Sir, if this resolution be right, then our government has been I am not willing to do it. I believe they acted wisely and well. They deserved the thanks of mankind for their foreign policy, which has won, as I had supposed, universal respect. R. M. T. HUNTER.* 105. THE SOUTH. SIR, I can but consider it as a tribute of respect to the character for candor and sincerity which the South maintains, that every movement which occurs in the Southern states is closely scrutinized; but what shall we think of the love for the Union of those in whom this brings no corresponding change of conduct, who continue the wanton aggressions which have produced and justify the action they deprecate? Is it well, is it wise, is it safe, to disregard these manifestations of public displeasure, though it be the displeasure of a minority? Is it proper, or prudent, or respectful, when a representative, in accordance with the known will of his constituents, addresses you the language of solemn warning, in conformity to his duty to the constitution, the Union, and to his own conscience, that his course should be arraigned as the declaration of ultra and dangerous opinions? If these warnings were received in the spirit they are given, it would augur better for the country. It would give hopes which are now denied us, if the press of the country, that great lever of public opinion, would enforce these warnings, and bear them to every cottage, instead of heaping abuse upon those whose ease would prompt them to silencewhose speech, therefore, is evidence of sincerity. Lightly and loosely representatives of Southern people have been denounced as disunionists by that portion of the Northern press which most disturbs the harmony and endangers the perpetuity of the Union. Such, even, has been my own case, though the man does not breathe at whose door the charge of disunion might not as well be laid as at mine. The son of a revolutionary soldier, attachment to this Union was among the first lessons of my childhood bred to the service of my country from boyhood, to *U. S. Senator from Virginia. I mature age I wore its uniform. Through the brightest portion of my life I was accustomed to see our flag, historic emblem of the Union, rise with the rising and fall with the setting sun. look upon it now with the affection of early love, and seek to maintain and preserve it by a strict adherence to the constitution, from which it had its birth, and by the nurture of which its stars have come so much to outnumber its original stripes. Shall that flag, which has gathered fresh glory in every war, and become more radiant still by the conquest of peace-shall that flag now be torn by domestic faction, and trodden in the dust by petty sectional rivalry? Shall we of the South, who have shared equally with you all your toils, all your dangers, all your adversities, and who equally rejoice in your prosperity and your fame; shall we be denied those benefits guarantied by our compact, or gathered as the common fruits of a common country? If so, self-respect requires that we should assert them; and, as best we may, maintain that which we could not surrender without losing your respect as well as our own. If, sir, this spirit of sectional aggrandizement shall cause the disunion of these states, the last chapter of our history will be a sad commentary upon the justice and the wisdom of our people. That this Union, replete with blessings to its own citizens, and diffusive of hope to the rest of mankind, should fall a victim to a selfish aggrandizement, and a pseudo philanthropy, prompting one portion of the Union to war upon the domestic rights and peace of another, would be a deep reflection on the good sense and patriotism of our day and generation. Sir, I ask Northern senators to make the case their ownto carry to their own fireside the idea of such intrusion and offensive discrimination as is offered to us-realize these irritations, so galling to the humble, so intolerable to the haughty, and wake, before it is too late, from the dream that the South will tamely submit. Measure the consequences to us of your assumption, and ask yourselves whether, as a free, honorable, and brave people, you would submit to it? It is essentially the characteristic of the chivalrous, that they never speculate upon the fears of any man, and I trust that no such speculations will be made upon either the condition or the supposed weakness of the South. They will bring sad disappointments to those who indulge them. Rely upon her devotion to the Union; rely upon the feeling of fraternity she inherited and has never failed to manifest; rely upon the nationality and freedom from sedition which has in all ages characterized an agricultural people; give her justice, sheer justice, and the reliance will never fail you. JEFFERSON DAVIS.* 106. THE CALIFORNIA GOLD MINES. it. 1 AM a friend to gold currency, but not to gold mining. That is a pursuit which the experience of nations shows to be both impoverishing and demoralizing to a nation. I regret that we have these mines in California; but they are there, and I am for getting rid of them as soon as possible. Make the working as free as possible. Instead of hoarding, and holding them up, and selling in driblets, lay them open to industry and enterprise. Lay them open to natural capital, to labor, to the man that has stout arms and a willing heart. Give him a fair chance. Give all a fair chance. It is no matter who digs up the gold, or where it goes. The digger will not eat it, and it will go where commerce will carry The nations which have industry, which have agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, they will get the gold. Not sales, but permits, is the proper mode to follow, and the only practicable mode. People are going to California to dig, and dig they will. A wise legislation would regulate, not frustrate their enterprise. Permits would put them on the side of the law, for it would give them protection and security; sales and hoarding would put them in opposition to the law, and they would disregard it. Sir, this is a case in which the lawgiver must go with the current; and then he may regulate it if he goes against the current, his law will be nugatory, and his authority will be despised. The current is for hunting, and finding, and digging; permits follow this current, and by granting them, the legislator may control and regulate the current. If you want revenue, raise it from the permits, a small sum for each, and upon the coinage. In that way it would be practicable to raise as much as ought to be raised. But revenue is no object compared to the great object of clearing the ground of this attraction, which puts an end to all regular industry, and compared to the object of putting the gold into circulation. I care not who digs it up. I want it dug up. I want the fever to be over. I want the mining finished. Let all work that will. Let them ravage the earth, extirpate and exterminate the * U. S. Senator from Mississippi. THOMAS H. BENTON. -GOVERNEUR MORRIS. 137 mines. Then the sober industry will begin which enriches and ennobles a nation. Work as hard as we may, we cannot finish soon. These gold indications cover more than two thousand miles. They are in New Mexico-on the waters of the Middle Colorado-on the mountains between the Rio del Norte and the Rio Colorado-in the Sierra Nevada-and in the prolongations of that mountain, both north and south. Is all this extent of country and of treasure to be hoarded and guarded by the government ?--held up from use until examined and valued by a mineralogist, surveyed by surveyors, and then sold out in two-acre patches? Is this vast region to be hoarded and guarded, as a thing too precious for the people? Is it to be the Hesperian fruit, guarded by dragons from profane touch? And if so, where are the dragons to come from which are to guard it? Certain it is, our dragoons will not do for this guard. I am against the whole scheme of hoarding these mines, or endeavoring to confine their product to their own country. I am not for trying to stop it from going elsewhere. Let it go where it will: like water, it will find its level. THOMAS H. BENTON.* 107. THE FEDERAL COMPACT. OUR situation is peculiar. At present, our national compact can prevent a state from acting hostilely towards the general interest. But, let this compact be destroyed, and each state becomes vested instantaneously with absolute sovereignty. Is there no instance of a similar situation to be found in history? Look at the states of Greece? By their divisions they became at first victims of the ambition of Philip, and were at length swallowed up in the Roman empire. Are we to form an exception to the general principles of human nature, and to all the examples of history? And are the maxims of experience to become false, when applied to our fate? Some, indeed, flatter themselves that our destiny will be like that of Rome. But we have not that strong aristocratic arm which can seize a wretched citizen, scourged almost to death by a remorseless creditor, turn him into the ranks, and bid him, as a soldier, bear our eagle in triumph round the globe. I hope to God we shall never have such an abominable institution. But what, I * U. S. Senator from Missouri. ask, will be the situation of these states, organized as they now are, if, by the dissolution of our national compact, they be left to themselves? What is the probable result? We shall either be victims of foreign intrigue, and, split into factions, fall under the domination of a foreign power; or else, after the misery and torment of civil war, become the subjects of a usurping military despot. What but this compact, what but this specific part of it, can save us from ruin? The judicial power—that fortress of the constitution-is now to be overturned. Yes, with honest Ajax, I would not only throw a shield before it—I would build around it a wall of brass. GOVERNEUR MORRIS.* 108. PEACE AND NATIONAL HONOR. MR. PRESIDENT, my object is peace. I will not pretend, like my honorable colleague, to describe to you the waste, the ravages, and the horrors of war. I have not the same harmonious periods, nor the same musical tones; neither shall I boast of Christian charity, nor attempt to display that ingenuous glow of benevolence so decorous to the cheek of youth, which gave a vivid tint to every sentence he uttered, and was, if possible, as impressive even as his eloquence. But though we possess not the same pomp of words, our hearts are not insensible to the woes of humanity. We can feel for the misery of plundered towns, the conflagration of defenceless villages, and the devastation of cultured fields. Turning from these features of general distress, we can enter the abodes of private affliction, and behold the widow weeping as she traces, in the pledges of connubial affection, the resemblance of him whom she has lost forever. We see the aged matron bending over the ashes of He was her darling, for he was generous and brave, and, therefore, his spirit led him to the field in defence of his country. Hard, hard indeed must be that heart which can be insensible to scenes like these, and bold the man who dares present to the Almighty Father a conscience crimsoned with the blood of his children. her son. Yes, sir, we wish for peace; but how is that blessing to be preserved? In my opinion, there is nothing worth fighting for but national honor; for in the national honor is involved the *U. S. Senator from New York. |