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as


munication, as the policy Of the British govern
ment an armed doctrine--a doctrine armed, az


we who are exposed to it's consequences know
full well, whether they be designed or not by
/ those who patronize it--a doctrine armed with
the torch of the inceAdary and the instrument of
midnight murder. And, like that same arpej


doctrine which Burke denounced, it, too, " has


it's faction of opinion Of interest, and Of fanatcism
| in every country" Even here, in our own coun-


try, it has its allies, if not its instigators--for


among the most painful and revolving develop


ments contained in the papers which have been


submitted to u.s. is the evidence they present that


the movement of the British government on this


subject has been specially invoked by dbolitio7s-


lists from America.


Let me not be misunderstood, MI. President,
in what / have said on this subject, under the
deepest convictions Of what ID due to the dignity
az we'll as 10 the peace and safety OF our common
| country. ! am no advocate Of slavery. never


have BEEN deeply lament it's existence in any


portion Of our country, as have freely and unre-
| servedly declared in this hall. | believe and


fondly hope that it's tendency is to ultimate ex.


tinction But any attempt to force or precipitate


that consunmation by foreign influence or do
mestic faction can have none other but the most
calamlous consequences to both Of the races COM


cerned, and especially TO that on whose behalf all


this pragmatical and dangerous interference has
been employed. The history of African slavery
in America proves that its tendency is to recede
farther and farther to the South and Southwest,


until if left to the operation Of those natural laws


which govern the progress Of society every where,
with such auxiliary measures as the States Inn
mediately concerned best know how and when


to apply, firmly believe it will finally disappear
| from our borders, and the whole African race IN
America be transferred to those tropical regions


most congenia to their constitution, and where


they eau mingle, in social and civil equality, with
races which, presenting fewer and less marked


traits of original difference, are known to feel no
invincibe repugnance to the association Here
no such association can ever take place; and any
attempt to force it can havs 10 other eject than
to bring on that fatal catastrophe TO the inferior
| and dependent race which has been 30 clearly
| pointed out by the most enlightened and profound
foreign observer who has ever written on the so
cial and political institutions of America. The
/ object of true and rational humanity, then,


should be to place no artificial impediment in the


way Of this natural flow Of the African population
| in America to the South and the Southwest, but
| to leave Texas, whether aS foreign and lnde-
pendent State, or as member OF the American


Union, perfectly free to act in this matter accord
ing to her rghts and her own enlightened and re-
sponsble conscience


The review into which have been drawn, Mr..


President, Of the policy and proceedings Of Eng


land in regard to American questions, must satisfy
us all that we have to encounter the constant
competition and the watchful jealousy of colossal
power at every step in the march of our national
greatness, even in our own hemisphere. She


claims " "ascendancy" in the language OF her own


statesmen, every wherein the Hew az well as IN
| the old world. She aspires, at the same time, to
moral censorship and surveillance over all Chris
| tendon, while she pursues her own interests in
every quarter of the globe, without regard to the


opinions or the interests of other nations. would


nculcate no unworthy jealousy, far less any illib-


cral hostility towards England; but would pur-
| sue the race of competition into which we are
/ thrown with heron our own continent ana IN
our own seas at least-with a spirit and an en-
| ergy worth Of such rival. Let us not shrink
'ngioriously from the destnes which God and


nature have assigned US. In that same letter ON


Regicide Peace" from which my honorable
friend from Massachusetts, Mr.. Choate) read us
sentence or two on another subject, the immortal


author delivered some noble maxins Of patriotism


and Of high national policy, which are strongly


recalled by the circumstances Of our present po-


sion. He tells us that there is in State affairs
"a courageous wisdom" and, on the other hand,


aa false reptile prudence, the result not OF eau
ton, but Of fear;'' and he proceeds to add what


the history of nations, as well individuals, fully


confirms, that there is nothing go rash as fear"


for it rarely puts of, while i Is sure TO aggravale
| in the end, the very evils from which Il would
| fly. The highest prudence. 10 my opinion, 10 in


a" courageous wisdom j" and while would me-
yer be tempted by interest 10 pursue an unjust
object, so, on the other hand, would never be
turned aside from the prosecution of an object
both just and necessary by the suggestions OF
trnid and over cautious policy, which, IN the
end, is always the rdshest ab vl.e, "a
If, then, the reacqusition Of Texas be the oo-
lject of high national expedency and importance.
which think have shown it to DC, the next
| question is, have we a right 10 acquire It under
the circumstances and in the manner proposed! Z
Has Texas, first, right 10 dispose of herselts


This question has been argued, as il, though Tex


as be actually Independent, something 10 yet


wanting 10 make her righGuAy Independent.


But, sir, this distinction has as little warrant in


the established doctrines Of public law, as in the
nrnciples Of our own immortal act of Indepen-


dence. The great oracle Of the modern law Of
nations, (Valteb) says expressly that, every


nation that governs ITSELF under what form soever.


without dependence on any foreign power, 10 a