ered by Henry Clay in the
Senate in 1850. It is the same question answered by Madison and
Jefferson, and recently by Wade and Johnson. It is a question
which, I feel assured, every one of you will answer, in the patriotic
language of General Jackson--'_The Union, it must be preserved_.'

"Such would be the voice of the whole country, if the government
was not now administered by those who not only threaten treason,
but actually commit it, by turning the powers of the government
against itself. They kill the government they have sworn to maintain
and defend, because the people, whose agents they are, have condemned
them. In this spirit we have seen a Secretary of the Treasury,
charged with the financial credit of the government, offering for
sale the bonds of the government, and at the same moment declaring
that it will be overthrown, and that he would aid in overthrowing
it. We see other high officers receiving _pay_ for services to
the government, and yet, at the same moment, plotting its destruction.
We see the treasury robbed by subordinate officers amid the general
ruin. Stranger still, we see the President of the United States
acknowledging his duty to execute the laws, but refusing to execute
them. He admits that the constitution is the supreme law; that
neither a state nor the citizens of a state can disregard it; and
yet, armed as he is with all the executive power, he refuses even
to protect the property of the United States against armed violence.
He will not heed General Cass, the head of his cabinet. He will
not heed General Scott, the head of the army. He has transferred
to southern states more than one hundred thousand arms, of the
newest pattern and most effective calibre, to be turned against
the government.

"The American people are now trembling with apprehension lest the
President allow our officers and soldiers to be slaughtered at
their posts, for want of the aid which he has refused, or, what is
far more disgraceful, shall order the flag of the Union to be
lowered, without resistance to lawless force.

"Treason sits in the councils, and timidity controls the executive
power. The President listens to, and is controlled by, threats.
He theorizes about coercing a state when he should be enforcing
the laws against rebellious citizens. He admits that the states
have surrendered the power to make treaties, coin money, and regulate
commerce, and yet we will probably have the novel and ridic