age which referred to the "repose"
of the subject of slavery, and then said:

"The agreement of the two old political parties, thus referred to
by the Chief Magistrate of the country, was complete, and a large
majority of the American people seemed to acquiesce in the
legislation of which he spoke. A few of us, indeed, doubted the
accuracy of these statements, and the permanency of this repose.
We never believed that the acts of 1850 would prove to be a
permanent adjustment of the slavery question. But, sir, we only
represented a small, though vigorous and growing party in the
country. Our number was small in Congress. By some we were
regarded as visionaries, by some as factionists; while almost all
agreed in pronouncing us mistaken. And so, sir, the country was
at peace. As the eye swept the entire circumference of the
horizon and upward to mid-heaven, not a cloud appeared; to common
observation there was no mist or stain upon the clearness of the
sky. But suddenly all is changed; rattling thunder breaks from
the cloudless firmament. The storm bursts forth in fury. And now
we find ourselves in the midst of an agitation, the end and issue
of which no man can foresee.

"Now, sir, who is responsible for this renewal of strife and
controversy? Not we, for we have introduced no question of
territorial slavery into Congress; not we, who are denounced as
agitators and factionists. No, sir; the quietists and the
finalists have become agitators; they who told us that all
agitation was quieted, and that the resolutions of the political
conventions put a final period to the discussion of slavery. This
will not escape the observation of the country. It is _slavery_
that renews the strife. It is slavery that again wants room. It
is slavery with its insatiate demand for more slave territory and
more slave States. And what does slavery ask for now? Why, sir,
it demands that a time-honored and sacred compact shall be
rescinded--a compact which has endured through a whole
generation--a compact which has been universally regarded as
inviolable, North and South--a compact, the constitutionality of
which few have doubted, and by which all have consented to
abide."

But notwithstanding the able and eloquent speech of Mr. Chase, his
amendment only received thirteen