Page:Life of Henry Clay (Schurz; v. 2).djvu/330

320 nia against the introduction of slavery there; by an attempt on the part of Calhoun to organize a distinctively Southern party; and by threats that the Union would be dissolved in case the North insisted upon the exclusion of slavery from the new conquests; until finally, the impossibility of an agreement becoming evident, the thirtieth Congress adjourned, leaving the decision of the great question to its successor.

President Taylor's inaugural address did not announce a distinct policy with regard to the absorbing problem. His Cabinet consisted of four Whigs from slave-holding states, of whom only one, Crawford of Georgia, the Secretary of War, belonged to the extreme pro-slavery faction; and of three Northern Whigs, one of whom, Collamer of Vermont, the Postmaster-General, was known as an anti-slavery man. The composition of the Cabinet, therefore, indicated no settled purpose. But in April, 1849, Taylor sent a confidential agent to California to suggest to the people the speedy formation of a state constitution and government, without, however, advising what should be done with regard to slavery. Upon his arrival that agent found that the inhabitants of California, following the call of General Riley, the Military Governor, had already taken the matter in hand. A convention to frame a state constitution met on September 1, 1849, and completed its work on October 13. The Constitution contained a prohibition of slavery, which had been adopted by a