t your propositions to the
people, and agree to be bound by and to acquiesce in their decision,
will you do the same? If you will, it may be of service to protract
this discussion, to make these propositions as acceptable as possible.
If you will not, we are wasting time. We may as well stop here.
Believe me, sir, Vermont, as well as every other free State, will have
too much self-respect to agree to the terms of a compromise which will
bind one party and will not bind the other.

There is one thing farther which we must understand. It has been
frequently referred to in debate, and I shall not enlarge upon it.
Time must elapse before these propositions can be acted upon. The free
States expect faithfully to observe all their duties to the General
Government--to keep faith with it as they always have. Will the slave
States do the same? Will they not only _not obstruct_ the Government
in the execution of the laws, but will they _aid_ the Government in
executing the laws? The answer to this inquiry is as important as the
other.

Now, it is useless to tell the people of the free States, that such is
the present condition of the South, such is the apprehension and
distrust prevailing there, that we must give them these guarantees at
once, without any longer delay or discussion--that if we do not they
will secede. Such an argument as that, sir, is an unworthy argument;
it is unfit to be used in an assembly of men met to confer upon the
Constitution. This is not the way in which good constitutions are
made, for one of the several parties to present its ultimatum, and
then insist upon its adoption, under the threat that if it is not
adopted they will go no farther. If such is the true condition of
affairs in some of the States, and the gentlemen representing them are
the best judges, then before proceeding to amend the Constitution to
satisfy them, I think we had better try to put them into a frame of
mind suitable for negotiation. A Constitution adopted in that way
would be good for nothing. Let it once be understood that such claims
will be recognized, and we shall have amendments to the Constitution
proposed as often as any section can find a pretext for proposing
them. The agreeable course to us all would be to yield to your
pressing appeals. But you ask us to compromise upon most extraordinary
terms. You will not give us the slightest assurance that the people of
the slave States will acquiesce in the vote of the whole p