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Lf 
 
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SPEECH 
 
 or 
 
 ' MR. MILLER, OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
 ON THE 
 
 OREGON QUESTION. 
 
 i Delivered in the Senate of the United States, Mabch 26, 1846. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 PRINTED BY JOHN T. TOWERS. 
 1846. 
 
/^o ^ g <^i 
 
8PEECH 
 
 or 
 
 MR. MILLER, OF NE¥ JERSEY. 
 
 Mr. MILLER said that the proposition which had just been introduced into 
 the Senate, proposing to fix a day on which the present discussion should close, 
 satisfied him that a disposition prevailed in the Senate to hriuf? this long-pro- 
 tracted debate to a conclusion, as speedily as might be consistent with a due 
 , regard to the importance of the subject. He would do nothing to thwart this 
 I disposition of the Senat*^, But, as the question could not be taken now, he 
 hoped the Si late would excuse him for continuing the debate for another day. 
 ft had not bet his intention to address the Senate at all until within a few 
 days past. Bui. finding from what was transpiring here from day today, that 
 it was .ilmost imj)ossible for any Senator to manifest his real opinion by 
 voting either one way or the other, on the questions presented, he had deem, 
 ed it necessary to express his views on the subject in debate. If the matter 
 in discussion was not of so serious a nature, it might be a subject of amuse, 
 ment to notice the various phases it had been made to assume since the 
 present discussion commenced. At one time the notice was held up as lead- 
 ing directly and of necessity to war ; at another, it was the best mode of 
 bringing the difficulty to a settlement, and of securing an honorable peace. 
 At one time notice was the result of the termination of ail negotiation ; at 
 another it was to be the helpmate of existing negotiation. Its nature seem- 
 ed to vary with the degrees of latitude. At one time notice was to place us 
 on the boundary of 54*^ 40' — a line to fight for and die by ; at another, it 
 must lead to a compromise on 49^. It seemed to fall and rise according to 
 the temperature of gentlemen who advocated it. Like the mercury in the 
 thermometer, it varied according to who had his thumb upon the bulb. 
 When the question came into the ardent hands of the Senator from Indiana, 
 (Mr. Hanxegan,) or of the Senators from Illinois and Ohio, (Mr. Brrrsb 
 and Mr. Allen,) immediately it rose to 54** 40' ; but no sooner did the cool 
 and distinguished Senator from South Carolina " put his finger upon it,'* 
 than straight it subsided to 49*. The same question thus presented itself 
 to diflferent minds under different aspects, and as leading to different and even 
 opposite results. 
 
 In December last the President of the United States, in the discharge of 
 his high duty, informed Congress that all attempts at negotiation and com- 
 promise in reference to the territory on the northwest coast of this continent 
 had failed ; and reccommended Congress to take the first step in a series of 
 measures leading to an assertion of our right to the whole of Oregon. On 
 hearing that message read, the distinguished Senator from MicWgan, (Mr. 
 Cass,) a gentleman of great experience, acting no doubt under a high sense of 
 patriotic duty, felt himself bound to call for inf^ormation relative to our means 
 
 i 
 
ol national defence. With this view, he presented various resolutions which 
 went to call upon Congress to take ineasuTs (or the increase both of the 
 army and the navy, and the aniiing of our fortitications. While the Senator 
 was thus taking measures looking to t'ne defence of the country by arms, 
 the Senator from ()hi<», the Chairman of the Conunittce on Foreign Relations, 
 perceiving, as \u' supposed, that war was incvital)le, felt it to be his duty to 
 "prepare the hearts of the |)eople " for that event. All Congress presented 
 a belligerent aspect. The Senator from Delaware, (Mr. J. M. Ci-ayton,) 
 called lor an ofKcial statement of the relativt^ strength of the British and 
 American navi 's, the number of ships and steamers, with the guns they 
 carried, and the number of hands necessary to man them. Kven the Com- 
 mittee on the Militia, which had slept for twenty 'ears, waked up from its 
 slumbers, and was called upon to report how many able-bodied men could 
 be called into the lield. 
 
 During all tins time the situation and conduct of the conunander-in-chief, 
 the President of the United States, presented a very diHerent aspect. He 
 looked there to judge whether there was any danger of immediate war: to 
 listen whether there was any note of pn^paration in that quarter ; whether 
 the trumpet sounded its warning note to "prepare," liut nothing like war 
 or rumor of war was to be seen or heard ; " not a drum was heard, not a 
 warlike note," disturbed the serenity of the air in that direction ; all was 
 profoundly quiet — perfectly placid. He then looked to the Departments 
 whose appropriate functions were more inmiediately connected with the navy 
 and army ; but there, too, all was as peaceful as a Quaker meeting-house. 
 No preparations for war were any where to be seen. One of the distin- 
 guished Secretaries wa^ busily engaged in settling questions of etiquette be- 
 tween our officers, and ^iie only sort of war he was engaged in seemed to 
 be a war on the old tars of our navy. The other honorable did, indeed, ask 
 for some increase of the army, sufKcient to guard the emigrants going to 
 Oregon, and to supply the place of the garrisons which had been removed 
 from our fortifications on the seaboard to be dispatched into Texas. He then 
 looked toward the Treasury Department — for there were to be fbund the 
 "sinews of war " — and what did he see there ? A crowd of generals and 
 engineers pressing round the fiscal officer of the Government with estimates 
 and reports asking tor the money necessary to carry on the first six months 
 of the first campaign 1 No such thing ; but a host of collectors, and weigh- 
 ers, and appraisers, clubbing their wits together to complete a plan for re- 
 ducing that revenue which must supply the very pabulum by which a war 
 could alone be sustained. 
 
 While the Senator iirom Michigan was faithfully discharging his duty by 
 calling the country to the state of the national defences, and while the Senator 
 from Ohio was exerting his utmost energies to " prepare the hearts of the 
 people for war," the Executive Department of the Covernment, in all its 
 branches, instead of arming the country, was busy in devising ways and 
 means to destroy the sinews of irar, by reducing the rate of duties on imports. 
 He soon, therefore, became convinced that if wo were to have a wa»", it was 
 to be a sentimental war — a war of hearts — of prepared hearts, for there were 
 no other weapons prepared with which to fight. 
 
 In this confused state of things, the public, as was very natural, turned! their 
 eyes for some more definite information to the "Government organ;" for there 
 was a paper published at the seat of Government that passed in general esti- 
 mation as the organ of the administration through which its views and principles 
 
 w 
 
 V( 
 
 w 
 
 C.( 
 
 li 
 th 
 
 IK 
 
 in 
 n< 
 th 
 
 afl 
 
 on 
 or 
 
 d.- 
 
01)8 which 
 oth of the 
 u> Senator 
 
 by arms, 
 Relations, 
 his duty to 
 
 presented 
 Clayton,) 
 iritish and 
 guns they 
 
 the Com- 
 ip from its 
 men could 
 
 ir- in -chief, 
 pect. He 
 te war : to 
 ; whether 
 5 like war 
 eard, not a 
 1 ; all was 
 ['paitments 
 hthe navy 
 ing-housc. 
 the distin- 
 iquette be- 
 seemed to 
 ideed, ask 
 going to 
 removed 
 He then 
 fbund the 
 erals and 
 estimates 
 |ix months 
 id weigh- 
 11 for rc- 
 |ch a war 
 
 duty by 
 
 Senator 
 
 ts of the 
 
 ^n all its 
 
 ^ays and 
 
 imports. 
 
 i"", it was 
 
 jre were 
 
 led their 
 r there 
 leral esti- 
 [rinciplcs 
 
 wore to be made known. They turned toward the organ — but its note was 
 very doubtful, mightily out of tune. It was like one of those street organs 
 which were liable to be played upon l)y every body, and the sound difTered ae- 
 cording as one or another got hold of the handle. One morning it resounded 
 like the thundering drum, and sjjlit the ears of the trembling hearers ; jind 
 the next it breathed the softest initsie, and uttered only the gentle and eooing 
 notes of the dove. The people ut a distanee took up the paper to get the latest 
 information from Washington, and one day they ti)uiid it was "war," and the 
 next it was " peace," the thini day "doubtful ;" till at last they threw down 
 the oigan in utter disgust, and said, "Pshaw! there's going to be no tight, 
 after all." 
 
 llnderthis eondition of afliiirs, when even the ehairman of the C'i»iumitteo 
 on Foreign Helntioiis would give us no iul()ruiation as to the President's views 
 or pu.'poses ; when those who were uiniTstoojl to be his especial friends could 
 give no more ; when tlie magicians and soothsayers were all at fitult, the hon- 
 orable Senator from North Carolina, (.Mr. Haywood,) was called in to inter- 
 pret the King's dream and read the uiy.<tic writing on lli'' wall ; and, in per- 
 ii)rmingthat high prophetic duty, he reudenMl a great service to the country, 
 though at the same time he caused no small disfiulmuce among his own party 
 fViends. 
 
 But the questions still came back upon them, Wheredoes the Executive 
 stand ? is negotiation still open ? is the (juestion in such a posture that if may 
 be settled on the parallel of 49"^ by iK'gotiation and coni])roinise ? or has the 
 President fallen back to his first love, the resolution of the liiiltimore Conven- 
 tion, and insist on the whole of Oregon up to .'i-P 40', as part of the territory 
 of the Republic ? 
 
 His honorable cnlleagne, (Mr. Daytox,) with a view to obtain informa- 
 tion on which he might vote luulerstandiugly on the several bills now be- 
 fore the Senate, pioposiug an increase in the army and navy, put a plain 
 question to the President, inquiring whether any circumstances existed in 
 our foreign relations requiring an increase in our military and naval fttrce ; 
 and if so, what those circumstances were ? He, having presented this in- 
 quiry, had hoped that the answer it might elicit would show the true posi- 
 tion of the President. But in this we were disappointed. The answer of 
 the President had beeji received on yesterday, and the question still vibrates 
 between 49 and 54 40 ; they must resort to construction to get at its real 
 meaning. After considering its language, Mr. M. had come to this conclu- 
 sion : if negotiation was really at an end, and the President was resolved to 
 insist on our title to the whole of Oregon up to 54' 40', rejecting all com- 
 promise, he wotdd not have sent such a mca.wie. The President advised, 
 as B. •precautionary measure, some increase in our army and navy; and the 
 reason he assigns 'lytr this was the position of our country in regard b«)th to 
 (treat Britain and to Mexico. But to what extent was this increase to be 
 made ? Mr. M. understood the President to say that we should go to such 
 an extent only as that, while it would be useftil in case of war, the expendi- 
 ture would not be thrown away should peace continue. Thus leaving the 
 question of peace or war entirely doubtful ; because tlie proposed increase 
 would be usefid let there be peace or war. 
 
 But if, as was insisted by some gentlemen, the President thought that war 
 was to grow out of this measure of notice, and knowing, as he must, the ac- 
 tual state of the negotiation, how can they excuse the President for giving a 
 reply so equivocal — tor suflering the nation to be led to the very verge of war 
 
6 
 
 with Kngland without apprizing them in time of thoir danger, and without 
 calling on Congress to make adequate preparation to meet such a war. 
 
 Mr. M. would here make one observation in passing. The President 
 said that some inerease was necessary both in the army and navy, and urges 
 on Congn'ss immediate action in the case. Now it appeared to him that if 
 the President thought this, and believed there was a necessity for prompt ac- 
 tion, he ought to have sent a message apprizing ('ongress of that fact with- 
 out being asked. If there were, indeed, circun)stances connect«Ml with the 
 foreign relati<)ns of the cotmtry which required this inunediate increase of 
 our military t()rc(', the Executive ought to hav«^ communicated those circum- 
 stances, without awaiting to be called upon either by letters from commit- 
 tees or by resolution of the Senate. IJut h«^ would pass that by. 
 
 Mr. M. said it was his earnest desire to sec this vexed (|uestion settled 
 honorably and peacefully — not by threats of war, not by arbitrary insist- 
 ments, but in a maniuM' l)ecoming two great and powerful nations, desirous 
 of doing each other justice. Why may not a dispute between nations be 
 settled in the same manner, and with the same spirit, as two honorable men 
 in private life would settle a question concerning the right of property be. 
 tween them — by reason, by argument, by compromise, in any way, rather 
 than by brute force .' 
 
 It was said that if we continued negotiation some advantage might be 
 taken of us by (Jreat Britain. Mr. M. should treat all such apprehensions 
 as idle ; we degraded ourselves by entertaining the sus|<icion. Great Britain 
 dare not, if she could, take advantage of us, nor wc of h<'r, on a great na- 
 tional question like this. There was no need of indulging any such fear. 
 
 Mr. M. ccmsidered it of the highest importance to have this matter speedily 
 adjusted. Every body knew that disputes of this sort always grew worse 
 by time ; difficulties not thought of before sprung up as the con- 
 iceeded, till the people on both sides became excited, and then 
 ..d prejudice would defeat any peaceful settlement, however fair and 
 honorable it might be. He was the more anxious for this on account of what 
 he had heard here. Senators had declared, in their place, that unless the 
 Government should come to an arrangement speedily, public opinion and 
 the popular will would take possession of the question and settle it to suit 
 themselves, right or wrong. But this was a (Jovernmeiit of Constitution 
 and of Law, and he would not consent to impute to his countrymen the de- 
 termination to take the settlement of a question which belonged to the au- 
 thorties estal)lished by the Constitution into their own hands and settle it in 
 their own way. Gentlemen, indeed, said that in this country public opin- 
 ion overrode every thing, and would compel the Executive to take such a 
 stand as suited the popular notions. Mr. M. was fully aware that a process 
 had for some time been going on to manufacture that which was called pub- 
 lie opinion; the process had been commenced at the Baltimore Convention; 
 the manufacture was continued in the public prints — in speeches at cross 
 roads, in toasts at public dinners ; and, still more lately, a new method of 
 conducting the process had been hit upon by chalking on doorways and 
 fences the numbers " 54 40," from one end of Pennsylvania avenue to the 
 other. These new muniments of our title might perhaps overcome the 
 weight of official records, and our title to " 54 40" be made "clear and in- 
 disputable" by party resolutions, by dinner toasts, by wax stamps, and by 
 chalked doors and fences. He trusted that this mode in making out title 
 might not be considered as the expressionof the sober judgment of the Ame- 
 rican people. 
 
 and V 
 trovei 
 passi 
 
 ter 
 
 he 
 
 joir 
 
 he 
 
 PrH 
 
', and without 
 h a war. 
 he PrcHidenl 
 ivy, and urgen 
 to him that if 
 or prompt ac- 
 liat i'act with. 
 ctfd with tho 
 VI incn^aH*^ of 
 those circum. 
 from comiiiit- 
 
 cstion sotth'd 
 bitrary insist- 
 ions, dt'.sirous 
 11 nations !»• 
 onorablo nuMi 
 ' property he- 
 y way, rather 
 
 igc might be 
 ipprehensions 
 Great Britain 
 II a great na- 
 such fear, 
 latter speedily 
 < grew worse 
 p as the con- 
 ked, and then 
 :ever fair and 
 count of what 
 lat unless the 
 opinion and 
 ttle it to suit 
 Constitution 
 men the de- 
 d to the au- 
 id settle it in 
 public opin- 
 take such a 
 lat a process 
 s called pul). 
 ^yonvention ; 
 les at cross 
 kV method of 
 (orvvays and 
 irenue to the 
 ercome the 
 ;lear and in- 
 nps, and by 
 ng out title 
 ofthe Ame- 
 
 Hc had said that he earnestly desired to see this matter settled by ncfro. 
 ' tiation, and in a peaceful manner ; to bring about this great end, he was wil- 
 ling to do any thing not inconsistent with the honor and the rights ofthe na- 
 tion. He would not stand about particular words in the framing of a reso- 
 lution, but would assent to any thing that might properly aid the F^xecutive 
 in efTecting a settlement ofthe existing difficulty. He was fully prepared to 
 ilo all that might be thought wise and prudent to bring about that end. 
 
 He conf^^«sed that, when this question was first presented to him, his im- 
 pression was unfavorable to notice in any form, nor had his opinion even yet 
 entirely changed. He had supposed that the question coidd not be in a bet- 
 ter posture tor compromise than as it then stood. That being his opinion, 
 he had thought that giving this notice and putting an end to the convention of 
 joint occu[)ation, woidd but disturb the ne;^otiation then in progress. But it* 
 he could be satisfied that the notice wouUf not produce this result ; that tho 
 President would, after notice given, (••mtimie the negotiation and bring it, if 
 possible, to an honorable adjustment, he would go for the resolution with all 
 his heart. If the President desired this measure to enable him to settle the 
 question, Mr. M. wouM say to him, take the notice and use it fairly tor that 
 purpose. He would give it as an instrument of defence, and not of aggres- 
 sion. He would give it to the Executive just as he would give to his friend 
 a deadly weapon to be used by hint in self-defence or in the protection of his 
 just rights, but for no other piu'pose. If. after the exercise of this confidence 
 in his integrity and sincerityof purpose, the President should, after all. make 
 use of it to plunge the nation int<» war: if he should employ it otdy to disturb 
 and impede negotiation andoomproinise, and throw the country on the hazanis 
 ofthe battle-field, on his own head would rest all the responsibility. 
 
 Having come to this conclusion, Mr. M. was willing to vote for the notice, 
 provided it was accompanied with the declaration of the purpose for which 
 alone he was willinji to give it. 
 
 It was admitted on all sides that we had important territorial rights on 
 the northwest coast. These rights must be defended, and would be. 'i'here 
 was no man, ho was sure, to be found in that Senate who was unwilling to 
 defend our rights there, in the manner in which they ought to lie defended, to 
 the utmost extent. 
 
 But the qtiestion was, what tliose rights were — their nature and extent. 
 Aufl here was the point where gentlemen diflered. This was the great 
 point in the controversy. They were inchoate rights not yet perfected by 
 being reduced to possession. The object was, by negotiation or otherwise, 
 to reduce these rights, now only inchoate, to actual possession ; to extend the 
 jurisdiction of our laws over the country, to make it our own territory, and to 
 define and estaldish its boundaries. The question was as to the extent of 
 our rights, and as to the mode in which we should maintain them. 
 
 In ascertaining the extent of our rights in Oregon, it was not so much a 
 question of title, coUipelling those who would discuss it to go into a detailed 
 statement of both the American and the English title, as put forth by the two 
 nations, as it was a question of partition of a country now held in joint occu- 
 pancy. Both nations claimed to be in possession there. They both claimed a 
 vast uninhabited region of territory, not belonging exchisively to either nation; 
 which was under no territorial government; which was uninhabited, in some 
 degree undiscovered, and still to be settled by civilized nations. As to what 
 portion of this country belonged to the United States, he considered had 
 been well settled. Its extent had been limited, and our title to it asser- 
 
8 
 
 led, by our own Govo«rnmcnt, in various ways, too clearly to be mistaken 
 And it was this American title, thus defined and limited by our own 
 Government, which Mr. M. meant to defend. He was not to be told that 
 he was arguing against the American title, when he was defending this true 
 title to its fullest extent. It was the man who went beyond this, and set up 
 a title which was not in reality ours, who endangered the true title of his 
 cojntry. 
 
 There arc two kinds of title set up to this country. First, there was the 
 paper title. Koth nations claimed a title of this kind in Oregon. Our pa- 
 per title was under Spain, by the Florida treaty in HlO. By this treaty 
 Spain released to us all her claims and pretensions to the northwest roast. 
 It was ill the nature of a quit*claim. The paj)er tiMe of England was also 
 from Spain, by the convention of Nootka 8oun<l. It was in form a conees- 
 sion, and operated as an estoppel to all future claim by Spain to an exclusive 
 right to the northwest coast. Neither of these paper titles was worth a rush, 
 unless it can be shown that Spain, or those claiming under her, had perfecte(i 
 her title of discovery by actual possession. Vattelsays: "The law of na- 
 tions only acknowledges the property and sovereignty of a nation over unin- 
 habited coiuitries of which they .-liull rrallij and in fact take possession, in 
 which they shall form settlements, or oi" which they sluill make actual use." 
 It was true that Spain had had rights once on the n«>rthwest coast. The 
 history of those rights had been ably detailed by the Senator from New York. 
 Hers was a title by discovery. It commenced about the year 1.34.3. For 
 upwards of two centuries arter that time, the navigators of Spain, at remote 
 periods, sailed up and down the northwest coast, erecting crosses, making 
 formal declarations of dominion., and drawing charts of bays and sounds, real 
 and imaginary. But did she ever really and in fact take possession of the 
 coimtry, so as to give her an exclusive dominion there? The United State.- 
 coidd not that say she had done so , (ireat Britain could not admit that she had 
 done so ; for both nations, long alh-r Spain had pertbrmed all these imper- 
 fect acts of dominion, considered the northwest coast to be an open and imap- 
 propriated country, in which they might lawfully make discoveries and forns 
 settlements, for the purpose of establishing national dominion, in opposition 
 to the exclusive claim of Spain. These discoveries were made and settle- 
 ments formed by the United States, and by virtue of them we claim title now. 
 
 The Senator from New York, (.\Ir. Dix,) in tracing the history of the 
 Spanish title, very truly said that the discoveries of Spain embraced the entire 
 coast ; but when he came to speak of actual occupation, he told the Senate 
 that her title was confined and perlected by occupation no higher north than 
 49° 30'. Therefore, without going over what had been better said belt)re. 
 Mr. M. came to this conclusion ; that, whatever Spanish navigators might 
 have discovered, Spain never had an exclusive title to the northwest coast, 
 and when she ceded to us all her rights there, these rights could not be said 
 to extend beyond 49° 30'. 
 
 Then it appeared that under the Spanish grant we could claim no exclu- 
 sive right to the northwest coast ; it gave us only the inchoate right from 
 discovery, to be perfected by actual .settlement, possession, and appropriation. 
 
 Suppose that in 1819 Spain, instead of relinquishing her rights on the 
 northwest coast to the United States, had relinquished them to Great Britain, 
 should we have submitted to a claim set up by her to the whole of Oregon 
 on that basis ? No ; we should have denied its validity, and insisted on oui 
 own better claim by discovery and occupation; wc should have stood firml]i 
 
9 
 
 o be mistaken, 
 d hy our own 
 to he told that 
 nding this true 
 his, and not up 
 rue title of his- 
 
 there was the 
 ^oii. Our pa- 
 By this treaty 
 (rthwesl roaht. 
 viand wu.s also 
 !tnn a coneex- 
 
 an exclusive 
 i worth a rush, 
 , had perfected 
 'he law of na- 
 ion over unin- 
 possession, in 
 V actual use." 
 t coast. The 
 in New York. 
 ir 1543. For 
 ain, at remote 
 osses, inakiu" 
 id sounds, real 
 s(fgsion of the 
 United States 
 it that she had 
 
 1 these intper- 
 |>en and unap- 
 'ries and fonis 
 , in opposition 
 de and settle - 
 laim title now. 
 history of the 
 ccd the entire 
 >ld the Senate 
 er north than 
 T said before, 
 igators might 
 rthwest coast. 
 Id not be said 
 
 aim no exclu- 
 le right from 
 appropriation, 
 rights on the 
 CJreat Britain, 
 jle of Oregon 
 nsisted on our 
 e stood firml]! 
 
 by this ground of title, renting on the law of nations — laws recognized by 
 hngland, and by the whole civilized world. 
 
 But we had anoth <r title to Oregon — a titler ohier and far better than that 
 derived from the n lease of {^|)ain. It wns a title acquired by ourselves, by 
 the acts of otir own ritizciiH, and sanctioned l>y our (»overnment — a. title by 
 discovery, followed up by the explorullon of the eoiuitry, and perfected by 
 actual settlement. This was the true American title ;\i\»m tills title our 
 (jovernment can stand rtriuly and h...ioral»ly. 
 
 To sustain this title to its just liuiits, and no further, is the high duty to Ix^ 
 performed by this Admiuistnitidu. Let them not be led away by tiilse clamor 
 tor lands not oiu- own. Let theui not venture to upro(»t our national llag 
 from where it was planted by .leflersnii arid where it has sttMxl /or the last 
 thirty years, on 4!)'^, and carry it into the regions of eternal snows, upon 
 some new and doubtful claim ot' title. 
 
 The only question was, what portion of ctjuntry «lid this true American 
 title cover.' What was the locus in quo? lie said that it <'overe<l the 
 country west of the Rocky Moiuitaius, exteu<ling to the Pacitic ocean, and 
 lying between the parallels of 42^ and 4U-'. T' ; t was the extent of our 
 rights. That always had been our <'laiiu. In otii various negotiation.-. 
 State papers, reports, and maps, it had been described generally aiul par- 
 ticularly by the name of the ''northwest coast," " the valley of the Coliim- 
 bia," and lately by that of "Oregon." .No lurtter i)y what name it was 
 designated, that was the territory we <'laiuied, and to which we believed wc 
 had a gt>od and valid title. We had always luider.stocjd Oregon to be limited 
 iM)rth and south by the pa.'allels of 42 and 49^. 
 
 Mr. M. said he had a memorandiuu of s(»nie authorities (Ui this subject. 
 
 In 1803, when the attention of this CJovernment was lirst called to our 
 rights in Oregon, Mr. Jeflerson authorized an exploration of the eoiurtry by 
 Lewis and Clarke. But what was the object of this expedition, the whole, 
 iu)rthwest coast .' Not at all. They were to explore the valley of the Co. 
 lumbia river, and thus complete, by internal exploi-ation, the di.scovery by 
 Gray of the mouth of that river. We then heard of' no j)retensions made 
 by this Government to the whole northwest coast. It was not even thought 
 of. 
 
 In 1818, when Mr. Monroe tinned his attention to this matter, we found 
 that although in our diplomacy our negotiators, acting in the characters ot 
 advocates, filed our declai'ation large enough to cover the territory up to 
 54" 40 , yet when the Governureut came to act we ti)tnid the Kxecutive. 
 firmly standing upon the pai'allel of 40 '; and the same position was subse- 
 quently taken in the Administiation of Mr-. Adams. During the Admini.*- 
 tration of General Jackson there was a special agent, Mr. Slacum, employed 
 to visit Oregon lor information relative to our rights beyond the Rocky 
 Mountains. The instructions given to Mi-. Slacunr were drawn up by Mr-. 
 Forsyth. These instructions directed the agent to ol>tain some specific and 
 authentic information in regard to \\w inhabilaiits of the country in the. 
 neighborhood of the Oregon or Columljia river. General Jackson, then, 
 had no idea of 54"^ 40'. 
 
 In 1838 t report was made to the Senate by the late lamented Dr. Linn, 
 a gentleman whom all who knew him could not but respect — a man of honor 
 and a man of sense, who imderstood the rights of the country on this ques. 
 tion as well as any person living — a Senator who had devoted his attention 
 for years to this whole subject. On looking at Dr. Linn'.' report we should 
 
 I 
 
 
10 
 
 find that he described Oregon by degrees of latitude, stated the nature and 
 extent of our right to it, and then the grounds on which those rights were 
 founded. On page 3 of that report he said : 
 
 " The validity of the title of the United States to the territory on the north- 
 west coast, between the latitude of 42° to 49°, is not questioned by any power 
 except Great Britain" 
 
 Again, on page 6, he said : 
 
 " The extent of the territory on the northwest coast, which is properly em- 
 braced within our limits, is to be ascertained by the application of the two recog. 
 nized principles to the established facts of ihe case. 1st. That the discovery and 
 occupation of the mouth of the river gives title to the region watered by it and 
 its tributaries, as in the cas. jf the Hudson, James, Mississippi rivers, &c. 2d. 
 That the discovery and settitment of a new country by a civilized Power gives 
 title half way to the settlement of the nearest civilized Power. The boundary 
 between them is a medium line. Either of the principles will carry our line as 
 far as 49°." 
 
 In this report, Dr. Linn also examines the Spanish title by discovery, and 
 admits that that title was defective, because unaccompanied with any subse- 
 quent and efficient act of sovereignty or settlement. 
 
 This report was accompanied by a map, and on that map the line of 49^^ 
 was extended to the Pacific, the country south of the line being marked as 
 the ^^ territory of Oregon,^^ and all that above the line as the " British ter- 
 ritory.''^ There was a note appended to the map stating that the line was 
 so marked because our Government had offered to establish the latitude of 
 49'^ as the boundary between us and Great Britain. But this showed the 
 opinion of Dr. Linn to be that the territory of Oregon was the country lying 
 between 42 -^ and 49^. 
 
 Mr. Breese. Is there not a note accomj)anying that map showing why 
 the line was so marked ? 
 
 Mr. Miller said he had just stated that fact. Dr. Linn well understood 
 the whole Oregon question. But this was not his opinion alono. His 
 honorable colleague (Mr. Brntox) was of the same opinion ; for in 1838 
 he introduced a resolution into the Senate declaring it to be expedient for 
 the United States to treat with (xreat Britain on the basis of separating the 
 people in Oregon, and establishing 49° as the permanent boundary between 
 them, in the shortest practicable time. And again, in the debate on the 
 Ashburton treaty, that Senator avowed the same opinion, and still advocated 
 the same basis of 49°. 
 
 It is utterly vain for Senators to contend against the accumulated evidence 
 on this point. Our Government, from Mr. Jefferson's to Mr. Polk's adminis- 
 tration, had been willing, nay anxious, to settle upon the basis of 49®. 
 
 When Mr. Polk came into office on the 4th of March, 1845, he found nego- 
 tiation between the two Governments pending on the subject of the Oregon 
 territory. He states in his message : 
 
 " My attention was early directed to the negotiation, which, on the fourth of 
 March last, I found pending at Washington between the United States and Great 
 Britain, un the subject of the Oregon territory. Three several attempts had been 
 previously made to settle the questions in dispute between the two countries, by 
 negotiation, upon the principle of compromise ; but each had proved unsuccess- 
 ful." 
 
 Again he says : 
 
 "When I came into office, I found this to be the stale of the negotiation. 
 Though entertaining the settled conviction, that the British pretensions of title 
 
iture and 
 [hts were 
 
 the north' 
 ny power 
 
 lerly em- 
 wo recog. 
 every and 
 by it and 
 &c. 2d. 
 wer gives 
 boundary 
 ur line as 
 
 I'ery, and 
 ly subse- 
 
 e of 49=* 
 arked as 
 itish ter- 
 line was 
 titude of 
 'Wed the 
 try lying 
 
 ing why 
 
 derstood 
 0. His 
 in 1838 
 \ient for 
 iting the 
 between 
 '■ on the 
 Ivocated 
 
 vidence 
 idminis. 
 
 d nego- 
 Oregon 
 
 'ourih of 
 id Great 
 ad been 
 tries, by 
 success- 
 
 )tiation. 
 of title 
 
 11 
 
 could not be maintained to any portion of the Oregon territory upon any principle 
 of public law recognised by nations, yet, in deference to what had been done by 
 my predecessors, and especially in consideration that propositions of compromise 
 had been thrice made, by two preceding administrations, to adjust the question 
 on the parallel of forty-nine degrees, and in two of them yielding to Great Britain 
 the free navigation of the Columbia, and that the pending negotiation had been 
 commenced on the basis of compromise, I deemed it to be my duty not abruptly to 
 break it off." 
 
 Mr. Polk adopted this pending negotiation, made it his own, and con- 
 tinued it till he finally offered the line of 49-' to Mr. Pakenham as a settlement 
 of the controversy. The British envoy rejected the offer, and then the Presi- 
 dent threw himself back on our claim to the whole territory. 
 
 In Mr. Polk's inaugural address he had stated that our claim was clear and 
 unquestionable up to r)4'-' 40'. Bui: when he entered on the actual duties and 
 responsibilities of hi^ office, he found a negotiaaou going on liased on the 
 principles of compromise, and he continuod it on the same principles. 
 
 For adopting this negotiation, and for continuing it on the principle of 
 compromise, the President has deemed it necessary to make an apology to 
 the American people. His Secretary, speaking for him, said that, though 
 the President differed in his individual opinion, yet, when he considered the 
 question, he " foiuid himself embarrassed, if not committed, by the acts of his 
 predecessors." Embarrassed by the acts of Jefl'erson, Monroe, Adams, Gen. 
 Jackson, Van Buren, and Clay ! The word was rather too weak a one. Mr. 
 M. once heard a judge say, upon the bench, that he would have decided the 
 cause before him in a particular manner, " if h-: had not been embarrassed by 
 the Constitution." [A laugh.] 
 
 Mr. M. presumed Mr. Polk's embarrassment was very much of the same 
 kind with that felt by an heir disposed to set up and pursue a claim beyond 
 the limits of his legal right, when he found himself estopped by the recorded 
 admissions of his ancestor. " Committed" very much as a judge found him- 
 self committed when called to decide a question on finding that it had been al- 
 ready decided to his hands by judicial decisions of his predecessors. Very 
 strange it certainly was that the Secretary of State should have felt it to be ne- 
 cessary to apologize for the President, as if he was doing something that was 
 discreditable to liiiu. But, if the President was embarrassed by the acts of 
 his predecessors, was not the nation equally enil)arrassed now ? Must we 
 not be sensible we were treading on dangerous ground, when departing from 
 the position taken by all who had gone Tjefove us ? Were we not assinning 
 too nuich when we wtMit so far beyond oiu* be^^t and greatest and wisest men, 
 and for refusiufi to jjo this lenjifh Senators were to be charmnl with a want of 
 "nerve?" Standing by the side of the gallant Linn, and sanctioned by the 
 written authority of the no less gallant and experienced Senator from Mis- 
 souri, (Mr. Bknion,) in saying that our just title was limited by the parall-l of 
 of 40, were i,entlenien to be told that they betrayed a " want of nerve ?" — that 
 they were willing to "dismember the I'nion," and to surrender the soil of the 
 Republic .' 
 
 The Senator from Indiana, (Mr. Hanmhj.w,) had told the Senate that 
 if we surrendered any portion of Oregon short of 54*^ 40', we might 
 surrender a Western pioneer with his wife and children, all of whom were 
 to be turned over to the grinding tyranny of C real Britain; and then the 
 Senator had assailed their tenderest feelings by a thrilling description of the 
 surprise and dismay of the poor man when he found himself outlawed from his 
 natne land. In reply, he would say to the honorable Senator, that his friend. 
 
12 
 
 the President, had well nigh perpetrated this very deed, by offering 49 as our 
 boundary, and nothing saved the poor pioneer and his little child from being 
 I. •'nsferred to Queen Victoria's dominions but the obstinacy of the British 
 Government. [A laugh.] 
 
 But Mr. M . did not so imderstand that there were any American settlements 
 above 49. What, then, (ho asked,) is there to prevent our Government from 
 standing where it has stood tor the last thirty years, willing to treat upon the 
 basis of 49 ? Nothing, that he knew of; nothing but a certain resolution 
 adopted by a political convention at Baltimore. Mr. M. said he should not 
 have intruded a subject like this upon the Senate, had it not been mentioned 
 before. The Baltimore convention had been made as legitimate a part of 
 this debate as the convention of Nootka Sound. It was contended here that 
 the President was committed by this resolution i^j 54° 40'. If this resolution 
 was to produce such a result, it would be well to examine its authority r^nd 
 history. What was its history ? He had looked into the published proceed- 
 ings of that convention. He there tbund that this resolution was introduced 
 in that body at the last and fourth day of its meetings, at half j)ast seven o'clock 
 in the morning — before breakfast — as the Convention was dissolving, and 
 when four-fifths, as he was informed, of those who had composed it had left, 
 and set out on their way home. This before-breakfast resolution was intro- 
 duced at a moment like that, and passed, as Mr. M. supposed, unanimously by 
 those who were present. The gentleman who draughted it was said to have 
 been Mr. Benjamin F. Butler. He was chairman of the Committee on Reso- 
 lutions, and a firm friend of Martin Van Buren, whose nomination had been de- 
 feated by the adoption of the two-third rule ; and yet that samci gentleman, the 
 father of the resolution, was found standing alongside of the leading Demo- 
 crats of the State of New York in favor of settling this controversy on the 
 parallel of 49'^. We found, too, that the present Secretary of the Treasury 
 had been one of the committee who re])orted this resolution. Yet it was well 
 understood that he, too, was in favor of a compromise on 49*^. The Senator 
 from Georgia, (Mr. Colquitt,) had also been a member of the same commit- 
 tee, and he supposed he need not say that that gentleman took the same 
 ground. Besides, Mr. M. could show from the niles adopted by the Conven- 
 tion that it required the assent of two-thirds of the body to agree to any tbing 
 proposed. But more than two-thirds of those who had constituted the Con- 
 vention, and who had nominated Mr. Polk for the Presidency, were gone be- 
 fore these resolutions were smuggled in without their assent or knowledge. 
 This resolution, then, by the law of the convention in which it was adopted, 
 is void and not binding upon any one. Yet, a resolution like this, adopted un- 
 der sich circumstances, was brought up here to induce Senators and to compel 
 the Executive to de|)art from what had been the settled policy of this country 
 for thiily ye-^rs. This Baltimore resolution was to take the place of the 
 opinions of all our negotiators and Secretaries, and of the recorded in- 
 vestigations and deliberate opinions of distinguished Senators, who had 
 been the steadfast friends and advocates of Oregon from the beginning. All 
 these were to be set aside, and this Baltimore Convention was to be set up 
 as the mouthpiece of the American nation. 
 
 The weight of such an authority was surpassed only by that of a certain 
 toast, given to the world a few days since at a public dinner eaten in Balti- 
 more in honor of St. Patrick. He begged pardon of the Senate for introdu- 
 cing a toast in so grave a body, but he thought that ailer the introduction of 
 
 I 
 
 ■S>- 
 
g 49 as our 
 from being 
 the British 
 
 settlements 
 nnient from 
 it upon the 
 resolution 
 should not 
 mentioned 
 o a part of 
 d here that 
 5 resolution 
 thority and 
 d procccd- 
 introduced 
 en o'clock 
 olving^, and 
 it had lefl, 
 was Intro- 
 imously by 
 aid to have 
 on Reso- 
 ld been de- 
 leman, the 
 ng Demo- 
 rsy on the 
 p Treasury 
 it was well 
 le Senator 
 le commit- 
 the same 
 le Conven- 
 any thing 
 1 the Con- 
 :• gone be- 
 nowledge. 
 s adopted, 
 rJopted un- 
 to compel 
 is country 
 ice of the 
 ordcd in- 
 who had 
 ing. All 
 be set u|> 
 
 a certain 
 
 in Balti. 
 
 r introdu> 
 
 luction of 
 
 13 
 
 •• • 
 
 the hefore-hreakfast resolution an after-dinner toast might be excused. This 
 is the sentiment : 
 
 "By Bill O'Regan. The 0'i?e»an Familjr : We will not permit any of our 
 family ever to come under the intolerable British tyranny or misrule. 
 
 Now, Mr. M. thought that this furnished us with a better title to fight for 
 the whole of Oregon upon than that derived from Spain ; <br he believed that 
 when it came to hard fighting one stout Irishman would stand us in stead 
 more than three Spaniards. [A laugh.] It also settles the derivation of the 
 word Oregon, makes it Irish instead of Spanish. 
 
 Having thus relieved the question from the alleged authority of a mere 
 party resolution, and exposed the fallacy of the very extraordinary notion that 
 on such authority two nations were to be prevented from an amicable com- 
 promise of their difllici'lties on a mere question of boundary, he would inquire 
 whether the negotiation for this end was not still open ? Some Senators 
 doubted it ; others said that the negotiation was still going on ; and Mr. M. 
 believed, tor one, that such was the case. If it was, why is not the public 
 mind put to rest upon that point by some certain reliable information ? Why 
 not let the negotiation continue ? Why must it stop because one proposition 
 had been rejected I Let it continue ; let all peaceable means of settling our 
 diflliculties i)e exhausted, and let war be our last resort, because it was the 
 worst. We could not hope to set ourselves up against the whole civilized 
 and Christian world, and insist on settling principles of international law for 
 ourselves, after having negotiated on this subject under the principles of in- 
 ternational law recognized by all Christendom for thirty years. Neither can 
 England reject negotiation, and insist on settling the dispute in her own way. 
 No nation could do this, and continue to live, among other Christian nations. 
 If we took that ground, we must make up our minds to abandon the society 
 of nations, and stand by ourselves, the object of general reprobation and 
 hatred. 
 
 But the word " compromise " was objected to. The Senator from Arkan- 
 sas (Mr. Sevier) had repeatedly expressed his desire to see this controversy 
 settled, and had avowed himself the friend of peace. He objects to the word 
 " compromise." But he should remember, if there was anything offensive 
 in the word, that it was notour word ; it was the word of the President him- 
 self. It was the word employed by him in his message ; and the word con- 
 stantly employed throughout all our past negotiations. Was there any dishon- 
 or attached to the term ? If so, then the nation had been dishonored for thirty 
 years. It was the very principle on which all our negotiations had been 
 conducted. Why discard it now ? 
 
 It was said that the national honor was concerned in the settlement of this 
 question. This point of honor is somewhat like the question itself: it vi- 
 brates between 49*^ and 54° 40'. It was the very zenith of national glory to 
 stand on 54° 40', while it was the blackest disgrace to settle down to 49**. 
 They measure honor by degrees of latitude. But national honor had nothing 
 to do with the matter. This was a question to be submitted to reason and 
 argument, and decided by principles of national law. For one, he believed 
 that the national honor would best be maintained on this Oregon question by 
 pursuing a peaceflil policy. That had always been our policy. All the ter- 
 ritory we ever had acquired from the day of our national independence to this 
 hour had been acquired by negotiation. This magnificent domain of ours, 
 the widest, the best, the freest of all lands, had all been obtained by negotia- 
 don. Negotiation had been our policy from the beginning. And were wo 
 
 — ar-os* ^-rvtn fv. w 
 
14 
 
 1 
 
 going to change it now? Were we now to break off all negotiation because 
 one proposal had failed ? 
 
 Mr. M. said that, when he cast his eyes over our wide-spread Republic, 
 when he contemplated the picture it presented, extending as it did from the 
 Lakes to the Gulf, and from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, and beheld 
 it filled and almost covered over with towns, and villages, and hamlets, and 
 swarming with a population all happy and all at work, extending themselves 
 yearly and hourly over the fertile West, converting the forests into tarms, 
 and opening the wilderness to the light of the sun, and reflected that all this- 
 was the fruit of peace, he, for one, must oppose the first step towards a 
 change in our policy in the acquisition of territory. What had war done for 
 us in extending this Republic ? Nothing. He spoke not of the war of the 
 Revolution, for that was not a war for territory, but for rights. War had 
 done nothing for us. We had grown by the silent but masterly inactivity of 
 peace. And yet, at the very first difficulty, on the first rejection of an offer 
 in negotiation, gentlemen were for discarding all negotiation and resort- 
 ing to war to extend our territorial rights. 
 
 We were about to extend our national jurisdiction over Oregon — a vast 
 region of almost unbroken wilderness and as yet appropriated by m Chris- 
 tian or civilized Government or people, and not now a Territory of the 
 United States. And it was true, as had been observed by the Senator from 
 Missouri, (Mr. Atcuison,) the people of Oregon, the American settlers, if 
 longer neglected by this Government, had a natural right to establish a Gov- 
 ernment for themselves. They occupied a new and unappropriated country, as 
 yet subject to national jurisdiction, and, by the laws of nations, they might or- 
 ganize a Government for themselves. Mr. M. did not know that, if they 
 should do so, they would be guilty of treason against the United States. Our 
 national flag had never yet been sent into that region ; our Government had 
 never been established there. The greater part of the country was at this 
 day just as the hand of nature left it ; the silence of its dark and unexplored 
 valleys unbroken by the sounds of civilization. The country was, in fact to a 
 great extent, yet undiscovered, even the way there was obstructed by insurmoun- 
 table hazards and difficulties till|one of the young officers of our army had ex- 
 plored and discovered a pass through the rocky barrier. That young man was at 
 this hour in the prosecution of a new tour of investigation, encamped on 
 some bleak hill, surveying the wide unbroken wilderness, and preparing new 
 treasures of geographical knowledge for science and for his country. And 
 Mr. M. would take this occasion to say that that young and enterprising officer 
 had done more towards the acquisition of Oregon, and its reduction under a 
 civilized Government, than had ever before been accomplished by its most 
 zealous friends. That extensive region, so long almost unknown, was now 
 brought before the view of the civilized world, its natural advantages, com- 
 mercial and agricultural. Its rivers, mountains, and valleys, had been pre- 
 sented to the gaze of our adventurous and enterprising people. The new and 
 important commercial interests, connected with our trade in China, and with the 
 islands of the Western Ocean, give importance to the occupation of Oregon, 
 and will induce rapid emigration to the shores of the Pacific. 
 
 Thus this wilderness, this last reserve of nature upon this continent, is 
 soon destined to be converted into the abode of civilized man and made sub- 
 ject to organized, civil, and religious government. This Government had 
 that great work yet to perform; the work of settling Oregon, bringing it uii- 
 der the control and protection of civilized Government, and spreading over 
 
t 
 
 15 
 
 over 
 
 it the shield of law and the arm of the national power. It was a great 
 work, but not the work of war. This was pre-eminently a labor of peace.. 
 He trusted that the first time our flag was seen in that new country, it would 
 not be met a^ a warlike bauner, sent there to authorize the shedding of 
 blood. He hoped that the first cultivation of this new soil would not be by 
 the blood of men. Would it not be far more worthy of the American peo- 
 ple to subdue it by the arts of peace, and let the hand of industry cause it 
 to blossom as the rose ? Would it not be a noble enterprise to extend the 
 mild influence of civilization to the far shores of the Pacific, to plant the 
 laws of a free people on the banks of the Columbia, and bring the bles- 
 sings of order and of regulated liberty where until now the savage had 
 roamed in all the license of barbarism .' 
 
 But was this to be accomplished by war ? No ; it was to be done, and 
 would be done, by the gentle sceptre of peace. It would only be done by 
 sending our hardv settlers there, with no other arms than the woodman's axe, 
 and no force but tne presence of his wife and children. These were the 
 banded forces that had subdued the valley of the Mississippi, and who were 
 to conevrt the wilderness of Oregor into the abode of civilized man. 
 
 Yet gentlemen, before we have even found our way as high as 49°, are 
 for marching with banners displayed and taking possesion of the country up 
 to 54° 40', and they call us to follow the national colors. Certainly, if that 
 beloved banner should be spread by order of this government even in so 
 wild an adventure, we should be bound to follow it, and in weal or in wo, to 
 stand by it, die npon 54° 40', and make its snows our winding-sheet. But 
 the tug of war would not be at the line of 54° 40'. Once get the country 
 plunged into a war with Great Britain, and the deadly blow would fall on 
 the eastern, not the western coast of this continent. There the first blow 
 would be struck, there the second, and there the last. No doubt if war 
 should come, the country would defend itself as it best could, u^u with char- 
 acteristic intrepidity. Of this the history of our last war furnished a suf- 
 ficient pledge. They would stand by their Government just as a father would 
 stand by a rash reckless son, who had brought himself into a difficulty, when his 
 life was at hazard. He would not forsake his son, however much he might 
 regret and disapprove the course which brought him into such a perilous 
 position. 
 
 The Senator from Missouri (Mr. Atchison) had said, if Mr. M. did not 
 misunderstand him, that he would fight Great Britain even on a doubtful 
 claim. Mr. M. regretted to hear such a declaration : he hoped the honor- 
 able Senator was not serious in making it. What, go to war on a doubt 7 
 Lo * 5'hould settle doubts — war settle rights. 
 
 Bring two such nations as England and the United States into a mortal 
 struggle to settle a doubtfiji right ! The worthy Senator must have been led 
 away by his zeal. Surely it was the extreme of patriotism to die for one's 
 country on a point of doubt. For his own part, Mr. M. would not even ad- 
 vise a client to go to law upon a doubtful claim. 
 
 He had said that nothing but folly or wickedness could get up a war on 
 this question, and therefore it was that he believed we should have no war, 
 because he trusted that the wisdom and virtue of the country would pre- 
 vent it. 
 
 The Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Sevier) had said that the real point of 
 difference was a very narrow one ; that it consisted merely in the right to 
 navigate the Columbia river. That river was said not to be navigable at 
 
16 
 
 all ; however this might be, could it 1)c possible that on a question so insig. 
 nificant as that the United States and Great Britain were about to disturb their 
 present peaceful relations, endanger the peace of the world, and to hazard 
 upon the chances of war the final success of that great cause which it had 
 hitherto been the pride and r\oTy of the two nations to sustain and vin- 
 dicatc, the cause of civil and religious liberty. No, never. Where was 
 the use of having negotiators and statemen at all, if such a question as 
 this could not be settled without war ? 
 
 The great practical principle thai was now admitted by the entire civi- 
 lized world was this, that it was the highest duty of nations to preserve 
 the peace of the world. To this proposition Mr. M. would affix no quali- 
 fication whatever ; he could not, because peace secured the greatest good 
 of the greatest number. Gentlemen said honor, not peace, was the highest 
 concern of a nation ; but honor was merely conventional. What one nation 
 considered honorable, another did not ; what one nation might think itself 
 bound to maintain at the hazard of life itself, another might consider as a 
 ridiculous point of pride. But t>eace — peace was a blessing known and felt 
 and admitted by all. Kings and princes might discuss points of honor and 
 go to war upon fancies ; but peace, glorious, blessed peace, shone like the 
 sun in the heavens alike upon high and low, and cheered with its benign 
 influences as well the humble cot of the poor man as the splendid palace 
 of the monarch. Mr. M. therefore insisted on the great political and 
 Christian maxim that the highest duty of nations was to preserve peace. 
 Peace was the great mission of God's own son to man, and the song of 
 angels was " Peace on earth, good will towards men." It is therefore the 
 highest duty of man to God to maintain peace on earth. That nation that 
 would now disturb the peace of the christian world would richly deserve, and 
 •would certainly receive, the unqualified condemnation of all goodmen. It was 
 ■written, indeed, that "offences would come ;" but it was also written 
 " wo to that man by whom the offence cometh." 
 
 The President had commenced his annual message with a tixie and 
 striking picture of the happy condition of our country. Hear his words : 
 "I am happy that I can congratulate you on the continued prosperity of 
 our country. Under the blessings of Divine Providence and the benign 
 influence of our free institutions, it stands before the world a spectacle of 
 national happiness." 
 
 And what had produced this glorious spectacle ? Not war. No, it was 
 not the fruits of tne bloody battle-field. It is all the work of a great peo- 
 ple dwelling in peace with themselves and the world. It is the mightty 
 result of the labor and enterprise of our agriculturists, mechanics, laborers, 
 merchants, and manufacturers, exerted and called out in time of peace, 
 under the protection of wise laws and the fostering care of a free Govern- 
 ment. It was a glorious, a heart- warming spectacle, and it was the high- 
 est duty of the rulers of such a people to preserve to them that inestima- 
 ble blessing — not to mar it by exciting them to strife, and " preparing 
 their hearts for war." Should the Chief Magistrate, who had presented 
 this bright picture before the world, be able afler occupying his high 
 station for four years, to retire and present it unblemished and yet bright- 
 er to his successor, he woulu deser>e and receive the lasting gratitude of 
 a great and happy nation. 
 
I 80 insigo 
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 he highest 
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 3serve, and 
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 a true and 
 his words : 
 •osperity of 
 Lhe benign 
 spectacle of 
 
 No, it was 
 I great peo- 
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 ee Govern- 
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 [)g his high 
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 gratitude of