eparate jurisdiction of the states where it is cherished as a
blessing, or tolerated as an evil as yet irremediable. But let that
slavery which intrenches herself within the walls of her own
impregnable fortress not sally forth to conquest over the domain of
freedom. Intrude not beyond the hallowed bounds of oppression; but,
if you have by solemn compact doomed your ears to hear the distant
clanking of the chain, let not the fetters of the slave be forged
afresh upon your own soil; far less permit them to be riveted upon
your own feet. Quench not the spirit of freedom. Let it go forth,
not in panoply of fleshly wisdom, but with the promise of peace, and
the voice of persuasion, clad in the whole armor of truth,
conquering and to conquer."

In July, 1838, Mr. Adams published a speech "on the right of the
people, men and women, to petition; on the freedom of speech and debate
in the House of Representatives of the United States; on the
resolutions of seven State Legislatures, and on the petitions of more
than one hundred thousand petitioners, relative to the annexation of
Texas to this Union;" the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on
these subjects being under the consideration of the House. In this
publication he states and analyzes the course of that "conspiracy for
the dismemberment of Mexico, the reinstitution of slavery in the
dismembered portion of that republic, and the acquisition, by purchase
or by conquest, of the territory, to sustain, spread, and perpetuate,
the _moral and religious blessing_ of slavery in this Union;" and which
he declares to be in the full tide of successful experiment. But a few
only of the topics illustrated in this publication, which expanded into
a pamphlet of one hundred and thirty octavo pages, can here be touched.
It is, in fact, a history of the disgraceful proceedings by which that
conspiracy effected its purpose.

Mr. Adams inquired of the committee whether they had given as much as
five minutes' consideration to the resolutions of the Legislatures, and
the very numerous petitions of individuals, which had been referred to
them. One of the committee, Hugh S. Legare, of South Carolina, answered,
he had not read the papers, nor looked into one of them. Mr. Adams
exclaimed, "I denounce, in the face of the country, the proceeding of
the committee, in reporting upon papers referred to them, without
looking into any one of them, as ut