Page:The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade.djvu/608

 this great country! to astonish Europe with an act of folly, such as Europe for two centuries has never beheld in any government! No, sir! no, sir; There will be no secession. Gentlemen are not serious when they talk of secession."

Mr. Clay's resolutions, and also those submitted by Mr. Bell, were referred on the 19th of April to a select committee of thirteen. The members of the committee were elected by ballot: Henry Clay, chairman, Bell, Berrien, Downs, King, Mangum and Mason, from slave states; Cass, Webster, Dickinson, Phelps, Cooper and Bright, from free states. On the 8th of May, Mr. Clay, from the committee, made the following report:

"The senate's committee of thirteen, to whom were referred various resolutions relating to California, to other portions of the territory recently acquired by the United States from the republic of Mexico, and to other subjects connected with the institution of slavery, have, according to order, had these resolutions and subjects under consideration, and beg leave to submit the following report: The committee entered on the discharge of their duties with a deep sense of their great importance, and with earnest and anxious solicitude to arrive at such conclusions as might be satisfactory to the senate and to the country. Most of the matters referred have not only been subjected to extensive and serious public discussions throughout the country, but to a debate in the senate itself, singular for its elaborateness and its duration; so that a full exposition of all those motives and views which, on several subjects confided to the committee, have determined the conclusions at which they have arrived, seems quite unnecessary. They will, therefore, restrict themselves to a few general observations, and to some reflections which grow out of those subjects.

"Out of our recent territorial acquisitions, and in connection with the institution of slavery, questions most grave sprung, which, greatly dividing and agitating the people of the United States, have threatened to disturb the harmony, if not to endanger the safety of the Union. The committee believe it to be highly desirable and necessary speedily to adjust all those questions, in a spirit of concord, and in a manner to produce, if practicable, general satisfaction. They think it would be unwise to leave any of them open and unsettled, to fester in the public mind, and to prolong, if not aggravate, the existing agitation. It has been their object, therefore, in this report, to make such proposals and recommendations as would accomplish a general adjustment of all these questions.

"Among the subjects referred to the committee which command their first attention, are the resolutions offered to the senate by the senator from Tennessee, Mr. Bell. By a provision in the resolution of congress annexing Texas to the United States, it is declared that "new states of convenient size, not exceeding four in number, by the consent of said state, be formed out of the territory thereof, which shall be entitled to admission, under the provisions of the federal constitution; and such states as may be formed out of that portion of said territory lying south of 36° 30' north latitude, commonly known as the Mis-