To J. A. Hamilton Esq., and others, Westchester, New York. Washington, January 27, 1851. GENTLEMEN,-I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 16th of this month, inviting me to attend a meeting proposed to be holden at Tarrytown on the 30th instant, by the people of Westchester County, without any distinction of party, who approve of the compromise measures of the last session of Congress. My public duties do not allow me to accept this invitation; but you need not doubt that I cordially approve the objects and purposes for which the people of Westchester propose to assemble.

I hope the spirit of disunion may be considered as now, in some degree, checked; but that it has existed, both at the North and the South, and does still exist to a dangerous extent, cannot, as it seems to me, be denied by any honest man.

In the South, the separation of the States is openly proposed, discussed, and recommended, absolutely or conditionally, in legislative halls, and in conventions called together by the authority of law.

In the North, the State governments have not run into such excess, and the purpose of overturning the government shows itself more clearly in resolutions agreed to in voluntary assemblies of individuals, denouncing the laws of the land, and declaring a fixed intent to disobey them.

I notice that in one of these meetings, holden lately in the very heart of New England, and said to have been very numerously attended, the members unanimously resolved, "that, as God is our helper, we will not suffer any person charged with being a fugitive from labor to be taken from among us, and to this resolve we pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

These persons do not seem to have been aware that the purpose thus avowed by them is distinctly treasonable. If any law of the land be resisted, by force of arms or force of numbers, with a declared intent to resist the application of that law, in all cases, this is levying war against the government, within the meaning of the Constitution, and is an act of treason, drawing after it all the consequences of that offence. This is the precise case in which convictions for treason took place in Pennsylva

nia during the elder Mr. Adams's administration. And not only does such a spirit as this manifest itself in heated and violent public assemblies, but it is also defended, encouraged, and commended by a considerable portion of the public press; and, what is still worse, the pulpit has, in too many instances, uttered these tones of opposition to the law, instead of the voice of Christian meekness, repentance, and the fear of God. Indeed, occasions have happened in which men and women have engaged in a sort of rivalry or contest to see whether the laws of society, or the institution of religion and the authority of the Divine Revelation, could be treated with the more contempt.

It is evident that, if this spirit be not checked, it will endanger the government; if it spread far and wide, it will overthrow the government.

There are ample pledges, Gentlemen, that with you and your fellow-citizens of Westchester no other feeling will be entertained than that of zealous attachment to the Union and the Constitution, and a determination to support both to the last extremity. Among your committee I see the son of a great and an illustrious man, equally distinguished in the revolutionary and the constitutional history of his country. ALEXANDER HAMILTON was one of the twelve commissioners who met at Annapolis in September, 1786, and recommended to the country the establishment of a constitution of government "adequate to the exigencies of the Union." Here was the cradle of that form of government which has so long bound us all together, and made us so prosperous at home and so much respected abroad. Where the blood of Alexander Hamilton fills the veins, or his example and patriotic services are remembered, the language of separation, secession, and disunion will find no utterance, and purposes of violent resistance to the laws no approbation or tolerance.

Gentlemen, the mortal remains of another great man, venerated and loved through the whole course of a long life, repose in the county of Westchester; of course, I mean JOHN JAY. The public life of this illustrious man was almost entirely devoted to the preservation of the union of the States, the establishment of the Constitution, and the administration of the powers conferred by it. No man saw more clearly, or felt more deeply, the evils arising from the existence of States with entire

and distinct sovereignties. No man appealed to his countrymen against such a state of things with more earnestness, eloquence, or power. He saw the beginning of a spirit very much like that which exists now; he foretold its dangers, and did as much as any man to rescue the public opinion from its pernicious grasp.

In 1785 he wrote to a friend: "It is my first wish to see the United States assume and merit the character of one great nation, whose territory is divided into different States merely for more convenient government."

In 1787 he said: "It has until lately been a received and uncontradicted opinion, that the prosperity of the people of America depended on their continuing firmly united; and the wishes, prayers, and efforts of our best and wisest citizens have been constantly directed to that object. But politicians now appear, who insist that this opinion is erroneous, and that, instead of looking for safety and happiness in union, we ought to seek it in a division of the States into distinct confederacies or sovereignties. . . . . . This country and this people seem to have been made for each other, and it appears as if it was the design of Providence that an inheritance so proper and con. venient for a band of brethren united to each other by the strongest ties should never be split into a number of unsocial. jealous, and alien sovereignties...... They who promote the idea of substituting a number of distinct confederacies, in the room of the plan of the convention, seem clearly to foresee that the rejection of it would put the continuance of the Union in the utmost jeopardy. That certainly would be the case; and I sincerely wish that it may be as clearly foreseen by every good citizen, that, whenever the dissolution of the Union arrives, America will have reason to exclaim, in the words of the poet, Farewell! a long farewell to all my greatness.""

When I am speaking of the ardent attachment of John Jay to the union of the American States, I cannot forbear, even at the risk of extending this answer beyond its proper limits, from introducing another extract from his admirable writings, as exhibiting remarkable sagacity and power of illustration. "We have heard much," said he, "of the fleets of Britain; and, if we are wise, the time may come when the fleets of America may engage attention. But if one national government

had not so regulated the navigation of Britain as to make it a nursery for seamen, if one national government had not called forth all the national means and materials for forming fleets, their prowess and their thunder would never have been celebrated. Let England have its navigation and fleet, let Scotland have its navigation and fleet, let Wales have its fleet, let Ireland have its navigation and fleet, let these four of the constituent parts of British empire be under four independent governments, and it is easy to perceive how soon they would each dwindle into comparative insignificance."

When John Jay filled the seat at the head of the supreme judicature, how would one appear, who, being charged with crime, should stand up before his face, beaming equally with intelligence and benignity, and insist that he had disobeyed the law only from the impulse of his own individual conscience; that he had disregarded plighted faith, violated the most important obligations, and contemned the sanctity of oaths, only upon his reliance on the superiority of his own intelligence over that of the community, and the right of every individual to judge of constitution, laws, and compacts for himself?

Gentlemen, I am sure that you and your friends will do your whole duty, as intelligent and patriotic citizens, in upholding the institutions of your country. I purpose to do mine, and should not consent to act with any body who might be found to waver or to hesitate on this all-important question.

The President's message at the opening of the present session of Congress expresses fully and plainly his own opinion, and the unanimous opinion of all those associated with him in the executive administration of the government, in regard to what are called the adjustment or compromise measures of last session. That opinion is, that those measures should be regarded in principle as a final settlement of the dangerous and exciting subjects which they embrace; that, though they were not free from imperfections, yet in their mutual dependence and connection they formed a system of compromise the most conciliatory and best for the entire country that could be obtained from conflicting sectional interests and opinions; and that therefore they should be adhered to until time and experience should demonstrate the necessity of further legislation to guard against evasion or abuse. That opinion, so far as I know, remains en

tirely unchanged, and will be acted upon steadily and decisively. The peace of the country requires this; the security of the Constitution requires this; consistency requires this; and every consideration of the public good demands this. If the administration cannot stand upon the principles of the message, it does not expect to stand at all.

Citizens of Westchester! Citizens of the State of New York! The voices of your own illustrious dead cry to you from the ground. They who are in their graves beseech you, as you respect their names and memories, as you love liberty, as you value your own happiness, as you regard the hopes of your children, to hold on with unflinching firmness to the Constitution and to the union of the States; and, as if with lips still living, they conjure you, in tones of indignation, to reject all such ideas as that disobedience to the laws is the path of patriotism, or treason to your country duty to God.

For myself, I confess that, if I were to witness the breaking up of the Union and the Constitution of the United States, I should bow myself to the earth in confusion of face; I should wish to hide myself from the observance of mankind, unless I could stand up and declare truly, before God and man, that by the utmost exertion of every faculty with which my Creator had endowed me I had labored to avert the catastrophe.

I am, Gentlemen, with entire regard and all good wishes, your obliged friend and fellow-citizen,

DANIEL Webster.

To the New York Committee for the Celebration of the Birthday of Washington.

Washington, February 20, 1851. GENTLEMEN,- It is a source of deep regret to me, that my public duties absolutely prohibit me from having the pleasure of accepting your invitation, in behalf of the Union Safety Committee, to attend a public dinner on the Twenty-second, in honor of that auspicious day. Auspicious indeed! All good influences, all omens of independence, liberty, free government, the creation of a nation, its prosperity, happiness, and