A CLEARER ATMOSPHERE. 401 P'D IV. CH. V. breaking up of the fountains of the great deep, with- P"TIV. out ruffling the surface! Peaceable secession! What would be the result? What would become of the army, the navy, and the public lands? Where is the line to be drawn? What states are to be associated? What is to remain American? Where am I to be? Where is the flag to remain? Is the eagle still to tower? or is he to cower, to shrink, and fall to the ground?” Mr. Web. ster on secession. CHAPTER V. The Committee of Thirteen.-The "Omnibus Bill."-Death of Taylor and Inauguration of Fillmore.-Separate Passage of the Compromise Measures.-The Cuban Expedition.-Liberia. Better senti ment. 1. In the tempest, it is the lightning, not the thun- 1850. der, which kills; but as, peal by peal, the dangerous tone of element explodes, the atmosphere becomes cleared. Public Thus the impassioned eloquence and fiery declamation of the capitol, gave wholesome vent to dangerous feeling; and inspired a healthier tone of public sentiment; which, beginning at Washington, spread throughout the Union. 2. Mr. Clay had ably defended his plan of compromise. Senator Bell, of Kentucky, introduced and advocated another. Senator Foote, of Mississippi, made a motion, which was finally carried, for the appointment of a committee of the senate, to be composed of six members from the north, six from the south, and thirteenth to be chosen by the first twelve; to whom should be referred the different plans for compromise; -with directions, however, that the committee report, a marks of Mr. Webster on secession, made in his great speech of March 7th, 1850. CHAPTER V.-1. What beneficial effects were produced by the stormy eloquence of the Capitol -2. What motion was April 13. tee of Commit Thirteen appoint ed. 402 66 PT IV. according to their own judgment, a plan of settlemen for the different branches of the slavery question. P'DIV. May 8 reports nibus for the of the points n by his 3. Of this honored committee, Mr. Clay was chair1850. man, by choice of the Senate; and he made their reMr. Clay port to that body, the 8th of May. Four months of jarthem. ring debate ensued; much of which referred to the Bill, point, whether the several proposed laws should be providing voted for separately, or in one "Omnibus Bill." Mr. ettlement Benton urged the former course, on account of its several fairness, and especially in behalf of suffering yet duti troduced ful California; while Mr. Clay maintained the latter; Compro urging that if the different parts of the bill were pretutions. sented together, both parties would concede some June 2. things, for the sake of gaining others. . . . . In the ville Con- mean time the Nashville convention, which, had it vention. assembled in January, might have led to civil war and national destruction,* met harmlessly on the 2d of June; partaking of the country's calmer mood 1850. and renewed devotion to the Union. Judge Sharkie, June 3. its projector, was made president of the convention. Judge Sharkie's In his initiatory address, he said, that its members mise reso Nash address. had met, "because the constitution, which gave equal rights to the South, had been violated; and that was a shock which the government could not stand." They had assembled to devise a remedy, and thus to preserve the Union. It was a slander of enemies, that they had met to dissolve the Union. For his part, he hoped that "the Union would be the last thing to perish amidst the wreck of matter." 4. In May, 1850, a military force under the Cuban "The Southern members conferred together, spoke together, and, at one time, would have been prepared to sink or swim in a common peril."-See Senator Butler's Speech at the Charleston Convention, May, 1851. made and carried by Senator Foote ?-3. What is said of the Committee of Thirteen ? Of their report? Of the debate which ensued? Of the Nashville Convention? Who was made President of the Convention? In his address what did he say-4, Give some account of the attempt made upon THE CUBAN EXPEDITION. 403 PT IX. P'D IV. CH. v. 1850. tion from general, Lopez, sailed with munitions of war from New Orleans, pretended emigrants in vessels clearing for Chagres. They made their rendezvous in the Island of Contoy, on the coast of Yucatán. On the night of the 18th May, Gen. Lopez with 609 men, Expediapproached the coast of Cuba in the steamship Creole. the U. He landed at the little town of Cárdenas, of which S. agains he took possession, after having burnt the governor's house in order to force the garrison to surrender; after which, the governor, together with three of his officers and twenty-seven soldiers were made prisoners. The soldiers joined Lopez's ranks. 5. On the evening of the 19th Gen. Lopez, having changed his plan, re-embarked to effect another landing on the western part of Cuba; a bloody skirmish occurring on his way to the ship. The men compelled the officers to carry them to Key West, the nearest port on the American coast. Just as they entered, the Spanish war-steamer Pizarro overtook them. The commander asked of the American authorities the restoration of the invaders, which not obtaining, he returned to Havana and represented the facts to his government. Gen. Taylor, who had issued a special proclamation against any such armament, sent a strong naval force to Cuba, which arrived too late to prevent the invasion. Lopez not having embarked Cuba. The inva ders land May 18. at Cardenas May 22. Arrival at Key West. July 9. Death of 6. Pending the debates on the compromise measures, the nation was called to deep and sincere mourning the pre for the loss of her beloved chief magistrate. Gen. dent. Taylor expired at the presidential mansion on the 9th Inaugura of July, and MILLARD FILLMORE, of New York, im- tion of Mr mediately succeeded him in the presidency; happily well fitted by moral, intellectual, and physical Cuba, in May, 1850. At what town on the island did the invaders land? What did they do there?-5. Relate what occurred on the retreat of the invading force. What is said of the commander of the Pizarro ? What was done by General Taylor? Who were the Contoy prisoners? What was the fate of a few men left at Cardenas? 6. What melancholy event ocourred July 9 What is said of Mr. Fillmore? What change oc Fillmore. 404 PASSAGE OF THE COMPROMISE. P'TIV. soundness, for the exalted and difficult place. P'D IV. Mr. KING of Alabama, was chosen president of the senate. CH. V. The cabinet of Gen. Taylor resigned. Mr. Fillmore appointed able successors,-Mr. Webster filling the department of state. He soon negotiated with the government of Cuba the release of the Contoy prisoners. 1850. The com measures. erected (esti popula 25,000.) Mexico (esti mated popula. 7. In the early part of September, the measures reSept. 7. ported by the committee of thirteen passed-sepapromise rately; but they had been considered together, and Utah were agreed to, as mutual concessions and comprointo a ter mises for the sake of union. By them, 1st, California, with her constitution excluding slavery, and her bounmated daries extending from Oregon to the Mexican possestion, sions, was admitted into the Union as a state. 2d, New The Great Basin east of California, containing the made a Mormon settlement near the Salt Lake, was erected, territory, without mention of slavery, into a territory, by the Indian appellation of Utah. 3d, New Mexico, with 61,504.) a boundary which satisfied her inhabitants, was also erected, without mention of slavery, into a territory; Congress giving Texas, for the relinquishment of her claims, ten millions of dollars;-Texas to pay with the money former debts, for which the United States were bound,-not legally, but in honor. 4th, A law was passed, abolishing-not slavery, but the slave-trade, in the District of Columbia; and 5th, the (A fugi- fugitive-slave law was passed; whose object is, the law was more effectually to secure the prompt delivery of per1793; but sons bound to service or labor in one state, and escaping into another. tion, tíve-slave passed in being found, or made dif. ficult of tion, it 8. The compromise measures proved the quieting execu- of the fearful storm. Those who passed them, did, had be like the framers of the constitution, agree to appresolete.) hended evils to prevent disunion, and thus preserve Come ob. curred in the cabinet-7. What is said of the compromise measures? What is, in your author's order of arrangement, the first of the compromise measures? What the second? The third, including the agreement with Texas? What is the fourth? What the fifth of the compromise measures?8. Why was the passage of the compromise measures highly CONFIDENCE RETURNING. 405 the country in its vital point. Some condemned, but P'T IV. P'D IV CH. V. 1850 of the great agi. tation at the South. 9. The remains of the great agitation appeared at the north by opposition to the fugitive-slave law, which, however, was upheld, by the national and state judiciaries; and at the south by a convention of delegates, from the anti-union party, held April, 1851, Remains in Charleston, S. C., where, notwithstanding the counsels of Senator Butler and others, the majority, recommended separate secession. But the mingled tide of national prosperity and returning confidence sets against sectional discontent and animosity. The network of railroads, which more and more intersects the country, promotes the intercourse of trade and civility, and thus tends to harmonize its different parts. Charleston will soon bé connected by railroad with the interior of Tennessee, and thus a competitor for the trade of the great valley of the Mississippi. Condition of the contrast ed. 10. The restoration of confidence between good and patriotic citizens of the north and the south, will be full of prosperity and happiness to both. The colored race, as they were the first to suffer by the loss of such confidence, so they will be the first to benefit by its return. Already we hear more and Slaves more of efforts at the south to improve them, as intellectual, moral, and religious beings. They are, by the generality of planters, allowed a degree of independence in the disposal of time and the holding of property, and so many personal comforts, that their condition, except in name, is preferable to that of a important to the nation?-9. By what did the remains of the great agitation appear at the North? By whom was the fugitive-slave law upheld? By what did the remains of the great agitation appear at the South? What was recommended by the delegates of the anti-union party in S. C.? Who gave wiser counsel? What tide sets against sectional discontent and animosity? What promotes intercourse, and thus tends to harmonize? What new prospects has Charleston?-10. What will be the consequences of the restoration of confidence between good and patriotic citizens at the North and the South? What is said of the condition of the colored race at the the South ? |