member had a right to make. He demanded it on behalf of the State which he represented; he demanded it, because the petitions were in themselves a foul slander on nearly one half of the States of the Union; he demanded it, because the question involved was one over which neither this nor the House had any power whatever; and that a stop might be put to that agitation which prevailed in so large a section of the country, and which, unless checked, would endanger the existence of the Union. That the petitions just read contained a gross, false, and malicious slander, on eleven States represented on this floor, there was no man who in his heart could deny. This was, in itself, not only good, but the highest cause why these petitions should not be received. Had it not been the practice of the Senate to reject petitions which reflected on any individual member of their body; and should they who were the representatives of sovereign States permit petitions to be brought there, wilfully, maliciously, almost wickedly, slandering so many sovereign States of this Union? Were the States to be less protected than individual members on that floor? He demanded the question on receiving the petitions, because they asked for what was a violation of the constitution. The question of emancipation exclusively belonged to the several States. Congress had no jurisdiction on the subject, no more in this District than the State of South Carolina: it was a question for the individual State to determine, and not to be touched by Congress. He himself well understood, and the people of his State should understand, that this was an emancipation movement. Those who have moved in it regard this District as the weak point through which the first movement should be made upon the States. We (said Mr. C.) of the South are bound to resist it. We will meet this question as firmly as if it were the direct question of emancipation in the States. It is a movement which ought to, which must be, arrested, in limine, or the guards of the constitution will give way and be destroyed. He demanded the question on receiving the petitions, because of the agitation which would result from discussing the subject. The danger to be apprehended was from the agitation of the question on that floor. He did not fear those incendiary publications which were circulated abroad, and which could easily be counteracted. But he dreaded the agitation which would rise out of the discussion in Congress on the subject. Every man knew that there existed a body of men in the Northern States who were ready to second any insurrectionary movement of the blacks; and that these men would be on the alert to turn these discussions to their advantage. He dreaded the discussion in another sense. It would have a tendency to break asunder this Union. What effect could be brought about by the interference of these petitioners? Could they expect to produce a change of mind in the Southern people? No; the effect would be directly the opposite. The more they were assailed on this point, the more closely would they cling to their institutions. And what would be the effect on the rising generation, but to inspire it with odium against those whose mistaken views and misdirected zeal menaced the peace and security of the Southern States. The effect must be to bring our institutions into odium. As a lover of the Union, he dreaded this discussion; and asked for some decided measure to arrest the course of the evil. There must, there shall be some decided step, or the Southern people never will submit. And how are we to treat the subject? By receiving these petitions one after another, and thus tampering, trifling, sporting with the feelings of the South? No, no, no! The abolitionists well understand the effect of such a course of proceeding. It will give importance to their movements, and accelerate the ends they propose. Nothing can, nothing [SENATE. will, stop these petitions but a prompt and stern rejection of them. We must turn them away from our doors, regardless of what may be done or said. If the issue must be, let it come, and let us meet it, as, I hope, we shall be prepared to do. Mr. HILL moved to lay the question on the table. Mr. MORRIS asked leave to present other petitions which he had received on the same subject, that they might be all disposed of together. Mr. PORTER. One at a time. The CHAIR decided that the petitions under consideration must be first disposed of. Mr. MORRIS. In presenting these petitions he would say, on the part of the State of Ohio, that she went to the entire extent of the opinions of the Senator from South Carolina on one point. We deny, said he, the power of Congress to legislate concerning local institutions, or to meddle in any way with slavery in any of the States; but we have always entertained the opinion that Congress has primary and exclusive legislation over this District; under this impression, these petitioners have come to the Senate to present their petitions. The doctrine that Congress have no power over the subject of slavery in this District is to me a new one; and it is one that will not meet with credence in the State in which I reside. I believe these petitioners have the right to present themselves here, placing their feet on the constitution of their country, when they come to ask of Congress to exercise those powers which they can legitimately exercise. I believe they have a right to be heard in their petitions, and that Congress may afterwards dispose of these petitions as in their wisdom they may think proper. Under these impressions, these petitioners come to be heard, and they have a right to be heard. Is not the right of petition a fundamental right? I believe it is a sacred and fundamental right, belonging to the people, to petition Congress for the redress of their grievances. While this right is secured by the constitution, it is incompetent to any legislative body to prescribe how the right is to be exercised, or when, or on what subject; or else this right becomes a mere mockery. If you are to tell the people that they are only to petition on this or that subject, or in this or that manner, the right of petition is but a mockery. It is true we have a right to say that no petition which is couched in disrespectful language shall be received; but I presume there is a sufficient check provided against this in the responsibility under which every Senator presents a petition. Any petition conveyed in such language would always meet with his decided disapprobation. But if we deny the right of the people to petition in this instance, I would ask how far they have the right. While they believe they possess the right, no denial of it by Congress will prevent them from exercising it. Mr. MORRIS Concluded by asking that the question be taken by yeas and nays; and they were ordered. Mr. HILL moved to lay the whole subject on the table, but afterwards remarked that, as he understood this might be considered as a rejection of the petition, he would withdraw his motion. Cer Mr. PORTER, of Louisiana, said he could scarcely agree with any thing that had fallen from the honorable Senator from Ohio, [Mr. MORRIS,] save that the petitioners came here with their feet on the constitution. tainly nothing could more forcibly convey an idea of their position. They did come here with their feet on the constitution. But if, instead of placing themselves in that attitude, they had that instrument in their eye, and the great principles on which it was established in their hearts, they would not to-day be found throwing firebrands on this floor. The constitution was established, not merely in spirit, but in letter, in reference to SENATE.] Abolition of Slavery. this great interest of the South. The right to the property which the petitioners sought to impair was solemnly recognised by that instrument; and it was a violation of the compact to seek, either directly or indirectly, to shake the security which the slaveholding States had a right to look for under it. It was melancholy, Mr. P. said, to reflect how soon the wisdom and enlightened policy of the framers of the constitution were forgotten. Fanaticism and ignorance were about to take the place of the knowledge and deep-searching views of human prosperity which enlightened and directed the measures of the fathers of their country; and no one could look at the prospect before him without dismay, if these sinister influences were not removed. It was in vain, Mr. P. said, to disguise the fact; the public mind was becoming morbidly excited in one quarter of the Union on this subject, and most painfully in another. Things have come to such a pass that it behooved all good and patriotic men to consult together, and devise some mode by which an end could be put to the dangerous agitation of this question. [JAN. 7, 1836. no more from them. We have lately had a striking ex- There were, said Mr. P., some who thought this object could be best attained by consigning all applications of this kind to a committee, where they were permitted to sleep, and were soon forgotten. Such, he believed, had been the general, though not the uniform course, and he would willingly suffer these petitions to take the same direction, if experience had shown him that any good resulted from it. But what, said Mr. P., is the fact? Why, that the boldness and illiberality of those who claim the right to interfere with other men's property was increasing by the forbearance which had been exhibited towards them. Year after has the national Legislature, by its votes, told them how unwise it was to agitate this subject. They continue still to agitate it; and each year they increase in audacity. This winter we have seen the protest; yes, Mr. President, the protest of the anti-slavery society against that portion of the President's message which touches on the attempts made to emancipate the slaves at the South! and this protest has been forwarded here by Senators, as a public document from a public body, of which it is im-viction on the subject. portant we should have a knowledge. In this precious document they speak of the purity of their motives, their exemplary lives, and their increasing numbers, and deny to the Chief Magistrate of the Union the right to speak of their incendiary character, unless he gives them, in the first instance, what they call a fair trial! It was clear, therefore, that nothing had been obtained by dealing gently with these people. If any other evidence was wanted of this truth, it would be found in the petition now offered, in which one half of the free citizens of this country are denounced as tyrants, oppressors, and murderers. Sir, said Mr. P., it is evident, from the tone lately assumed by these people, that they are laboring under the impression that we are afraid to meet this question. They have worked themselves up to the belief that the South is ashamed of its position, and that it seeks to stifle or evade what it dares not defend. It is more than time, said Mr. P., that they should be undeceived. They must be taught at once that, on this subject, we are determined, and will neither take nor give quarter. He did not, Mr. P. said, know whether any declaration which Congress could make would stop the wicked men who prompted these movements, but he thought it would have a great effect on the honest but misguided | persons who were their dupes and their instruments. A clear, decided expression of the determination on this subject of the national Legislature, he could not help thinking, would have a most beneficial influence. The continued efforts of these persons were nourished by the hope of success. Take that away, and we should hear It is But it is said, though you may reject at once, you must receive. Sir, said Mr. P., I consider the difference merely verbal. It is a dispute about terms, and wholly overlooks the substance. We must receive it, if it can be called a reception, to learn from it to what subject it relates. But if he who presents it does (as I understand, by the rules of this body, he must do) state what is its object, I hold, sir, that the right exists in the Senate to refuse its consideration. It is only another mode in which our refusal of the prayer of the petition, and our strong disapprobation of its purport, are more distinctly marked. And, sir, I shall vote against the reception of this petition, because I am anxious to mark my abhorrence of its purposes, and my irrevocable determination to meet those persons, here and elsewhere, with the most uncompromising opposition. There are subjects, sir, (said Mr. P.,) which we cannot stop to consider at all. If I were to go before the Legislature of any of the free States, and ask of them to dispossess the owners of land within their limits of their inheritance, or acquisition by purchase, because, according to my opinions, all laws which secure exclusive right to property were a violation of the intentions of Providence, who created all things for the use of all men, that the soil they tread should be as free for common use as the air they breathe, would that petition, sir, receive consideration any where? Would any public body consent to receive it for consideration? Would it not be considered the ravings of a maniac, or something worse? Sir, (said Mr. P.,) these are propositions so revolting that we JAN. 7, 1836.] tion. them of their property, to wrap their dwellings in flames, and to deliver their untainted wives and daughters to the lust of brutal slaves? I venture to say, sir, they would feel quite as strongly as we do; and I also venture to assert that their indignation would not be the least diminished on being told that no such enormities were contemplated by their assailants. Whatever they might think of their motives, they would look to the tendency of the means employed against them. There was another reason (Mr. P. said) why he would not receive the petition. It was a wanton attack on the right of property of the slaveholders of this District. It surely (said Mr. P.) can require no time or deliberation to enable us to decide whether A has a right to take what belongs to B, because A does not wish B should hold such property. ror. cannot approach them for the purposes of investigation, and such, I consider, are those contained in the petiThere is another objection to receiving this petition. Sir, the language is most indecorous and insulting to a large portion of the members of this body. It does not, indeed, in direct terms, accuse them of being robbers and tyrants, but, by a strong implication, it does make that accusation. For if slavery includes all the crimes which the petition enumerates, these slaveholders must be criminals. I am clear, (said Mr. P.,) that no men in this country have a right to come here, and, in the form of petition, accuse this body or any of its members of offences against the laws of God or the laws of man. It is not quite two years, sir, since the Senate refused to receive a petition which accused a majority of it of violating the constitution. If (said Mr. P.) I could con- Mr. P. said he had insensibly, and contrary to his insent to waive this indignity, so far as I was personally tention, been drawn somewhat from the argument which concerned, the duty I owe to the people whom I have strictly belonged to the question. The subject was the honor to represent warns me of the course I ought pregnant with observation, which at this moment he reto pursue. I never will be so false to the allegiance Ifrained from making. He firmly asserted, because he bear to them as to consent to receive any petition honestly believed, that so far the domestic institutions which, speaking of the institutions that prevail among of the South had worked no injury either to the white them as tyrannical, cruel, and murderous, necessarily man or the black; and, if the occasion was a proper one, charges them with being tyrants and murderers. The he thought he could demonstrate that he was not in eraccusation, sir, (said Mr. P.,) is as false as it is calumni- He thought, too, he knew the motives of the aboous. They are neither tyrants nor murderers. They litionists, and he believed he saw the plan by which they found relations existing in their country, either at the hoped to accomplish their objects. They had taken for time of their birth or of their emigration to it, which they their model men in another hemisphere, and they imain no way contributed to establish, and for which they gined that the same success, by the use of the same are not responsible. They feel that they cannot abolish means, awaited their efforts, which had followed those them without utter ruin to themselves. So circum- of the persons they imitated. He could, however, instanced, they have comported themselves in a manner form them that, in this case, they counted without their which gives them no cause to blush. I wish, sir, (said host. They had left out of their calculation an imporMr. P.,) that those who denounce them would visit tant element, which was, that in this country they had their country before they poured out these effusions of to convince not others of the impropriety of slavery, ignorance and malignity. They would find these men but the slaveholders themselves. I have no doubt (said imbued with as lofty and disinterested patriotism as the Mr. P.) but they can find many and ready converts in world can exhibit, and the love of the union of these those who look at the institution from a distance, and States so entwined with every fibre of their heart as to have no interest in the question save that which may be constitute, as it were, a part of their being. They derived from the wish to carry out their abstract opinwould see women as pure and as gentle as the earth ions. But they never did, they never will, convince any holds or the sun looks at; and they would behold homes man who lives amidst these institutions, who sees their and hearths consecrated by the practice of every do- practical operation, and whose rights, social and politimestic and Christian virtue. Instead of oppression and cal, are involved in their existence. They might, if tyranny displayed to slaves, they would see kindness their heated zeal gave the smallest chance for any exerpractised to those whom Providence has placed under cise of their judgment, learn, from what took place in the care of the inhabitants of this region; and they other countries, how vain and futile all their efforts must would receive readily at the hands of these very men, For twenty-five years this subject was the matter if they were in want or suffering, a full measure of that of debate in Great Britain. Year after year the halls of charity which they now so cruelly refuse to extend to its Legislature rung with the sounds of eloquence which has never been surpassed. Constant appeals were made through the press during the same time, and the preachers in the pulpit aided to extend and enforce the delusion. What was the consequence? The end of a quarter of a century's discussion left the slaveholder in the West Indies just where it found him-left him totally unconvinced either of the justice or the practicability of the measure. And if the decision of the question had been left to him, he would have so remained to the end of time. I think the agitators here should take warning by this example. They can never accomplish their object. He knows little of human nature who expects it. They may (said Mr. P.) excite partial insurrections, render the condition of the slave worse, alienate the affections of their Southern brethren, and endanger our Union. But all, and ten times more, will only tend to perpetuate that condition of society which they seek to change. them. Such a people should not, and with God's blessing they shall not, with impunity, be made the objects of vituperation. Year after year have they quietly heard themselves, their wives, and daughters, denounced by miserable wretches who are animated only by a sickly love of notoriety, and who hate the virtues which they cannot practice. Aware of the danger which hangs over our glorious Union by agitating this subject, they have practised forbearance until it has ceased to be a virtue. But I warn our estimable brethren in the nonslaveholding States that another feeling than that of patient endurance is rising rapidly among the people of the South, and that, unless provocation ceases, no man can contemplate without dismay the point to which that feeling rapidly tends. Men who think justly, but who have never permitted themselves to enter into our condition, tell us we should treat this matter calmly. But it is not, sir, (said Mr. P.,) in human nature to treat such a matter calmly. How, I ask, would any of our friends feel if associations were formed among them to disturb their quiet, to rob be. Mr. PRESTON. I must confess that I am somewhat surprised at the introduction of petitions of this character, after the occurrences of the last summer, which must naturally have made the Southern people extreme ly sensitive on this subject. I am aware that similar petitions have been presented, and referred to the Committee for the District of Columbia; and, as was stated by the chairman of that committee two years ago, without the chance of provoking any action of that committee. To use his language, "the committee-room was to them the lion's den, from which there were no footprints to mark their return." But, sir, this course is not the proper one to pursue now. There is in it neither justice nor expediency. We have a right to demand that some other remedy should be applied, and we do demand it. When I consider the extraordinary excitement which has been produced throughout the country; the combustible material, in the shape of incendiary pamphlets, which has been accumulated and spread abroad; the vast multitudes which have assembled; the apostles who have addressed them; their acts and their menaces; though I am but little disposed to allude to them, yet a regard to the honor and interests of the South calls upon me to do so, and and that, too, in language which she has a right to expect and demand. Sir, the Southern mind has been already filled with agitation and alarm. Their property, their domestic relations, their altars, their lives, are in danger; and, as if this were not sufficient, we have now these agitators and incendiaries calling upon Congress to act upon the slaveholding States, either directly or indirectly, through the medium of this District. And are we, sir, to sit still and see it? Are we to behold our rights and privileges trampled upon? All upon which the permanence and security of our prosperity depends assailed by these blood-thirsty fanatics, and Government called upon to participate in the wanton and malicious movement, without lifting a hand, without raising a voice, without acting as a due regard to the honor, dignity, and happiness, of our constituents calls upon us to act? Sir, I, for one, do not fear the action of Government. There exists no right, either in law, in the constitution, or in morals, for such action; and if there did, thank God, the physical power is still wanting. We are prepared for resistance; and we shall resist with all the means that God and nature has placed at our disposal. Our determination is firm and steadfast, and ought not to be concealed or misunderstood. Let me, therefore, implore and conjure the Senate to manifest at once, and without delay, their friendship and fidelity to the constitution and the union of the States. Let me conjure and implore them to look at the blessings which these corrupt and unprincipled men are laboring to destroy. Let me beseech them to weigh well the consequences which will follow the success of their mad and misguided efforts-insurrection and rebellion. A servile, not a civil war. A war upon women and children. war that spares no sex, respects no age, pities no suffering; that consigns our hearths and altars to flame and blood, and fills our fields and woods with a foe at once savage, bloody, and remorseless. A There is another important truth which we would urge upon your consideration. We demand peace and repose. We require you to say, in language express and distinct, that this Government neither will nor can interfere with the constitutional rights of the slaveholder. We ask you to raise a barrier between us and these hotheaded and cold-hearted men, women, and children. We may well calculate, indeed, sir, I am confident, that the virtue and patriotism of the Senate will lead them to do both the one and the other. In a country free as this, thank God, the fanatical cant, the Quixotic feeling, the cheap charity, the unexpensive humanity, of these miserable fanatics, can perhaps be neither allayed nor interfered with by Congress. But, sir, on the great question here at issue, Congress [JAN. 7, 1836. She can interpose decidedly, distinctly, and at once. can stay the desperate efforts of these stirrers up of bloodshed and murder. She can interpose the shield, not merely of reason and argument, but of the constitution and the law. She can send back the Representatives of the South and West, to say to their constituents that she will in no manner countenance or encourage this mistaken philanthropy; that she will be no agent of this paltry Quixotism; that she will not be instrumental to a result which cannot be contemplated by the most callous without emotions at once painful and overwhelming. Sir, I fear that unless this be done--unless the plans and operations of the abolitionists are thus put down-unless Government stands as an impassable barrier between us and them--unless some prompt and immediate action is had--I fear, I say, sir, that no adequate conception can be formed of the tremendous consequences which will follow. I wish not to menace or threaten. I speak from the deepest, fullest, firmest conviction. We exist under a necessity which cannot be touched or tampered with. Our property and lives may be in jeopardy. Let but the crisis come, and no feeling of the heart, no ratiocination of the head, can hold the Union together for a single moment. Why not then, sir, act in this exigency as we ask you to act? Why not silence in this hall, at once and for ever, these enemies of our peace? Why not, as friends of liberty and union, drive from your doors whatever is likely to jeopard either, and enable us to approach the necessary business of the country-the conscientious discharge of our duty--with minds and hearts untrammelled and undisturbed. Sir, we are obliged to act in this matter; we have been compelled to do so by an imperious sense of duty. We abhor the idea of mixing it up with party--of making it part and parcel of any political intrigue--of gathering about it measures or modes of policy to which it stands in no relation. Our sole object is to protect our lives and property; to allay this exacerbated and enkindled feeling; to put down this spirit of fanaticism, this domineering insolence, which may prove destructive to our happiness and prosperity. It is of the first importance to crush and extinguish the efforts of these individuals at once. They are not only dangerous in themselves, but it may be in their power to mislead the majority of a people who have no direct interest in the matter at issue. The question will then become political, and the country be revolutionized at once. To prevent it, you must secure us from agitation here--here, if not elsewhere. This, at least, must be neutral ground. Sir, we ask for such legislation upon this petition as will close the doors, once and for all, upon others of similar import; we ask to be relieved from the consternation in which we and our constituents are thrown; we ask that the motion of my honorable friend and colleague may prevail, and that whatever language these petitioners, these calumniators, and disorganizers, may hold elscwhere, they shall not be permitted to hold it here. The gentleman from Ohio acts under a misconception; he is not warranted, by any precedent, in supposing that the question, whether this petition shall or shall not be received, cannot be put. Sir, that is the preliminary question, and, if carried in the affirmative, there is an end of the matter. The right of petitioning is not at all prejudiced by such a course; nor has it been so considered by any previous Congress; for I have a case before me in which a petition from York county, Pennsylvania, was rejected, the vote on receiving it being yeas 20, nays 24. No, sir, this motion is a far milder one than the people of the South have a right to demand; they have the right to ask an express renunciation on the part of Congress of any shadow of power to interfere between the JAN. 7, 1836.] Abolition of Slavery. [SENATE. of this Senate, we do hope (and no man who has character enough to come here, or, at any rate, to deserve to be here, can hope otherwise) that the portcullis of the constitution may be dropped between these men and our lives and property. Sir, let me call upon you for the strongest possible action; let me ask you to restore a spirit of peace and harmony to members of the same confederacy, to brethren of the same family, to human beings speaking the same language, practising the same religion, having the same deep and solemn interest in the happiness and prosperity of our beloved country. Such action, consequent upon moderation, firmness, and good sense, will be at once honorable to you and satisfactory to the South. Instead of sweeping away our laws and institutions, our rights and property, it will go abroad with healing on its wings. Instead of the fruits of bitterness, blood-thirsty tumults, house-burning, and massacre, the whole strength and fury of this excitement will be at once stifled and dissipated; and, instead of the confidence of the slaveholding States being withdrawn from the Government, never more to be restored, they will look upon it with yet more of honor, gratitude, and affection. planter and his slaves. The constitution justifies them in such a demand; and yet they only require you to say that you will not, and cannot, entertain these petitions. Has Congress prohibited itself from doing so? Not at all, sir. Does it, in so doing, abridge the right to assemble peaceably and petition for redress of grievances? Nothing of the kind. What petitions is it bound to receive? Not surely those which are violent, disrespect ful, and insolent in language, which would visit with a moral contagion the whole body politic; which degrades the character of our mothers and sisters; which impugns the honor and outrages the feelings of the South and West! Grievances! For what grievances do these petitioners seek redress? Does slavery in this District interfere with them? Have they any local or general interest in the matter? Or are you to elect this Government into an ethical college? If so, sir, I plead to the jurisdiction. It is not a tribunal before which we can be brought. Has the constitution guarantied to these people, having neither a general nor local interest in the matter, the right to come here and require me to weaken and abolish the very institution which I represent? Am I, acting for three fifths of the slave population of South Carolina, to impugn the very principle upon which I hold my seat? Shall I, sir, bound by ties that will cleave to me through life, to protect and defend the character of my constituents, submit to this insolent dictation, and lend a helping hand to cover that character with insult and opprobrium? Let me suppose a case. Suppose that you were called upon to establish a general national religion, would you consider the proposition for one moment? Certainly you would not. Why, then, consider this proposition? What right have these petition-perate fanatics who have been endeavoring to disturb ers to interfere between the District of Columbia and its slaves? The constitution authorizes the taking of private property for public uses: but the use of property supposes its continuance. From what funds is this prop erty to be purchased? From those of the United States? from my funds? from the funds of South Carolina? Am I to furnish a torch for my own dwelling, a knife for my own throat? Sir, the Government has the same power over this District that it has over a State, and it has no more. There is no adjudicated case, no dictum, admitting any further jurisdiction. Maryland and Virginia, slaveholding States, ceded these ten miles square to the general Government; and for what? That an unlimited despotism might be exercised in it? No, sir; they gave it in trust. There was an implied understanding that nothing injurious to their interests should be transacted within its borders; that here, at least, the cause of agitation and rebellion should find no material for its purpose; that here the wild frenzy of the abolitionists should neither be confirmed nor promoted; that here the mad and odious, the rash, stormy, and uncompromising doctrines of these rancorous fanatics, should not gravitate as to a common centre. Why, sir, if one of the free States--if Pennsylvania, for instance--should cede to you her metropolis, you might, with the same propriety, place the nest egg of slavery there, as attempt to interfere with the mature development of that institution here. There is no distinction whatever--not the slightest; the cases are parallel. You are invested with no power to meddle or make; you are estopped by the constitution; and your fidelity to that instrument, your full and ready appreciation of it, is only to be shown by obeying its injunctions. Looking, then, sir, all around at the plighted faith, the federal compact, existing between us and our Northern brethren, and at the friendship, and confidence, and sympathy, which should exist between us; looking at the letter and spirit of our glorious constitution, and cherishing an abiding trust in the virtue and patriotism VOL. XII.-6 Mr. BUCHANAN said that, for two or three weeks past, there had been in his possession a memorial from the Caln Quarterly Meeting of the religious Society of Friends, in the State of Pennsylvania, requesting Congress to abolish slavery and the slave trade within the District of Columbia. This memorial was not a printed form; its language was not that in established use for such documents. It did not proceed from those des the security and peace of society in the Southern States, He had omitted to present this memorial at an earlier day, because he had thought that, on its presentation at the proper time, much good might be done. He had believed that, by private consultations, some resolution might be devised upon this exciting subject, which would obtain the unanimous vote of the Senate. If there was one man in that body not willing to adopt any proper measure to calm the troubled spirit of the South, he did not know him. This, in his judgment, would be the best mode of accomplishing the object which we all desire to accomplish. The proper course to attain this result was, in his opinion, to refer the subject, either to a select committee, or to the Committee for the District of Columbia. They would examine it in all its bearings; they would ascertain the views and feelings of individual Senators, and he had no doubt they would be able to recommend some measure to the Senate on which they could all unite. This would have a most happy effect upon the country. He had intended, upon presenting the memorial which he had in charge, to have suggested this mode of proceeding. He regretted, therefore, that he had not known that his friend from Ohio [Mr. MORRIS] was in possession of memorials having a similar object in view. If he had been informed of it, he should have endeavored to persuade him to wait until Monday next, when he (Mr. B.) would |