ever experience shall point out defects or imperfections. And, finally, the people of the United States have, at no time, in no way, directly or indirectly, authorised any State Legislature to construe or interpret their high instrument of Government; much less to interfere, by their own power, to arrest its course and operation.

'If, sir, the people, in these respects, had done otherwise than they have done, their Constitution could neither have been preserved, nor would it have been worth preserving. And, if its plain provisions shall now be disregarded, and these new doctrines interpolated in it, it will become as feeble and helpless a being, as its enemies, whether early or more recent, could possibly desire. It will exist in every State, but as a poor dependent on State permission. It must borrow leave to be; and will be, no longer than State pleasure, or State discretion, sees fit to grant the indulgence, and to prolong its poor existence.

'But, sir, although there are fears, there are hopes also. The people have preserved this, their own chosen Constitution, for forty years, and have seen their happiness, prosperity, and renown, grow with its growth, and strengthen with its strength. They are now, generally, strongly attached to it. Overthrown by direct assault, it cannot be; evaded, undermined, NULLIFIED, it will not be, if we, and those who shall succeed us here, as agents and representatives of the people, shall conscientiously and vigilantly discharge the two great branches of our public trust, faithfully to preserve, and wisely to administer it.

'Mr. President, I have thus stated the reasons of my dissent to the doctrines which have been advanced and maintained. I am conscious of having detained you and the Senate much too long. I was drawn into the debate, with no previous deliberation such as is suited to the discussion of so grave and important a subject. But it is a subject of which my heart is full, and I have not been willing to suppress the utterance of its spontaneous seniments. I cannot, even now, persuade myself to relin

quish it, without expressing once more, my deep conviction, that, since it respects nothing less than the union of the States, it is of most vital and essential importance to the public happiness. I profess, sir, in my career, hitherto, to have kept steadily in view the prosperity and honor of the whole country, and the preservation of our Federal Union. It is to that union we owe our safety at home, and our consideration and dignity abroad. It is to that union that we are chiefly indebted for whatever makes us most proud of our country. That union we reached only by the discipline of our virtues in the severe school of adversity. It had its origin in the necessities of disordered finance, prostrate commerce, and ruined credit. Under its benign influences, these great interests immediately awoke, as from the dead, and sprang forth with newness of life. Every year of its duration has teemed with fresh proofs of its utility and its blessings; and, although our territory has stretched out wider and wider, and our population spread farther and farther, they have not outrun its protection or its benefits. It has been to us all a copious fountain of national, social, and personal happiness. I have not allowed myself, sir, to look beyond the union, to see what might lie hidden in the dark recess behind. I have not coolly weighed the chances of preserving liberty when the bonds that unite us together shall be broken asunder. I have not accustomed myself to hang over the precipice of disunion, to see whether, with my short sight, I can fathom the depth of the abyss below; nor could I regard him as a safe counsellor in the affairs of this Government, whose thoughts should be mainly bent on considering, not how the Union should be best preserved, but how tolerable might be the condition of the people when it shall be broken up and destroyed. While the Union lasts, we have high, exciting, gratifying prospects spread out before us, for us and our children. Beyond that I seek not to penetrate the veil. God grant that, in my day, at least, that curtain may not rise. God grant, that on my

vision never may be opened what lies behind. When my eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last time, the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered, discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood!-Let their last feeble and lingering glance, rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the Republic, now known and honored throughout the earth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original lustre, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured-bearing for its motto, no such miserable interrogatory, as What is all this worth? Nor those other words of delusion and folly, Liberty first, and Union afterwards-but everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land, and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true American heart-Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!'

It has fallen to the lot of Mr. Webster to have been called upon to express his opinion upon all the great questions which have been agitated in the community since he has been upon the stage. He has been too cautious to obtrude a premature opinion on any subject, but when his mind has been made up and when properly called upon, he has always expressed himself directly, without any of that double meaning so common with political aspirants. On the great question of the power given to Congress by the Constitution to make internal improvements he has in many of his speeches been explicit, but at the same time added, that it was a power that should be most discreetly

I used. The opposition to this doctrine is diminishing,

义

J

!

upon the conviction of its usefulness in extending the

beneficial effects of the General Government, particu

larly on the seaboard and frontiers.

Though it is not directly in his pathway as a lawyer, he has been called upon to give his opinion upon the subject of the abolishment of imprisonment for debt. There has been no little bitterness of feeling upon this question. The most zealous advocates for the abolition, thinking to get all they asked for at once, would not consent to proceed by degrees to the accomplishment of their wishes, as they should have done. They were for knocking off all the shackles at once and be free as air. In this, they showed more spirit than prudence, or knowledge of human nature. The supporters of the iron system took advantage of the imperative tone of their opponents, and by alarming the timid and the doubtful still kept the majority in New England on their side, and sometimes,—a most misside,—and erable policy, secured the bolts and bars of the prison more closely; for break they must,-the decree of common sense and sound policy has gone forth and will be obeyed, however hard the struggle and desperate the fight.

The progress of liberal opinion has been gradual even in New England, and many who were at first opposed to the abolishment of imprisonment are now friendly to it, having examined the subject more thoroughly. The liberal views of several of the first men

of New England on this subject, expressed many years ago, ought not now to be forgotten. Thomas H. Perkins, a most opulent merchant and a high minded gentleman in Boston, ten or twelve years past, took lead in attempting to ameliorate or repeal the laws on imprisonment for debt in Massachusetts; and more than twenty years ago a refined and polished scholar, and an honorable merchant, Benjamin Pickman of Salem, avowed the strange doctrine, for that day, that there should be no imprisonment for the honest debtor. His exalted moral purity and weight of intellectual character, must have had some influence even then, but he has lived to see his principles gain ground; and in many States obtain ultimate success.

Some years since, a benevolent society was formed in Boston, which, among other matters, took up the subject of imprisonment for debt. They began in the right way to ensure ultimate success, and that was to accumulate all the necessary facts to enlighten the people. The investigation astonished themselves, for this examination clearly proved that imprisonment instead of being a mean of coercing the collection of debts was only disguised vengeance on the part of the creditor in nine cases out of ten. These details they spread before the public, and it must be confessed that this has done more than arguments, in furtherance of their benevolent views. Not resting here, they wished to fortify themselves by the deliberate opinion of men, who do and ought to give direction in no small degree