"I little thought at that time that my advocacy of Mr. Cass upon
such grounds as these, or his support by the State of which I am
a citizen, would at any future day be quoted as an endorsement
of the opinions contained in the Nicholson letter, as those
opinions were afterward defined. But it is not only upon this
letter, but equally upon the resolutions of the Convention as
constructive of that letter, that the Senator rested his
argument. [I will here say to the Senator that, if at any time I
do him the least injustice, speaking as I do from such notes as
I could take while he progressed, I will thank him to correct
me.]
"But this letter entered into the canvass; there was a doubt
about its construction: there were men who asserted that they
had positive authority for saying that it meant that the people
of a Territory could only exclude slavery when the Territory
should form a Constitution and be admitted as a State. This
doubt continued to hang over the construction, and it was that
doubt alone which secured Mr. Cass the vote of Mississippi. If
the true construction had been certainly known, he would have
had no chance to get it."
Whatever meaning the generally discreet and conservative statesman, Mr.
Cass, may have intended to convey, it is not at all probable that he
foresaw the extent to which the suggestions would be carried and the
consequences that would result from it.
Pages:
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93