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Show 276 'rHE MISSOURI QUESTION. therefore, it must ever l>e the pol icy of the Eastern and Northern SLatos to continue connected with us. But sir . ' ' there is an infinitely greater call upon them, and this is tlJe call of ju iice, of affection, and humanity. Reposing at a great dislance, in safety, in the full enjoyment of all their federal and SLate rigllLs, unattn.ckcd in either, or in their individual rights, can they, wiLh indifference, or ought they to risk, in the remotest degree, the consequences which this mea. nrc may produce. These may be the division of ibis Union, and a civil war. Knowing that whatever is said here, must get into the public prints, I am unwilling, for obvious reasons, to go into the description of the horrors which such a lvar must produce, and ardently pray that none of us may ever live to witness such an event. If you refuse to admit Missouri without this prohibition, and she refuses it, and proceeds to form a constitution for herself, and then applies to you for admission, what will you do ? Will you compel them by force? By whom, or by what force can this be effected ? \Viii the Stales in her neighborhood join in this crusade? Will they who, to a man, think :Missouri is right, and you are wrong, arm in such a cause ? Can you send a force from the eastward of the Delaware? The very distance forbids it; and distance is o. powerful auxiliary to a country attacked. If, in the days of James II., English soldiers, undee militarv discipline, when ordered to march against their countr;men, contending in the cause of liberty, disobeyed the order, and laid down their arms, do yon think our free brethren on the Mississippi will not do the same? Yes, sir, they will rcfnse, and you will at last be obliged to retreat from this measure, and in a manner that will not add much to the di(rnity of your government. I cannot, on any ground, think of agreeing to a compromise on this subject. Ilowever we all may wish to see Missouri admitted, as she ought, on equal terms with the THE MISSOURI QUESTION. 277 other S~ates, th~s js a very unimportant object to her, compared w1Lh kccpmg the Constitution inviolate-with keeping the hands of Congrc s from ionchino- the question of slavery. On the subject of the ConsLitutiou, no compromise ought ever to be made. Neither can auy be made on the national fa.it!l, so seriously involved in the treaty which gives to all ~.JOil!Sltl.na, L? every part or it, a right to be incorporated lllto the Ulllon on equal terms with the other StaLes. Surely, sir, when we consider the public distress of this country, and the ncce sity of union and good humor lo repair onr finances, and plncc our commerce in that improved situation which will give us some hope of the rise of our prod nets, snch as may have a tendency to relieve 0111• public and pri vaLe em barrassmcnts, if we had no other motives for it, certainly this should be sufficient. Rut sil' there is one of infini tely higher moment. Do we reco],lcct' that we arc the only free republic now in existence, and that, probably, such existence can only depend upon our distance from Europe, and our union with our present numbers ? It may safely be calculated we have two millions of men, the grcatc t part of whom arc able to bear arm . In case of our continuing a united people, no attack from Europe, a distance of four thousand miles, could ever be made with the least hope of snccess. From the distance I a1l Europe could not furni.-h either the men or the means suffi-cient to divide or destroy this Union. If we continue united as we have been, in such an event, the States would so second' the general government, and so nct·ve its arm, as to put all attack at defiance. Bot, if on thi , or any other occasion, this Union should unhappily divide, and from friends become l>itter and implacable enemies to each other, who shall say what Europe may attempt? Mark what they have done among themselves, to subjugate France, and destroy, in that part of the world, everything that has the semblance of republicanism. View the league they have formed, in which, |