IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) // 4^ ^ 1.0 I.I 11.25 L& 115 las 6" Photographic .Sciences Corporation 23 WBT MAIN iii r» ^ 1VASHINGT0N: riitt^TRo'fet joan t. iowsbh. -.^'•^ 1846. ■'ri*. k 1 ' • li ^ ■tt'-l .1 t^ V * r \ f 7 ■'*, ,;;. 1 . SPEECH ov MR. REVERDY JOHNSON, OP MARYLAND. Mr. REVERDY JOIIXSON tow mid addrPHHod the Seiiato as follows: It 18 with unuflectcd cmbarrassnieiit I rise tu address the Senate on the subject now under (^oii 'urtancc and the moment- ous issues involved in w tinal settlement are such us comi)el me, notwith- standing my distrust of j.y ability to be useful to my country, to make the attempt. Wo have all felt that, at one time at least, (I trust that time is now past,) we were in imminent danger of war. From the moment the President of the United States deemed it right and becoming, in the outset of his official career, to announce to the world that our title to Oregon was clear and unquestionable, down to the period of his message to Congress in December last, when he reiterated the declaration, I could not see how it was possible that war should bo averted. That apprehension was rendered much more intense from thv, character of the debates elsewhere, as well as from the speeches of some of tl.ji President's political friends within this chamber. I could not but listen with alarm and dismay to what fell from the very distinguished and experienced Senator from Michigan, (Mr. Cass,) at an early period of this deimte ; to what I heard from the Senator from In- diana, (Mr. Hanakuan ;) and, above all, to what was said by the Senator from Ohio, (Mr. Ai.i.k.n,) the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Rela- tions, who, in my simplicity, I supposed must necessarily be apprized of the views of tlie (luvcrunient in regard to tho foreign concerns of the nation. >>upposing the condition of the country to be what it was represented to ho by each and all of the three Senators, I could not imagine how it could be possible that that most direful of all human calamities, war, was to be avoided; and I was accordingly prepared to say, on the hypothesis of fact assumed by the Senator from Michigan, that wur was inevitable; or to use his own para- phrase of his own term, wl^ich, it would appear, has got out of Hivor with himielC that ** war must come. What did they represent to be the condition of the nation ? I speak now more particularly of the two Senators from Indiana and Ohio. They told us thit negotiation was at an end ; that we were now thrown back on our origi. nal rights ;- that, by these original rights, as had been officially announced, our title to tlie whole country was beyond all question ; and that the national honor must be forfeited, if that title should not be mabitained by force of aamM* I frll that ke must have been a careless and profitless reader of Eng- Jbli itiftOry who cmild indulge the Iio|»e that, if such wai$ ^9 be the course ?^«>35n I" 1) And conduct of thiH countr}', war wad n^t inevitable. Then, in aart of the Executive, that when that Senator announced to us that the President would feci himsoU' in honor bound to accept his own oflfer, if now reciprocated by (treat Britain, he spoke that which ho knew to be true. And Uiis opinion was yet more strengthened and confirmed by what I found to be tho effect of his speech on the two Senators I have named — the leaders, if they will permit me to call them so, of the ultraists on this subject—-! mean tho Senator from Indiana, (Mr. Haxnegan,) and the Senator firom Ohio, i(Mr. Allkn.) He was an undisccrning witness of the scene \Th!ch took place iji this chamber immediately afler the speech of the Senator firom North Carolina, (Mr. Havwood,) who must not have seen that tliose two Senators had constilted together with the view of ascertaining how far tho Senator from North Garolma spoke by authority, and that the rewlk of their ■consultation was a determination to catechise that Senator } and the better to avoid all mistake, that they reduced their intierrogatory to writingf in order that it might be propounded to him by the Senator from Indiana, ^Mr. Hak* kboan;) and if it was not answered, that it was then to be held as cen*^i atructively answered by tho Senator from Ohio, (Mr. Allbn.) What the ,i;estUt of the mantsuvre was I leave i^ to the Senate to decide; but this I will Venture io> Miy, that in the been ^nconnter of wits, to* which their ooDoquy led,, tiie two oenatonn who commenced ii got rather Uie worst of this contest. jj^'jlf J hope and belief haf been jret further strengthened by whlu^bas hot since lu4>pened ; I meas my belief in the pacific vT^wii of the Chief Utiietrate. The speech of the Senator from North Carolina waa made on "^(WiMy, aadt t \ \ ^ Wf r r (Ulition to ator from « ID on tliid * war waij • mequcntly 0118, were, the Son- ic "So na or amiliar ax icir every a fair anci illing and ech of th<^ h'lH place, nl and pc- r, too, that, iluty to bo- Lions of the ing he said the British n July last, B accepted, lor, that, in ; President, ean to say, f the Presi- n omissions d to us that >wn oflfer, U' r to be true, at I found to ic leaders, if «t — I mean from Ohio, \7hi2h look ^nator from at Uiose two how fiur tho MUh of their the better to ing, in order , mr. Hak- held as con-^j ) What the «ttthi«IwiU heirouUoquy ' tkb contest. M HOT since r lltiiiftrate. hiiMkyvMitt though a week has nearly elapsed since that time, notwithstanding the anxious solicitude of both those Senators, and their evident desire to set the public right un that subject, we have, from that day to this, heard from neither A. of the Senators the slightest intimation that the construction given to the ^lessage by the Senator from North Cantlina was not the tnie one. Mr. Hannmjan- I refer the Senator to the columns of the (lovemment ^paper — the llnioii. Mn Johnson. I'he Senator refers nie to the fioverument paper — ^the 1'nion. Very well. I mil glad to hear, froiii one who has a right to know what all the relations of the PruHident ur(>, that the paiMM- he alludes to in '• the Ciovernment paper ;" because, as [ read what is in the (lovernment paper, it wcms to me as clear as the sun at noon tl it the Senator from North Carolina was right and the Senators from Indiana and Ohio were wrong. It was not my purpose to have made use of extnicts from that paper, as the organ of the (loveriunent ; Itiit now we have it admitted from very high authority that that pujier is the organ of^he (lovernmenf. I believe, how- ev(% there was a time when the Hena^r rroiii#In(li»na would have very promptly ilisclaimed the authority of that orjian. Mr. Hanne«j.%n. I do not pretend to call it the (iovernment paper, be- yond the authority which I have sometimes seen in the paper itself. Mr. Johnson. That is y discovery and alleged subsequent possession ; se- condly, the American titlcasserted on the groiuid of discovery and possession; and tluRl, the Russian title supported in the same way. While England was in the exercise of these rights, })y whom were they ever questioned ? Not hy the United States, till recently; not by Spain, after the treaty of 1700 ; not by Russia, afler her treaty with England in 1824 And, as far as we arc concerned, our treaties of 1818 and 1827 went on the* admission (or else those who negotiated them were false to their trust) that there w<'re some rights in England in some portion of that territory. Now, when the treaty of 1818 was made, the United States Government was far from claiming a right to the country under the Spanish title ; fi)r we claimed on our own right directly against ilie title of Spain. We claimed by o»ir own dis- covery and our own settlement, made in the exercise of our own alleged na- tional rights — rights that were inconsistent with the title of anybody else, whether that title was alleged to rest on discovery, possession, or any other ground. From 1705 to this day, Spain has never had possession of any part of the territory north of 42*^ ; and, during the greater part of that time, having lost her possessions in the interior, and lost all her American colonies of every kind, she has had no foothold on the American continent since she conceded her interest to the United States in 1810. From 1795 to 1819 is twenty-four years ; and if Spain was barred by the abandonment of the coast, if we claim- ed under Spain in 1819, might not our title well be sa^d to be barred also ? *,,. .. * V Now, in my judgimnt, it would be better for the pretensions of England if the Nootka convention of 1790 was held to be terminated by the war of '90 and never revived. If that convention was terminated and the English ^possessions in Oregon are net to be attributed to it, or ceded, if gentlemen will have it ho, by that treaty, then her possession is adverse to Spain and all the world. And if her possession in Oregon has been adverse to the title of Spaiu, from 1796 to iSlO, Spain having abandoned this part of thn continent ever since 1795, I would lilte to know whether the adverse rights of England, us against Spain, might not be well defended. I am not here to contend that the convention of 1790 was abrogated by the war of 1706, or that it was not ; or that it was revived bv the treaty of 1814, which made provision for the revival of commercial treaties between the two nations. What I maintain is, that it would be better tor our title to consider the treaty of 1790 as in force than as annulled, and better for the English title to consider it annulled, than as in fijrce. How did we (imtil lately) undertake to make out our title ? First* from the discovery of tht^ mouth of the Coliimbi* river by (iray, and from his en- trance into the river ami sailing some distance up its stream, i have no doubt that he clid discover it and did enter it. Secondly, from the explora. tion of tlie river from its heaia river. This carried us up to about latitude 49'^, unless some of the interior branches went higher than that. If this title be denied, then our other title was derived from the French grant. So far it is maniii^st that we couki pretend to no claim at all beyond latitiide 49". In 1713 the treaty of Utrecht was made, by the tenth article of which it was provided that France should restore to (Ireat Britain the possession of the coast of Hudson Bay, and that commissaries should be appointed by each . party to determine the limits between the British possessions on Hudson Bay and the possessions of Franc«\ and in like manner to run another lino neparating the British and the French colonies. I know that the present doctrine ie that that line was never established, but I say that it does not lie in our mouth to deny its establishment. I will now read from a paper com- municated to Mr. Madi8on,Sccretary of State,by Mr. Monrcc!,then our Minister «t the Court of St. James, drawn up expressly to justify our (Tovernment in rc« iufing to ratify the fifth article of the convention of the 12th of May, 1803, not. withstanding that treaty had been signed under instructions which authorized «e fiflh article with the residue ef the treaty. Mr. Monroe communicates '■•■''f 'Tjn'i •0 iiti> i o'niii/di'Vi »»«| n? j.i 9 l>li«w'»»'»W^i n •') (' to the British Government the net that those instructions were granted at &• time whun the Louisiana treaty had not been entered into, and conseqiiently without any reference to that treaty. But, as wo had a shdh time afterwards got possession of Louisiana, and bcibrc this fifth article wan ratified, wo had Hi Mr. Jeftbrson, Mr. Madison, and Mr. Monroe, alleged, under that treaty, a right tu go quito up to the parellol of 40; and Mr. Monrorplacps it on the express ground that tho line of 49 hud been CHtablished by the tenth article of the treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Hear what he says. In an otKcial letter to Lord Harrowby, dated the 5th September, 1804, Mr. Monroe says : " By the tenth article or the treaty of Utrecht, it is agreed < that France shall restore to Great liritain llie hay and straits of Hudson, together with all lands, seas, seacoasts, rivers, and places situate in the said bay and straits which belong thereunto,' fcc. It is alto agreed, ' that commissaries shall be forthwith appointed by each power to determine, within a year, the limits between the said bay of Hudson and tlie places appertaining to the French; and also to describe and settle, in like manner, the boundaries between the other British and French colonies in those parts.* "Commissaries were accordingly appointed by each power, who rxceuttd the ilifmlatwns> of the treaty in establishtns^ the boundaries propoutl bu it. They fir.ed the northern boundary of Canada and Louisiana by a line beginning in the Atlantic, at a cape or promontory in 58 deg. 3U mui. north latitude; thence, south westwardly to the Lake Mistasin; thence, further southwest, to the latitude of 49 deg. north from the equator, and a/cmg- that lint indefmitely" Here lie tells the Rritish Government thai commieisaries lind established the line according to that trcpty, and that, when the boundary reached tlio parallel of 49, it ran westwardly along that parallel indefnitclif towards the ocean. And fi'om the earliest period, ever since 171 H, the date of the treaty of Utrecht, that boundary line is to l)e found on alm«ist every map of au~ thority from that day to thi.s. I said that the modern doctrine, (broached, as I believe, for the tirst time l)y Mr. (Jreenhow,) is that that line never was in fact run. Why, sii-, it never way contemplated to be nm physically. It would have been almost physically impossible to have run surh a line in the coiidition in which the country then was, considering the great extent and character of territory over which it was to extend. The treaty does not say that it shall be run ; it says that it shall be " described," and it was so described, as we contend, on the authority of Mr. Monroe, Mr. Madison, and Mr. Jefferson, the then President. It was described as intended to run on the 49th parallel of latitude imlejinitchj — that is, to the ocean. I make bold to say that, at the period of the 5th of Heptember, 1804, no agent of the (Joverninent had so much as [iretended to any claim on our jM.it beyond this line of 40®, but up to that line our title was clear and un- deniable, and so I think it is. But, in the condition in which our title now stands, I hold that necessity demands a compromise. I think there is no Senator on this floor who reflects for a moment, ))ut must admit that in the absence of all compromise war is inevitable, Spain has relinquished all lier claim ; Russia claims nothing south of 54® 40' ; and there is no other Government which asserts a title to the country between the parallels of 42 and 54 but England and the United States. How are these conflicting claims to be settled ? How should we have to settle them if it was a new question ? After we have induced the subjects of Cirroat Britain to come into the country and hold it in common with oursehTs, under the treaty of 1818 ; and after we have renewed that treaty in 1887,. leaving the question of sovereignty undecided ; and after we have permitted and innted England to extend her laws over them as we propose to extend f i. •tal)li8hod ichcd the vards the the treaty ip of ati*^ (reached, ne never hysically. a line in ' jat extent y does not it was so disun,und to nin on 1804, na im on our r and un- title now ere is no lat in the j|.«hed all no other llel9 0t*42 fe have to , iu1)jects of" oiirseh-tis, r in 1887^ permitted to extend «ura, what do magnanimity and national honor requiro at our handit ? Ob*^ viously a fair and honorable division of the territory. And if this can be done by the adoption of a line peculiarly appropriate to constitute a boun* dary, then I hold it is proper, on our fwrt, to flx on such a line. Now, I atik,' what ia our boimdary with the English poosesBionH cast of the Rocky Mountains? The parallel of 49<^. What it the mo^t natural boundary tor U8 to adopt west of these mountains? The |)arallel of 49^'. What line wat« established under the proviHions of the treaty of Utrecht as being the ni08t natural and proper for a boundary? The parallel of 49®. What i» the line that should be adopted, looking to the relative advantages of both parties 1 The parallel of 49--. If this, then, were now a new question, coming up for the tirst time before an American Congress, the national 'lonor, so far from being violated by the adoption of that boundary, could, on the contrary, be preserved and vindi- cated by that means only. Is it honomble in a high-minded nation to tell the subjee^s of another nation to come in with their laws; to inv'l them over and over again to extend their poNsesHions in the country ; ami I'len, after getting them in, they fondly believing that they weris to live tmdi'f the protection of British law arN Rritii^h power, to say to these saine persouii, " Retire, go out of the country, or we will extend over you ou" lews exclii- .sively !" I admit, that lu fiir as the mere question of right depends — h^ far as the proposition whether title, in the legal sense, is to be acquired by any possession hvV Ity either of the two nations under the treaty of 1818 — it can- not be debated, because the treaty provided that such common posdession was not to aflect the question of title. But I think it must be obvious, look- ing at the character of the transaction, the manner in which it originated, and what was declared to be it? pjirpose, that it is no more than right on the part of each of the nations toofiJ'r and accept a fiiir division. But it is not a new tpiestion ; on the contrary, what the Government has heretofore done imposes on us an imperative duty to settle the controversy on the parallel of 49" if it can be done. In 1818 we proposed that line to (ireat Britain as a boundary, together with the free navigation of the Colum- bia river ^ in 1824 we proposed the same line without the navigation of the river; in 1820 the otter of I8l8 was renewed. In 1843, under Mr. Tyler, when the attention of this (Government was again drawn to the sulyect, au- thority was given to our minister to renew the oilers of 1818 and 1826, both as to the line and to the river. Such was the condition of the subject when Mr. Polk came into the Pre- sidential chair. And what was his opinion? I said that, in my judgment, the previous conduct of the Government created a moral obligation of as great a binding force *as any moral oldigation can possess, to accept the line of 49® if it can be obtained. What says the President in his annual message : " In deference to what had been done by my predecessors, and especially in considera- tion that propositions of compromise had been thrice made by two preceding administra- tions, 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 nego- tiation had been commenced or. the basis of compromise, 1 deemed it to b^ my duty not abruptly to break it off. * * A proposition was accordingly made, which was rejected by the Britisli Plenipotentiary, &c. • • The proposition thus offered and rejected, re- Eeatod the offer of the parallel of forty-nine degrees north latitude, which had seen made y two preceding administrations, &c. * * Had this been a new question, coming un- dor discussion for the first time, this proposition would not have been made. The extra- ordinary and wholly inadmissible demands of the British Govemment, and the rejection i^N .^■. 10 *»■ or the propotilion made in deferencfi alone to what had been done by my predeeeMon, ■and tkt implud obligation wkieh their aet utmed to impou, aHbrd satisfactory eridence that no compromise whieh the United SUtet ought to accept can be effected." Impose on whom ? On J»'j>e8 K. Polk ? No ; impose on the Americfui nation, of which he was the mere representative, an obligation arising from the (act that, on four difibrent occasions, this oflTcr had been authorized ; so that the honor of the nation boimd him now to renew it. He renews ac- cordingly the offer of 1824, that is, the line of 49; but with the exception of the navigation of the Cohimbia river, at the same time giving England some minor but substantial advnntages in lieu of it. 'I'he question I now propose to the friends of the Preside it nnthis floor, (and it is a very obvious one,) is this : If the previous offers of this (Jovernment in 1818, 1824, 1826, and and their renewal in 1843, created an implied obligation on the President to settle our controversy on the same terms, is not that obligation now more imperative than ever, from the fact that the President himself has repeated that very offer ? "Who is James K. Polk?" was a question once asked. We all know now who he is, though there are some who do not know what he is. He is the President of the United States. He speaks tor the whole country ; he is vested with the authority so to 8|)eak, and his acts, in the ex- ercise of that authority, are as binding on the United States as the acts of any of his predecessors ; they can create an obligation, express or implied, Just as strong as the acts of his predecessors could do. If, in making his of- fer to England, he was under obligation to make it from the acts of his predecessors, how can any man deny that, having made that offer, he is not boimd to accept it if it shall come to him from the other side ? Supposing he shall refiise it, and go with the Senators from Indiana and Ohio for 54« 40', what will be the judgment of the civilized world when Eng- land asks us to settle this question of title on terms which we have five times recognised as just and fair ? Theif' can be but one opinion. What was right and proper in 1818, right and proper in 1824, right and proper in 1826, right and proper in 184.3, right and proper in 1845,18 right and proper now. Let us go to war as soon as we think lit after the retiisal of such an offer, and I use no extravagant language when I say that from one end of the civi- lized world to the other the absolute and unmix(>d reprobation of the Ameri- can character, the deep and permanent disgrace of the American name will assuredly follow. But I have no idea, not the most remote, that we are to be subjected to any such degradation. I have an abiding, a settled confidence, which I know cannot deceive me, that no man standing in the relations in which the Pre- sident admits himself to be placed, and actin;^ under an obligation which he ;ulmits to be binding, and with the Senate beside him, which 1 make bold to say will, by nmch more than the constitutional majority, affirm such an ad- justment as I have referred to, M'ill refuse to make it, provided England gives him the opportunity. I speak from an assurance derived from no other source than that which I have before me on this floor. The Senator from New York who first addressed us, (Mr. Dix,) and the Senator from Missouri who followed him, (Mr. Bknton,) have brrth admitted, almost in words, cer- tainly in spirit, that this dispute ought to be compromised ; and though 1 do not intend to chatechise any Senator, nor ask to be informed of the opinion entertained by any, vet, from the oft-repeated remark of the Senator from Michigan, (Mr. Casq,) though be did at first alarm the Senate and the coun* try, (if he will pardon me for saying so,) that he feared a war, and would be V Hj the last man in the land to dpsire it ; I do not doubt that, if a suitable treaty jihould come into this Senate to-morrow, he would «:ivc it his sanction.' Mr. Cass. I will tell you about that when the time comes. y Mr. Johnson. Then the Senator thinks such a treaty will come ? I do not want him to tell mo what his vote ii|)on it will be, I know it in advance. ; He will^ however, have an opportunity to tell us, for I have no doubt that in due time a treaty will come before na, in spite of the opposition of the Pr(*« sident's friends as well as \m onemios. And ax for the Senator from New York, (Mr. Dickinson,) who com- menced his speech by telling us that he would demonstrate our title up to 54^ 40' to be clear to all who would listen, and who talked to us about "the vengeance of Heaven beinpf conveyt'd to us in tones of affection. " I have just as little doubt that if the question comes to 49-' or war, he takes 49>-\ There are sonic of our friends on the other side of the chamber, the Sen- ator from Illinois, (Mr. Bkkesr,) the Senator from Ohio, (Mr. Allen,) and the Senator from Indiana, (Mr. Hannegan,) who all go for 54"^ 40' or a light. Now, I have no doubt that the Senator from Indiana will " stick" to that, "not parenthetically," but in fact. If these gentlemen will pardon me I will venture to say that they are the Hotspurs of the Senate — I mean of coorse in point of spirit, courage, and gallantry. The Senator from In- diana, I suppose, may be considered as the General ; but the Senators from Illinois and Ohio are certainly entitled to a distinguished rank, for they tell us there is no danger of a war with England, and one of them expressed the opinion that England could do us no harm. Mr. Hanneuan. I said no such thing. Mr. Johnson. I know you did not. You went for war in spite of all the harm she might do. But there arc^ others who think that no great harm can come out of war with England. What was the ground taken by the Senator from Ohio, (Mr. Allen?) First, he told us that there would be no war at all. And why ? Because England dare not light us single handed — whether for Oregon or anytlii:>g else. It is a single match which he thinks she never will undertake, (and I hope in God she never may.) The Senator thinks, indeed, that if she can get Russia to join with her, and France too, and has Mexico to aid both, sIh' may perhaps pluck up courage enough to fight the United States ! The Senator says that she is the very feeblest Government on the face of the earth. This is said by the chair- man of the Committee on Foreign Relations. And what makes her feeble ? The Senator says it is liecause she fi»ught against the colossal power of Napoleon, first with all Eumpp, then agaiast all Europe, and then with all Europe again, and paid all the expenses besides of the contests. It is the adaptation of steam powc* to the naval marine , it is her immense pub- lic debt divided among m!.:iy thousands of her own citizens. And, finally, that she has this element of obvious and apparent weakness, she dare not repudiate her debt — a prn il^^ge which it seems the United States have. Mr. Allen. I beg to t'xplaiu. I refc^rred to a state of things superin- duced by war. The Senator knows that a state of war suspends the inter- est on foreign debts due to belligerent nations. She could not do that be- cause her debt wps due at home. Mr. Johnson. The Senator does not mean to say, I hope, that xvar sus- pended the payment of her own debt due to her own subjects. I was j^peaking of her own debt. Yet, in the same breath, the Senator said that •9- 12 ;»«? England dare not repudiate, and he finally held her up to the world as a " pauper." And all this was to inspire us with a sense of her absolute weakness. But, to deepen that impression still more — to remove all dread of England to an intinito distance, he told us that ** England was as feeble t» an unborn infant." And by way of stating a fact, which genius only was equal to, described to us this intiint as " reposing in the lap of the palit." Then the Senator from Illinois asked us what there is about a war with England to frighten us? Could it be her navy? (Jive us but twelve months' notice, (and this we shall have by the treaty,) and m'c should have a larger navy than England ever had. Thank God for 'hat ! And then, 1 suppose, that if all the other European Powers should unite their naval power with that of England, give us two years' notice and we will create a navy greater than the whole. But how is this iiavy of ours to be obtain- ed? By converting our New York liners into frigates. No doubt the Sen- • ator believed this statement to be perfectly correct ; as also his fiirther statement that there was not one of those vessels but wotdd be a fiill match lor R British frigate ! And, as lor steanicrn, he informed us that though we had none quite so large as those lately built in England, yet we could make oiirs go twenty-seven miles an hour, which, 1 suppose, would be a very great advantage, either in running afler an enemy or running away from him ! It is strange that Senators here, with all their opportunities to know the tnie condition of things, and our actual relation to the power of other na- tions, can utter, gravely, from their places in this chamber, things so mon- strous to all common sense. Without any intention to speak with dispar- agement of the opinions of these gentlemen, I cannot but remark that what 1 consider a better opinion has been expressed by the Senator from Michigan^ (Mr. Cass,) and the Senator from New York, (Mr. l)ix,) when they told us that England never was prepared to strike a heavier blow than at this mo- ment, and that there is no nation on the globe whose power is greater, or whom it would be more dangerous for us to encounter. But, says the Sen- ator from Illinois, let the war come ; she can do us no harm ; we may lose, a few merchant ships, and I think he said a ti'W sloops-of-war, but they would be easily rephiced. No doubt the Senator really thinks the fact to be so. " No harm !" Has he taken into his estimate the oceans of blood that will be spilt .' the agonies of the battle-field? the shrieks of the dying? the still more terrific shrieks of widows and orphans? the corruption of the public morals ? the arrest of civilization I the outrages on humanity ? Will the Senator say that these are no great evils, and that those things can "easily be replaced?" The Senator from New York who last spoke (Mr. Dickinson) told us, however, that there were women enough to bind up our wounds. Ay, but J'ero are no women who can bring back the dead. No touch of a weeping wife will avail to bring back her husband from the grave. And no power short of the divine influence of Christianity, and that exerted through a long series of years, can restore us to a proper and elevated sense of moral obligation. No valor can bring back to their original prosperity and brightness our desolated and blackened coasts, our ravaged cities, and, above all, promptly place us, where God intended we should Ik>, really and truly at peace with our fellow-men. I am bold to say — and 1 say it in no spirit of depreciation of the valor of my countrymen: I say it with a full conviction that they are equal to any emergency — that let war come upon us because we have refused our own terms, offered by us over and over again, and the responsibility of those I M 13 I who shaU bring it upoo us will be not only heavy enough to sink a nav>-, tut Will cause those who bring it about tq live, as long as God shall «ufibr them to live, with the execrations of the world upon them, and in a state of self-reproach and mental agony altogether indescril ible. 1 fancy ^ know how the Senator from Illinois would feci when u widowed wife vhall approach him, and linking him reproachfully in the face, shall say : **You arc the cause of all this wretchedness; a false sense of notional honor goaded you on, till you have brought upon us all this misery. There lies my husband, a blackened corse ; and here am I, with my orphan chil- dren, wretched beyond utterance ; and all for nothing ! for, after all, Oregon is lost." And the Senator trom Illinois will pardon me for saying he would hang his head in unmitigated regret and shame ; he would call the moun- tains to fall on him ; he would give the wealth of the world, if he had it, to bring back that general and individual peace and happiness, which, but for him, might have continued long to bless his native land. The age wo live in denounces war — that savage, beastly mode of settling either territorial or individual controversies. As has been recently said by one now on the verge of the grave, and whose whole life has been devoted to the cause of benevolence, " War is fit only for wild beasts, but is beneath the reason and dignity of man." And as has also been beautifully said by one of England's proudest sons, " The drying up a single tear has more or honest fame than shedding seas of gore." The spirit of the age denounces such savage barbarity. That other •spirit, which led two powerful Governments to make an amicable and honorable arrangement of a dispute, onco so threatening, in regard to our northeasteni boundary now prevails — a settlement which the Senator from Ohio thought proper to stigmatize as dishonorable to the nation. If there were nothing else in the lite of the American negotiator who participated in that happy result — if he had not before, and often, both in the forum and in the public councils of this nation, filled the measure of human renown — his correspondence upon that occasion alone won for him a reputation tor penetrating sagacity, for matchless intellectual power, for sterling patriotism, such as has rarely been equalled, never surpassed, by any state- sman, dead or living. I beg pardon for speaking thus in the presence in which I stand ; I am defending the nationi rather than the negotiator. The Senate will pardon me for saying further, that so commanding, so powerful was the influence of a part of that correspondence on a subject which threatened to involve the country in war, that Lord Aberdeen, after reading the riews of the American negotiator on the right of search, pro- nounced the prediction that from that day forward no impressment would again be made of an American sailor. Ket the Senator from Ohio seems to think that in that negotiation the national honor was seriously injured. Mn Sevikr. It* the Senator will pardon the interruption, I should hei 5 tad to ask hi^ authprity for stating thftt such was the remarks of Lord iberdeen? . Mr. JoiiivsoN. I apeak from peraonal authority. I thought I said so. If such ends can be accomplished bj negotiation,, if such ends have beea accomplished, I inYite Senators^ in justice to themselves, in charity to thn natidn, to encourage and support^ one and ^XU what I have no doubt is the de- termination of the Chief Ma^str&te, to settle the present contrcversj by the* «tme neans. Let the Senator Scorn Indkuuh (Mr. HA9rrB9A.v,} learn to re- u hi I 'i Rtrain what I may be permitted to call his impetuous patriotism. Let hinv not suffer it to run riot. Let him give himsplf up to tio dream of* national . honor while he is blind to all the obligations which Christianity and human- ity impose. Let him take no course that will not leave as he flnds it his n native country prosperous and happy. Carrv not desolation and havo^ through every corner of the land; and, above all, let him pursue that course, and be animated by that spirit, which shall bring on us the praise and ap- probation instead of the curses of the world. I am not here, (continued Mr. Johnson,) for the purpose of assailing the validity of the American title, and I wish not to be so understood. The title, and the means of defending it, a^e in the hands of the legitimate department of the Government ; and whilst thus in other hands, I am not about to ques- tion it to the extent to which I think our title goes, and where I am sure the President intends to carry it, unless driven into a war by the obstinacy of England. But I would rather my head should be stricken off than awaken the American heart into being the aggressor. How is the negotiation to be again resumed ? What are the steps most likely to bring about that result? Are things to remain as they are, or is the advice of the President to us to be adopted? I confess that on this sub- ject my mind has been solicitously anxious, and has undergone recently a change, and that change has been owing to facts to which I have already al- luded, impressing ine with the conviction, in which I am sure I cannot bo deceived, that the President's motives are peaceful. In what condition are we now " The title to Oregon — Oregon, all or none — may be made, not iu the 'lands of Senators of the United States, for they are incapable of turning it to such a purpose ; it may be made, I say, a party watchword ; it may be. made to fill the whole land, and lash it into a state of feverish excitement. Emigrants to that territor}*, taking the excitement with them ; members of the Senate, in the exercise of their admitted authority, proclaiming to those emigrants that they stand on American soil and ought to be protected ox- clusively by American laws, and that every Englishman is a trespasser ; a divided juri.«Jiction ; one system of laws extending its protecting arm over one household, and another system over another; a conflict in my judgment in such a condition of things would be inevitable. The state of things provid> ed for by the treaty of 1818, and continued by that of 1827, cannot last, nor will it last. How, then, is a conflict to be avoided ? Clearly by bringing that state of things to an end, by dividing the disputed territory, by erecting each portion into a separate sovereignty, each to be placed under the juris* diction of its own Govoniincnt. This can only be done by abrogating the treaty. England docs not give the notice, and unles*j we do, all the dangers to which I have referred will follow. I think the notice ought to be given, and before I sit down I shall pro- pose a form of notice, somewhat diflerent, but substantially the same with one which hns already been submitted i. the consideration of the Senate* If I was satisfied that all to which I have alluded would not drive us into a conflict, 1 should infinitely prefer the present condition of things. The ad. vice of the Senator from South Carolina, (Mr. CAhovn,) the opinion which he has expressed, wisely expressed — expressed in the very spirit of wis- dom — ^that our policy was a masterly inactivity, was in my judgment the true policy of this nation. By emigration we would, in the course of time, necesnarily have made the territory ours. But that masterly inac> livity has gcased to be masterly, because of the tinmasterly activity of some >'l 15 Lethinv k »f national nd humtn- flnds it hi» n ind haro^ hat course, »o and ap- sailing the The title, lepartment lUt to quP8- m sure the bstinacy of !in awaken steps most Y are, or is n this sub- recently a already al- cannot bo udition are tade, not iu I of turning ; it may be. excitement, ncmbers of ig to those otected ox- spasser ; a [ arm over Y judgment ngs provid- >t last, nor y bringing (v erecting ■ the juris- igating the te dangers shall pro- same with le Senate* us into a The ad- lion which rit of wis* judgment course of terly inac* ty of some * > othen. And I am sure, without knowing what the opinion of the- honorable Senator to whom I have alluded now is, he will agree with me that the day for masterly inactivity is gone. Mr. Presidem, we are in the discharge of a function of awful ard tremendous responsibility — ^withthe civilized world sitting in judgment upon us ; with the eyes of the people of^ this country turned with deep and intense solicitude towards us ; with the hopes of humanity, the progress of Christian &ith and Christian triumphs depending upon the conduct of this body. Every lover of constitutional free- dom, wherever he may be found, looks with trembling anxiety to the judg- ment and decision of the representatives of this free republic. If wc act wisely, humanely, in a Christian spirit, in that spirit which prevailed in that highest and most earnest wish of Heaven, that there shall be peace on earth and good will to men, wi> ./ill go on prospering and to prosper. But if we Hct otherwise ; if we give ourselves up to the leading of impetuous spirits ; it~ we are reckless, regardless of the obligations of humanity and Christianity ; if we fly in the face of the spirit of peace, in which a republic can alone live, I repeat that, so far from having the blessir gs of the world upon us, we will descend to afterages as enemies of man an 1 of God. In this tearful crisis, then, of our country, it becomes us, Mr. President, iu humble supplication before that God whom we all in common adore, to im- plore his mercy to save us from the desolating calamities with which we are threatened, and to preserve us a great, peaceful, and happy nation. I propose, then, in concluding, to offi>r, by way of amendment to the reso^i- lution which came from the House of Representatives on this subject, and as a substitute for that resolution, the preamble and resolutions offered by the Senator from Kentucky, (Mr. Chittenden,) with this difference • that, instead of deferring the notice, as the original amendm ant proposed, to be given from and after the termination of the session of Congress, it may be given from and after the first day of Jime next. With this altera* t'on, I shall move the adoption of those resolutions, and cease to trouble the &'mate further on the subject. Mr. Breksk said he did not rise for the purpot^e of replying at length to the remarks of the Senator from Maryland, who had just taken his seat, but to ask him, in a kind spirit, one or two questions, which it may not be very material that he should answer one way or the other. It is in vain to say, sir, as he has said, that the spirit of the age andof Christianity isagaisnt war,and the promotion of o just right by force. Did the Senator never reflect that national honor is a national possession of the highest value ? Did he never consider tha. ^ people that does not place a proper estimate upon it, and stand up in its defence, is unworthy to be enrolled among independent na- tions ? Did he never consider that his portrayal of the calamities of war, as an argi nient against a war, strikes at the foundation of the principle of na- tional defence, and releases the nation from its high and imperious obliga- tion to protect and defend all the rights of the nation? And, that this high duty would end, if we arc to count the cost and the calamities of war, and he deterred from our purpose by them, how great soever they might be ? It was not the spirit oUthe age, he apprehended ; at any rate, ii was not the spirit of the American people, to suHer passively any encroachment upon their rights, but would resist it to the death. As the honorable Senator, in the course of his remarks, thought proper to compare the honorable Senator from Indiana, (Mr. Hannbuan,) and from Ohio, (Mr. Ai.lk|u) with himself* ^Mr. B.,) to a character somewhat celebrated iu English nistory, the re- h^ mmf If I, 'I ' 16 « ■ nowned Hotspur, the allusion, sir, though hr (Mr. B.) possessed none of the Characteristics which marked that distinguished champion, had awakened his recollection to a portion of his hintory as portrayed by that masteify de- lineator of the human passions and human nature, in the scene between him, -, , ^^5/„*^l "•'-''I'.t.^.-. ■' II '«:#.£ fm ^-Sl^lfe c-A ^. ' '„ J :>s*,:r i*^ 1 >#': :fs*s„ . ■► X ivC\r ht ¥^ ;i