entering into the constitutional compact which formed the Union; and as such, are a manifest breach of faith, and a violation of the most solemn obligations. 5. Resolved, That the interference by the citizens of any of the States with the view to the abolition of slavery in this District, is endangering the rights and security of the people of this District; and that any act or measure of Congress designed to abolish slavery in this District, would be a violation of the faith implied in the cessions by the States of Virginia and Maryland, a just cause of alarm to the people of the slaveholding States, and have a direct and inevitable tendency to disturb and endanger the Union. And, resolved, That any attempt of Congress to abolish slavery in any territory of the United States in which it exists, would create serious alarm, and just apprehension, in the States sustaining that domestic institution; would be a violation of good faith towards the inhabitants of any such territory, who have been permitted to settle with, and hold slaves therein, because the people of any such territory have not asked for the abolition of slavery therein, and because when any such territory shall be admitted into the Union as a State, the people thereof will be entitled to decide that question exclusively for themselves. MR. CLAY'S RESOLUTIONS. The following is the series of resolutions presented by Mr. Clay, in the U. S. Senate, as a substitute for Mr. Calhoun's resolutions, but which were rejected : Resolved, That the institution of domestic slavery, as now existing in many of the States of this confederacy, is subject to the exclusive power and control of those States respectively; and that no other State, nor the people of no other State, nor Congress, possess, or can rightfully exercise, any power or authority, whatever, to interfere, in any manner whatever, therewith. Resolved, That if any citizens of the United States, regardless of the spirit of peace, harmony, and union, which should ever animate the various members of the confederacy and their respective citizens, shall present to the Senate any petitions, touching the abolition of slavery, in any of the States in which it exists, all such petitions shall be instantly rejected, without debate, and without further or other proceedings thereon, as relating to an object palpably beyond the scope of the constitutional power of Congress. Resolved, That when the District of Columbia was ceded by the States of Virginia and Maryland to the United States, domestic slavery existed in both of these States, including the ceded ter xlviii ritory; and that, as it still continues in both of them, it could not be abolished within the District, without a violation of that good faith, which was implied in the cession and in the acceptance of the territory; nor, unless compensation were made to the proprietors of slaves, without a manifest infringement of an amendment to the constitution of the United States; nor without exciting a degree of just alarm and apprehension in the States recognizing slavery, far transcending, in mischievous tendency, any possible benefit which could be accomplished by the abolition. Resolved, Therefore, that it is the deliberate judgment of the Senate, that the institution of domestic slavery ought not to be abolished within the District of Columbia; and it earnestly hopes that all sincere friends of the Union, and of harmony and general tranquillity, will cease to agitate this disturbing question. But the Senate feels itself, at the same time, constrained, from a high sense of duty, in respect to the constitutional right of petition, to declare that it holds itself bound to receive and respectfully to treat any petition, couched in decorous language, which may be presented by citizens of the United States, touching slavery within the District of Columbia. Resolved, That it would be highly inexpedient to abolish slavery in Florida, the only territory of the United States in which it now exists, because of the serious alarm and just apprehensions which would be thereby excited, in the States sustaining that domestic institution; because the people of that territory have not asked it to be done, and, when admitted into the Union, will be exclusively entitled to decide that question for themselves; and, also, because it would be in violation of a solemn compromise, made, at a memorable and critical period in the history of this country; by which, while slavery was prohibited north, it was admitted south, of the line of 36 degrees and 30 minutes, north latitude. Resolved, That no power is delegated by the constitution to Congress, to prohibit, in or between the States tolerating slavery, the sale and removal of such persons as are held in slavery by the laws of their States. Resolved, That, whilst the Senate, with painful regret, has seen the perseverance of certain citizens of the United States in the agitation of the abolition of domestic slavery, thereby creating distrust, and discontent, and dissatisfaction among the people of the United States, who should ever cherish towards each other fraternal sentiments-it beholds, with the deepest satisfaction, every where prevailing, an unconquerable attachment to the Union, as the sure bulwark of the safety, liberty, and happiness of the people of the United States. |