tion; but simply to state the reason why I cannot vote for his amendment. According to my view of the relations now subsisting between this Government and the seceding States, the laws of the United States are suspended there by act of revolution, not by act of peaceful secession; and therefore, being in a state of suspension, I think any law on the subject wholly unnecessary."

The last hours of the Thirty-sixth Congress were rapidly approaching, and the remainder of the session was chiefly devoted to making that decision which had already been anticipated. The adjournment of Congress without any action relative to the crisis of the country, had been steadily foretold. The various propositions now came up in each House for the last time.

In the Senate a communication was received from the President of the Peace Conference, (see PEACE CONFERENCE,) containing the final action of that body. This was referred to a committee consisting of Messrs. Crittenden, Bigler, Thomson, Seward, and Trumbull. At the next meeting of the Senate the committee reported the propositions as they came from the Peace Conference. After the report was made, Mr. Seward, of New York, rose and said:

"The honorable Senator from Illinois (Mr. Trumbull) and myself constituted a minority of the committee. We dissent from the report, and we proposed in committee to submit a substitute. The majority held that, for some reason sufficient in their estimation, we were not entitled to submit a minority report. I therefore ask leave of the Senate to introduce a joint resolution in my own name, and in which the honorable Senator from Illinois authorized me to say that he concurs with me, and which I ask unanimous consent to have read and printed; and it will be the subject of consideration at such time, hereafter, as the Senate shall choose to hear it, either in connection with the other or not."

The proposition of Mr. Seward was read, as follows:

A joint resolution concerning a national convention to propose amendments to the Constitution of the

United States.

Whereas the Legislatures of the States of Kentucky, New Jersey, and Illinois, have applied to Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United States: Therefore,

Be it resolved, &c., That the Legislatures of the other States be invited to take the subject into consideration, and to express their will on that subject to Congress, in pursuance of the fifth article of the Consti

tution.

Mr. Hunter, of Virginia, moved to amend the first section of the report by substituting the first section of the Crittenden proposition.

A discussion followed on the propriety of amending the recommendation of the Peace Conference, when Mr. Pugh, of Ohio, rose and said:

"I want to make an appeal to the friends of

some proposition of peace. This is the last day of the session but one, and we have not made the progress of one line. We have gone into an eternal discussion about questions of order, and that, too, in defiance of the rule of the Senate. I insist that the question shall be decided without further debate."

Mr. Hunter, of Virginia, replied:

"After as careful an examination as I have been able to give this proposition from the Peace Conference since it was printed, that is to say, within the last day or two, I have come to the conclusion that it would not only make a great many more difficulties than it would remove, if it should be adopted as an amendment to the Constitution, but that it would place the South-the slaveholding States-in a far worse position than they now occupy under the present Constitution, with the Dred Scott decision as its exposition."

Mr. Crittenden followed, urging the Senate to approve of the Peace Conference proposition, and justifying his support of it in preference to his own propositions for the following reasons:

"I do not stop to inquire whether I like these resolutions better than I do those proposed by myself, or the amendments now offered by the Senator from Virginia. We are near the close of our session. I have looked upon the proceedings of this great and eminent body of men as the best evidence of public opinion outside of this body, and of the wish and will of the States they represent. I am for peace. I am for compromise. I have not an opinion on the subject of what would be best that I would not be perfectly willing to sacrifice to obtain any reasonable measure of pacification that would satisfy the majority. I want to save the country and adjust our present difficulties." [Applause.]

The Presiding Officer (Mr. Bright in the chair) called to order.

Mr. Crittenden: "That is what I want to do. That is the object I am aiming at. I attach no particular importance-I feel, at least, no selfish attachment-to any opinions I may have proclaimed on the subject heretofore. I proclaimed those opinions because I thought them right; but I am ready to sacrifice them, any and every one of them, to any more satisfactory proposition that can be offered. I look upon the resolutions proposed by this convention as furnishing us, if not the last, the best hope of an adjustment; the best hope for the safety of the people and the preservation of the Government. I will not stop to cavil about the construction of these words; but I see none of the difficulties that suggest themselves to the mind of my friend from Virginia. Look at that third section, which has been the subject of his particular criticism. Every part and portion of it is a negation of power to Congress, and nothing else; and yet he has argued as if it gave Congress power; as if it conferred more power upon Congress. It leaves to the States all the rights they now have; all the remedies

which they now have; and consists merely in a negation of power to Congress. How can that take away the rights of the people? How can that make our condition worse? I cannot possibly see. It is nothing but a negative from beginning to end; and therefore it cannot take away any thing from the people. It may take from Congress, but cannot take away from the States, or the people, any thing. It is negative in its form and in its language, from beginning to end, that Congress shall have no power to do this, that, or the other. If they have that power under the present Constitution, it is taken away. That is all. It takes away no power from the States. It takes away no rights from individuals. Its simple office is the negation of power to Congress. That is all there is in it; and how, under that, can the gentleman find constructions which are to increase our difficulties and diminish our rights? He says the language will need construction. So does all language need construction. I do not see that this is particularly so.

"Now, sir, the Senator offers my own proposition as an amendment to this. I shall vote against my own proposition here; I shall vote for this.

"I shall vote for the amendments proposed by the convention, and there I shall stand. That is the weapon offered now, and placed in my hand, by which, as I suppose, the Union of these States may be preserved; and I will not, out of any selfish preference for my own original opinions on this subject, sacrifice one idea or one particle of that hope. I go for the country; not for this resolution or that resolution, but any resolution, any proposition, that will pacify the country. Therefore, I vote against my own to give place to a proposition which comes from an authority much higher than mine-from one hundred and thirty of the most eminent men of this country, out of which number a Senate might be selected that might well compare in point of talent and intellect and ability even with this honorable body." In conclusion he said:

"Mr. President, I have gone perhaps a little further than I ought to have done. It is not now necessary that I should enter into a vindication of every provision of these amendments offered by the convention. It is sufficient to speak to the amendment which the gentleman has offered. Excluding territory hereafter to be acquired, I think in substance we ought to be satisfied with that; I believe that will make peace; I believe that will give substantial security to our rights, and to the rights which the Southern States claim. With that I am satisfied. It is enough for the dreadful occasion. It is the dreadful occasion that I want to get rid of. Rid me of this, rid the nation of this, and I am willing to take my chance for the future, and meet the perils of every day that may come. Now is the appointed time upon which our destiny depends. Now is the emergency and exigency upon us. Let us pro

vide for them. Save ourselves now, and trust to posterity and that Providence which has so long and so benignly guided this nation, to keep us from the further difficulties which in our national career may be in our way."

Mr. Mason, of Virginia, followed with a careful examination of the proposition of the Peace Conference, and thus expressed his opinion:

"I should have been certainly gratified, if my honored State of Virginia had been successful in the mediation which she invited of all the States, with a view to agree upon an adjustment which would guarantee the rights of the South. I deeply deplore, and I doubt not my State will deplore, that that mediation has not been effected. So far from impughing any motives or purpose of that honorable and distinguished body, I doubt not that, in the short time that was allowed to them, they got together the best mode of adjustment which would satisfy their judgment, but which, I am sure, will not satisfy the judgment of the Southern States, but would place them in still greater peril, if they were to admit that to become a part of the Constitution. I did not intend to do more than state my objections to it as briefly as I could. I have done so temperately and without heat. I regret that I cannot, as one Senator, propose this as an amendment to the Constitution."

In the debate which still further ensued, Mr. Baker of Oregon avowed his purpose to support the proposition, and in justification of his views said:

"Mr. President, let us be just to these propositions. As a Republican, I give up something when I vote for them; but remember, sir, I am not voting for them now; I am only voting to submit them to my people; and I shall go before them, when the time comes, being gov erned in my opinion and advice as to whether they shall vote for them or not, as I see what Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Missouri, by their people, desire. To be frank, sir, if this proposition will suit the border States, if there will be peace and union, and loyalty and brotherhood, with this, I will vote for it at the polls with all my heart, and with all my soul; but if I see that the counsels of the Senators from Virginia shall prevail; if my noble friend from Tennessee [Mr. Johnson] shall be overwhelmed; if secession shall still grow in the public mind there; if they are determined, upon artificial causes of complaint, as I believe, still to unite their fate, their destiny, and their hope, with the extremest South, then, perceiving them to be of no avail, I shall refuse them. Therefore, at the polls at last, I shall be governed as an individual citizen by my conviction at the moment of what the ultimate result of these propositions will be; but I am not voting for that to-day. I am saying, 'People of the United States, I submit it to you; twenty States demand it; the peace of the country requires it; there is dissolution in the very atmosphere; States have gone off;

others threaten; the Queen of England upon her throne declares to the whole world her sympathy with our unfortunate condition; foreign Governments denote that there is danger to-day that the greatest Confederation the world has ever seen is to be parted in pieces, never to be reunited.' Now, not what I wish, not what I want, not what I would have, but all that I can get, is before me. I know that I do no harm. If the people of Oregon do not like it, they can easily reject it. If the people of Pennsylvania will not have it, they can easily throw it aside. If they do not believe there is danger of dissolution, if they prefer dissolution, if they think they can compel fifteen States to remain in or come back, or if they believe they will not go out, let them reject it. I repeat again, it is their business, it is not mine.

"But, sir, whether I vote for it at the polls or not, in voting for it here it may be said that I give up some of my principles. Mr. President, we sometimes mistake our opinions for our principles. I am appealed to often; it is said to me: you believed in the Chicago platform. Suppose I did. Well, this varies from the Chicago platform.' Suppose it does. I stand to-day, as I believe, in the presence of greater events than those which attend the making of a President. I stand, as I believe, at least, in the presence of peace and war; and if it were true that I did violate the Chicago platform, the Chicago platform is not a Constitution of the United States to me. If events, if circumstances change, I will violate it, appealing to my conscience, to my country, and to my God, to justify me according to the motive."

Mr. Green, of Missouri, emphatically opposed the Peace Conference proposition, saying:

"Now, Mr. President, I want all these propositions voted down, and I hope my friend from Kentucky will revive his propositions and bring them up again. There is some vitality in them; there is some point in them; but as for these wishy-washy resolutions, that amount to nothing, it is impossible that any Senator here will, for a moment, entertain the idea of supporting them. The Peace Conference! And the smallest peace that ever I have heard of. Let the Senator adhere to his original propositions; let the Senator bring them up and press them upon the attention of the Senate. That is as far backing down as I will go. It is a little more than I want; but still, as a last effort to save the Union, I would go that far. Talk about these measures! These measures, that have no vitality-these measures that amount to a total surrender of every principle-I never will vote for; and let the consequences of the future be what they may, I stake my faith and reputation upon the vote I intend to cast."

On the following day the debate was resumed, and Mr. Lane, of Oregon, expressed his opposition to the propositions of the Peace Conference, and gave these reasons:

"I will say only a word, now, as to the amend

ments proposed to the Constitution. We should never compromise principles nor sacrifice the eternal philosophy of justice. Whenever the Democratic party compromised principle, it laid the foundation of future troubles for itself and for the country. When we do, then, amend the Constitution, it ought to be in the spirit of right and justice to all men, and to all sections. I voted for the Senator's propositions, and I will do so again, if we can get a vote, because there was something in them; something that I could stand by; but there is nothing in the amendments proposed by the Peace Conference. He proposed to establish the line of 36° 30', and to prohibit slavery north of it, and protect it south of it, in all the present territory, or of the territory to be hereafter acquired. In that proposition there was something like justice and right; but there is nothing in the amendments proposed by the Peace Conference that any man, north or south, ought to take. They are a cheat; they are a deception; they are a fraud; they hold out a false idea; and I think, with all due respect to the Senator-for I have the highest regard for him personally-that he is too anxious to heal the trouble that exists in the country. He had better place himself upon the right and stand by it. Let him contend, with me, for the inalienable and constitutional rights of every American citizen. Let him beware of compromising' away the vital rights, privileges, and immunities of one portion of the country to appease the graceless, unrelenting, and hostile fanaticism of another portion. Let him labor, with me, to influence every State to mind its own affairs, and to keep the territories entirely free to the enterprise of all, with equal security and protection-without invidious distinctions-to the property of every citizen. Thus, and only thus, can we have peace, happiness, and eternal Union."

Further debate on these propositions was then suspended to take up, on the motion of Mr. Douglas, the joint resolution of the House for the amendment of the Constitution, as follows:

to the Legislatures of the several States as an amendResolved, &c., That the following article be proposed ment to the Constitution of the United States; which, when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the said Constitution, namely:

ART. 13. No amendment shall be made to the Con

stitution which will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish, or interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said State.

Mr. Pugh, of Ohio, moved to amend by striking out the words "authorize or "; s lengthy debate followed in opposition to all amendments as sure to cause the defeat of the resolution in consequence of the adjournment of the House on the 4th of March. The amend ment was finally rejected.

A motion was then made by the same Senator to amend by striking out all after the caption " Article Thirteen" and inserting the Crit

tenden proposition. Another lengthy debate followed, when the Senate adjourned at a late hour on Saturday night, to meet on the next evening at seven o'clock.

It was Sunday evening, at seven o'clock, on the third of March, when the Senate next assembled. The final hours of the existence of the Thirty-sixth Congress had come. The curtain was about to fall upon a national career of rising greatness and prosperity unequalled. The future was uncertain, alarming, hidden. At this unusual hour on the close of a peaceful day, the Senate came together once more to adopt or to reject those propositions which the most venerable member of their body had brought forward with the hope of allaying the irritations, of soothing the angry passions, and of satisfying the imperious demands of the conflicting sections of a great nation.

Long before the Senate met, the galleries were densely filled with spectators, and all the available space on the floor of the chamber was occupied by strangers. After this breach of decorum had been corrected by clearing the floor, and order had been restored, a prelude was offered to the business of the night by the Senator from Massachusetts, Mr. Sumner, rising and saying:

"I offer a memorial of five thousand citizens of Massachusetts, in which they call upon Congress to stand by the Constitution as it is, and the Government of the country, and to make no compromise whatever. I understand that there are memorials, signed by thirty-seven thousand persons, similar to this, but they have not yet come to hand. This is simply the forerunner of the others. I offer this now, and ask that it lie on the table."

It was so ordered.

The regular order of business was then called up, and the Senator from Kentucky, Mr. Crit. tenden, took the floor, saying: "I have not risen with any vain ambition or purpose to play the orator. I have no set speech to make."

[Great disturbance was now occasioned by persons endeavoring to get into the already over-crowded galleries.]

The Presiding Officer: "The Sergeant-atArms will be required to prevent other persons from entering the gallery doors, and see that order is maintained. It is impossible to proceed with the business in the present condition of things."

Mr. Crittenden: "The subject, Mr. President, upon which I wish to address the Senate is altogether too solemn and too interesting to the country to be made the occasion for declamation or eloquence. I do not aim at it. I am a plain man, and I wish to speak plainly what I think and what I believe on this great subject; and my wish is to do it with as much brevity as possible."

Mr. Clark: "I do not think it possible at all for the Senator to be heard."

The Presiding Officer: "It is impossible to do business with the prevailing noise."

Mr. Bragg: "I think we shall have to order the galleries to be cleared. I move that the galleries be cleared."

Some brief remarks followed, when the motion was withdrawn, and Mr. Crittenden continued-to be soon interrupted by the tumult in the galleries, and the discussions which followed relative to clearing them. Order being finally restored, he proceeded to examine all the grounds upon which a compromise was urged, with much eloquence and force. In regard to the sentiment of the people upon the proposition for a compromise, he said:

"What is the number of petitions forwarded? I suppose, if I should say we have received petitions from not less than a quarter of a million, I should be within bounds. In addition to that, societies everywhere have been petitioning in the name of their whole body. State Legislatures have memorialized, and, in fact, petitioned Congress in the name of the people of their States. I do not know how many. The chief agents of the great railroad companies, owning railroads in value to the amount of more than three hundred million dollars, traversing the country from North to South in every direction, have petitioned in favor of the adoption of these propositions of peace, and they, gentlemen of the highest standing and the highest respectability, have declared that, as far as all their travels extended along all these mighty railroads, they have found the people, with great unanimity, of the same opinion, and in favor of the adoption of these propositions."

His views were thus embraced in a few words: "My principle, and the doctrine I teach, is, take care of the Union; compromise it; do any thing for it; it is the palladium-so General Washington called it-of your rights; take care of it, and it will take care of you. Yes, sir, let us take care of the Union, and it will certainly take care of us. That is the proposition which I teach."

Mr. Trumbull, of Illinois, followed, and describing the present condition of affairs and examining the measures proposed for adjustment, he thus expressed his views: "Sir, if my friend from Kentucky would employ some of that eloquence of his which he uses in appealing to Republicans, and talking about compromise-in defence of the Constitution as it is, and in favor of maintaining the laws and the Government-we should see a very different state of things in the country. If, instead of coming forward with compromises, instead of asking guarantees, he had put the fault where it belongs; if he called upon the Government to do its duty; if, instead of blaming the North for not making concessions where there is nothing to concede, and not making compromises where there was nothing to compromise about, he had appealed to the South, which was in rebellion against the Government, and painted before them, as only he could do it, the hideousness of the crimes they were committing, and called upon them to return to their allegiance,

and upon the Government to enforce its authority, we would have a very different state of things in this country to-day from what now exists.

"This, in my judgment, is the way to preserve the Union; and I do not expect civil war. to follow from it. You have only to put the Government in a position to make itself respected, and it will command respect."

The debate was continued by Mr. Wade, of Ohio, Mr. Baker, of Oregon, Mr. Mason, of Virginia, Mr. Pugh, of Ohio, who made an interesting declaration in his remarks, thus: "The Crittenden proposition has been indorsed by the almost unanimous vote of the Legislature of Kentucky. It has been indorsed by the Legislature of the noble old Commonwealth of Virginia. It has been petitioned for by a larger number of electors of the United States than any proposition that was ever before Congress. I believe in my heart, to-day, that it would carry an overwhelming majority of the people of my State; ay, sir, and of nearly every other State in the Union. Before the Senators from the State of Mississippi left this chamber, I heard one of them who now assumes, at least, to be president of the Southern Confederacy, propose to accept it and to maintain the Union if that proposition could receive the vote it ought to receive from the other side of this chamber. Therefore, of all your propositions, of all your amendments, knowing as I do, and knowing that the historian will write it down, at any time before the 1st of January, a twothirds vote for the Crittenden resolutions in this chamber would have saved every State in the Union but South Carolina. Georgia would be here by her representatives, and Louisiana also-those two great States, which, at least, would have broken the whole column of secession. Yet, sir, it has been staved off-staved off for your futile railroad bill; and where is it to-night? Staved off by your tariff bill; staved off by your pension bill.”

Mr. Douglas, of Illinois, observed in relation to this statement of Mr. Pugh, that it was true. He thus expressed himself: "The Senator has said that if the Crittenden proposition could have been passed early in the session, it would have saved all the States, except South Carolina. I firmly believe it would. While the Crittenden proposition was not in accordance with my cherished views, I avowed my readiness and eagerness to accept it, in order to save the Union, if we could unite upon it. No man has labored harder than I have to get it passed. I can confirm the Senator's declaration, that Senator Davis himself, when on the Committee of Thirteen, was ready, at all times, to compromise on the Crittenden proposition. I will go further, and say that Mr. Toombs was also."

The motion to substitute the Crittenden resolutions in the House joint resolution was rejected. Ayes, 14; noes, 25.

The next amendment was offered by Mr. Bingham, of Michigan, as follows:

Resolved, That the provisions of the Constitution are ample for the preservation of the Union, and the protection of all the material interests of the country; that it needs to be obeyed rather than amended; and that an extrication from our present danger is to be looked for in strenuous efforts to preserve the peace, protect the public property, and enforce the laws, rather than in for particular difficulties, or concessions to unreasonnew guarantees for particular interests, compromises able demands.

Resolved, That all attempts to dissolve the present Union, or overthrow or abandon the present Constitution, with the hope or expectation of constructing a that in the opinion of the Senate of the United States new one, are dangerous, illusory, and destructive; no such reconstruction is practicable; and therefore, to the maintenance of the existing Union and Constitution should be directed all the energies of all the departments of the Government, and the efforts of all good citizens.

This was also rejected. Ayes, 13; noes, 25. Mr. Grimes, of Iowa, now moved the report of the minority of the Senate Committee, which was embraced in the following resolution:

Whereas the Legislatures of the States of Kentucky, call a convention for proposing amendments to the New Jersey, and Illinois have applied to Congress to Constitution of the United States: Therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Repre sentatives of the United States of America in Congress invited to take the subject of such a convention into assembled, That the Legislatures of the other States be consideration, and to express their will on that subject to Congress, in pursuance of the fifth article of the Constitution.

This was rejected. Ayes, 14; noes, 25.

The propositions submitted by the Peace Conference were then offered as an amendment by Mr. Johnson, of Arkansas, and rejected. Ayes, 3; noes, 34.

lution from the House-ayes 24, noes 12-which The question was then taken on the resothe presiding officer decided to be a two-thirds vote.

After a vote on several motions for amendment, the question was finally taken on the joint resolutions of Mr. Crittenden, which were rejected. Ayes, 19; noes, 20.

At a very late hour the Senate took a recess until 10 o'clock A. M., March 4th.

The regular session of Congress was closed at the usual hour by the adjournment of both Houses. Of all the acts and resolutions passed during the session, only two very brief ones appear to have arisen out of, or to refer to, the existing or threatening difficulties of the country. One provides for the suspension of the postal service, and is in these words:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre assembled, That whenever, in the opinion of the Postsentatives of the United States of America in Congra master-General, the postal service cannot be safely continued, or the Post-office revenues collected, or the postal laws maintained, on any post route, by reason of any cause whatsoever, the Postmaster

General is hereby authorized to discontinue the postal service on such route, or any part thereof, and any post-offices thereon, till the same can be safely restored, and shall report his action to Congress. APPROVED, February 28, 1861.

The other was a joint resolution for an amendment of the Constitution. (See pp. 157)