S. ngerous to our peace e general principle of ontested. Certainly rounds. Our Execudit upon full considur negotiations with e interesting account that country, proves the British Ministry nization doctrine, lest r objects of aggrandey entirely concurred ciple to the recentlys, which in fact, conStates to extend the of the continent not a European Power. announced this fact, Colonization in North America-Mr. Cass. satisfactory answer to this question. Though e and faithful repre-regions have practically demonstrated, and occur- me of the Powers with ercourse, and to whom on of the Spanish-Amerated, have appeared to inced to Mr. Rush the transfer of any States) to any other under aspects and inling, as it did or could were the first Power dly the leading Power. America by their posiations. And they also es by political relations. indifference their fate ope expect this indifferin the relative position pe, which Europe must ical and commercial inof the new Continent hemisphere (Europe) owledge of the United I repeat, that the nature of our Government furnishes a satisfactory solution of this course of foreign policy. The annunciation of our views upon this subject was intended to warn the Powers of Europe of our policy, and thus to prevent the violation of its principle. But upon this, as upon many other occasions, we halted in our course, and did not come up to our work. We did not keep on the line of political knowledge. We should have added the solemnity and the force of a legislative concurrence to these Executive declarations. Such annunciations, when made by the head of a European State, are made authoritatively, because, he who uses them, has the power to enforce them. They become settled maxims of policy, and other nations are aware that they cannot be interfered with, except at the hazard of war. But it is far different here. Great principles of national conduct depend essentially upon public sentiment, and can only be enforced in the last resort by the action of Congress. Public sentiment has, I believe, with almost unexampled unanimity, approved this principle, but Congress has never, by action or declaration, given to it the sanction of its authority. That decisive measure should have been taken when the Executive first promulgated the doctrine. The claim, therefore, has rested barren among our archives, only to bear certain fruit when the Legislature of the Republic adopt as its own. SENATE. justify the most solemn declaration of our adherence to it. Some of the independent States of Spanish origin seem to be hastening to dissolution, and almost all of them are weak, unquiet, agitated, and with elements of destruction in more or less active operation. The most important in extent, in population, and in natural resources, and the one which, from its coterminous position, has the most intimate relations with our peace and interests, is precisely the Power whose fate appears to be the most doubtful. Its internal agitations announce one of those catastrophes, whose consequences are beyond the reach of human sagacity. It is impossible but that this state of things should have attracted the attention of European statesmen, and have given rise to schemes, more or less matured, for turning the circumstances to the advantage of the two great Powers most likely to interfere, because most interested, and most capable of making their interference felt. We cannot disguise from ourselves that our progress and prospects, while they are a reproach to many of the Governments of the Old World, have excited their enmity by the contrasts they exhibit, and by the dangerous example they offer to the oppressed masses, inviting them to do as we have done, and to become free, as we are free. He who does not know that there is not a Government in Europe, which is a friend to our institutions, has much to learn of the impressions that our past, and present, and probable future, are producing among them. And while we should watch their designs with constant, even with jealous care, it does not become us to magnify either our own danger or their power. I have no fear of a direct attack upon this country. I do not believe that such a project is even among the reveries of the most dreaming statesman now on the stage of action. But what we have to apprehend is plans for arresting our extent and prosperity, the seizure of positions by which we might be annoyed and circumscribed, and the creation of an influence, and of schemes of policy, offering powerful obstacles to our future advancement. Motives have always existed and been in operation for checking our progress, but recent events have added as well to their number as their gravity. We have acquired an extensive territory upon the shores of the great ocean of the west, and our flag waves in the breeze that comes from the islands and continent of Asia. Think you, Mr. President, there is a maritime nation in Europe which does not desire that every possible obstacle should be interposed in the way of all communication between the eastern and the western portions of this magnificent republican empire? Not one; and Nicaragua routes, and Panama routes, and Tehuantepec routes, and all others, if there are any others, to be used by us, are so many abominations in their eyes, to be tolerated only till they can be closed upon us by the occupation of commanding positions whenever opportunities can be found, or made for seizing An able and distinguished Senator from Ohio, them. Considerations of this nature, far more now no longer among us, (Mr. Allen,) seeing the than their intrinsic value, give importance to Honimportance of this policy, and foreseeing the ne- duras, to the Colony of the Bay of Islands, to Socessity of making it our own, and respected as nora, to Chihuahua, and to other points where d from others, be--such, by a more signal public act, attempted, some European intrigues have been at work to obtain while the cautious six or seven years since, to press the subject on possession. All we want is a fair and equal field ertion of national the consideration of Congress, but his exertions, for exertion, and if we have not industry and end impending over which deserved a better fate, were fruitless, and terprise enough to hold our own way in the great on us, and sweep we compromitted alike our honor and our interests, career of advancement, we deserve to fall behind r existence. by, shrinking from a responsibility not less noble, our rivals and cotemporaries, and ought to find no assed away since in my opinion, than it was important. The Sen-one" to do us reverence. But I have no fear of nd if our position ate, if I recollect aright, refused even to consider lest of the family the subject. We would not denounce interference, isphere, conferred because that would be to interfere. And we should s, accompanied by thus be led, but how I know not, into entangling r is the appeal of alliances, the bugbear of American politics, which ependence to our raises its spectral front, whenever it is proposed ne has developed to take a decided step in our foreign intercourse. d when our Amer- This national timidity never did any good, and those which con- never will. There are positions in the progress of ary in importance, a people, when firmness is not only wisdom but s disparity is in- safety; and one of these we have now reached. one of the most ennmend themselves, to the consideration hey are not the less were urged with a t to become a party he arrangement of to reject the proquiesce in the docake it ours by its vn way, as a ques nd the just sphere When such states, and Mr. Canning, our rights and duthis salutary docenforcing it, may eers, and ridicule, is encounter from Mr. Monroe, when he first announced this this, nor indeed has any one else. It should, therefore, be a cardinal maxim of our policy, to preserve, as far as we can, the integrity of the cisatlantic Republics, for it is almost as much for their interest as it is for ours, that these great lines of communication should be opened to all the world, and free to the competition of every nation. There has recently been an attempt to wrest Sonora from the Mexican dominion, which at first attracted some attention in this country; but it has apparently failed, and the effort seems now rather to be ridiculed than condemned. The circumstan amonted with the origin of that movament 1853 cted from authorvn, especially as uch an event gen agents to meet Donsibility. But was known here made, before we occurrence, and the direction of Colonization in North America-Mr. Cass. "This," the adoption of his plans," will be the surest dyke against the usurpation of the Ameri can race. * * French diplomatic agent would take such a step, without the instructions of his Government, knows nothing of that punctilious sentiment of duty which animates his corps, and little of the responsibility he would encounter. "Three hundred "Frenchmen," says our authority, "collected from 'different parts of the Republic, are already settled upon the lands granted by the Government. 'Within a few years, a Frenchman, Mr. Dupaslesign of Frenchquier de Dommartin, has shown a lively interest myself, from a in the projects of colonization." close, some days e, which I menther gentlemen, pling it with deAnd a document hich is worthy of to confirm these ablished recently Dommartin, for ion of European e, to the purpose Mexico, as the and formidable d preventing for rom the Missis writer has devocareful study of lored the region ne foundation for rocuring, through rico, large grants zation, from the hihuahua. w York Timesxtract, as well as fact of the comthe open avowal ufficient to comAmerican peoerest is increased m appeal is thus the plan; made, no such publicasent of the Govobtained excluan attempt has by arms from ssibility, be acciperating causes; I deal of national en credible. I emoir before the document, advoh we have most s. But I must summary of it. ercial interests, ect to obtain abhe world, and to ects of aggrandwonderful progake, unless Euen considers the y to show, that ivision, she will -y of the United an colonization. explorations in the foundation This brief abpurpose I have mary made by facts: First, that hern Continent, of by these two seas, here. Second, that parts by the United "There is also involved the great interest of England for Europe, in not allowing to be accom'plished, in spite of her, perhaps against her, and 'to her detriment, this new dismemberment of the 'Spanish-American Empire." The Courrier des Etats-Unis, published at New York, the wellknown organ of the French Government in this country, in an article, a few days since, made a very pregnant allusion, whether carelessly or carefully I know not, but certainly well worthy of attention: "As yet," says the Courrier, "France 'has not set her foot on the American continent. We may fear what she will do, we admit, but in good faith she does not yet merit the least crimin'ation." This is honest enough, indeed, whether intended as a prophecy or as a warning. It may be that it will be found expedient to irradiate the new empire with the luster of conquest; and it also may be, that the great augmentation of the French Navy is connected with the designs upon this continent, so distinctly portrayed in the quotations I have made. Nothing is lost by a provident fore cast. Now, it can hardly be doubted by any man who is familiar with the course of European interposition, that if the effort just made to overthrow the Mexican Government in Sonora had succeeded, ere long the country would have passed into the possession of France, unless prevented by our remonstrances, or by armed intervention. As it failed, we shall not know its true history until we read it in another attempt, and perhaps a successful one. That, however, will not be made, if we are true to ourselves, by announcing and continuing to manifest a determination to resist it, or any similar scheme of European aggrandizement. It is obvious, from the foregoing recapitulation, that our policy and purposes are attracting the attention of Europe; and whatever difference of opinion may prevail respecting the true origin and objects of the recent movements in Sonora, it is equally obvious that we may look for similar explosions, from time to time, with results far more injurious to us, unless anticipated and prevented by a prompt, bold, and decisive declaration, made to be enforced with all our power, should circumstances be grave enough to require us to put forth our whole strength. If, then, we have a right to insist upon this principle of American exemption, and if the condition of things, here and elsewhere, may render the exercise of this right essential to our interest and our safety, and, still more, if the original annunciation of the doctrine meet, as it unquestionably does, the general approbation of the country, what objection can there be to its reaffirmation by Congress, the depository of so much of the power of the American people? Why this course is rendered necessary, I have already explained, and have shown that the time which has intervened since its first proclamation, and the circumstances, which have almost reduced it to a dead letter, have produced the impression, which evidently prevails in Europe, that we are not prepared to enforce it, as the war-making authority has refused or neged to knowing if lected to sanction it-why, I repeat, withhold this action, and leave us thereby to encourage untoward events, which due firmness, on our part, might anticipate, and would probably prevent? The decree stands recorded in the history of our Executive acts. It is essential to its vitality, that it should now take its place in the acts of the Legislative Department. Why not? Do you mean to leave it without effect, and abandon it to its fate, and not even attempt to enforce it? If so, it would be much more honorable to repeal it. Or do you desire its efficient action in great exigencies, which may come, probably, indeed, will come, for if you to obtain so much and established 1x Mondes, for corroborative of of Mr. Dupasmpts," says that Mexican difficulmade. We menonization of the greatly aided by supposes that a SENATE. do, you must fortify it by the declaration of your zealous concurrence, and, if need be, your powerful coöperation. Or are we afraid to speak out boldly, plainly, as becomes the American people, trusting to the miserable policy of expedients, instead of asserting our rights and our determination to maintain them? It may be consoling to observe, at least for those who need the consolation, that a legislative declaration would, to say the least of it, have a strong tendency to prevent attempts, which, without such an imposing measure, would doubtless be made; for assuredly a contest with the United States for the acquisition of territory in North America, the very seat of our power, would not be hazarded without very powerful considerations, which it is difficult to foresee, in the face of the exertions of this country, putting forth all its strength. So much for this project of reconverting the American continent into European colonies, and for the position it is our duty to assume and maintain in relation to it. And now for the second resolution, which looks to the present and the future of the Island of Cuba. But before proceeding to the consideration of it, it is proper to remark, that its form has provoked a good deal of animadversion and some opposition, because the desire of the United States to purchase Cuba is not distinctly announced upon this occasion. Mr. President, it is an occasion which is not appropriate to such a declaration. Our present purpose, in this appeal to the world, is to announce our policy, should any other nation attempt to obtain possession, by the consent or without the consent of Spain, and in the conviction that such a solemn procedure will have a tendency to prevent designs which might otherwise be undertaken. But our purchase of Cuba is a question between us and Spain, and requires no public annunciation to other nations, and to make it, would be a sacrifice of our own self-respect. So far as respects my own personal views, these I have already explained to the Senate. I desire the possession of Cuba, earnestly desire it, whenever we can justly obtain it, and the sooner that time comes the better; for then will be finally settled one of the most delicate questions-the most delicate, perhaps, in our foreign policy, always liable to embarrass us by grave conjunctures more easily to be seen than to be guarded against. As to the means, though, as I have already said, I am prepared to advocate its purchase, even at the most liberal price. Still, I should prefer its acquisition by the action of the people of Cuba-and a noble tribute it would be to our institutions-in the exercise of their power as an independent nation, could they succeed by any arrangement with Spain in procuring her recognition of that condition, or should they be able and prepared to establish their right to a place in the family of nations. There are two questions involved in this subject of Cuba: one of right, the other of expediency. Whether we can do anything justly, and if we can, what and how much we ought to do. This great measure of policy, connected with the destiny of that important insular position, has long occupied the attention of the American people, and the considerations bearing upon it have been so often and so elaborately presented, that I shall confine my present remarks within the narrowest compass which the gravity of the inquiry will permit. We are all aware of the recent circumstances which have attracted and arrested public attention; and though the crisis they appeared to foreshadow has passed away, still there are elements of diffi culty arising out of the uncertain condition of the Spanish monarchy, both metropolitan and colonial, which must be in active operation, ever liable to produce results gravely affecting our vital interests. The right of one country to occupy or control portions of the possessions of another, is deducible from the great law of self-defense, which is as applicable to communities as to individuals. There are many instances in modern history of the application of this doctrine, and the code which regulates the intercourse of nations, and which adapts itself to the existing circumstances of the world, recognizes this power of self-preservation. Like other human pretensions, this is liable to abuse, and has been greatly abused in Europe, and espe by the usurpations, aris facer-a principle avow petection of the weak agai rally perverted to make the , and the weak more depe ng the responsibility of its and mad, and sensible o Le take care, when driven t atag it, that it does not dizement for the just clair ze the fleet of a friendly fr example, as a mere ins off.remacy. True principle is well laid gative history, and was anno of Congress of March 3d Taking into view the peculiar sit And in the act of Congress, pas This is ur doctrine and our Does the Island of Cuba present! se of a vigilant supervision o represented to the Senate upon 1 aty to the summit of the R , and drains, in its own sing out of the balvedly introduced for ainst the strong, but he strong more powpendent. A nation, ts conduct towards of its own duties, n to avert danger by t mistake a spirit of aims of self-defense, lly Power, a Danish instrument of mari id down in our own nounced in the reso3d, 1811, which de situation of Spain, and Onsidering the influence adjoining the southern ave upon their security, fore ouse of Representatives in Congress assembled, eculiar circumstances of serious inquietude, see to the hands of any forto their own safety comn contingencies, for the territory. They at the territory shall, in their gotiations." , passed on the same rrying this declarais provided that the take possession of do river, and south I of the Mississippi ats, in case it should uthority, "or in the y the said Territory our policy, and the h and British Govulate, by a tripartite ion of Spain, the fuself a concession of l peculiar positions terests depend. ent those paramount our safety and prosted States in the exon over its destiny, ve measures for its nation seek to obtain The importance of difficulty in its soluderation, and in reiews I have heretobon this subject. eservoir of the great ontinent, whose imize, as it is the value eek an outlet to the at country is nearly embracing twentythirty-five of longiof the globe. This summit of the AlleRocky Mountains, eight millions. The g when almost the nan's stroke in this ow living, who will 'ed millions of peopioneer has crossed tains, and the forest industry upon the China and Japan. tery of this region; im the fountains at ocean under a tropcourse, and in the ties-tributaries in act-the most maghis providence, has nd enjoy. I have ream two thousand iring the country tate of nature, and at that country is an industry. The Colonization in North America-Mr. Cass. the character of the people who will inhabit it, SENATE. shows the views of British statesmen upon this subject. Lord George Bentinck, one of the most distinguished public men of England, and then the Tory leader in the Commons, in a discussion which took place there, said: "He had read in the Times an extract from a United States paper, in which it was stated, that if the United States did not possess herself of Cuba, Great Britain would, and that England had a greater claim, by one hundred fold, to Cuba than the United States had to Mexico, because a sum of £45,000,000 was due to British subjects, and Cuba was hypothecated for the debt, &c., &c. He would therefore say at once, let them (the British) take possession of Cuba, and settle the question altogether. Let them distrain upon it for the just debt due-and too long in vain-from the Spanish Government." And then comes the true key to the English heart: "Then depend upon it," continued the speaker, "when Great Britain possessed the Havana, as once she did in 1762, when she held it for about a year, and then exchanged it for the Floridas, and WHEN SHE COULD CUT THE TRADE OF AMERICA in two, no more boasts would be heard of what the United States could do," &c. During the palmy days of Napoleon, it is said that one of his projects was to convert the Mediterranean into a French lake. England has nearly done what defied the power and ambition of the Great Conqueror. She has almost converted it into an English lake, in time of war. Gibraltar commands its entrance, Malta the channel between Sicily and Africa, and the Ionian Islands the waters of the Levant. There were good reasons for believing, a short time since, that England was seeking to obtain a cession of the Island of Crete, the ancient kingdom of Minos, which would give her the port of Canea, that I found one of the most magnificent harbors in the world, equally capacious and secure. If England, in the pursuit of the same system, should acquire similar commanding positions on the Gulf of Mexico, that great The importance of Cuba to our interest seems reservoir would become a mare clausum, and no to be pretty well appreciated in the halls of British keel would plow it, nor canvas whiten it in legislation. This last candid avowal of a design time of war, but by her permission. Now, sir, and a desire to cut in twain the commerce along looking to the extent of our coast in that direcour southern coasts, would find its proper place in tion; to the productions which must pass there a precious article published some years since in to seek a market; to the nature of our population; Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, entitled "A and to the effect upon all these, which a perma- War with the United States a Blessing to Man-/ nent naval superiority would produce-where is kind," filled with some of the most cold-blooded the American who is not prepared to adopt any suggestions that ever marked even that notorious measures to avert such a calamitous state of receptacle of vile slanders against this country. things? Who can fail to see the nature of the The present security of Cuba from European inpredatory warfare which England would carry on terference, independent of our position, is to be in all times of hostilities, from her various posi- found in the jealousy of France and England. tions, which would encircle the Gulf, from the And could this be removed by any scheme of Bahamas to Cuba and to Yucatan? And who, partition, the mortgage would be foreclosed, for also, can fail to see, that even in time of peace, her France also has a similar lien, and the property many harbors would become places of refuge for transferred as soon as the process could be coma certain class of our population, and that perpet-pleted. And we are reminded, in the recent corual collisions would occur, involving the peace of the two countries? The Gulf of Mexico, sir, must be practically an American lake, for the great purpose of security, not to exclude other nations from its enjoyment, but to prevent any dominant Power, with foreign or remote interests, from controlling its navigation. It becomes us to look our difficulties in the face. Nothing is gained by blinking a great question. Prudent statesmen should survey it, and as far as may be, provide for it. We have, indeed, no Mount Carmel, like that of Judea, nor prophet to ascend it, and to warn us against a coming storm. But the home of every citizen is a Mount Carmel for us, whence we can survey the approaching cloud, even when no bigger than a man's hand, which threatens to overspread the political aimosphere, and to burst in danger upon his country. So long as Cuba is held by its present possessors, neither we nor the commercial world have anything to fear from the projects of England or France; for the latter country also has its schemes of territorial and mercantile aggrandizement, as is apparent from the considerations I have already presented to the Senate. Spain is not now in a condition, and in all human probability never can be, seriously to annoy us, even if she had the disposition, and we may well rely upon her want of power and her want of will, and rest satisfied that her most precious dependency, the Queen of the Antilles, will not be hazarded by converting it into a military and naval arsenal for interrupting and seizing our commerce and devastating our coasts. But let the dominion be transferred to England or France, and where are we? The mouth of our great river might be hermetically closed, and the most disastrous injuries inflicted upon us. I need not pursue these considerations further, for he who is incredulous to their force, would not be driven from his incredulity by any effort of mine. Such being the intimate relations between this island-fortress and our safety and prosperity, are there such indications of danger as to call upon a provident nation to decide upon its course promptly, and to pursue it inflexibly? The signs upon this subject are neither few nor doubtful. I am not going to review them. But no man of ordinary sagacity, looking to the acknowledged policy of France and England, can question the respondence between Mr. Everett and the Ministers of France and England, on the subject of the proposed tripartite treaty, suggestively or significantly, as may be, that the hypothecation is yet in full force as "British and French subjects, as well as the French Government are, on different accounts, creditors of Spain for large sums of money. How soon the creditors may distrain, in the language of Lord George Bentinck, may depend upon our course. I am satisfied they will resort to no such remedy, should we keep on Mr. Canning's line of political knowledge, and say, if you touch the island, that act will be a declaration of war against the United States. Besides, no man can look at the aspect of Europe without feeling assured that, from day to day, collisions may arise between nations, and internal convulsions may shake the very frame of society. And wars may thus break out, extending their effects through the globe. The Spanish monarchy, it may be, is incapable of rejuvenation; I do not know how that may be, and I leave it to a wiser or to a rasher man than I am to speak confidently. But certainly that kingdom is marked with the signs of some approaching catastrophe. If the new French Empire follows the traditions, as it inherits the name and institutions of the old, which rose and fell with its founder, the greatest name, in my opinion, in modern, if not in ancient European history, it will soon make itself felt in the Hesperian Peninsula, and become the arbiter of its fate. To rely, as some profess to do, upon the security which the present state of things in Europe gives to the panish dominion in Cuba, is to neglect the most obvious dictates of policy, and to abandon an object of vast importance to the mere chance of events. The correspondence to which I have just alluded gives rise to some serious reflections. Before adverting to these, however, I desire to express my warm approbation of the letter of Mr. Everett. It is worthy of his character, and it is marked by a lofty patriotic Americar. feeling. I have seldom seen a document more conclusive in its argument, or more beautiful in its style or illustrations. If it had announced openly that we desire to purchase Cuba-and that declaration would have been appropriate to the occasion-I should have given to it almost my unqualified adhesion: but even APPENDIX TO THE CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE. Colonization in North America-Mr. Cass. [Jan. 15, SENATE. My friend, the Senator from New Hampshire, stic, though a little circumstances, secure our immunity from these and they may fail again. Timidity or immobility And he might freedom and the salage. He says, accessions made to "have created no "and that "probdoubt, "probably" following the exsiness to the great one, Mr. Everett! have managed this a happier vein of , that this correerious reflections. a tripartite treaty ? Not with the accepted. There nor of the British well before the proat the offer would all understand our ey knew we were liances," for these ur views with red not sacrifice our scheme. of an invitation to d not do? Well, nswer to this ints are able to say all take our own We have asked ares necessary for lined to join us. We have given cognize your right at we shall "disou may make to declaration is exvernment, and the from the letter of ks of there being aration of the Uni"juxtaposition" Power," and inintention ever to his, of course, he tter: France and nt to decide upon asked the concurheir proposed arlined, and the two iples, are free to - as they can agree do that, each of apter of accidents, the other may be wever, that we sit peace, peace, when o show why these ve endeavored to ty to adopt them, ld have a powercts of aggrandizence, will go on to t presume to say ne will, under all Did not our fathers issue a John Doe and Richard Roe notice to the world, on the fourth day of July, 1776, when we assumed a place among its independent communities; and did they not then announce certain great principles as fundamental articles of our political faith? And did not the Emperor of Russia, but the other day, issue also his John Doe and Richard Roe notice, in the form of a Muscovite decree, proclaiming to Christendom that nations should not be independent, contrary to his pleasure?-for such is the meaning of that memorable State paper, when divested of its diplomatic redundancy. And is not modern history full of these declarations, more or less just or unjust, as well as more or less grave, down to the blockading of a port even, which is made known by the same process? So much for these two old pillars of the common law, thus converted into pillars of the public law of the world. And I take this occasion to add, that I saw with dismay, that these two reverened personages had been recently put to death by the British Parliament!-the most prominent event in human progress that has occurred in my day! The old dry bones are really beginning to shake. I have no doubt, but that this irreparable loss has been sincerely deplored, as well in England, as in this country, by many a devout believer in the doctrine that all changes are changes for the worse; and that unless a head is covered with a horse-hair wig, whatever may be inside, the outside renders the man utterly unfit for a judicial station. "Oh, the virtue of horse hair!" said the waggish Progressivists of the Edinburgh Review. But, sir, these resolutions, or equivalent ones, embodying the same principles, will pass the Legislature of the United States. Their passage but a question of time. They may fail to-day, is Mr. President, I am not going over the old ground of our manifest destiny, and the mission we have to fulfill, and other similar phrases, expletives, if you please, adopted into our political vocabulary, and which have provoked more criticism than they merit, and been assigned more importance than they are entitled to. I take it, they are all merely indicative of a strong impression of the mighty career that is before us, and of the duties and responsibilities it brings with it, as well towards ourselves as the world. However these may be magnified or depressed, they cannot be avoided; and that past which alone foreshadows the future, is filled with the most startling proofs of national progress, which have ever arrested the attention of mankind. The generation has not yet wholly passed away since we were a peaceful dependency of England, and he who, by the kindness of Providence and the favor of his fellow-citizens, is now permitted to address you, was born before the final acknowledgment of our independence by the parent country. A narrow strip of sea-coast, and a scattered population short of three millions, who were hardly permitted, as it has been said, in illustration rather than in assertion, to make a horseshoe nail for themselves, divided into separate colonies, and almost unknown, with some profitable rather than patriotic anticipations at home, as England was then called, that these possessions might be useful for the purpose of taxation. Such was our condition about the commencement of our revolutionary struggle, and at its close we found ourselves exhausted by the exertions we had made, and without internal trade, without external commerce, and, in fact, without a government for the protection of social order or the prevention of foreign aggression; and, indeed, the institutions of the country were maintained by the character of the people, and not by political organization. The seventy years which have since passed away have more than quadrupled the area of our territory, have increased our population eightfold, and have added to our productive industry, to our commerce and navigation, to our revenue and resources, and to all the other elements of power and prosperity in a still greater ratio, while they have given us a Government and institutions as free as is compatible with the preservation of order, and have placed us among the great Powers of the earth, with none to make us afraid. And at the same time our intellectual improvement has kept pace with our material advancement, and our whole progress is without example in the history of nations. 32D CONG.....2D SESS air of the future. Let n with it causes of gratula his thus we have a mission to Iking back upon our prog Bat old things have passed aw stile ship to fight against h Now, sir, in this state of things, let no man de W 5. o one fear that his ater, come up to her mption, but without from day to day, but reer before the world hen the "numbering ts surprising even to lible to the other naght of these I have ic strides they mark most appalling to the ficent destiny, even al pride, but in proser for evil or for good, lation for every true ave responsibilities, I ought not to be neg to fulfill, in the exall just efforts to prom, the advancement blishment of all the blic and private pros rogress from infancy at we have submitted d contumelious, beresist, as we should remarkable for their ption and pertinacity d. We had true pakness to guide and ey fulfill their trust. ecause we could fort or avenge. Colonization in North America-Mr. Butler. I away, and with the nation of the Amerirests and their honor however these may difficult even for this o the next it would nless established by public records, that y argued with Engtes, whether her nater and search our be met on the ocean, ere will, any person him to that worst of ted service on board it his own country. that argument, and r means. We have id the first man imsel by a British offiy his Government, Nor shall we ever Berlin and Milan demes of rapacity by olen during the terFrench Revolution d, in elaborate State 3 plea, that he robs r will be robbed, by , is with the things u, sir, that the time of the territorial exthis Union will be ose which dismemver, in my opinion, d upon grounds so ut we yielded, and and acquiring reslet us do just what thers. That is our at we should exerther Powers of the sition, in the declaernational law, the will teach us, ere by when threatened stile to the freedom y the same solemn s that which anse that our Chief and not a crown, that we are just as a declaration denying to the Emperor of Russia, the authority he had assumed, to act the part of universal legislator, and to impress his own will upon the code of the public law of mankind, prostrating with his pen, preparatory to prostrating with his sword, all the barriers that protect the political rights of nations. Well, we shrunk also from this high duty. We got alarmed at the shadow of something-I do not know precisely what, whether Russian ukases, or "entangling alliances"--and left the Czar to pass his own law, and to enforce it too. And hereafter, when the occasion comes,— and it will come, for power, like the daughters of the horse-leech, always cries Give! Give!-he will be able to quote his own precedent, submitted to in both hemispheres, and seek to regulate the whole subject of international communication, and of national rights by a ukase, as he regulates the lives and fortunes of the sixty millions of people who call him lord and master. In brief time we shall abjure all this, as well our own subservience, as his presumption, and assume our place in the great legislative council of nations. We have evidently reached one of those epochs in the career of nations to which the historian of their decline and fall looks back, in his searching investigation, into the causes of their fate. Our duties are plain, noble indeed, and our position invites us to fulfill them, firmly and fearlessly. The progress and improvement in all the great branches of human industry, and especially in those which relate to the intercommunication of nations, and to the benefit that each may derive from all by the interchange, as well of knowledge as of material products, have brought the human family more closely into contact than at any former period, and have opened interests which, if not new, have become much more powerful in their extent and operation, and which give some degree of unity to the public feeling of the world. We cannot withdraw from this great association. We cannot isolate ourselves from the common sentiment of the age, nor ought we to do so, if we could. Our place is assigned to us by events almost beyond our control, and as we fill it, worthily or unworthily, the judgment of the future will pronounce us the inheritors of the spirit, as we have been of the labors and sacrifices, of the men of the Revolution, or craven descendants, false to their principles, as to our own honor. I am well aware, Mr. President, that such views expose a man to a great deal of obloquy in this country. I have experienced all that, in common with many others. But neither the advent, nor the apprehension of it, has deterred me at much earlier periods of life, and certainly will not deter me now, when that life is fast drawing to a close, from the expression of an earnest hope that the American name and fame will be maintained by the American people with the brightness of true glory, undiminished by the neglect of a single deed, or the commission of a single deed, which national honor may require we should do, or leave undone. SENATE. once recovers, he wonders how he ever caught the disorder. I have seen a great deal of this political perversity, this unpatriotic predisposition which prompts many men always to take part against their country, whatever be the position in which she is placed. I do not recollect a single controversy in which we have been involved with a foreign Power, since I have been on the stage of action, when the whole sentiment of the country was united in the cause of the country. I doubt if there is another people on the face of the globe whose history presents so many instances of this want of true national pride, patriotism rather, as our own. Whether it results from any peculiar political idiosyncracy I know not; or whether our party feelings are so strong that we are blinded by them, and led, in their vehemence, to think that all is wrong our opponents do; or it may be, at any rate, so far as England is concerned, that some of the old colonial leaven remains, which leavens much of the lump. Be it one or the other, or whatever else, the deplorable consequence is certain, and the sentiment of Decatur, not less noble than just, "Our country right or wrong, ," which, being truly understood, felt rather, means, that when embarked in a controversy with a foreign nation, it becomes every true citizen, after the course of his country has been decided by the constitutional authority, to submit to that decision and to support her cause, and not the cause of her foes; this noble sentiment finds many who repudiate it; many who possess the character without possessing the feelings of American citizens. Mr. President, I trust our imperial neighbor on the other side of the Pacific, the mighty brother of the sun and moon, will set up no Chinese claims to our new possessions upon that ocean; for if he should, they might create much embarrassment, as I fear there would not be found wanting those among us ready to vouch for the validity of the claim, and to impugn our title because it is ours. But, returning from this digression, if it can be called one, more immediately to the subject, I would observe that conservatism and progress, as they are called, designate principles, positions rather, which are useful in their moderate, but injurious in their extreme application. Like all other antagonistic elements, which work together, and well and wisely, in the worlds of mind and matter, these also may usefully coöperate, without counteracting each other. It may be that we may run too fast; but we have not yet committed that error, nor do I believe we shall. When we do, then it will be time enough to announce the danger and to propose the remedy. In the mean time, we desire that we may be left free in our career, rightfully free, unimpeded by tortuous European policy or project of aggrandizement upon this continent. And every American who participates in this sentiment, will be ready to proclaim it, as these resolutions do, and abide by it, in safety and in dangers. We do not intend to be circumscribed in our expansion, nor do we intend to have this hemisphere ruled by maxims suited neither to its position nor to its interests, and divided into political communities, dependencies of European monarchies, or under their influence, and, therefore, liable to be involved in every war breaking out in the Old World, and thus extending its dangers and its difficulties to the New, and by which means we should be exposed, in all time to come, to have our lines of communication with our Pacific coast interrupted, our commerce cut in two, as Lord George Bentinck said, and war entailed upon us, agreeably to the moral code of Blackwood, that impersonation of English Tory feeling, as a blessing to mankind," together with all the other vexatious annoyances which such a state of things could not fail to bring with it. If this is not to be our destiny, we must be progressive, till the great objects are accomplished, and then just as conservative as may be necessary to maintain our high There are men, American citizens even, who cannot appreciate sentiments like these who disbelieve in their existence, and who deride and denounce all those who avow them as demagogues -that is the term-and which, when truly translated from our party vocabulary into old-fashioned English, means all who differ in great measures from these standards of faith, and advocate them, even though they are acceptable to the people-a fatal error, indeed, in a country like this. I saw the other day a specimen of this exclusive patriotism, which rails at all it does not accept, in a Buffalo paper, the Commercial Advertiser, which, from its near relation to the present Administration, I should have thought would have tried to elevate itself above this tone of affected moderation, but of real subserviency, and which deprecates all these efforts to resist European encroachment, talks of the ghost of the Monroe doctrine, and of palpable absurdities introduced into the Senate with owl-like wisdom, and in a spirit of demagog-position in the world, our free institutions, and all ism, and of the equality of the rights of European monarchs with the United States upon this continent, and much more of the same sort, little suited 66 those elements of individual and national prosperity which God has given to us, and which, I trust, man will never be able to take awav Thi |