Senate Chamber. And thereupon, the members of the House, preceded by their Speaker and Clerk, repaired to the Senate Chamber, to attend the funeral proceedings. After having deposited the corpse in the Congressional burying-ground, the officers and members returned to the House. And then the House adjourned to Monday. has been expressed in the country at the announcement by me of that opinion, as if there were something new in it. Yet there need have been no surprise for there was nothing new in it. Other gentlemen have expressed the same opinion more than once; and I myself, in a speech made here on the 23d day of March, 1848, expressed the same opinion, almost in the same words; with which nobody here found any fault--at which nobody here cavilled or made question, and nobody in the country. With respect to the other ground on which my opinion is founded, that is, the high improbability, in point of fact, that African slavery the territories acquired by us in pursuance of could be introduced and established in any of the late treaty with Mexico, I have learned nothing, heard nothing, from that day to this, that has not entirely confirmed that opinion. That being my judgment on this matter, I voted very readily and cheerfully to exclude what is called the Wilmot proviso from these territorial bills, or to keep it out, rather, when a motion was made to introduce it. I did so, upon a very full and deep conviction that no act of Congress, no provision of law, was necessary in any degree for that purpose; that there were natural and sufficient reasons and causes excluding forever African slavery from those regions. That was my judgment, and I acted on it; and it is my judgment still. Those who think differently, will, of course, pursue a different line of conduct, in accordance with their own judgments. That was my opinion then, and it has been strengthened by every thing that I have learned since, and I have no more apprehension to-day of the introduction or establishment of African slavery in these terri 1ST SESS.] The Compromise-Admission of California. tories, than I have of its introduction into, and establishment in, Massachusetts. Well, sir, I have voted not to place in these territorial bills what is called the Wilmot proviso, and by that vote have signified a disposition to exclude the prohibition, as a thing unnecessary; I am now called upon to vote upon this amendment, moved by the honorable member from Louisiana, (Mr. SOULE,) which provides that the States formed out of New Mexico and Utah shall have the right and privilege of making their own constitutions, and of presenting those constitutions to Congress conformably to the Constitution of the United States, with or without a prohibition against slavery, as the people of those Territories, about to become States, may see fit to deciare, I have not seen much practical utility in this amendment, I agree. Nevertheless, if I should vote, now that it is presented to me, against it, it might leave me open to suspicion of intending or wishing to see that accomplished in another way hereafter which I did not choose to see accomplished by the introduction of the Wilmot proviso. That is to say, it might seem as if, voting against that form of exclusion or prohibition, I might be willing still that there should be a chance hereafter to enforce it some other way. Now, I think that ingenuousness and steadiness of purpose, under these circumstances, compel me to vote for the amendment, and I shall vote for it. I do it exactly on the same grounds that I voted against the introduction of the proviso. And let it be remembered that I am now speaking of New Mexico and Utah, and other territories acquired from Mexico, and of nothing else. I confine myself to these; and, as to them, I say that I see no occasion to make a provision against slavery now, or to reserve to ourselves the right of making such provision hereafter. All this rests on the most thorough conviction, that, under the law of nature, there never can be slavery in these Territories. This is the foundation of all. And I voted against the proviso, and I vote now in favor of this amendment, for the reason that all restrictions are unnecessary, absolutely unnecessary; and as such restrictions give offence, and create a kind of resentment, as they create a degree of dissatisfaction, and as I desire to avoid all dissatisfaction as far as I can, by avoiding all measures that cause it, and which are in my judgment wholly unnecessary, I shall vote now as I voted on a former occasion, and shall support the amendment offered by the honorable member from Louisiana. I repeat again, I do it upon the exact grounds upon which I declared upon the 7th day of March that I should resist the Wilmot proviso -the precise grounds. Sir, it does not seem to strike other Senators as it strikes me, but if there be any qualification to that general remark which I made, or the opinion which I expressed on the 7th of March, that every foot of territory of the United States has a fixed character for slavery or no slavery; [MAY, 1850. if there be any qualification to that remark, it has arisen here, from what seems to be an indisposition to define the boundaries of New Mexico; that is all the danger there is. All that is part of Texas was by the resolutions of 1845 thrown under the general character of the Texan territory; and if, for want of defining the boundaries of New Mexico, by any proceeding or process hereafter, or by any event hereafter, let me say to gentlemen, that if any portion which they or I do not believe to be Texas should be considered to become Texas, then, so far, that qualification of my remark is applicable. And therefore, I do feel, as I had occasion to say two or three days ago, that it is of the utmost importance to pass this bill, to the end that there may be a definite boundary fixed now, and fixed forever, between the territory of New Mexico and Texas, or the limits of New Mexico and the limits of Texas. Here the question lies. If gentlemen wish to act efficiently for their own purposes, here it is, in my poor judgment, that they are called upon to act. And the thing to be done, and done at once, is to fix the boundaries of New Mexico. Mr. President, when I see gentlemen from my own part of the country, no doubt from motives of the highest character, and for most conscientious purposes, not concurring in any of these great questions with myself, I am aware that I am taking on myself an uncommon degree of responsibility. The fact that gentlemen with whom I have been accustomed to act in the Senate took a different view of their own duties in the same case, naturally led me to reconsider my own course, to re-examine my own opinions, to rejudge my own judgment. And now, sir, that I have gone through this process, without prejudice, as I hope-and certainly I have done so under the greatest feeling of regret at being called upon by a sense of duty to take a course which may dissatisfy some to whom I should always be desirous of rendering my public_course and every event and action of my public life acceptable-yet I cannot part from my own settled opinions. I leave consequences to themselves. It is a great emergency, a great exigency, that this country is placed in. I shall endeavor to preserve a proper regard to my own consistency. And here let me say, that neither here nor elsewhere has any thing been advanced to show that on this subject I have said or done any thing inconsistent, in the slightest degree, with any speech, or sentiment, or letter, or declaration that I ever delivered in my life; and all would be convinced of this, if men would stop to consider, and look at real differences and distinctions. But where all is general denunciation, where all is clamor, where all is idle and empty declamation, where there is no search after truth, no honest disposition to inquire whether one opinion is different from the other, why, everybody, in that way of proceeding, may be proclaimed to be inconsistent. Now, sir, I do not take the trouble to answer The Compromise-Admission of California-Impressive Interruption. [31ST CONG. JULY, 1850.] things of this sort that appear in the public YEAS.-Messrs. Baldwin, Chase, Clark, Davis of press. I know it would be useless. Those Massachusetts, Dayton, Dodge of Wisconsin, who are of an unfriendly disposition would not Greene, Pale, Miller, Smith, Upham, and Walkerpublish my explanations or distinctions, if I 12. were to make them. But, sir, if any gentleman NAYS.-Messrs. Atchison, Badger, Bell, Benton, here has any thing to say on this subject-Berrien, Bright, Butler, Cass, Clay, Clemens, Cooper, Davis of Mississippi, Dawson, Dodge of Iowa, though I throw out no challenge-yet, if any gentleman here chooses to undertake the task Douglas, Downs, Foote, Houston, Hunter, Jones, and many there possibly are, who think it an Sebastian, Shields, Soulé, Spruance, Sturgeon, King, Mason, Morton, Norris, Pearce, Pratt, Rusk, easy task-to show in what respect any thing Turney, Underwood, Wales, Webster, Whitcomb, that I said in the debate here on the 7th of and Yulee-38. March, or any thing contained in my letter to the gentlemen of Newburyport, or any where else, is inconsistent with any recorded opinion of mine, since the subject of the annexation of Texas began in 1837, I will certainly answer him with great respect and courtesy, and shall be content to stand or fall by the judgment of the country. Sir, my object is peace. My object is reconciliation. My purpose is, not to make up a case for the North, or to make up a case for the South. My object is not to continue useless and irritating controversies. I am against agitations, North and South. I am against local ideas, North and South, and against all narrow and local contests. I am an American, and I know no locality in America: that is my country. My heart, my sentiment, my judgment, demand of me that I shall pursue such a course as shall promote the good, and the harmony, and the Union of the whole country. This "And when the said Territory, or any portion of the same, shall be admitted as a State, it shall be received into the Union with or without slavery, as their constitution may prescribe at the time of their admission;" By striking out all after the word "State" and inserting the following: "At the proper time, to be judged of by Congress, the people of said Territory shall be admitted to the enjoyment of all the rights of citizens of the United States, according to the principles of the constitution." After debate by Messrs. CASS, KING, HALE, SEWARD, BALDWIN, and SOULE, the question was taken on the amendment to the amendment, and resulted as follows: * It is impossible to read the speeches of this session, and hear, as it were, the last words of the last great men of that wonderful time, without having the feelings profoundly moved by the deep dangers to the Union which stood before So the amendment was rejected. The question then recurred on the amendment offered by Mr. SOULE, and a debate ensued, in which Messrs. MILLER, DODGE of Iowa, BUTLER, DAYTON, SEWARD, and DOUGLAS participated. The yeas and nays having been demanded and ordered on the amendment, resulted as follows: YEAS. Messrs. Atchison, Badger, Bell, Benton, Berrien, Bright, Butler, Cass, Clay, Clemens, Cooper, Davis of Mississippi, Dawson, Dodge of Iowa, Douglas, Downs, Foote Houston, Hunter, Jones, King, Mason, Morton, Norris, Pearce, Pratt, Rusk, Sebastian, Shields, Soulé, Spruance, Sturgeon, Turney, Underwood, Wales, Webster, Whitcomb, and Yulee-38. NAYS.-Messrs. Baldwin, Chase, Clark, Davis of Massachusetts, Dayton, Dodge of Wisconsin, Greene, Hale, Miller, Smith, Upham, and Walker-12. So the amendment was agreed to. Mr. HALE offered the following amendment to be added to the first section of the bill: "New States, not exceeding two in number, of convenient size, and having sufficient population, may hereafter, by the consent of the said State of California, be formed out of the territory thereof, which shall be entitled to admission under the provisions of the Federal Constitution." The further consideration of the bill was then postponed until twelve o'clock to-mor row. MONDAY, June 24. Mr. HUNTER presented the credentials of the honorable R. W. BARNWELL, appointed by the Governor of South Carolina to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of the honorable FRANKLIN H. ELMORE, which were read. Mr. BARNWELL was then duly qualified and took his seat. TUESDAY, July 9. The Compromise Bill-Admission of California The Senate resumed the consideration of the them, and the patriotic attempts they made to avert that bill for the admission of California as a State danger. This brief speech of Mr. Webster is a noble illus-into the Union, to establish territorial governtration of the feelings of the patriotic sages of that porten- ments for Utah and New Mexico, and making tous day. They labored to save their country, and believed proposals to Texas for the establishment of her that they had done it. western and northern boundaries. 1ST SESS.] Death of the President of the United States. Mr. BUTLER, who obtained the floor yesterday, proceeded to address the Senate; and, having spoken an hour, on a private communication from Mr. WEBSTER, he suspended his remarks. Illness of the President. Mr. WEBSTER. Mr. President, I have permission from the honorable member from South Carolina to interrupt the progress of his speech, and to make a solemn and mournful suggestion to the Senate. The intelligence which, within the last few moments, has been received, indicates that a very great misfortune is now immediately impending over the country. It is supposed by medical advisers and others that the President of the United States cannot live many hours. This intimation comes in a shape so authentic, and through so many varieties of communication, and all tending to the same result, that I have thought it my duty to move the Senate to follow the example which has already been set in the other branch of the National Legislature. At half-past eleven o'clock to-day, I called at the President's mansion to inquire after his health. I was informed that he had had a very bad night; that he was exceedingly ill this morning, but that at that moment he was more easy and more composed. I had hardly reached my seat in the Senate when it was announced to me that the fever had suddenly returned upon him with very alarming symptoms; that appearances of congestion were obvious; and that it was hardly possible his life would be prolonged through the day. With the permission, therefore, of my honorable friend from South Carolina, who, I am sure, like the rest of us, has those feelings on this occasion which quite disqualify us for the performance of our duties, even in this very important crisis of public affairs, I venture to move the Senate that it do now adjourn. The Senate accordingly adjourned. WEDNESDAY, July 10. Death of the President of the United States. A few minutes past 11 o'clock the Senate was called to order by ASBURY DICKINS, Esq., its Secretary, and an impressive prayer was delivered by the Rev. C. B. BUTLER, its Chaplain. The Secretary then said: With the permission of the Senate, I will read a communication from the late President of the Senate: WASHINGTON, July 10, 1850. To the Senate of the United States: In consequence of the lamented death of ZACHARY TAYLOR, late President of the United States, I shall no longer occupy the chair of the Senate; and I have thought that a formal communication to that effect, through your Secretary, might enable you the more promptly to proceed to the choice of a presiding officer. MILLARD FILLMORE. [JULY, 1850. The following message was then received by the hands of GEORGE P. FISHER, Esq., from the late Vice President of the United States: WASHINGTON, July 10, 1850. Fellow-citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: I have to perform the melancholy duty of announcing to you that it has pleased Almighty God to remove from this life ZACHARY TAYLOR, late President of the United States. He deceased last evenmidst of his family, and surrounded by affectionate ing, at the hour of half-past ten o'clock, in the friends, calmly, and in the full possession of all his faculties. Among his last words were these, which he uttered with emphatic distinctness: "I have always done my duty; I am ready to die; my only regret is for the friends I leave behind me." Having announced to you, fellow-citizens, this most afflicting bereavement, and assuring you that it has penetrated no heart with deeper grief than mine, it remains for me to say that I propose, this day at twelve o'clock, in the Hall of the House of Representatives, in the presence of both Houses of Congress, to take the oath prescribed by the conof the office which this event has devolved on me. stitution, to enable me to enter on the execution MILLARD FILLMORE. Mr. WEBSTER then submitted the following resolutions: Resolved, That the two Houses will assemble this day in the Hall of the House of Representatives, at twelve o'clock, to be present at the administration of the oath prescribed by the constitution to the late Vice President of the United States, to enable him to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President of the United States, devolved on him by the death of ZACHARY TAYLOR, late President of the United States. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate present the above resolution to the House of Representatives, and ask its concurrence therein. The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. A message was received from the House of Representatives by RICHARD M. YOUNG, Esq., their Clerk: "Mr. President, the House of Representatives have passed the following resolution, in which they request the concurrence of the Senate: MORSE, and MOREHEAD, be appointed a committee "Resolved, That the Hon. Messrs. WINTHROp, on the part of this House, to join such committee as may be appointed by the Senate, to wait on the President of the United States, and inform him that the Senate and House of Representatives will be in readiness to receive him in the Hall of the House of Representatives this day, at twelve o'clock, for the purpose of witnessing the administration of the oath prescribed by the constitution, to enable him to enter upon the execution of the office." The Senate then proceeded to consider the resolution, and, having concurred therein, it was ordered that Mr. SOULE, Mr. DAVIS of Happy the public man who in the moment of death can say, "I have always done my duty." JULY, 1850.] Massachusetts, and Mr. committee on their part. Death of the President of the United States. Ordered, That the Secretary notify the House of Representatives accordingly. After a short absence the committee returned, and Mr. SOULE, on behalf of the committee, reported that they had discharged the duty confided to them, and that the President would be in attendance in the House of Representatives at twelve o'clock. The Senate then proceeded to the House of Representatives, preceded by their Sergeantat-arms and Secretary. [31ST CONG. UNDERWOOD, be the tenant in the army of the United States; rose, in 1812, to the rank of captain; and, after the declaration of war with Great Britain in that year, he was breveted major by President Madison for his memorable and gallant defence of Fort Harrison, with a handful of men, against a large body of savages. In 1832, then advanced to the rank of colonel, he distinguished himself in the Black Hawk war; was ordered into Florida in 1836, and for his signal services against the savage Seminoles was created a brevet brigadier general and commander-in-chief in Florida. Subsequently, he was transferred to the command of the division of the army in the south-western portion of the Union; was ordered into Texas in 1845; advanced to the banks of the Rio Grande; and afterwards, beginning with the battles of the 8th and 9th of May, 1846, at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, and ending with Buena Vista, he overthrew, with fearful odds against him, and signally defeated the most skilful of the Mexican generals, Ampudia, Arista, Paredes, and even the President of Mexico himself, and, by a series of brilliant victories, gained for himself and the brave armies under his command, a world-wide renown, commanding the verdict and admiration of Europe and America, and securing an enviable and proud place in the brightest chapters of the history of American arms. The Senate having returned from the House The Message having been read- Mr. President: I rise, as a member of the delegation of the State whose citizen the late President of the United States was, to offer resolutions suitable to the occasion. The announcement of his death has been already made officially here and elsewhere; and on the wings of lightning, and almost as swift as thought, the sad intelligence has been conveyed to remote portions of this great Republic. How sublime, as well as melancholy, is the scene in which we are now engaged! But a few days since-less than a week-many of us sat near the then President of the United States, and saluted him in health, at the base of that monument which the hands of a grateful posterity are now raising to the memory of the first and the greatest of his predecessors-hero, statesman, like himself-and where we had assembled to pay devotion to the memory of the man "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen," and to rekindle anew, in the breasts of all, that spirit of union, fraternity, and liberty, without which we shall prove ourselves unworthy of our revolutionary ancestors, and a reproach to their memory. Yes, there sat, quiet and placid as the gentle breeze from the Potomac that cooled his heated brow, the man, whose very pathway to his logcabin schoolhouse in Kentucky, the "Bloody Ground," was beset by the tomahawk of the savage, and who had passed through four wars and many of the bloodiest and most glorious battle-fields of his country unscathed-at the head of the greatest Republic of this or any other country, protected, not by bayonets, but by the affections of his countrymen: yet, in a few short days, in the midst of this quiet, peace, prosperity, and fame, he was to approach that doom which awaits us all. ZACHARY TAYLOR was born in 1784, in Orange County, Virginia. In early life he gave evidence of extraordinary energy and force of character. In 1808 he was appointed, during the Presidency of Mr. Jefferson, lieu But why attempt to portray his life or describe his actions? This is not the time nor place for such a purpose, if I had the ability to do it justice. His history is part of the history of his country, and therefore needs no aid of friends to preserve it. The battle-fields of Fort Harrison, of Okeechobee, Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palina, Monterey, and, the most glorious of them all, Buena Vista, are at once his monuments and his eulogiums. He needs no others. Of his political history this is not the place nor I the person to speak. Yet I may, I hope, be pardoned a single remark. The wisest and best counsels of public men in a free country-free in speech, in the press, and in the ballot-cannot be expected to go unquestioned. It would not be a free country, if they were. But it is consolatory to know that, whatever differences of opinion may have existed as to the policy of him whose untimely death we all so much lament, they are already, before the tomb has been closed over him, buried in oblivion forever. He is hereafter to belong to no party, to no section, but to the whole American family, and his memory will be revered and cherished by them all alike. But let not the tears we are shedding over our departed President blind us to the grandeur of the scene in which we stand. Did the world ever witness such a one before? How soon, if ever, can it be witnessed in other countries? The Chief of a nation, of more than twenty millions of freemen, is suddenly withdrawn from the world by an act of God, followed by no disturbance of the perfect equipoise of |