of the Constitution of the United States differing from ours?-we following the old beaten track of every department of the Government for more than seventy years, and you switching off, as it were, upon another track, and setting up yours as orthodox-that is all. You say that we must follow you. We choose to follow the old landmarks. That is the complaint against us.

"Sir, I am one of those who went forth with zeal to maintain the principles of the great Republican party. In a constitutional way we met, as you met. We nominated our candidates for President and Vice-President, and you did the same for yourselves. The issue was made up; and we went to the people upon it. Although we have been usually in the minority, although we have been generally beaten; yet, this time, the justice of our principles, and the maladministration of the Govern ment in your hands, convinced the people that a change ought to be wrought; and after you had tried your utmost, and we had tried our utmost, we beat you; and we beat you upon the plainest and most palpable issue that ever was presented to the American people, and one that they understood the best. There is no mistaking it; and now, when we come to the Capitol, I tell you that our President and our Vice-President must be inaugurated, and administer the Government as all their predecessors have done. Sir, it would be humiliating and dishonorable to us if we were to listen to a compromise by which he who has the verdict of the people in his pocket, should make his way to the presidential chair. When it comes to that, you have no Government; anarchy intervenes; civil war may follow it; all the evils that may come to the human imagination may be consequent upon such a course as that. The moment the American people cut loose from the sheet-anchor of free government and liberty -that is, whenever it is denied in this Government that a majority fairly given shall rulethe people are unworthy of free government. Sir, I know not what others may do; but I tell you that, with the verdict of the people given in favor of the platform upon which our candidates have been elected, so far as I am concerned, I would suffer any thing to come before I would compromise that away. I regard it as a case where I have no right to extend comity or generosity. A right, an absolute right, the most sacred that a free people can ever bestow on any man, is their undisguised, fair verdict, that gives him a title to the office that he is chosen to fill; and he is recreant to the principle of free government who will ask a question beyond the fact whether a man has the verdict of the people, or if he will entertain for a moment a proposition in addition to that. It is all I want. If we cannot stand there, we cannot stand anywhere. Any other principle than that would be as fatal to you, my friends, as to ns. On any other principle, anarchy must immediately ensue."

Mr. Crittenden then addressed the Senate for the purpose of presenting joint resolutions, proposing certain amendments to the Constitution. In explanation of them he referred to the questions of an alarming character that had grown out of the controversy between the Northern and Southern sections of the country, in relation to the rights of the slaveholding States in the territories of the United States, and in relation to the rights of the citizens in the slaveholding States. His object was to meet all these questions and causes of discontent by amendments to the Constitution, so that the settlement may be permanent, and leave no cause for future controversy. He proposed that the Constitution should be so amended as to declare that Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia so long as slavery exists in the States of Maryland and Virginia; and that it shall have no power to abolish slavery in any of the places under its special jurisdiction within the Southern States.

"These are the constitutional amendments which I propose, and embrace the whole of them in regard to the questions of territory and slavery. There are other propositions in relation to grievances, and in relation to controversies, which I suppose are within the jurisdiction of Congress, and may be removed by the action of Congress. I propose, in regard to legislative action, that the fugitive slave law, as it is commonly called, shall be declared by the Senate to be a constitutional act, in strict pursuance of the Constitution. I propose to declare, that it has been decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to be constitutional, and that the Southern States are entitled to a faithful and complete execution of that law, and that no amendment shall be made hereafter to it which will impair its efficiency. But, thinking that it would not impair its efficiency, I have proposed amendments to it in two particulars. I have understood from gentlemen of the North that there is objection to the provision giving a different fee where the commissioner decides to deliver the slave to the claimant, from that which is given where he decides to discharge the alleged slave; the law declares that in the latter case he shall have but five dollars, while in the other he shall have ten dollars-twice the amount in one case than in the other. The reason for this is very obvious. In case he delivers the servant to his claimant, he is required to draw out a lengthy certificate, stating the principal and substantial grounds on which his decision rests, and to return him either to the marshal or to the claimant to remove him to the State from which he escaped. It was for that reason that a larger fee was given to the commissioner, where he had the largest service to perform. But, sir, the act being viewed unfavorably and with great prejudice, in a certain portion of our country, this was regarded as very obnoxious, because it seemed to give an inducement to the commis

the arbitrary power of the monarchy, Louis Philippe saw his danger, and attempted to avert it by changing his ministry. He turned out M. Guizot and nominated M. Thiers as his principal adviser. That he supposed would quiet the dissensions which he saw rising around him; but, sir, the words 'too late,' 'too late,' went all through the streets of Paris. The next day, when he found the streets barricaded, he abdicated the throne in favor of his grandson, and made an effort, through his friends, to obtain the regency of his daughter, the mother of the Count of Paris. When that was done, in the hope that he might quell the insurrection then raging around him, the same words too late ran through all the masses of Paris, ringing out in sepulchral tones like the trump of the archangel summoning the dead to judgment. So now, sir, you may tinker the Constitution, if you please; you may propose concessions; you may suggest additional legislation; you may present additional constitutional securities; you may attempt by all these ingenious devices to stay the storm which now rages in the Southern States, to prevent that people from marching on to the deliverance and liberty upon which they are resolved; but, sir, the words 'too late,' that ring here to-day, will be reiterated from mountain to valley in all the South, and are now sounding the death knell of the Federal Union."

Mr. Pugh, of Ohio, regarded the assertion that the people of the Northern States had set on foot some policy in regard to the institution of slavery, as an invention of history. The assertion of things as facts, which are not facts, has raised all this vast cloud of passion and misrepresentation in both extremes of the country. He said:

"Now, sir, I do not believe that ninety-nine hundredths of the men, who voted for Mr. Lincoln, thought any thing about the subject of slavery in the States, or had any policy on the subject. They were opposed to the introduction of slavery into the territories. They were in favor of a general division of the offices and the plunder. Many of them wanted protection to iron, and I do not know what all; but most of them were animated by a thorough hatred of the Democratic party. But as for any policy in their minds, bearing upon the institutions of the Southern States, I believe this day, if the question were put in any shape, that even in New England, though I cannot speak for herin every State of the North-there is a large majority of the people who are opposed to any interference whatever."

Mr. Douglas, of Illinois, in reply to statements respecting the non-execution of the fugitive slave-law in the North, said "that ninetenths of the complaints on that subject are unfounded."

Mr. Wigfall, of Texas, in answer to a demand for a specification of the wrongs, or supposed wrongs, under which the Southern States were

suffering, stated that it was the denial by the Government that slaves were property, and the refusal to protect the owners in their title, whenever they were within the Federal jurisdiction, and proceeded :

"My objection to the course we are now pursuing, is simply that these discussions amount to nothing. We cannot save the Union. The Senators on the other side, and the Senator from Illinois can, possibly. I do not know that they can. If they cannot, it cannot be saved. We cannot do it. The people of the SouthI speak of the people of the different slaveholding States, and especially those upon the Gulf, commonly called the cotton States-are dissatisfied with the present Government, as it is about to be administered by the President elect. There is nothing that can satisfy them except amendments to the Constitution, and those amendments must be made by the Northern States unanimously, or they will not be satisfied; and I say here, that they should not be."

Mr. Wade, of Ohio, said: “I have listened to the complaints on the other side patiently, and with an ardent desire to ascertain what was the particular difficulty under which they were laboring. Many of those who have supposed themselves aggrieved have spoken; but I confess that I am now totally unable to understand precisely what it is of which they complain. Why, sir, the party which lately elected their President, and are prospectively to come into power, have never held an executive office under the General Government, nor has any individual of them. It is most manifest, therefore, that the party to which I belong, have as yet committed no act of which any body can complain. If they have fears, as to the course that we may hereafter pursue, they are mere apprehensions-a bare suspicion, arising, I fear, out of their unwarrantable prejudices, and nothing else."

In answer to the question what has caused this excitement? he ascribed it to the belief by the Southern people, that the Republicans were their mortal enemies, "and stand ready to trample their institutions under foot." Those who make the complaints "have, for a long series of years, had this Government in their own keeping. Therefore, if there is any thing in the legislation of the Federal Government that is not right, they are responsible for it, for the Republicans have never been invested with the power to modify or control the legislation of the country." He said:

"Now, sir, I should like to have the Senators on the other side tell me when ever a Republican has violated, or ever proposed to violate, a right of theirs. I have listened to your arguments here for about a week. They are all in very general terms. They are very loosely drawn indictments, and I do not know where to meet you at all. Is there any thing in our platform detrimental to your rights, unless in modern times you have set up a construction

of the Constitution of the United States differing from ours?-we following the old beaten track of every department of the Government for more than seventy years, and you switching off, as it were, upon another track, and setting up yours as orthodox-that is all. You say that we must follow you. We choose to follow the old landmarks. That is the complaint against us.

"Sir, I am one of those who went forth with zeal to maintain the principles of the great Republican party. In a constitutional way we met, as you met. We nominated our candidates for President and Vice-President, and you did the same for yourselves. The issue was made up; and we went to the people upon it. Although we have been usually in the minority, although we have been generally beaten; yet, this time, the justice of our principles, and the maladministration of the Government in your hands, convinced the people that a change ought to be wrought; and after you had tried your utmost, and we had tried our utmost, we beat you; and we beat you upon the plainest and most palpable issue that ever was presented to the American people, and one that they understood the best. There is no mistaking it; and now, when we come to the Capitol, I tell you that our President and our Vice-President must be inaugurated, and administer the Government as all their predecessors have done. Sir, it would be humiliating and dishonorable to us if we were to listen to a compromise by which he who has the verdict of the people in his pocket, should make his way to the presidential chair. When it comes to that, you have no Government; anarchy intervenes; civil war may follow it; all the evils that may come to the human imagination may be consequent upon such a course as that. The moment the American people cut loose from the sheet-anchor of free government and liberty -that is, whenever it is denied in this Government that a majority fairly given shall rulethe people are unworthy of free government. Sir, I know not what others may do; but I tell you that, with the verdict of the people given in favor of the platform upon which our candidates have been elected, so far as I am concerned, I would suffer any thing to come before I would compromise that away. I regard it as a case where I have no right to extend comity or generosity. A right, an absolute right, the most sacred that a free people can ever bestow on any man, is their undisguised, fair verdict, that gives him a title to the office that he is chosen to fill; and he is recreant to the principle of free government who will ask a question beyond the fact whether a man has the verdict of the people, or if he will entertain for a moment a proposition in addition to that. It is all I want. If we cannot stand there, we cannot stand anywhere. Any other principle than that would be as fatal to you, my friends, as to us. On any other principle, anarchy must immediately ensue."

Mr. Crittenden then addressed the Senate for the purpose of presenting joint resolutions, proposing certain amendments to the Constitution. In explanation of them he referred to the questions of an alarming character that had grown out of the controversy between the Northern and Southern sections of the country, in relation to the rights of the slaveholding States in the territories of the United States, and in relation to the rights of the citizens in the slaveholding States. His object was to meet all these questions and causes of discontent by amendments to the Constitution, so that the settlement may be permanent, and leave no cause for future controversy. He proposed that the Constitution should be so amended as to declare that Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia so long as slavery exists in the States of Maryland and Virginia; and that it shall have no power to abolish slavery in any of the places under its special jurisdiction within the Southern States.

"These are the constitutional amendments which I propose, and embrace the whole of them in regard to the questions of territory and slavery. There are other propositions in relation to grievances, and in relation to controversies, which I suppose are within the jurisdiction of Congress, and may be removed by the action of Congress. I propose, in regard to legislative action, that the fugitive slave law, as it is commonly called, shall be declared by the Senate to be a constitutional act, in strict pursuance of the Constitution. I propose to declare, that it has been decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to be constitutional, and that the Southern States are entitled to a faithful and complete execution of that law, and that no amendment shall be made hereafter to it which will impair its efficiency. But, thinking that it would not impair its efficiency, I have proposed amendments to it in two particulars. I have understood from gentlemen of the North that there is objection to the provision giving a different fee where the commis sioner decides to deliver the slave to the claimant, from that which is given where he decides to discharge the alleged slave; the law declares that in the latter case he shall have but five dollars, while in the other he shall have ten dollars-twice the amount in one case than in the other. The reason for this is very obvious. In case he delivers the servant to his claimant, he is required to draw out a lengthy certificate, stating the principal and substantial grounds on which his decision rests, and to return him either to the marshal or to the claimant to remove him to the State from which he escaped. It was for that reason that a larger fee was given to the commissioner, where he had the largest service to perform. But, sir, the act being viewed unfavorably and with great prejudice, in a certain portion of our country, this was regarded as very obnoxious, because it seemed to give an inducement to the commis

sioner to return the slave to the master, as he thereby obtained the larger fee of ten dollars instead of the smaller one of five dollars. I have said, let the fee be the same in both

cases.

"I have understood furthermore, sir, that inasmuch as the fifth section of that law was worded somewhat vaguely, its general terms had admitted of the construction in the Northern States that all the citizens were required, upon the summons of the marshal, to go with him to hunt up, as they express it, and arrest the slave; and this is regarded as obnoxious. They have said, 'in the Southern States you make no such requisition on the citizen;' nor do we, sir. The section, construed according to the intention of the framers of it, I suppose, only intended that the marshal should have the same right in the execution of process for the arrest of a slave that he has in all other cases of process that he is required to execute-to call on the posse comitatus for assistance where he is resisted in the execution of his duty; or where, having executed his duty by the arrest, an attempt is made to rescue the slave. I propose such an amendment as will obviate this difficulty and limit the right of the master and the duty of the citizen to cases where, as in regard to all other process, persons may be called upon to assist in resisting opposition to the execution of the laws.

"I have provided further, sir, that the amendments to the Constitution which I here propose, and certain other provisions of the Constitution itself, shall be unalterable, thereby forming a permanent and unchangeable basis for peace and tranquillity among the people. Among the provisions in the present Constitution, which I have by amendment proposed to render unalterable, is that provision in the first article of the Constitution which provides the rule for representation, including in the computation three-fifths of the slaves. That is to be rendered unchangeable. Another is the provision for the delivery of fugitive slaves. That is to be rendered unchangeable."

These views were urged by considerations of the importance of the Union and the comparative trifle required to be sacrificed. He said, "Is it not the cheapest price at which such a blessing as this Union was ever purchased?"

The question on printing the resolutions was reached with difficulty, in consequence of the calls for the special order on the part of some, and the desire to make remarks on the resolutions by others. Their reception appeared ominous of their ultimate fate. They were known as the "Compromise Measures pro

The following are the joint resolutions as proposed by Mr. Crittenden:

A joint resolution (S. No. 50) proposing certain amendments to the Constitution of the United States. Whereas serious and alarming dissensions have arisen between the Northern and Southern States, concerning the rights and security of the rights of the slaveholding States,

posed by Mr. Crittenden, and attracted much attention among the people of the central States, and were approved by several legislative bodies. It is not too much to say, that with some slight amendments this plan would

and especially their rights in the common territory of the United States; and whereas it is eminently desirable and proper that these dissensions, which now threaten the very existence of this Union, should be permanently quieted and settled by constitutional provisions, which shall do equal justice to all sections, and thereby restore to the people that peace and good-will which ought to prevail between all the citizens of the United States: Therefore,

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, (two

thirds of both Houses concurring.) That the following articles be, and are hereby, proposed and submitted as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of said Constitution, when ratified by conventions of three-fourths of the several States:

ARTICLE 1. In all the territory of the United States now held, or hereafter acquired, situate north of latitude 86° 80, slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, is prohibited while such territory shall remain under territorial government. In all the territory south of said line of latitude, slavery of the African race is hereby recognized as existing, and shall not be interfered with by Congress, but shall be protected as property by all the departments of the territorial government during its continuance. And when any territory, north or south of said line, within such boundaries as Congress may prescribe, shall contain

the population requisite for a member of Congress according to the then Federal ratio of representation of the people of the United States, it shall, if its form of government be republican, be admitted into the Union, on an equal footing

with the original States, with or without slavery, as the con

stitution of such new State may provide.

ART. 2. Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery in places under its exclusive jurisdiction, and situate within the limits of States that permit the holding of slaves.

ART. 8. Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery within the District of Columbia, so long as it exists in the adjoining States of Virginia and Maryland, or either, nor without the consent of the inhabitants, nor without just

compensation first made to such owners of slaves as do not

consent to such abolishment. Nor shall Congress at any time prohibit officers of the Federal Government, or members of Congress, whose duties require them to be in said them as such during the time their duties may require them to remain there, and afterwards taking them from the district

district, from bringing with them their slaves, and holding

ART. 4. Congress shall have no power to prohibit or hinder the transportation of slaves from one State to another, or to a territory in which slaves are by law permitted to be held, whether that transportation be by land, navigable rivers, or by the sea.

ART. 5. That, in addition to the provisions of the third paragraph of the second section of the fourth article of the Constitution of the United States, Congress shall have power to provide by law, and it shall be its duty so to provide, that the United States shall pay to the owner who shall apply for it, the full value of his fugitive slave in all cases when the marshal or other officer whose duty it was to arrest said fugitive was prevented from so doing by violence or intimidation; or when, after arrest, said fugitive was rescued by force, and the owner thereby prevented and obstructed in the pursuit of his remedy for the recovery of his fugitive slave under the said clause of the Constitution and the laws made in pursuance thereof. And in all such cases, when the United States shall pay for such fugitive, they shall have the right, in their own name, to sue the county in which said violence, intimidation, or rescue was committed, and to recover from it, with interest and damages, the amount paid by them for said fugitive slave. And the said county, after it has paid said amount to the United States, may, for its indemnity, sue and recover from the wrongdoers or rescuers by whom the owner was prevented from the recovery of his fugitive slave, in like manner as the owner himself might have sued and recovered.

ART. 6. No future amendment of the Constitution shall affect the five preceding articles; nor the third paragraph of the second section of the first article of the Constitution; nor the third paragraph of the second section of the fourth article of said Constitution; and no amendment shall be made to the Constitution which shall authorize or give to Congress any powar to abolish or interfere with slavery in

have been acceptable to a majority of the people of the United States.

Mr. Breckinridge, a member of the Senate from the State of Kentucky, said upon the floor of the Senate on the 16th of July, 1861: "It was stated upon the floor of the Senate by the late Senator from Illinois, and I happened personally to know the fact myself, that the leading statesmen of the lower Southern States were willing to accept the terms of settlement which were proposed by the venerable Senator from Kentucky, my predecessor."

Mr. Hale, of New Hampshire, had no confidence in compromise propositions. He said: "I do not believe, sir, that the remedy is to be sought there. I do not believe that the remedy is to be sought in new constitutional provisions: but in an honest, faithful execution of the things that are already written in the compact and in

any of the States by whose laws it is, or may be, allowed or permitted.

And whereas, also, besides those causes of dissension embraced in the foregoing amendments proposed to the Constitution of the United States, there are others which come within the jurisdiction of Congress, and may be remedied by its legislative power; and whereas it is the desire of Congress, as far as its power will extend, to remove all just cause for the popular discontent and agitation which now disturb the peace of the country, and threaten the stability of its institutions: Therefore,

1. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the laws now in force for the recovery of fugitive slaves are in strict pursuance of the plan and mandatory provisions of the Constitution, and have been sanctioned as valid and constitutional by the judgment of the Supreme Court of the United States; that the slaveholding States are entitled to the faithful observance and execution of those laws, and that they ought not to be repealed, or so modified or changed as to impair their efficiency; and that laws ought to be made for the punishment of those who attempt by rescue of the slave, or other illegal means, to hinder or defeat the due execution of said laws.

2. That all State laws which conflict with the fugitive slave acts of Congress, or any other constitutional acts of Congress, or which, in their operation, impede, hinder, or delay the free course and due execution of any of said acts, are null and void by the plain provisions of the Constitution of the United States; yet those State laws, void as they are, have given color to practices, and led to consequences, which have obstructed the due administration and execution of acts of Congress, and especially the acts for the delivery of fugitive slaves, and have thereby contributed much to the discord and commotion now prevailing. Congress, therefore, in the present perilous juncture, does not deem it improper, respectfully and earnestly to recommend the repeal of those laws to the several States which have enacted them, or such legislative corrections or explanations of them as may prevent their being used or perverted to such mischievous purposes.

8. That the act of the 18th of September, 1850, commonly called the Fugitive Slave Law, ought to be so amended as to make the fee of the commissioner, mentioned in the eighth section of the act, equal in amount in the cases decided by him, whether his decision be in favor of or against the claimant. And to avoid misconstruction, the last clause of the fifth section of said act, which authorizes the person holding a warrant for the arrest or detention of a fugitive slave, to summon to his aid the posse comitatus, and which declares it to be the duty of all good citizens to assist him in its execution, ought to be so amended as to expressly limit the authority and duty to cases in which there shall be resistance or danger of resistance or rescue.

4. That the laws for the suppression of the African slave trade, and especially those prohibiting the importation of slaves into the United States, ought to be made effectual, and ought to be thoroughly executed; and all further enactments necessary to those ends ought to be promptly made.

The following substitute was afterward offered to the preamble of the resolutions by Mr. Crittenden:

the bond. I am willing, and I hope the State I represent is willing, to look this matter all over fairly, calmly, and dispassionately, and if there be any thing that can be demanded of that State consistent with the dignity that belongs to a free State, and the regard that she owes to the Constitution, I have no doubt that she will render and perform it to the letter and to the spirit. But I say, with all deference, that I think these new compacts and these amend ments are the mere daubing of the wall with untempered mortar. They are not what is required to sustain the fabric of our Government.

"Sir, I do not know that this Congress can do any thing; but this controversy will not be settled here. It has been well said, it will be done by the States; but, sir, the enlightened tribunal of the public opinion of Christendom

divisions existing in Congress, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for that body to concur in both its branches by the requisite majority so as to enable it either to adopt such measures of legislation, or to recommend to the States such amendments to the Constitution, as are deemed necessary and proper to avert that danger; and whereas in so great an emergency the opinion and judgment of the people ought to be heard, and would be the best and surest guide to their representatives: Therefore,

Resolved, That provision ought to be made by law without delay for taking the sense of the people and submitting to their vote the following resolutions as the basis for the final and permanent settlement of those disputes that now disturb the peace of the country and threaten the existence of the Union.

The annexed table, made out from the report of the Commissioner of Public Lands, shows that the division of territory proposed by adopting the line of 86° 80', would give to both the North and the South a quantity very nearly in proportion to their respective populations-to the North 1,795,965 square miles for a population of nineteen millions, and to the South 1,203,711 square miles for a population of