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franchise. It has broken her religious intolerance. It has greatly elevated the individual character of her subjects. It has immeasurably weakened the power of her nobles, and by weakening in one sense has vastly strengthened the authority of her crown, by forcing it to rest for all its power and glory upon the breasts of its people. To Ireland too-impulsive Ireland-the land of genius, of eloquence, and of valor, it is rapidly carrying the blessings of a restored freedom and happiness. In France, all of political liberty which belongs to her, is to be traced to it; and even now it is to be seen cheering, animating, and guiding the classic land of Italy, making the very streets of Rome itself to ring with shouts of joy and gratitude for its presence. Sir, such a spirit suffers no inactivity, and needs no incentive. It admits of neither enlargement nor restraint. Upon its own elastic and never-tiring wing, it is now soaring over the civilized world, everywhere leaving its magic and abiding charm. I say, then, try not, seek not to aid it. Bring no physical force to succor it. Such an adjunct would serve only to corrupt and paralyze its efforts. Leave it to itself, and, sooner or later, man will be free.

XLVIII.-DISUNION AND WAR INSEPARABLE.

HENRY CLAY.

MR. PRESIDENT, I have said what I solemnly believe— that the dissolution of the Union and war are identical and inseparable; that they are convertible terms. Such a war, too, as that would be, following the dissolution of the Union! Sir, we may search the pages of history, and none so furious, so bloody, so implacable, so exterminating, from the wars of Greece down, including those of the commonwealth of England, and the revolution of France-none, none of them raged with such violence, or was ever conducted with such bloodshed and enormities as will that war which shall follow that disastrous event-if that event ever happen-of dissolution.

And what would be its termination? Standing armies and navies, to an extent draining the revenues of each portion of the dissevered empire, would be created; exterminating wars would follow-not a war of two or three years, but of interminable duration-an exterminating war would fol

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low, until some Philip or Alexander, some Cæsar or Napoleon, would rise to cut the Gordian knot, and solve the capacity of man for self-government, and crush the liberties of both the dissevered portions of this Union. Can you doubt it? Look at history-consult the pages of all history, ancient or modern; look at human nature-look at the character of the contest in which you would be engaged in the supposition of a war following the dissolution of the Union, such as I have suggested-and I ask you if it is possible for you to doubt that the final but perhaps distant termination of the whole will be some despot treading down the liberties of the people?—that the final result will be the extinction of this last glorious light which is leading all mankind, who are gazing upon it, to cherish hope and anxious expectation that the liberty which prevails here will sooner or later be advanced throughout the civilized world? Can you lightly contemplate the consequences? Can you yield yourself to a torrent of passion, amidst dangers which I have depicted in colors far short of what would be the reality, if the event should ever happen? I conjure gentlemen-whether from the South or the North, by all they hold dear in the world— by all their love of liberty---by all their veneration for their ancestors-by all their regard for posterity-by all their gratitude to Him who has bestowed upon them such unnumbered blessings-by all the duties which they owe to mankind, and all the duties which they owe to themselves-by all these considerations I implore them to pause-solemnly to pause at the edge of the precipice, before the fearful and disastrous leap is taken in the yawning abyss below, which will inevitably lead to certain and irretrievable destruction And, finally, I implore, as the best blessing which heaven can bestow upon me upon earth, that if the direful and sad event of the dissolution of the Union shall happen, I may not survive to behold the sad and heart-rending spectacle.

XLIX. THE EXPUNGING RESOLUTION.*

HENRY CLAY.

WHAT patriotic purpose is to be accomplished by this ex punging? Is it to appease the wrath, and to heal the wounded pride of the chief magistrate? If he really be the hero

that his friends represent him, he must despise all mean condescension, all grovelling sycophancy, all self-degradation, and self-abasement. He would reject with scorn and contempt, as unworthy of his fame, your black scratches, and your baby lines in the fair records of his country. Black lines! Black lines! Sir, I hope the secretary of the Senate will preserve the pen with which he may inscribe them, and present it to that senator of the majority whom he may select, as a proud trophy, to be transmitted to his descendants. And hereafter, when we shall lose the forms of our free institutions, all that now remain to us, some future American monarch, in gratitude to those by whose means he has been enabled, upon the ruins of civil liberty, to erect a throne, and to commemorate especially this expunging resolution, may institute a new order of knighthood, and confer on it the appropriate name of THE KNIGHT OF THE BLACK LINES.

But why should I detain the Senate, or needlessly waste my breath in future exertions? The decree has gone forth. It is one of urgency, too. The deed is to be done-that foul deed, like the blood-stained hands of the guilty Macbeth, all ocean's waters will never wash out. Proceed, then, to the noble work which lies before you, and like other skilful executioners, do it quickly. And when you have perpetrated it, go home to the people, and tell them what glorious honors you have achieved for our common country. Tell them that you have extinguished one of the brightest and purest lights that ever burned at the altar of civil liberty. Tell them that you have silenced one of the noblest batteries that ever thundered in defence of the constitution, and bravely spiked the cannon. Tell them that, henceforth, no matter what daring or outrageous act any president may perform, you have forever hermetically sealed the mouth of the Senate. Tell them that he may fearlessly assume what power he pleases, snatch from its lawful custody the public purse, command a military detachment to enter the hall of the capitol, overawe Congress, trample down the constitution, and raze every bulwark of freedom; but that the Senate must stand mute, in silent submission, and not dare to raise its opposing voice; that it must wait until a house of representatives, humbled and subdued like itself, and a majority of it composed of the partisans of the president, shall prefer articles of impeachment. Tell them, finally, that you have restored the glorious doctrine of passive obedience and non-resistance, and, if the people do

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not pour out their indignation and imprecations, I have yet to learn the character of American freemen.

L-CENSURE OF AUSTRIA.

LEWIS CASS.

I AM perfectly aware that whatever we may do or say, the immediate march of Austria will be onward in the course of despotism, with a step feebler or firmer, as resistance may appear near or remote, until she is stayed by one of those upheavings of the people, which is as sure to come as that man longs for freedom, and longs to strike the blow which shall make it his. Pride is blind, and power tenacious, and Austrian pride and power, though they may quail before the signs of the times, before barricades and fraternization, by which streets are made fortresses, and armies revolutionized -new, but mighty engines in popular warfare-will hold out in their citadel till the last extremity. But many old things are passing away, and Austrian despotism will pass away in its turn-its bulwarks will be shaken by the rushing of mighty winds, and by the voice of the world-whenever a benignant expression is not restrained by the kindred sympathies of arbitrary power. I desire not to be misunderstood. I do not mean that in all the revolutionary struggles which political contests bring on, it would be expedient for other governments to express their feelings of interest and sympathy. I think they should not, for there are obvious considerations which forbid this action, and the value of this kind of moral interposition would be diminished by its too frequent occurrence. It should be reserved for great events, marked by great crimes and oppression on the one side, and great misfortunes and exertions on the other, and circumstances which carry with them the sympathies of the world, like the partition of Poland and the subjugation of Hungary. We can offer public congratulations, as we have done, to people crowned by success in their struggles for freedom. We can

offer our recognition of their independence to others, as we have done, while yet the effort was pending. Have we sympathy only for the fortunate, or is a cause less dear or sacred because it is prostrated in the dust at the feet of

power? I freely confess that I shall hail the day with pleasure, when the government reflecting the true sentiments of the people, shall express its sympathy for struggling millions, seeking that liberty which was given to them by God, but has been wrested from them by man. I do not see any danger to the true independence of nations by such a course, and indeed I am by no means certain, that the free interchange of public views in this solemn manner, would not go far toward checking the progress of oppression and the tendency to war. Why, sir, the very discussion in high places, and free places, even when discussion is followed by no act, is, I believe, a great element of retributive justice, to punish it when an atrocious deed is done, and a great element of moral power to restrain it, where such a deed is contemplated. I claim for our country no exemption from the decrees of their high tribunals, and when we are guilty of a tithe of the oppression and cruelty which have made the Austrian name a name of reproach through the world, I hope we shall receive, as we shall well merit, the condemnation of mankind.

LI.-IMPROVEMENT OF THE WEST.

A. G. HARRISON.

ALL that we ask is, to be equal with the other States of this Confederacy in freedom, sovereignty, and independence Grant us only this, and you will see this whole country, like the giant that gathered strength in his wrestle with Hercules, every time he touched the earth, spring up with an elastic bound to new vigor and power, and the proud galaxy that adorns your stars and stripes shine forth with a rich splendor which nothing but regenerated liberty can give. Enable us to make our roads and canals, to carry on our works of internal improvement, to manage our own internal police, as our genius and necessities may require, and you will soon witness the wonderful change which the uncontrolled and plastic power of self-government can alone accomplish; the waste lands speedily sold and settled, the desert made to smile and blossom as a garden, the country improved and cultivated to its utmost limits, industry stimulated, labor rewarded with

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