And now, Sir, in the name of that Public Faith which is the very
ligament of civil society, and which the great Roman orator tells us it
is detestable to break even with an enemy, I arraign this scheme, and
hold it up to the judgment of the country. There is an early Italian
story of an experienced citizen, who, when told by his nephew, at
the University of Bologna, that he had been studying the science of
_Right_, said in reply, "You have spent your time to little purpose.
It would have been better, had you learned the science of _Might_, for
that is worth two of the other"; and the bystanders of that day all
agreed that the veteran spoke the truth. I begin, Sir, by assuming
that honorable Senators will not act in this spirit,--that they will
not wantonly and flagitiously discard any obligation, pledge, or
covenant, because they chance to possess the power,--that they will not
substitute _might_ for _right_.
Sir, the proposition before you involves not merely the repeal of
existing law, but the infraction of solemn obligations, originally
proposed and assumed by the South, after protracted and embittered
contest, as a covenant of peace, with regard to certain specified
territory therein described, namely, "All that territory ceded by
France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana,"--according
to which, in consideration of the admission into the Union of Missouri
as a Slave State, Slavery was forever prohibited in all the remaining
part of this territory which lies north of 36° 30´. This arrangement
between different sections of the Union, the Slave States of the first
part and the Free States of the second part, though usually known as
the Missouri Compromise, was at the time styled a COMPACT. In
its stipulations for Slavery, it was justly repugnant to the conscience
of the North, and ought never to have been made; but on that side it
has been performed. And now the unperformed outstanding obligations to
Freedom, originally proposed and assumed by the South, are resisted.
Years have passed since these obligations were embodied in the
legislation of Congress, and accepted by the country. Meanwhile the
statesmen by whom they were framed and vindicated have, one by one,
dropped from this earthly sphere. Their living voices cannot now be
heard, for the conservation of that Public Faith to which they were
pledged. But this extraordinary lapse of time, with the complete
fruition by one party of all the benefits belonging to it under the
compact, gives to the transaction an added and most sacred strength.
Prescription steps in and with new bonds confirms the original work,
to the end, that, while men are mortal, controversies shall not be
immortal. Death, with inexorable scythe, has mowed down the authors of
this compact; but, with conservative hour-glass, the dread destroyer
has counted out a succession of years, which now defile before us, like
so many sentinels, to guard the sacred landmark of Freedom.
* * * * *
A simple statement of facts, derived from the Journals of Congress
and contemporary records,[42] will show the origin and nature of
this compact, the influence by which it was established, and the
obligations it imposed.
[42] As the volumes of the Annals of Congress covering the
proceedings on the Missouri Compromise were not published when
this speech was made, Mr. Sumner was obliged to rely upon the
National Intelligencer and Niles's Register. In the present edition
references are made to the Annals of Congress.
As early as 1818, at the first session of the Fifteenth Congress, a
bill was reported to the House of Representatives, authorizing the
people of the Missouri Territory to form a Constitution and State
Government, for the admission of such State into the Union; but
at that session no final action was had. At the next session, in
February, 1819, the bill was again brought forward, when an eminent
Representative of New York, whose life was spared till this last
autumn, Mr. James Tallmadge, moved a clause prohibiting any further
introduction of slaves into the proposed State, and securing Freedom
to the children born within the State, after admission into the Union,
on attaining the age of twenty-five years. This important proposition,
which assumed a power not only to prohibit the ingress of Slavery
into the State, _but also to abolish it there_, was passed in the
affirmative, after a vehement debate of three days. On a division of
the question, the first part, prohibiting the further introduction
of slaves, was adopted by eighty-seven yeas to seventy-six nays; the
second part, providing for the emancipation of children, was adopted
by eighty-two yeas to seventy-eight nays. Other propositions to thwart
the operation of these amendments were voted down, and on the 17th
of February the bill was read a third time, and passed with these
important restrictions.
In the Senate, after debate, the provision for the emancipation of
children was struck out by thirty-one yeas to seven nays; the other
provision, against the further introduction of Slavery, was struck
out by twenty-two yeas to sixteen nays. Thus emasculated, the bill
was returned to the House, which, on the 2d of March, by a vote of
seventy-eight nays to seventy-six yeas, refused its concurrence. The
Senate adhered to their amendments, and the House, by seventy-eight
yeas to sixty-six nays, adhered to their disagreement; and so at this
session the Missouri Bill was lost: and here was a temporary triumph
for Freedom.
Meanwhile the same controversy was renewed on the bill pending at the
same time for the organization of the Territory of Arkansas, then known
as the southern part of the Territory of Missouri. The restrictions
already adopted in the Missouri Bill were moved by Mr. Taylor, of New
York, subsequently Speaker; but, after at least five close votes, on
the yeas and nays, in one of which the House was equally divided,
eighty-eight yeas to eighty-eight nays, they were lost. Another
proposition by Mr. Taylor, simpler in form, that Slavery should not
hereafter be introduced into this Territory, was lost by ninety nays
to eighty-six yeas; and the Arkansas Bill, on the 20th of February,
was read the third time and passed. In the Senate, Mr. Burrill, of
Rhode Island, moved, as an amendment, the prohibition of the further
introduction of Slavery into this Territory, which was lost by nineteen
nays to fourteen yeas. And thus, without any provision for Freedom,
Arkansas was organized as a Territory: and here was a triumph of
Slavery.
At this same session Alabama was admitted as a Slave State, without any
restriction or objection.
It was in the discussion on the Arkansas Bill, at this session, that
we find the earliest suggestion of a Compromise. Defeated in his
efforts to prohibit Slavery in this Territory, Mr. Taylor stated that
"he thought it important that some line should be designated beyond
which Slavery should not be permitted," and he moved its prohibition
hereafter in all Territories of the United States north of 36° 30´
north latitude, _without any exception of Missouri, which is north of
this line_. This proposition, though withdrawn after debate, was at
once welcomed by Mr. Livermore, of New Hampshire, as "made in the true
spirit of _compromise_." It was opposed by Mr. Rhea, of Tennessee, on
behalf of Slavery, who avowed himself against every restriction,--and
also by Mr. Ogle, of Pennsylvania, on behalf of Freedom, who was
"opposed to any compromise by which Slavery in any of the Territories
should be recognized or sanctioned by Congress." In this spirit it
was opposed and supported by others, among whom was General Harrison,
afterwards President of the United States, who "assented to the
expediency of establishing some such line of discrimination," but
proposed a line due west from the mouth of the Des Moines, thus
constituting the northern, and not the southern boundary of Missouri,
the partition line between Freedom and Slavery.
This idea of Compromise, though suggested by Mr. Taylor, was thus early
adopted and vindicated in this very debate by an eminent character--Mr.
Louis McLane, of Delaware--who has since held high office in the
country,[43] and enjoyed no common measure of public confidence. Of all
the leading actors in these early scenes, he and Mr. Mercer alone are
yet spared. On this occasion he said:--
"The fixing of a line on the west of the Mississippi, north of
which Slavery should not be tolerated, _had always been with him
a favorite policy_, and he hoped the day was not distant, when,
upon principles of _fair compromise_, it might constitutionally be
effected."[44]
[43] Secretary of State and Minister to England under President
Jackson, and a second time Minister to England under President Polk.
[44] Annals of Congress, 15th Cong. 2d Sess., Feb. 17, 1819, Vol.
II. col. 1228.
The present attempt, however, he regarded as premature. After opposing
the restriction on Missouri, he concluded by declaring:--
"At the same time, I do not mean to abandon the policy to which
I alluded in the commencement of my remarks. I think it but fair
that both sections of the Union should be accommodated on this
subject, with regard to which so much feeling has been manifested.
The same great motives of policy which reconciled and harmonized
the jarring and discordant elements of our system originally, and
which enabled the framers of our happy Constitution to compromise
the different interests which then prevailed upon this and other
subjects, if properly cherished by us, will enable us to achieve
similar objects. If we meet upon principles of reciprocity, we
cannot fail to do justice to all. _It has already been avowed by
gentlemen on this floor, from the South and the West, that they
will agree upon a line which shall divide the slaveholding from
the non-slaveholding States. It is this proposition I am anxious
to effect; but I wish to effect it by some COMPACT which shall be
binding upon all parties and all subsequent Legislatures_,--which
cannot be changed, and will not fluctuate with the diversity of
feeling and of sentiment to which this empire, in its march, must
be destined. There is a vast and immense tract of country west of
the Mississippi yet to be settled, and intimately connected with
the northern section of the Union, _upon which this compromise can
be effected_."[45]
[45] Ibid., 1235.
The suggestions of Compromise were at this time vain: each party was
determined. The North, by the prevailing voice of its Representatives,
claimed all for Freedom; the South, by its potential command of the
Senate, claimed all for Slavery.
The report of this debate aroused the country. For the first time
in our history, Freedom, after animated struggle, hand to hand, was
kept in check by Slavery. The original policy of our fathers in the
restriction of Slavery was suspended, and this giant wrong threatened
to stalk into all the broad national domain. Men at the North were
humbled and amazed. The imperious demands of Slavery seemed incredible.
Meanwhile the whole subject was adjourned from Congress to the
people. Through the press and at public meetings, an earnest voice
was raised against the admission of Missouri into the Union without
the restriction of Slavery. Judges left the bench, and clergymen the
pulpit, to swell the indignant protest which went up from good men
without distinction of party or pursuit.
The movement was not confined to a few persons, nor to a few States.
A public meeting at Trenton, in New Jersey, was followed by others in
New York and Philadelphia, and finally at Worcester, Salem, and Boston,
where committees were organized to rally the country. The citizens
of Baltimore, in public meeting at the court-house, with the mayor
in the chair, resolved "that the future admission of slaves into the
States which may hereafter be formed west of the Mississippi ought to
be prohibited by Congress." Villages, towns, and cities, by memorial,
petition, and prayer, called upon Congress to maintain the great
principle of the Prohibition of Slavery. The same principle was also
commended by the resolutions of State Legislatures; and Pennsylvania,
inspired by the teachings of Franklin and the convictions of the
respectable denomination of Friends, unanimously asserted at once
the right and the duty of Congress to prohibit Slavery west of the
Mississippi, solemnly calling upon her sister States "to refuse to
covenant with crime." New Jersey and Delaware followed. Ohio asserted
the same principle: so did Indiana. The latter State, not content with
providing for the future, severely censured one of its Senators for
his vote to organize Arkansas without the prohibition of Slavery. The
resolutions of New York were reinforced by the recommendation of De
Witt Clinton.[46]
Amidst these excitements Congress came together in December, 1819,
taking possession of these Halls of the Capitol for the first time
since their desolation by the British. On the day after the receipt
of the President's Message two several Committees of the House were
constituted, one to consider the application of Maine, and the other of
Missouri, to enter the Union as separate and independent States. With
only the delay of a single day, the bill for the admission of Missouri
was reported to the House without the restriction of Slavery; but, as
if shrinking from the immediate discussion of the great question it
involved, afterwards, on motion of Mr. Taylor, of New York, modified by
Mr. Mercer, of Virginia, its consideration was postponed for several
weeks: all which, be it observed, is in open contrast with the manner
in which the present discussion has been precipitated upon Congress.
Meanwhile the Maine Bill, when reported to the House, was promptly
acted upon, and sent to the Senate.
In the interval between the report of the Missouri Bill and its
consideration by the House, a Committee was constituted, on motion of
Mr. Taylor, of New York, to inquire into the expediency of prohibiting
the introduction of Slavery into the Territories west of the
Mississippi. This Committee, at the end of a fortnight, was discharged
from further consideration of the subject, which, it was understood,
would enter into the postponed debate on the Missouri Bill.
[46] See Niles's Weekly Register, Vol. XVII. _passim_.
This early effort to interdict Slavery in the Territories by special
law is worthy of notice on account of expressions of opinion it
drew forth. In the course of his remarks, Mr. Taylor declared that
"he presumed there was no member--he knew of none--who doubted the
constitutional power of Congress to impose such a restriction on the
Territories."[47]
[47] Annals of Congress, 16th Cong. 1st Sess., I. 802.
A generous voice from Virginia recognized at once the right and duty
of Congress. This was from Charles Fenton Mercer, who declared, that,
"when the question proposed should come fairly before the House, he
should support the proposition.... He should record his vote against
suffering the dark cloud of calamity which now darkened his country
from rolling on beyond the peaceful shores of the Mississippi."[48]
[48] Ibid., 803.
At length, on the 25th of January, 1820, the House resolved itself
into Committee of the Whole on the Missouri Bill, and proceeded with
its discussion, day by day, till the 28th of February, when it was
reported back with an amendment excluding Slavery from the proposed
State. At the opening of the debate an amendment was offered with a
view to Compromise, when Mr. Smith, of Maryland, for many years an
eminent Senator of that State, but at this time a Representative, while
opposing the restriction of Missouri, vindicated the prohibition of
Slavery in the Territories.
"He said that he rose principally with a view to state his
understanding of the proposed amendment, namely: That it retained
the boundaries of Missouri as delineated in the bill; that it
prohibited the admission of slaves west of the west line of
Missouri, and north of the north line; that it did not interfere
with the Territory of Arkansas, or the uninhabited land west
thereof. _He thought the proposition not exceptionable_, but
doubted the propriety of its forming a part of the bill. He
considered the power of Congress over the Territory as supreme,
unlimited, before its admission; that Congress could impose on its
Territories any restriction it thought proper; and the people,
when they settled therein, did so under a full knowledge of the
restriction. If citizens go into the Territory thus restricted,
they cannot carry with them slaves. They will be without slaves,
and will be educated with prejudices and habits such as will
exclude all desire on their part to admit Slavery, when they shall
become sufficiently numerous to be admitted as a State. And this is
the advantage proposed by the amendment."[49]
[49] Annals of Congress, _ut supra_, I. 940, 941, January 26, 1820.
Meanwhile the same question was presented to the Senate, where a
conclusion was reached earlier than in the House. A clause for the
admission of Missouri was moved by way of tack to the Maine Bill.
To this an amendment was moved by Mr. Roberts, of Pennsylvania,
prohibiting the further introduction of Slavery into the State, which,
after a fortnight's debate, was defeated by twenty-seven nays to
sixteen yeas.
The debate in the Senate was of unusual interest and splendor. It
was especially illustrated by an effort of eminent power from that
great lawyer and orator, William Pinkney. Recently returned from
a succession of missions to foreign courts, and at this time the
acknowledged chief of the American bar, particularly skilled in
questions of Constitutional Law, his course as a Senator from Maryland
was calculated to produce a profound impression. A speech from him,
which for two days[50] drew to this Chamber an admiring throng, and at
the time was fondly compared with the best examples of Greece and Rome,
is without any record; but another, made shortly afterwards, remains to
us, and here we find the first authoritative proposition and statement
of what has been since known as the Missouri Compromise. This latter
effort was mainly directed against the restriction upon Missouri, but
it began and ended with the idea of Compromise. "Notwithstanding," he
says, "occasional appearances of rather an unfavorable description,
I have long since persuaded myself that the _Missouri question_, as
it is called, might be laid to rest with innocence and safety by some
_conciliatory compromise_ at least, by which, as is our duty, we might
reconcile the extremes of conflicting views and feelings, without
any sacrifice of constitutional principle." And he closed with the
hope that the restriction on Missouri would not be pressed, but that
the whole question "might be disposed of in a manner satisfactory to
all, _by a prospective prohibition of Slavery in the territory to the
north and west of Missouri_."[51] Here let me remark, that, in the
nomenclature of the time, the term "restriction" was applied to the
requirement of Freedom proposed for the State of Missouri, while the
term "prohibition" was applied to the outlying territory north of a
certain line.
[50] January 21 and 24, 1820: Annals of Congress, _ut supra_, I.
232, 236.
[51] Ibid., I. 389-417, February 15, 1820. Wheaton's Life of
Pinkney, Appendix, pp. 573-612.
The compromise proposed was abandonment of the "restriction," with
recognition of the "prohibition."
This authoritative proposition of Compromise from the most powerful
advocate of the unconditional admission of Missouri, was made in the
Senate on the 15th of February. From various indications, it seems to
have found prompt favor in that body. On the 16th of February, the
union of Maine and Missouri in one bill prevailed there by twenty-three
yeas to twenty-one nays. The next day, Mr. Thomas, of Illinois, who
had always voted with the South against any restriction upon Missouri,
introduced the famous clause prohibiting Slavery in territory north of
36° 30´ outside this State, which constitutes the eighth section of
the Missouri Act. An effort was made to include within the prohibition
"the whole country west of the Mississippi, except Louisiana, Arkansas,
and Missouri"; but the South united against such extension of the area
of Freedom, and it was defeated by twenty-four nays to twenty yeas.
The prohibition, as moved by Mr. Thomas, then prevailed by thirty-four
yeas to only ten nays. Among those in the affirmative were both the
Senators from each of the Slave States, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky,
Delaware, Maryland, and Alabama, and also one of the Senators from each
of the Slave States, Mississippi and North Carolina, including in the
honorable list the familiar names of William Pinkney, James Brown, and
William Rufus King.
This bill, thus amended, is the first legislative embodiment of the
Missouri Compact or Compromise, the essential conditions of which
were the admission of Missouri as a State without any restriction of
Slavery, and the prohibition of Slavery in all the remaining territory
of Louisiana north of 36° 30´.[52] Janus-faced, with one front towards
Freedom and another towards Slavery, this must not be confounded with
the simpler proposition of Mr. Taylor, at the preceding session, to
prohibit Slavery in all the territory north of 36° 30´, including
Missouri. The compromise now brought forward, following the early
lead of Mr. McLane, both recognized and prohibited Slavery north of
36° 30´. Here, for the first time, these two opposite principles
commingled in one legislative channel; and it is immediately subsequent
to this junction that we discern the precise responsibility assumed
by different parties. And now observe the indubitable and decisive
fact. This bill, thus composed, containing these two elements, this
double measure, finally passed the Senate by a test vote of twenty-four
yeas to twenty nays. The yeas embraced every Southern Senator except
Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina, and William Smith, of South
Carolina.
MR. BUTLER, of South Carolina (_interrupting_), Mr. Gaillard,
of South Carolina, voted with Mr. Smith.
MR. SUMNER. No, Sir: the Journal, which I now hold in my
hand, shows that he voted for the bill with the Compromise. I repeat,
that the yeas on this vital question embraced every Southern Senator
except Mr. Macon and Mr. Smith. The nays embraced every Northern
Senator, except the two Senators from Illinois, one Senator from Rhode
Island, and one from New Hampshire. And this, Sir, is the record of the
first stage in the adoption of the Missouri Compromise. First openly
announced and vindicated on the floor of the Senate by a distinguished
Southern statesman, it was forced on the North by an almost unanimous
Southern vote.
[52] The eminent Judge Story, who was then in Washington, mentions
these conditions in a private letter, under date of February 27,
1820, as follows: "There is a great deal of heat and irritation,
but most probably a compromise will take place, admitting Missouri
into the Union without the restriction, and imposing it on all the
other Territories."--_Letter to Stephen White, Esq._: Life and
Letters of Story, Vol. I. pp. 362, 363.
* * * * *
While things had thus culminated in the Senate, discussion was still
proceeding in the House on the original Missouri Bill. This was for
a moment arrested by the reception from the Senate of the Maine
Bill, amended by tacking to it a bill for the admission of Missouri,
embodying the Compromise. Upon this the debate was brief and the
decision prompt. The House was not disposed to abandon the substantial
restriction of Slavery in Missouri for what seemed its unsubstantial
prohibition in an unsettled territory. The Senate's amendments to
the Maine Bill were all rejected, and the bill left in its original
condition. This was done by large votes. Even the Prohibition of
Slavery was thrown out, by one hundred and fifty-nine yeas to eighteen
nays, both North and South uniting against it,--though, in this small,
but persistent minority, we find two Southern statesmen, Samuel Smith
and Charles Fenton Mercer. The Senate, on receiving the bill back from
the House, insisted on their amendments. The House in turn insisted on
their disagreement. According to parliamentary usage, a Committee of
Conference between the two Houses was now appointed. Mr. Thomas, of
Illinois, Mr. Pinkney, of Maryland, and Mr. James Barbour, of Virginia,
composed this important Committee on the part of the Senate; and Mr.
Holmes, of Massachusetts, from the District of Maine, Mr. Taylor, of
New York, Mr. Lowndes, of South Carolina, Mr. Parker, of Massachusetts,
and Mr. Kinsey, of New Jersey, on the part of the House.
Meanwhile the House voted on the original Missouri Bill. An amendment
peremptorily interdicting all Slavery in the new State was adopted
by ninety-four yeas to eighty-six nays; and thus the bill passed
the House and was sent to the Senate on the 1st of March. So, after
an exasperated and protracted discussion, the two Houses were at a
dead-lock. The double-headed Missouri Compromise was the ultimatum
of the Senate. The restriction of Slavery in Missouri, involving, of
course, its prohibition in all the unorganized territories, was the
ultimatum of the House.
At this stage, on the 2d of March, the Committee of Conference made
their report, which was urged at once upon the House by Mr. Lowndes,
the distinguished representative from South Carolina, and one of her
most cherished sons. And here, Sir, at the mention of this name,
still so fragrant among us, let me for one moment stop this current
of history, to express the honest admiration with which he inspires
me. Mr. Lowndes died before my memory of political events, but he is
still endeared by the self-abnegation of a single utterance,--_that the
Presidency is an office not to be sought or declined_,--a sentiment
which by its beauty, in one part at least, shames the vileness of
aspiration in our day. Such a man, on any occasion, would be a host;
but he now threw his great soul into the work. He even objected to
a motion to print the Report, on the ground "that it would imply a
determination in the House to delay a decision of the subject to-day,
which he had hoped the House was fully prepared for." The question then
followed on striking out the restriction in the Missouri Bill. The
report in the "National Intelligencer"[53] says:--
"Mr. Lowndes spoke briefly in support of the Compromise recommended
by the Committee of Conference, and urged with great earnestness
the propriety of a decision which would restore tranquillity to the
country, which was demanded by every consideration of discretion,
of moderation, of wisdom, and of virtue."
"Mr. Mercer [of Virginia] followed on the same side with great
earnestness, and had spoken about half an hour, when he was
compelled by indisposition to resume his seat."
[53] See also Annals of Congress, _ut supra_, II. 1578, 1586, March
2, 1820.
Such efforts, pressed with Southern ardor, were not unavailing. In
conformity with the report of the Committee, the whole question was
forthwith put at rest. Maine and Missouri were admitted into the
Union as independent States. The restriction of Slavery in Missouri
was abandoned by a vote in the House of ninety yeas to eighty-seven
nays; and the prohibition of Slavery in territories north of 36° 30´,
exclusive of Missouri, was substituted by a vote of one hundred and
thirty-four yeas to forty-two nays. Among the distinguished Southern
names in the affirmative are Louis McLane, of Delaware, Samuel Smith,
of Maryland, William Lowndes, of South Carolina, and Charles Fenton
Mercer, of Virginia. The title of the Missouri Bill was amended in
conformity with this prohibition, by adding the words, "and to prohibit
Slavery in certain Territories." _The bills then passed both Houses
without a division_; and on the morning of the 3d of March, 1820, the
"National Intelligencer" contained an exulting article, entitled "The
Question Settled."
Another paper, published in Baltimore, immediately after the passage of
the Compromise, vindicated it as a perpetual compact, which could not
be disturbed. The language is so clear and strong that I will read it,
although it has been already quoted by my able and excellent friend
from Ohio [Mr. CHASE].
"_It is true, the Compromise is supported only by the letter
of a law repealable by the authority which enacted it; but the
circumstances of the case give to this law a MORAL FORCE equal
to that of a positive provision of the Constitution; and we do
not hazard anything by saying that the Constitution exists in its
observance._ Both parties have sacrificed much to conciliation. _We
wish to see the COMPACT kept in good faith_, and trust that a kind
Providence will open the way to relieve us of an evil which every
good citizen deprecates as the supreme curse of this country."[54]
[54] Niles's Weekly Register, March 11, 1820.
Sir, the distinguished leaders in this settlement were all from the
South. As early as February, 1819, Louis McLane, of Delaware, urged it
upon Congress, in the form of a "compact binding upon all subsequent
Legislatures." It was in 1820 brought forward and upheld in the Senate
by William Pinkney, of Maryland, and passed in that body by the vote
of every Southern Senator except two, against the vote of every
Northern Senator except four. In the House it was welcomed at once by
Samuel Smith, of Maryland, and Charles Fenton Mercer, of Virginia.
The Committee of Conference, through which it finally prevailed, was
filled, on the part of the Senate, with inflexible partisans of the
South, such as might fitly represent the sentiments of its President,
John Gaillard, a Senator from South Carolina; on the part of the House,
it was nominated by Henry Clay, the Speaker, a Representative from
Kentucky. This Committee, thus constituted, drawing its double life
from the South, was unanimous in favor of the Compromise, with but
one dissenting voice, and that from the North,--John W. Taylor, of
New York. A private letter from Mr. Pinkney, written at the time, and
preserved by his distinguished biographer, shows that the report made
by the Committee came from him.
"The bill for the admission of Missouri into the Union (_without_
restriction as to Slavery) may be considered as passed. That
bill was sent back again this morning from the House, _with
the restriction as to Slavery_. The Senate voted to amend it
by striking out the restriction (twenty-seven to fifteen), and
proposed, as another amendment, _what I have all along been the
advocate of, a restriction upon the vacant territory to the north
and west, as to Slavery_. To-night the House of Representatives
have agreed to _both_ of these amendments, in opposition to their
former votes, and this affair is settled. To-morrow we shall (of
course) recede from our amendments as to Maine (our object being
effected), and both States will be admitted. _This happy result has
been accomplished by the Conference, of which I was a member on the
part of the Senate, and of which I proposed the report which has
been made._"[55]
[55] Wheaton's Life of Pinkney, p. 167.
Thus again the Compromise takes its life from the South. Proposed
in the Committee by Mr. Pinkney, it was urged on the House of
Representatives, with great earnestness, by Mr. Lowndes, of South
Carolina, and Mr. Mercer, of Virginia: and here again is the most
persuasive voice of the South. When passed by Congress, it next came
before the President, James Monroe, of Virginia, for his approval, who
did not sign it till after the _unanimous_ opinion, in writing, of his
Cabinet, composed of John Quincy Adams, William H. Crawford, John C.
Calhoun, Smith Thompson, and William Wirt,--a majority of whom were
Southern men,--that the prohibition of Slavery in the Territories was
constitutional. Thus yet again the Compromise takes its life from the
South.
As the Compromise took its life from the South, so, in the judgment of
its own statesmen at the time, and according to unquestionable facts,
the South was the conquering party. It gained forthwith its darling
desire, the first and essential stage in the admission of Missouri
as a Slave State, successfully consummated at the next session,--and
subsequently the admission of Arkansas, also as a Slave State. From the
crushed and humbled North it received more than the full consideration
stipulated in its favor. On the side of the North the contract has
been more than executed. And now the South refuses to perform the part
which it originally proposed and assumed in this transaction. With the
consideration in its pocket, it repudiates the bargain which it forced
upon the country. This, Sir, is a simple statement of the present
question.
A subtile German has declared that he could find heresies in the
Lord's Prayer; and I believe it is only in this spirit that any flaw
can be found in the existing obligations of this compact. As late as
1848, in the discussions of this body, the Senator from Virginia [Mr.
MASON], who usually sits behind me, but who is not now in his
seat, while condemning it in many aspects, says:--
"Yet, as it was agreed to, as a Compromise, by the _South_, for the
sake of the Union, _I would be the last to disturb it_."[56]
[56] Congressional Globe, 30th Cong. 1st Sess., Vol. XIX.,
Appendix, p. 887.
Even this determined Senator recognized it as an obligation which
he would not disturb. And, though disbelieving the original
constitutionality of the arrangement, he was clearly right. I know,
Sir, that it is in form simply a Legislative Act; but as the Act
of Settlement in England, declaring the rights and liberties of
the subject and settling the succession of the Crown, has become a
permanent part of the British Constitution, irrepealable by any common
legislation, so this Act, under all the circumstances attending its
passage, also by long acquiescence, and the complete performance of
its conditions by one party, has become part of our fundamental law,
irrepealable by any common legislation. As well might Congress at
this moment undertake to overhaul the original purchase of Louisiana
as unconstitutional, and now, on this account, thrust away that
magnificent heritage, with all its cities, States, and Territories,
teeming with civilization. The Missouri Compact, in its unperformed
obligations to Freedom, stands at this day as impregnable as the
Louisiana purchase.
I appeal to Senators about me not to disturb it. I appeal to the
Senators from Virginia to keep inviolate the compact made in their
behalf by James Barbour and Charles Fenton Mercer. I appeal to the
Senators from South Carolina to guard the work of John Gaillard and
William Lowndes. I appeal to the Senators from Maryland to uphold the
Compromise which elicited the constant support of Samuel Smith, and was
first triumphantly pressed by the unsurpassed eloquence of Pinkney.
I appeal to the Senators from Delaware to maintain the landmark of
Freedom in the Territory of Louisiana early proposed by Louis McLane.
I appeal to the Senators from Kentucky not to repudiate the pledges
of Henry Clay. I appeal to the Senators from Alabama not to break the
agreement sanctioned by the earliest votes in the Senate of their late
most honored fellow-citizen, William Rufus King. Sir, I have heard of
honor that felt a stain like a wound. If there be any such in this
Chamber,--and surely there is,--it will hesitate to take upon itself
the stain of this transaction.
Sir, Congress may now set aside this obligation, repudiate this
plighted faith, annul this compact; and some of you, forgetful of
the _majesty of honest dealing_, in order to support Slavery, may
consider it advantageous to use this power. To all such let me commend
a familiar story. An eminent leader in Antiquity, Themistocles,
once announced to the Athenian Assembly, that he had a scheme in
contemplation, highly beneficial to the State, but which could not be
made public. He was thereupon directed to communicate it to Aristides,
surnamed the Just, and, if approved by him, to put it in execution.
The brief and memorable judgment of Aristides was, that, while nothing
could be more advantageous to Athens, nothing could be more unjust; and
the Assembly, responding at once, commanded that the project should be
abandoned. It appears that it was proposed to burn the combined Greek
fleet, then enjoying the security of peace in a neighboring sea, and
thus confirm the naval supremacy of Athens.[57] A similar proposition
is now brought before the American Senate. You are asked to destroy
a safeguard of Freedom, consecrated by solemn compact, under which
the country is reposing in the security of peace, and thus confirm
the supremacy of Slavery. To this institution and its partisans the
proposition may seem advantageous; but nothing can be more unjust. Let
the judgment of the Athenian democracy be yours.
This is what I have to say upon this head. I now pass to the second
branch of the argument.
[57] Plutarch, Themistocles.