same general rights of legislation which enabled the territorial governments of Mississippi, of Alabama, and other southern Territories, to control the question of slavery within their limits, and which the northern Territories might have controlled at their pleasure, had there been no restriction upon their power. This was no question of 'sovereignty,' but of right, under the sovereign authority of the Constitution. And if the first settlers in the Territories might establish their future policy upon this subject by early legislation, I know of no constitutional principle which refuses the same powers to all the others."

And then as to the term "squatter sovereignty," in connection with its exercise, on the distant coast of the Pacific, he further remarked:

"A few words more, sir, as to California, and what has been called 'squatter sovereignty.' I have already said, that my Nicholson letter referred only to such territorial governments as had been established by Congress, and it looked only to such governments to be thereafter established by the same authority, over future acquisitions, should any such be confirmed to us by a treaty of peace. As to the condition of things in California, which fol lowed, in consequence of the failure of Congress to provide gov ernments for the Mexican cessions, no one foresaw it; certainly no one endeavored to provide against it. My letter, therefore, did not touch that point at all.

"As to the term 'squatter sovereignty,' or 'landlord sovereignty,' and the reproach it is intended to carry with it, they become neither our age nor country. Men are entitled to government, even if they are landless; and human life and human happiness are worth protection, notwithstanding a remote authority may be the great landlord, holding vast domains in a state of nature, which it neither grants nor governs. Many of the doctrines upon this subject carry us back to the middle ages, when land was everything and man nothing. We have arrived at a period when better views prevail; when human nature asserts its rights, and the exercise of political power does not depend upon the accident of property, but upon the great principle of freedom and just equality. One of two things is inevitable: either the people of California had the right to establish a government for themselves, without reference to 'squatter sovereignty,' or 'landlord sovereignty,' or they were necessarily condemned to live without a

government, or rather to die without one; for human life, under such circumstances, would be far more precarious than in the bloodiest battle on record. They choosed to do what we refused; to found a political system, affording protection to the great objects of human society; and I know nothing of the character of my countrymen, north or south, if, on calm reflection, they do not approve the proceeding. Nor do I believe there is one of them, no matter where, who, had he been in California in such a perilous crisis, would have hesitated to substitute established law for lawless violence and physical strength."

Whatever may be the practical results of this doctrine of popular sovereignty, General Cass is not responsible for. He did not make the Constitution: no share of its paternity belongs to him. As a senator, he has endeavored to carry out its provisions, in good faith. And when, in the course of his senatorial career, difficulties have crossed his path, that at first glance may have appeared almost insurmountable, he has set himself at work in earnest to clear away the rubbish. With a mind patient in investigation, and a physical energy that has never yet failed him, he has thought for himself, reached his own conclusions, for weal or wo, and fearlessly announced them to the world.

CHAPTER XL.

The Compromise Measures The Committee of Thirteen-The Report-The Debate-The Union Party.

The famous measures-already passed into history-known as the "Compromise Measures," were initiated and perfected at the first session of the thirty-first Congress. The session extended into September; and although the incipient steps were taken early in the session, the measures were not consummated till near its close. The first movement was on the twenty-fifth of February, when Mr. Foote, of Mississippi, moved the Senate that the resolution which he had the honor to offer-and already given in the preceding chapter,-be referred to a committee, to consist of twelve members, six from the north and six from the south, and an additional one to be by them chosen, with instructions to report to the Senate, if practicable, a plan of compromise for the final adjustment of all pending questions growing out of the institution of slavery. A motion was then made, on a subsequent day, to refer also to the same committee the resolutions offered by Mr. Clay and Mr. Bell. General Cass supported both of these motions: and openly declared that he would vote for any constitutional measure that had the appearance of harmonizing the different sections of the country, and amicably terminating the slavery controversy.

On the nineteenth of April, the question of reference was put to the vote, and carried on a division of thirty to twenty-two. The committee was chosen by the Senate, by ballot, and consisted of Messrs. Clay, Cass, Dickinson, Bright, Webster, Phelps, Cooper, King, Mason, Downs, Mangum, Bell, and Berrien. On the eighth of May the committee made their report to the Senate, accompanying it with bills, in accordance with its views and recommendations, in the following order.

First.-Admission of any new State or States, formed out of Texas, should be postponed until they presented themselves for admission.

Second.-California should be admitted forthwith, with the proposed boundaries.

Third. Territorial governments, without the Wilmot proviso, should be provided for New Mexico and Utah, embracing all the territory acquired from Mexico, except that embraced within the boundaries of California.

Fourth. The establishment of the northern and western boundary of Texas, and the exclusion from her jurisdiction of all New Mexico, for which a pecuniary equivalent was to be paid.

Fifth.-More effectual enactments of law to secure the prompt recapture of fugitives from labor, bound to service in one State, who may have escaped into another State.

Sixth.-Congress to abstain from abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia; but to prohibit the slave trade within the District.

Seventh. The second, third, and fourth measures to be contained in the same bill.

General Cass was requested by several Democratic senators to bring forward the measure of compromise, for it had been freely discussed in private conversation before it was introduced, and to accept the chairmanship of the committee. But he peremptorily declined, and urged the selection of Mr. Clay, believing that he would do more good than any other person. The circumstances. of the times outweighed all other considerations, and General Cass believed there would be less personal feeling towards Mr. Clay than towards a prominent Democrat. It was exceedingly important to carry as much of the Whig interest in the Senate as possible. And besides, that eminent patriot possessed the high qualifications and experience essential to such a duty. The result proved the wisdom of the selection. He bore himself like a hero during the whole controversy.

With reference to the constitution of this committee, Mr. Foote -then U. S. senator from Mississippi-remarked at the Governor's room in the city of New York in December, 1850:

"The gentlemen who composed that committee did rise above influence; they did forget their party, absorbed as they were in patriotic solicitude for their country's welfare and honor. Yes; and I will give you an anecdote illustrative of the spirit in which these men acted. It was said, on a certain occasion, to my old friend General Cass, by some gentleman who was consulting party

policy a little more than the interests of the country, that if the plan of adjustment were carried out, Henry Clay might become President. Now, General Cass had nominated Mr. Clay as chairman of that committee; and what was the reply of the old patriot? I will state the reply, because, perhaps, you will hear it from no one else. When he replied, that honest face of his became refulgent with the true spirit of a patriot. He remarked, 'Then so be it. If Clay's noble conduct at the head of our committee, in rescuing his country from present danger, should conduct him to the Presidency, no man in the nation will more cordially ratify his election than myself.' I challenge you to point out to me such another instance of patriotic devotion and self-sacrifice. And that was the feeling predominant among the friends of the adjustment in both houses of Congress. I will not speak of those who held a subordinate position like myself; but I will say that Clay, Cass, and Webster, on the altar of their country's happiness, sacrificed everything like personal rivalry, disregarded everything like party ascendency and the success of faction, uniting themselves as a band of brothers, standing shoulder to shoulder in support of their common country, and immortalizing themselves as the unequaled of triad American patriots."

The admission of California-the establishment of territorial governments for Utah and New Mexico-and the boundaries of Texas, elicited much debate, and many amendments were offered by various senators. The union of so many subjects in the same bill was regarded as objectionable by some members: its provisions were not entirely satisfactory to others who would have given the bill a cordial support, whilst the ultraists of both north and south were irreconcilable in their opposition. Propositions increasing the conditions upon which California might be admit ted, and restriction of the powers of the territorial governments, were offered. To all these General Cass was opposed. He insisted that there was no express authority conferred upon Congress by the Constitution, to establish and regulate territorial governments. The absence of such grant was because no contingency was foreseen by the framers of the Constitution for the use of such power, and that the right to act at all arose from the necessity of the case. Upon the acquisition of new territory, it is the moral duty of a country to take care that it is provided with a government suitable to its own institutions. He further insisted