There is not a man in this hall who
holds to it more firmly than I do, nor one who adheres to it more
than another.
"I feel some little interest in this matter, sir. Did I not commit
myself in 1837 to the whole doctrine, fully, entirely? And I must
be permitted to say that I cannot quite consent that more recent
discoverers should claim the merit, and take out a patent.
"I deny the priority of their invention. Allow me to say, sir, it
is not their thunder.
"There is no one who can complain of the North for resisting the
increase of slave representation, because it gives power to the
minority in a manner inconsistent with the principles of our
government. What is past must stand; what is established must
stand; and with the same firmness with which I shall resist every
plan to augment the slave representation, or to bring the
Constitution into hazard by attempting to extend our dominions,
shall I contend to allow existing rights to remain.
"Sir, I can only say that, in my judgment, we are to use the first,
the last, and every occasion which occurs, in maintaining our
sentiments against the extension of the slave-power.
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