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32X

SPEECH OF MR. WINTHROP, OF MSSICHUSETTS,

THE OREGON QUESTION.

DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, MARCH 18, 1844.

The House having rssolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union,
and having proceeded to the consideration of the Report of the Committee of Foreign Affairs,
declaring it to be inexpedient to act at this time on a resolution inirodu"-ed by Mr. On-i n, of In-
diana, to request the President of the United States to give due notice of twelve nionlhs to the
British government for terminating the convention for the joint occupation of the Oregon Terri-
tory; and the chairman of the Committee of Foreign Affairs (Mr. C. J. Inqf.ksoli., of Penn-
sylvania) having spoken in opposition to the report —

Mf. WiNTHROP addressed the committee nearly as follows :

I have no purpose, Mr. Chairman, of attempting a detailed reply to
the honorable gentleman who has just taken his seat. I was greatly
in hopes that another member of tliis house, and I will add, another
member of the Massachusetts delegation, who has so often instructed
and delighted us on these questions of foreign controversy, (Mr. Adams)
would have taken the floor for this purpose. 1 would gladly yield it
to him, or, indeed, to any one else who is disposed for it, feeling, as I
deeply do, the want of greater preparation and longer reflection for
doing justice to the occasion. I am unwilling, however, that the
speech which has just been delivered should pass off without sorre
notice. I fear, too, that if I yield to the kind suggestion of a friend
near me, and ask a postponement of the debate, 1 may lose an oppor-
tunity altogether. Recent proceedings in this house afford me very
little encouragement to try such an experiment. On more than one
occasion, questions of the higiiest interest and importance seem to have
been brought up unexpectedly, as this has been, for the purpose of
allowing some member of the majority of the house to deliver an elab-
orate exposition of his views, and then to have been shufliled off again
by the previous question, or by a motion to lay on the table, before any
member of the minority could open his lips in reply. I proceed, ihcre-
for«i, to make the best of the opportunity which is now secured to me.
d, in the first place, let me say a word in regard to the sectional
t tcter which has been given to this subject. It has been often said
that the question about Oregon is a Western question, and a disposition has
been manifested tochargehostilitytoWesterninterestsand Western rights
upon all who are not ready to draw the sword, without further delay, in de-
fence of this Territory. I deny this position altogether. It is a National
question. Itisaquestionforthe whole country. The North have as much
interest in it as the West, and as much right to be heard upon it; indeed,
there are some views in which it is more a Northern than a Western
question. I cannot forget that the American claim to Oregon, so far is

J. & 0. S. QisEOK, piinten.

it resis upon discovery, dates back to Mnssachusetts advcntiiri and
Boston enteiprise. It was a Boston ship which gave its name to the
Columbia river. It was Captain Robert Gray, of Boston, who first dis-
covered that river. It was the Hancock and the Adams of Massachu-
eetts — the proscribed patriots of the Revolution — whose names were
inscribed on those remote Capes. And if we turn from the early his-
tory of Oregon to its present importance, and tc the immediate interests
which are involved in its possession, the North will be found no less
prominently concerned in the question. The great present value of
this Territory has^relation to the commerce and navigation of the Pa-
cific ocean. The Whale fishery of this country requires safe stations
and harbors on the northwest coast. And by what part of the nation
is ihis fishery carried on 1 Why, sir, the State of Massachusetts owns
nine-tenths of all the whale ships of the United States. The single
town of New Bedford, (the residence of my honorable friend Mr.
GaiNNELL),.aends out 92,000, out of a little more than 130,000, tons of
the American shipping employed in tliis business; and three other
towns in the same district employ 31,170 tons of the remainder. So
far, then, as the whaling inleiest is to be regarded, the Oregon ques-
tion is emphalically a Massachusetts question. I feel bound to add,
however, that the whole coast of Oregon can hardly furnish one really
good harbor. South of the forty-ninth degree of latitude, (a boundary
which we have once offered to compromise upon), there is not one
. which a ship can get safely into, or out of, during thn^e quarters of the
year. The hdrbor of San Fiarcisco, in northern California, would be
worth the whole Territory of Oregon to the whaling fleet of the nation.
A mere Western interest! Sir, I doubt whether the West has a par-
ticle of real interest in the possession of Oregon. It may have an in-
terest, a momentary, seeming, delusive interest in a war for Oregon.
Doubtless, the western States might reap a rich harvest of spoils in the
torosecution of such a war. Doubtless, there would be A\t contracts of
all sorts j^rowing out of such a contest, which would enure to their
peculiar advantage. Doubtless, the characteristic spirit of the western
people — that spirit of restless adventure, and roving enterprise, and
daring conflict, which the honorable gentleman has just eulogized —
would find ample room and verge enough for its indulgence even to
satiety, in such a campaign. Whether that spirit, indomitable as it is
in any ordinary encounter, would not be found stumbling upon the
dark mountains, or fainting in the dreary vallies, or quenched beneath
the perpetual snows which Nature has opposed to the passage to this
disputed territory, remains to be seen. A march to Oregon, I am in-
clined to believe, would take the courage out of not a few who now
believe themselves incapable of fatigue or fear. But suppose the war
were over, successfully over, and Oregon ours, what interest, let me
ask. %vhat real, substantial, permanent interest would the West have in
its possession "? Are our western brethren straightened for elbow room,
or likely to be for a thousand years 1 Have they not too much land
for their own advantage already? I verily believe that if land were
oniv half as abundant and half 'as cheap as it is, the prosperity of the
west would be doubled. As an eastern representative I would never

in-
ffon.
the
3 of
their
tern
and
ed—
to
it is
the
3ath
this
in-
now
war
me
ve in
ooni ,
land
were
the
ever

submit a proposition to raise the price of the public lands; such a pro-
position would be misconstrued and perverted. But if 1 were a western
man, I would ask nothing sooner, I would desire nothing more ear-
nestly of this Government, than to double the price of these lands. It
would put money in the pocket of every western farmer, and in the
coffers of every western State. Sale for the purpose of settlement
would not be checked ; speculation only would be restrained. The
average income of the nation would be as great as now ; the ultimate
receipts far greater; and all parties would be benefitted in the end.
The west has no interest, the country has no interest, in extending our
territorial possessions. This Union of ours must have limits; audit
was well said by Mr. Senator Benton, in 1825, that westwaid " the
lidge of the Rocky mountains may be- named, without offence, as pre-
senting a convenient, natural, and evei lasting boundary. Along the
back of this ridge the western limit of this republic should be drawn,
and the statue of the fabled God, Terminus, should be raised upon its
highest peak, never to be thrown down."

The Oregon question, however, Mr. Chairman, as now presented to
us, is not a question of interest, but of right; not a question as to the
ultimate reach of our federal union, but as to the existing extent of our
territorial title. Upon this point I shall say little. An argument to
this house in favor of our title to Oregon would be words thrown away.
If any man can convince the British Government that the territory is
ours, his labor will be well employed, and the sooner he sets about it
the better. But we are convinced already. For myself, ceitainly, I
believe that we have a good title to the whole twelve degrees of lati-
tude. I believe it, not merely because it is the part of patriotism to
believe one's own country in the right, but because I am unable to
resist the conclusions to that effect, to which an examination of the
evidence and the authorities hi\ve brought me. In saying this, how-
ever, I would by no means be inderstood to concur in the idea which
has recently been advanced in jome quarters, that our title is of such a
character that we are authorized to decline all negotiation on the subject.
Why, sir, with what face can we take such a stand, with the history of this
question before us and before the world 1 Nothing to negotiate about!
Has not every administration of our Government, since we had a
Government to be administered, treated this as an open question I
Have we not at one time expressly offered to abandon all pretension
to five-twelfths of the Territory, and to allow our boundary line to fol-
low the forty-ninth degree of latitude 1 Have we not united in a con-
vention of joint occupancy for thirty years, in order to keep it an open
question? What pretence have we for planting ourselves on our pre-
sumed rights at this late day, and for shutting our ears to all overtures
of negotiation, and all assertion or argument of the rights of others 1
None; none whatever. Such a course would subject us to the just re-
proach and scorn of the civilized world.

But the question before the committee relates simply to the termina-
tion of the convention of joint occupancy. This convention originated
in the year 1818, and was limited to the term of ten years. In 1827 it
was extended indefinitely, subject, however, to the right of eilher party

to annul and abrogate the same, on giving twelve months notice to the
other party. And now the question is not whether this joint occupa-
tion of Oregon shall be continued forever. Nobody imagines that the
United States and Great Britain are about to hold this Territory in
common much longer. Neither country desires it ; neither country
would consent to it. The simple question is, whether the United States
shall take the responsibility of giving the notice to-day; whether, after
having agreed to this joint occupancy for nearly thirty years, we shall
lake occasion of this precise moment in the history of the two countries
to insist on bringing it to a close 1 I am opposed, wholly opposed, to
such a course. I agree with the report of the Committee on Foreign
Affairs, (a committee, be it remembered, composed of six members of
the Van Buren party, and of three only of the friends of Mr. Clay,)
that it is entirely inexpedient to act at all on the subject at this time;
and I sincerely wish that the chairman of that committee (Mr. C. J.
Ingersoll) had saved me the trouble of advocating his own report, and
had given us an argument in favor of its adoption, instead of making
the anything but reasonable or pacific speech, which he has just
concluded.

Sir, I regard the proposition to give the required notice to the British
Government at this precise moment, as eminently ill-timed, both in
regard to our relations with Great Britain and to our own domestic con-
dition. We are just at the close of an administration. We are on the
eve of another election of President. How this election may terminate
may be a matter of doubt in some quarters. I have no doubt. But,
however it may terminate, it is no more than fair to those who are to
be successful, to leave to thera the initiation of a policy which they are
to be responsible for carrying on and completing. A twelve months
notice! Why, to what point of time in our political affairs will the
expiration of that notice bring us 7 To the very first month of a new-
administration ; an administration which will hardly have taken the
oaths of olfice ', which will hardly have selected and installed its ad-
visers and agents; and which, (unless yon are going to compel the
calling of another extra session, only to deride and denounce it after-'
wards), will have no Congress at the Capitol to act in any way upon
its measures! This termination of joint occupation is to be followed
by something, I suppose. It must be followed, it is intended to be
followed, by some act of separate occupation. If negotiation, in the
mean time, shall have failed, as it certainly will fail if this notice be
given, something else than negotiation, a strife or a struggle of some
sort must ensue. It may, or may not, amount to an immediate war
with England. But whatever form it may assume, it will involve
responsibility, it will require preparation, it will demand matured and
vigorous counsels. And how is a new administration, with its cabinet^
perhaps, not yet arranged, and without a Congress to sustain it, to
meet such an exigency as it ought to be met?

Mr. Chairman, it was — I will not say the policy and design of the
Van Buren administration — but certainly the result of their course on
going out of ofliice three years ago, to precipitate their successors, while
yet without that matured organization which is essential to any eflfec-

Ml
be
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aid
of

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Tollowed
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., in the
[otice be
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involve
ired and
cabinet,
in it, to

rn of the
lourse on

while
effec-

tive action, upon a condition of foreign affairs of the most delicate and
dangerous character. Few persons, I imagine, know, and few persons,
perhaps, ever will know, how critical were the relations of Great
Britain and the United States at the precise instant of General Harri-
son's accession to the presidency. My honored and venerable col-
league (Mr. Adams) seemed to understand them, when he charged it
openly upon the Van Buren party a session or two ago, that they had
Jired the ship when they found they could no longer hold it! I trust that
there is no design, no disposition, no willingness, to bring about the
same state of things again. It ought to be the patriotic aim of ua
all, thai whoever the next President may be, he may have a smooth
aea and a fair wind to start with ; and that he may not be driven upon
storms and breakers before his hand has fairly grappled upon the
helm, and before his crew have got upon their sea legs!

Sir, if there was any thing too pacific, any thing too compromising,
any thing too yielding in the course of President Tyler, or his Secretary
of Slate, in conducting the recent negotiations with Great Britain — all
which I utterly deny — no small share of the blame would rest upon the
party which threw upon a new administration, in the first hour of its
existence, so perilous a responsibility; the party which brought the
country to the very brink of war, and there left it, without preparation
of any sort, either of money or munitions; with its navy dismantled,
its fortifications dilapidated, and its Treasury many millions worse
than empty!

But the honorable gentleman from Pennsylvania has made a charge
in relation to the treaty of Washington, of a somewhat different charac-
ter. He has told us that the British ministry have succeeded in de-
priving this country of a considerable portion of our territory on the
northeast, with a perfect knowledge that they had no right to it. He
has told us that the Prime Minister of England has declared in Parlia-
ment that he had proof, in the handwriting of a late English monarch,
that the British claim was without foundation; and h*^ i)as alluded to
what he calls a corresponding acknowledgment of i distinguished
member of the House of Lords! Mr. Chairman, this attei>ipt to destroy
the confidence of the American Congress and of the American people
in the good faith and common honesty of the British Government, at
the very moment when we are about to enter upon new and critical
negotiations with them, can hardly, in my judgment, be too strongly
condemned. The charge is entirely unwarranted. The speeches of
Sir Robert Peel and Lord Brougham justify no such impeachment of
British integrity. What were the circumstances under which the re-
marks were made to which the honorable member had reference 1 It
is well known that a charge of bad faith had been brought against
our negotiator, Mr. Webster, for having concealed from Lord Ash-
burton all knowledge of a map which had been discovered by
Mr. Sparks in Paris, and which there was the strongest reason for
believing to be Dr. Franklin's map. This map had a broad red
line upon it in close conformity fo the British claim, and was con-
sidered as being somewhat of an extinguisher of the American view
of the question, so far as the authority of maps was concerned.

5^'

>".

Yet it was carefully concealed from the British Government and the
British negotiator. For this proceeding Mr. Webster was arraigned
both at home and abroad. Lord Palmerston, who, as Secretary of
Foieign Affairs for many years, had failed in all attempts to settle the
boundary question, and who was, perhaps, a little envious of the repu-
tation which his successor, Lord Aberdeen, had acquired through the
negotiations of Lord Ashbniton, publicly arraigned Mr. Webster in
the House of Comnions, and made substantially the same charge against
him, which the chairman of the Committee of Foieign Affairs in this
house has now made against the ministry of England. And it was in
answer to this attack upon Mr. Webster, it was in defence of our Secre-
tary of State — not, perhaps, without some view of vindicating ibom-
selves from the imputation of having been overreached in the negotia-
tion — that Sir Robert Peel and Lord Brougham brought forward the
fact to which the honorable gentleman has alluded. They stated that
the British Government, as well as the American Government, had
concealed maps which made against their own claim; that Lord Pal-
merston himself had been guilty of the same suppression; that, beside
other maps of less significance, which had been kept out of sight by the
ministry of England, there was one which could be traced back to the
possession of George the third, the monarch in whose time the separa-
tion of the two countries had taken place, and upon which there was
a red line in precise conformity with the American claim. But what
was their course of remark upon the subject 1 Did they, as the gen-
tleman would imply, admit that these maps, on either side, would
have been considered as conclusive evidence of the intention of the
tieaty of 1783 ? No such thing; they ridiculed such an idea. Sir
Robert Peel commenced his remarks on this subject by saying : —

" The noble lord has spoken at great length of a map recently discovered. He seems to think
that that map, so discovered, affords conclusive evidence of the justice of the British claims.
Now, sir, in the first place, let me observe to the noble lord, that contemporary maps may be —
where the words of the treaty referred to by them are in themselves doubtful — they may be evi-
dence of the intentions of those who framed them, but the treaty must be executed according
to the words contained in it. Even if the mav tvere nustaiiied by the parties, it could not con'
travene the words of the treaty."

And Lord Brougham followed out the same idea in his speech in the
House of Lords, when he said :

" But the map does not tally with the description given. Suppose you had an account, in
writing, that the Thames, as is the fact, forms the boundary of the counties of Surrey and Mid-
dlesex ; and suppose you found a map, or chart, or plan connected with that description, on
which a red line through Piccadilly was drawn as the boundary — I should not take it ; I should
go down to the river ; because the red line is only to be regarded if the words do not speak for
themselves, or the language is ambiguous. And the same is the case here, more or less."

Now, Mr. Chairman, it is only after these explicit denials of the
idea, that maps, under whatever circumstances they may have been
found, are to be taken as conclusive evidence as to the justice of claims
resting on the descriptions of a treaty, that Lord Brougham and Sir
Robert Peel proceed to disclose the fact of the discovery of the map of
George the Third ; and that, only in the way of set-off" to the map
which is supposed to have belonged to Dr. Franklin. They do, indeed^
speak somewhat largely and roundly as to the effect which the pro-

'k-

0'.

t and the
nrrnigned
retary of
settle the
the repu-
ongh the
ebster in
re against
IS in this
it was in
>ur Secre-
ing tuom-
; negotia-
ward the
tatod that
ncnt, had
Lord Pal-
at, beside
rht by the
ick to the
le separa-
ihere was
But what
} the gen-
de, would
ion of the
lidea. Sir

;cms to think
ritish claims,
ips may be—
may be evi-
\(:d according
)uld not con-

\ch. in the

account, in
\cey and Mid-
ascription, on
J it ; I should
lot speak for

less."

lis of the
ive been
|of claims
and Sir
le map of
Ithe map
I, indeed^
the pro-

duction of this map of George the Third might have had on the settle-
ment of the boimdary question, in case maps were to be taken as conclu-
sive evidence. But Ih'iving expressly denied that they were to be so
taken — having rejected and litliculed the idea of the red lines of a map
being allowed to control the black letters of a treaty description — their
language, however round, admits of no such construction as has been
given to it by the honorable gentleman who has just taken his seat.

Sir, there is no evidence whatever, in my judgment, of bad fjiith on
the part of the British government in these speeches of the Prime Min-
ister and Lord Brougham. I do not profess to be deeply versed in the
science of political morals or international obligation ; but I should say
that the principles of common honesty and common sense would lead
to this conclusion : — If a government, after having set up a claim of
any sort, should find in its own possession conclusive evidence, evi-
dence conclusive upon its own conscience, that the claim was unfound-
ed, it is bound, in all honor and in all justice, to disclose the evidence
and abandon the claim. But if the evidence fall short of demonstra-
tion — if reasonable and conscientious doubts still rest upon the ques-
tion — if there be ground enough left for maintaining the claim at all —
it would be the height of absurdity in such a government, and a piece
of most gratuitous generosity to their opponent, to make such a disclo-
sure. Why, sir, the circumstances of the case we are considering fur-
nish the best possible illustration that the position I have taken is the
only aoimd or safe one. Here wei'e maps in the secret possession of
each government at the same moment, which were believed by each
respectively to present formidable testimony against its own claim, and
the production of either of which, singly, might have seriously alFccted
the final settlement of the disputed boundary. Suppose Mr. Webster
had disclosed to Lord Ashburton tlie map which was then believed to
have belonged to Dr. Franklin, and the consequence had been a much
larger relinquishment of territory, on our part, than has actually taken
place : — Or, suppose Sir Robert Peel had sent over to Mr. Webster the
map of George the Third, and had consented, upon the strength of it,
toa line less favorable to his own country : — What would the government
which obtained the advantage under such circumstances have thought
of the diplomacy and statesmanship of its antagonist? And even if
both governments had shown their hands, and exhibited their maps si-
multaneously, what would have been produced but a mutual laugh at
each other, and a laugh of all the world at both! And the laugh, cer-
tainly, woidd not have been diminished, if it had afterwards proved that
the recently discovered map of Mr. Jay, the only map which we now
know certainly to have been in the possession of tlie negotiators of
1783, was materially different from both the other two. Well, sir, did
Mr. Webster say for himself, on this subject, that " he confessed he
did not think it a very urgent duty, on his part, to go to Lord Ashbur-
ton and tell him that he had found a bit of doubtful evidence in Paris,
out of which he might, perhaps, make something to the prejudice of
our claims, and from which he could set up higher claims for himself,
or obscure the whole matter still further," And no less well, in my
judgment, did Lord Brougham "deny that a negotiator, in carrying on

k
I,

t:
"•■li

a controversy, aa representing his own countr}' with a foreign country,
is bound to disclose to the other party whatever he may know thai
tells against his own country and for the opposite party ; any more than
an advocate is bound to tell the court all that he deems to make against
his own client and for his adversary." A just nation, like a just man,
will never set up a claim which it knows to have no foundation ; but
both nations and individuals may withhold from an opposite party,
(except where ihcy are under question upon oath) any evidence which
would weaken a claim which they believe to be well founded, without
subjecting themselves to any rightful impeachment of their honor or
good faith.

I repeat, Mr. Chairman, thnt (his attempt to destroy the confidence
of the American people in the fairness of the British Government, ond
to produce the impression that they have dishonestly deprived us of a
portion of our territory, and are now openly chuckling over the success
of an avowed fraud, cannot be too strongly reprobated. The direct
tendency of such a course is to create an exasperated popular feeling
towards Great Britain, which will forbid the settlement of any future
dispute with that power, except by the sword ; which will henceforth
acknowledge the validity of no red lines, but those which shall have
been run with blood ; and which will lead inevitably, and at no distant
day, to war for Oregon. I trust that this is not the design of the
Chairman of the Committee of Foreign Affairs.

But the honorable gentleman has not been content with charging
fraud upon the British Government in relation to the late treaty. He
has told us that this treaty was accomplished and consummated against
the unanimous sentiment of the people of Maine. Sir, I should like
to know where the honorable gentleman has found the evidence of
this unanimous sentiment of the people of Maine against the Treaty
of Washington. The Commissioners of Maine were on the spot dur-
ing the whole period of its negotiation. They prepared, it is true, a
somewhat elaborate argument against relinquishing any part of their
territorial claim. But what did they do afterwards 1 How did they
conclude that argument? They gave their formal and unanimous as-
sent to the arrangement which Mr. Webster and Lord Ashburton had
agreed on. They signed the treaty. What pretence, then, is there for
the assertion, that Maine was dismembered against the unanimous
sentiment of her people 1

Mr. Ingersoll (Mr. W. yielding the floor for explanation) remarked,
that he was sorry this matter was gone into, but the gentleman from
Massachusetts provoked him to say (he did not mean any thing offen-
sive) that he (Mr. I.) had in his place, from day to day, been inform-
ed by a gentleman from Maine, no longer a member of this House,
that all that had been brought about by tricks, practised on the Maine
Commissioners, such as were attempted to be practised upon Senators
at the other end of the Capitol.

Mr. Winthrop continued : And neither do I mean any thing offen-
sive ; but I must be permitted to say, that I believe Mr. Webster to be
quite as incapable of tricks, as the honorable gentleman himself, and
that I demand some better evidence of the fact than the private whia-

jn country,
know thai
f more than
ake against
a just man,
Jation ; but
osite party,
ence which
ed, without
ir honor or

confidence
nment, and
ved us of a
the success

The direct
ular feeling

any future

henceforth
1 shall have
t no distant
i']gn of the

th charging

treaty. He

ited against

should like

idence of

he Treaty

spot dur-

is true, a

art of their

vv did they

nimous as-

>urton had

is there for

unanimous

remarked,
(man from
ling offen-
;n inform-
lis House,
the Maine
Senators

ing offen-
jster to be
nself, and

ate whis-

pers which the gentleman has retailed. Why has not the person who
gave this information made it public before this time, upon his own
responsibility 1 If the Maine Commissioners were tricked into an as-
sent to the treaty, why have they not found it out themselves, and
disclosed the circumstances 1 Sir, I deny the whole allegation. This
effort to array an opposition against the Treaty of Washington, in re-
ference to the Maine boundary, is all an afterthought. At the time it
was negotiated, it met with a very general, if not an unanimous, as-
sent in both the States which were interested in the question; in
Maine ro less than in Massachusetts. And even to this day, all at-
tempts which have been made to get up a public sentiment against the
treaty, have signally failed. That treaty was ratified by a vote of five-
sixths of the Senate ; and I have not the slightest belief that some of the
Senators who voted against it, (if any of them,) would have dared to take
the responsibility of defeating it, if their votes would have produced
such a result. There is no way of securing an impunity in regard to
any public measure, more easy and obvious, than to vote against it
when you are certain that your vote will not prevent its adoption. If
the measure turns out to be acceptable to the country, nobody will care
who voted against it ; while, if it proves to be unpopular in c'liy quar-
ter, you are at full liberty to unite in denouncing it. This is a politi-
cal trick, (to borrow the gentleman's term,) which is often played by
aspiring politicians. Whether it will accountfor any part of the opposi-
tion to the Treaty of Washington, others can judge as well as myself.
Whether it will or not, however, is of very little importance. The
treaty has commended itself so entirely to the approbation of the
American people, that the liberty of finding fault with it has proved
utterly worthless. The negotiators are out with all the honors, and there is
no chance for tricks to tell. In the whole records of diplomacy, Ameri-
can or European, there can not be found a negotiation which has been
hailed with more undivided satisfaction by those who were interested
in its results, than this has been by the people of the United States.
Its influence will not soon be lost on the civilized world. It will stand
on the pages of history, as a noble example of what may be accomplished
by the honest arts of Peace, and will impress with the force of convic-
tion on the nations of the earth, the lesson which they have been so
long in learning, that war is not the only resort, or the best resort, for
settling international disputes, but that true honor may be maintainedf
real interest secured, just pride preserved, without the sacrifice of a
single life, or the libation of one drop of blood!

The honorable gentleman has alluded to Mr. Calhoun, and has ex-
pressed his gratification that he has accepted the appointment of Sec-
retary of State. Has he I'orgotten that one of the ablest speeches
made in the Senate of the United States, in support of the late treaty,
was made by this distinguished statesman of South Carolina ? Has he
forgotten, too, that the crowning glory of that treaty, in Mr. Calhoun's
estimation, was that it would establish " a permanent amity and peace"
between Great Britain and the United States'? " A kind Providence
(said Mr. Calhoun) has cast our lot on a portion of the globe sufficiently
vast to satisfy the most grasping ambition, and abounding in resources

beyond all others, which only require to be fully developed to make
us the greatest and most prosperous people on earth." "Peare," said
he, " is, indeed, our policy. Peace is the first of our wants." Why,
sir, if the honorable gentleman will turn to the speech of this political
friend and brother democrat of his, he will find it as copious in its
eulogies on the blessings of peace, as any of the more recent speeches
in the Senate, which he has ridiculed under the title of sermons. I
honor Mr. Calhoini for such expressions. Let him carry into the ne-
gotiations upon the Oregon question, the same spirit which he mani-
fested in relation to the Treaty of Washington, let him ' seek peace
and ensue it,' in his management of our foreign aflfairs, and he will
have earned a title to the regard of all good men and true patriots. I
rejoice to believe that he will do so. On the subject of Oregon, in-
deed, he is already committed to a pacific policy. The honorable gen-
tleman is quite mistaken in his idea of Mr. Calhoun's argument against
the bill for (he armed occupation of Oregon last winter. There was
noilung whatever in that argument to give the impression that Mr.
Calhoun was in favor of giving this notice now or at any early day. On
the contrary, the whole strain and stress of the argument was in favor
of abstaining altogether from any action upon the subject. " There is
often," said Mr. Calhoun, " in the aflfairs of Government, more eflSci-
ency and wisdom in non-action than in action. All we want, to effect
our object in this case, is a wise and masterly inactivity." " Our po-
pulation," said he, ''-will soon — far sooner than anticipated — reach
the Rocky Mountains, and be ready to pour into the Oregon Territory,
when it will come into our possession without resistance or struggle j
or, if there should be resistance, it would be feeble and inefToctual.
We would then be as much stronger there, comparatively, than Great
Britain, as she is now stronger than we are ; and it would then be as
idle ill her to attempt to assert or maintain her exclusive claim to the
territory against us, as it would now be in us to attempt it against her.
Let us be wise, and abide oiu- time, and it will accomplish all that we
desire, with far more certainty, and with infinitely less sacrifice, than
we can without it."

I have no idea, Mr. Chairman, that it will be in ojir power, under
present circumstances, to avail ourselves of this good advice of Mr.
Calhoun, or that he will find himself able, in his new capacity, to leave
this question to the operation of time. The ill-advised and most un-
seasonable debates on this subject, which have taken place in both
branches of Congress during the last two years, have not only created
an impatience, in some quarters of the country, which will brook no
further delay; but have so roused the attention of the British Govern-
ment to our policy, as to forbid the idea that they would acquiesce in
any further postponement of the question. A new minister from Eng-
land has, indeed, arrived, who is well understood to be specially
charged with the negotiation of it. And it is now to be decided, so
far as this House is concerned, in what spirit that negotiation shall be
conducted. Shall it be entered on, by this Government, in that spirit
of menace and defiance which has characterized the whole speech of
the honorable gentleman from Pennsylvania^ or in that spirit of cour.

3d to make
eace,^^ said
s." VVhy,
lis political
)ion3 in its
nt speeches
sermons. I
into tlie ne-
;li he inani-

seek peaco
ind he will
patriots. I
Oregon, in-
lorable gen-
lent against

There was

)n that Mr.

rly day. On

was in favor

'< There is

more effici-
int, to effect
" Oin- po-
ated — reach
n Territory,
[Or struggle ;
neffoctual.

than Great
til en be as
aim to (he

against her,
all that we

;ritice, than

wer, under
ice of Mr.
ty, to leave
most un-
ace in both
Illy created
1 brook no
ah Govern-
cqiiiesce in
from Eng-
specially
ecided, so
n shall be
that spirit
speech of
irit of conr-

tcey and magnanimity which becomes a civilized and Christian, as well
as a brave and powerful, nation?

Sir, I have already declared my opinion that the required notice for
the termination of the joint occupation of Oregon ought not to be given
at this moment, in view of our own domestic condition. But a hundred
fold more ill advised does such a proceeding strike me, in view of our
immediate relations to the British government. In my judgment, it
would be an act of rudeness, of indecency, of offence, as unworthy a»
it would be wanton. What possible pretence of expediency or neces-
sity is there for such a course 1 Here is an ambassador on the ground,
ready at any instant to go into negotiations with us on the subject.
But for the deplorable catastrophe which has recenlly deprived the
President of two members of his cabinet, those negotiations would have
already been entered on. And is this a moment, when we have seen
no disadvantage and no disgrace in this joint occupation during a term
of thirty years, when all Presidents and all parties have acquiesced in
its continuance throughout that long period — is this a moment for in-
sisting on its being brought to a close 1 Is this a respectful or a re-
spectable mode of meeting the overtures of the British government for
a settlement of the Oregon question 1 Will it give us an increased
hope of effecting such a settlement amicably, honorably, satisfactorily,
to tell ihe British minister, " Sir, we will allow a year for this business.
At the end of that time, we shall cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of
war?" The hotjorable gentleman has alluded to the code of honor^
and to the manner of settling difficulties among gentlemen. There
are those present, doubtless, who understand the nice points of that
code. What would be thought by them, if, while negotiations of this
sort were pending, one of the parties should undertake to limit the
lime within which there must be a settlement or a fight? Undoubt-
edly, Mr. Chairman, we have a right to give such a notice to Great
Britain; but, in my judgment, the exercise of that right at this moment
would not only tend to protract, embarrass, and ultimately defeat the
negotiations which are now about to be opened, but would impair the
honor of this nation in the estimation of the civilized world. We
should be reproached and rebuked for it by the general sense of Eu-
rope. And is the American character abroad at so high a mark at this
moment, that we can afford to trifle with it? True, sir, many of the
censures which have recently been cast on this Republic are unrea-
sonable. Perhaps I might agree with the honorable gentlemaa from
Pennsylvania, that the attacks which have been made upon the cha-
racter and honesty of his own Commonwealth, and which seem to haveso
sharpened the edge of his acrimony against England, are a good deal
overcharged. At any rate, I feel as strongly as any one the injustice
of involving the whole nation in the repudiation of two or three of the
separate States; and the same discrimination between the acts of indi-
vidual States and the acts of the United States may, I am aware, be
pleaded in explanation of other circumstances which have brought re-
pioach from some quarters upon our national good name. But the fact
is not less true, nor less lamentable, that our character as a nation, in
one way or another, justly or unjustly, has been not a little lowered.

of late years, in the regard of foreign nations. Now, sir, for whatever
we do in relation to this question of Oregon, we can set up no divided
responsibility. The Nation, as a Nation, must do whatever is done ;
and the Nation, as a Nation, must be held answerable. Let us then
forbear from pursuing any course, from taking any step, from express-
ing any purpose, which may give color to a new stain upon our national
character. Let us desist from all action and all discussion of this sub-
ject until Mr. Pakenham has, at least, opened his budget, and until
our own Government, too, is in a condition to pursue with vigor and
effect whatever policy we may ultimately be compelled to adopt.

But the honorable gentleman from Pennsylvania finds nothing to
regret in the state of opinion abroad as to the American character; he
even rejoices at the violent and vituperative tone of the British press
in relation to his own State. And whyl Because he thinks it may
have a tendency to counteract the idolatrous disposition which exists
in some parts of this country towards Great Britain ! Mr. Chairman,
I know of nothing more worthy of condemnation in the political his-
tory of the present day, than the systematic effort of the self-styled
Democratic party of this country to stir up a prejudice against England
upon every occasion, and to create an impression that every man who
does not fall in with their principles and their policy is in some sort of
British interest, or under some kind of British influence. There are
some of the leaders of this party, with whom hatred to England would
seem to be the only standard of American patriotism, and with whom
it seems to be enough, to determine their course upon all questions
either of right or of expediency, to know what will be most offensive
to the British power. War, war with England, is the ever-burning
passion of their soul ; and any one who pursues a policy or advocates a
measure which may postpone or avert the consummation which they
so devoutly desire, becomes the chosen object of their insinuations and
reproaches. For myself, sir, 1 hold in utter contempt all such insinu-
ations. If it be a fit subject for reproach, to entertain the most anx-
ious and ardent desire for the peace of this country, its peace with
England, its peace with all the world, I submit myself willingly to the
fullest measure of that reproach. War between the United States and
Great Britain for Oregon ! Sir, there is something in this idea too mon-
strous to be entertained for a moment. The two greatest nations on
the globe, with more territorial possessions than they know what to do
with already, and bound together by so many ties of kindred, and lan-
guage, and commercial interest, going to war for a piece of barren
earth ! Why, it would put back the cause of civilization a whole cen-
tury, and would be enough not merely to call down the rebuke of men,
but the curse of God. I do not yield to the honorable gentleman in a
just concern for the national honor. I am ready to maintain that honor,
whenever it is really at stake, against Great Britain as readily as against
any other nation. Indeed, if war is to come upon us, I am quite will-
ing that it should be war with a first-rate power — with a foeman worthy
of our steel.

— — — " Oh, the blood more stirs
To rouse the lion than to start the hara."

r whatever
no divided
r is done ;
et us then
111 expiess-
nr national
if this sub-
L, and until

I vigor and
idopt.
nothing to
iiacter ; he
British press
inks it may
hich exists

Chairman,
olitical his-
: self-styled
ist England
y man who
some sort of

There are
fland would

with whom

II questions
pst offensive
ver-burning

dvocates a
which they
nations and
uch insinu-
most anx-
leace with
igly to the
States and
a too mon-
nations on
what to do
d, and lan-
of barren
whole cen-
ke of men,
Ionian in a
hat honor,
as against
quite will-
an worthy

If the young queen of England were the veritable Victoria whom the
ancient poets have sometimes described as descending from the right
hand of Jupiter to crown the banner of predestined Triumph, I would
still not shrink from the attempt to vindicate the rights of my country
on every proper occasion. To her foices, however, as well as to ours,
may come the '' cila mors,^' as well as the " Victoria lata.^^ We have
nothing to fear from a protracted war with any nation, though our want
of preparation might give us the worst of it in the first encounter. We
are all and always ready for war, when there is no other alternative
for maintaining our country's honor. We are all and always ready for
any war into Avhich a Christian man, in a civilized land, and in this
age of (he world, can have the face to enter. But I thank God that
there are very few such cases. War and honor are fast getting to have
less and less to do with each other. The highest honor of any country
is to preseive peace, even under provocations which might justify war.
The deepest disgrace to any country is to plunge into war under cir-
cumstances which leave the honorable alternative of peace. I heartily
hope and trust, sir, that in deference to the sense of the civilized world,
in deference to that spirit of Christianity which is now spreading its
benign and healing inliuences over both hemispheres with such signal
lapidity, we shall explore the whole field of diplomacy, and exhaust
every art of negotiation, before we give loose to that passion for con-
flict which the honorable gentleman from Pennsylvania seems to regard
as so grand and glorious an element of the American character.

But Great Britain is so grasping, so aggressive, so insidious and inso-
lent, so overreaching and overbearing! Does not her banner flout ua
at every turn 1 Does not her drumbeat disturb our dreams by night,
and almost drown our voices by day? Is she not hemming us in on
every side ; compassing us about in a daily diminishing circle ; and are
not our outer walls already tottering at the sound of her trumpets'?
Nay, have not her blandishments succeeded where, as yet, her arms
have failed? Has she not scaled our very ramparts and penetrated to
our very citadel ia a shower of corrupting gold? What but British
GOLD carried the last presidential election against the people 1 What
but British gold is about to carry the next 1 What were the twelve
hundred and seventy-five thousand voters which deposed Mr. Vaa
Buren from the chief magistracy in 1840, and who are now rallying^
again, with renewed energy, to the old watchwords, against his restora-
tion, but so many British Whigs? Is there a Whig, in all the land,
■who dares deny, that when he voted for General Harrison, he had a
British heart in his bosom, and a British sovereign in his pocket? Mr,
Chairman, let me call to the remembrance of the committee a story
which was introduced by the celebrated George Canning into on©
of his speeches in the House of Commons, and which has thus the
highest sanction as not beneath the dignity of parliamentary debate.
It is the story of a painter, who had made himself somewhat eminent
in the professional sphere in which he moved, but who had directed
his art altogether to one favorite subject. This subject was a red lioriy
■which he had learned to depict in great perfection. One of his ear-
liest patrons was the keeper of a public house, who wished something

appropriate painted on his sign board. The painter, of course, executed
his red lion. A gentleman in the vicinity, who had a new mansion-
house which he wished to have ornamented, was the next employer of the
artist, and, in order to afford him full scope for his genius, g-ave him
his own choice of a subject for the principal panel in his dining-room.
The artist took time to deliberate, and then said, with the utmost
gravity, " don't you think that a handsome red lion would have a fine
effect in this situation?" The gentleman, as you may imagine, did not
feel quite satisfied with the selection, but resolved to let the painter
follow his own fancy in this instance, trusting to have a design of more
elegance and distinction in his drawing-room or library, to which he
next conducted him. '' Here, said he, I must have something striking ;
the space is small, and the device must be proportionably delicate."
The painter paused; appeared to dive down to the very bottom of his
invention, and thence to ascend again to its highest heaven for aa
idea, and then said, "what do you think of a small red lion?'^

Well now, sir, the course of a certain class of politicians in this
country seems to me to have a most marvellous analogy to that of the
painter in this story. This cry of British Whigs, this clamor about
British gold, this never-ending alarum about British aggression and
British encroachment, this introduction of the red lion on every occa-
sion, seems to be the one great reliance of the political artists of a cer-
tain school. There is always a lion in the path of the self-styled
Democratic party of the United States; a British lion, red with the
blood of cruelty and oppression, which it is their peculiar mission to
slay, but which the Whigs are leagued together to defend. Whatever
principle, whatever project, may be under discussion in this House,
or before the people, the red lion is sure to be on the ground. Red
lion here, red lion there, red lion everywhere ! Why, sir, even on the
question of refunding to General Jackson the fine which was imposed
on him for setting at defiance the civil authorities of the land, and im-
prisoning the judge who dared to confront him with a writ of habeas
corpus, it was thought ^^that a small red lion might have a fine effect in
that situation.^^ And a very small one it certainly was. It was sug-
gested that the judge was an Englishman by birth. He was known to
have come over to America in early youth. His residence here could
be traced back to the fifteenth or sixteenth year of his age ; but there
was reason to apprehend, though even that was not altogether certain,
that he was born in England ; and, therefore, all those who were un-
willing to annul his judicial decree, and to admit that he was rightfully
insulted and imprisoned, were little better than so many British Whigs,
Was not that, sir, a very little red lion indeed] This Oregon ques-
tion, however, presents a larger panel, and here, of course, a flaming
lion is shown up in its full dimensions. The Texas question affords a
larger field still, with far more room for the fancy to expatiate in; and
although the canvass is but just unrolled, the teeming invention of
Ihese unrivalled artists, has already done its work, with something of

txeculed
nansion-
rerofthe
;ave him
ig-ioom.
; utmost
/e a fine
!, did not
; painter
I of more
vhich he
striking;
elicate."
)m of his
en for an

13 in this
lat of the
nor about
ssion and
/ery occa-
s of a cer-
self-styled
I with the
mission to
Whatever
lis House,
nd. Red
en on the
IS imposed
^ and im-
of habeas
ic effect in
was sug-
known to
here could
but there
er certain,
were un-
rightfully
ish Whigs.
jon ques-
, a flaming
n affords a
ite in; and
LTention of
mething of

that celerity which Milton has so glowingly attributed to Creative
Power: —

-" Now half appeared

The tawny lion, pawing to get iree

His hinder parts, then springs, as broke from bonds,

And rampant shakes his brinded mane !"

Mr. Chairman, is it possible that the honorable gentleman from Penn-
sylvania, and his political friends, can be mad enough to believe that
the people of this country can be wrought upon by such conceits?
Let me assure them that they do injustice to the intelligence of the
people. '"Tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil." The
manly sense of this nation will scorn such appeals to fear and folly.
Conscious of their own integrity, and resolved on the vindication of their
own rights, the people will neither be frightened froi - their propriety,
nor diverted from their purpose, by such devices. 1 hey proved this
in 1840 ; they will make assurance doubly sure in 1844.

A word or two about Texas, and I have done. The honorable
gentlenu. Hom Pennsylvania, among other most inconclusive rea-
sons for the adoption of the resolution which has been condemned
as inexpedient by the committee over which he presides, has told
us, that " he holds it to be incompetent for the mere treaty-making
power to part with any portion of the territory of the United States,
or to settle a boundaiy question, without the consent and co-ope-
ration of the House of Representatives." And he has appealed to
the Massachusetts delegation, and called upon myself in particular,
*'as one who has loudly expressed an apprehension of the stealthy an-
nexation of Texas to this Union by a clandestine treaty," to unite with
him on this analogous question of Oregon^ and insist on the right of
representative action on the subject. Sir, I shall enter into no argu-
ment as to the extent of the treaty making power of this Government,
in regard to the particular measures which the gentleman has specified
in his proposition. Even if I assented to the full import of that propo-
sition, which I certainly do not, it would form no ground for that union
with him on the pending quetiion, to which he invites me. Even if it
were the admitted prerogative of this House to give advice or prescribe
action to the Executive on the subjects he has named, it would be no
reason for our giving bad advice, or prescribing mjudicious or unwar-
rantable action. But "the analogous questions" of Oregon and Texas!
Sir, I deny that there is any analogy whatever between those questions.
The Texas question is not in any sense a question of parting with ter-
ritory or settling a boundary line. It is not even a question of annex-
ing territory. It is a question of amalgamating a foreign sovereignty
with our own sovereignty; of annexing a foreign State to our own
State. It is such a question as would be presented by a proposition to
re-annex the United States to Great Britain, or to amalgamate Great
Britain with the United States. This, the gentleman must remember,
was the distinction taken by Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Forsyth in 1837.
They maintained, that " the question of the annexation of a foreign
independent State to the United States had never before been present-
ed to this Government." They maintained, that the circumstance of

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Louisiana and Florida being colonial possessions of France and Spain,
rendered the purchase of those Territories materially different from the
proposed annexation of Texas. " Whether the Constitution of the
United States, they added, contemplated the annexation of such a
State, and, if so, in what manner that object is to be effected, are ques-
tions, in the opinion of the President, which it would be inexpedient,
nnder present circumstances, to agitate."

And now, Mr. Chairman, I go much farther than the honorable gen-
tleman from Pennsylvania, on this subject. I not only deny the com-
petency of the treaty-making power of this Government to negotiate
any such amalgamation as this, without the co-operation of the House
of Representatives ; but I deny that our co-operation can confer or
supply that competency. Certainly, certainly, the Constitution did
710^ contemplate the annexation of such a State. Provoco adpopulum /
The People, in their own right, are alone competent to pronounce the
doom, which is to bind up the fortut^es of this Republic in the same
bundle of life or death with those of any foreign power ; and I hope
and believe that they will disown and renounce any Executive or any
Legislative act, which shall infringe upon this — their own supreme
prerogative. I trust that they will not be deluded by any false alarm,
by any red lion representation, that Texas is about to be made a colo-
nial possession of Great Britain. The British Government have no such
purpose. Our own Government know this. And if Texas be foisted
into this Union upon any such pretence, it will be an act as fraudulent
in its inception, as it will, under any circumstances, be pernicious in its
result.

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