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Show '' ,,I 198 THE MISSOURI QUESTION. (except in the punishmco.t of crimcR, whereof tho party shall have .been duly con:wicd,) shall exist in the territory of the Umlcd States, ly111g uorth of the 3 th degree of north latitude, and west of the river Mi ~si ssippi, 11110 the boundaries of the StaLe of Missouri, as cstabl is bed by this act: P1·o·m·ded, 'l'hat any person escapi ng into the suitl territory, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed, in any of the States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed, according to the laws of the United Slate~ in such case provided, to the person claiming his or her laLor or service as aforesaid." Mr. Meirrs, of New York, said :-It is now nt least twenty years, that I have, with some pain and apprehension remar~c? the i ucrcas in g s pi l'i t of I ocal and sccli o011\ en v; and d1s1Ike between the North and South. A con tinned series of sarcasms upon each other's circumstances, modes of living, and manners, so foolishly persevered in, has produced at length that keen controversy which now enlists us in masses against each other on the opposite sides of the line of lalitndc. Gentlemen may dignify it by whatever titles they please. They may flatter themselves that all is logic, reason, pure reason. But certain I am, that it is neither more nor less than sectional feeling. F?~ling, sir, however gravely dignified, has brought us in bosttl1ty to this singular line of combat' and we ' who are ' you know sir, ((but children of a larger growth," arc now most aptly comparable to those celebrated and eternal fu:tions of "Up- Town and Down- Town Boys." I put thls observation to every one who hears me with the wish that he may apply his own recollections ~nd reflections to it. Gentlemen may exhaust all their arguments all their eloquence upon the question before us; they rna~ pour ont every flower of rhetoric upon it· but sir I view their la b ors as wholly vain, and I fear t'h at th' eir 'f lowers will be 'l1llK .M.lSSOUlH QUES'l'lON. 199 found to Le the most delcLerious auu the roost poisonous in tho whole range of Lot:wy. 'rhey poison the national affection. l~eason di viued l>y parallel~ of laii tude 1 Why, sir, it is easy for prejudice and mu.lcvolencc, by aid of ingenui ty, to erect au eternal, impenetrable wall of brass uctwcen the North and South, at the latitude of thirty-nine degrees 1 But, in the view of reason, there is no other line between them than thai cele~tial arc of thirty-nine ucgrees wllich oll'ers no barrier to the march of lil>eru.l and rational men. It is forgot.tcn that the enlightened high priest, the archbishop of oue belli~ereni, goes to the tem pic of the . Almighty and chants " 'l'e Deurn laudamus," for the victory obtained by his coun try, with carnage aud devustalion, over the enemy; while the archbbhop of another belligerent is at the same time entering the houRo of God, a11d singing also, " 'Te Deum laudam.us pro victo·ria," upon the other side of the litlC, the creek, or the ri vcr? vV e, who know these things, should profit by onr knowledge, lenrn liberality, and prn.clice it. his true, aud 1 glory in the knowledge of the truth, thai in matters of religion, this country bas, in its constitutions, attained a high point of reason and, liberality. :Men, after forty or sixty years of religious into1erance, here, at last, may worship the Creator in their own way. What a privilege 1 how dear1y acquired 1 how much to be prized l It fills us with aston ishmcnt, when we reflect how hard it is fol' us to refrain from forcing hy power our opinions upon onr brother men! how read ily each individual imagines that the light is alone in his own breast, nnd how enthusiu~licnJly he engnges in propagating it among mankind by all possible means, fn.ncying, dreaming that he is a prophet, a vicegerent of Almighty God. January 27, 1830. Ml'. Ilolmes, of Massucbusotts, rose and spoke as follows :- 1\1r. Chairman: When a man is |