But, sir, I have known that
the decision of its fate depended upon four or five votes in the Senate
of the United States, whose ultimate judgment we could not count upon
the one side or the other with absolute certainty. Its fate is now
committed to the Senate, and to those five or six votes to which I have
referred. It may be defeated. It is possible that, for the chastisement
of our sins and transgressions, the rod of Providence may be still
applied to us, may be still suspended over us. But, if defeated, it
will be a triumph of ultraism and impracticability--a triumph of a most
extraordinary conjunction of extremes; a victory won by abolitionism; a
victory achieved by freesoilism; a victory of discord and agitation over
peace and tranquillity; and I pray to Almighty God that it may not, in
consequence of the inauspicious result, lead to the most unhappy and
disastrous consequences to our beloved country.
MR. BARNWELL:--It is not my intention to reply to the argument of the
Senator from Kentucky, but there were expressions used by him not a
little disrespectful to a friend whom I hold very dear.
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