Speech of Hon. Wm. Lowndes Yancey, of Alabama, on the annexation of Texas to the United States, delivered in the House of Representatives, Jan. 7, 1845. Page: 4 of 14
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4
of Brooklyn!-for such were some of the themes family. Let him turn to that portion which tells
expatiated upon by that Representative in a debate us of the patriarch Noah, betrayed in an unupon
a question which was agitating this entire guarded hour, by too free an indulgence in the use
Union, and which, more than any other which of wine, and lying exposed in his tent. One of his
had been started amongst us during the past half sons saw his parent's shame, and went forth and
century, was calculated to arouse the dormant ridiculed the spectacle before his brothers. In
energies of the patriot. silence they took a mantle,and, with averted face,
We are in the habit, Mr. Chairman, of form- approached their prostrate parent and cast it over
ing estimates of persons whom we have never him-the broad mantle of filial charity-to cover
seen, by what we read of their productions, or his shame from too prying eyes. The old man
hear others say of them. I had formed such an at length awoke, and having heard what had
estimate of the Representative from North Caro- passed, gifted with the spirit of prophecy, he
lina, and was not, therefore, astonished at this arose and pronounced upon him a curse, which
expose of his head and heart. In that portion of has come down upon his posterity to the latest
the Union I have the honor to represent, that Re- day, that he and his children, and children's chilpresentative
is looked upon, almost without a dren, should be the servant of servants throughout
solitary exception in either party, as a betrayer all time. And most fearfully has that curse been
of the trust which had been reposed in his hands. fulfilled upon the descendants of Ham, who even
But I do confess to some astonishment, when I now dwell in the tents of Japhet and Shem,
heard even that Representative exulting in his tri- pitched upon these western shores; proving the
umphover those brother Representatives from the stern truths of the Scripture, and offering an
South, whose most strenuous efforts had not been awful leg who daresl,joli i
able to retain the 25th rule, which prolhibited the duties. ' How the people of North Carolina will
presentation of abolition petitions; and attribut- view simnilar conduct in their Representative, I
ing to their silence, on its repeal, motives which cannot say; but of this I may feel well assured,
every honorable man amongst them spurns with had the spirit of that pure and great patriot, Nascorn,
and which could only have found prompt- thaniel Macon, been hovering in these halls, and
inc in the heart of one who had given a stab to amidst these stately pillars, and had heard a
the institutions of his own land, and wears the son of North Carolina utter such language as had
garb of its enemy. fallen from one ef her Representatives here,
[Mr. CLINGMAN here rose and wished to ex- on this occasion, and that spirit could have been
plain.] susceptible of an earthly feeling, that feeling
I wish no explanations from the Representative would have been one of the most unmitigated
from North Carolina. Explanations elsewhere. disgust.
Such an exulting cry over our failure to retain sh , , ,
this one barrier erected for the preservation of our entertallbe pardoned, then, by the committee, it,
property and institutions, is an insult to us in our entertan these views of the characterwhich
defeat, which merits the scorn and execration of he Representative from North Carolina has atevery
hionest heart in the South. tempted to give to a debate which otherwise had
every honest heart in the South. been
And even with the estimate of that Represen- been eminently dignified, and worthy of that
tative which I had, sir, I again confess to some Hall and the subject, I do not follow him into the
surprise, when I heard him give an account, sinks and purlieus ofparty; and shall therefore at
with much apparent glee, of what he termed once address myself to the great question before us.
the dishonesty of the Senate of North Carolina. Of the several propositions which have been
Upon the merits of that case, I can pass no ver- committed to the Committe of the Whole on the
dict. But if it were as represented, would not a state of the Union, I am most inclined to vote
truly lhoorable heart and high-toned intellect for that introduced by the gentleman from Kenhave
shrunk from an unnecessary exposure of tuckv, (Mr. TIBBArTT.) It more fully meets my
the disgrace of his native State, which he, in oonsttutional view of the subject than any other.
part, represented, before the assembled wisdom of It conforms to the very letter, and, what is better,
the nation 7X It has been said that the wild deer to the very spirit, too, of the Constitution of the
of theiWostern prairie will turn and gore a United States. It will be remembered that, under
wounded companion to death. But that is the in- the Artieles of Oonfederation, our governiental
stinct of a brute; for man shrinks from laying action was found, and almost universally acbare
the failings of his family to the gaze of a knowledged to be, too restricted. The powers
censorious world. Sush an unwelcome task, if conferred wre too few-too circumsoribed and
needs be it must be performed, should at least be limited-to give that efficiency, energy and scope,
left to other hands. And well might North Caro- to the action of the General Government, which
lina, thus wounded by one of her native sons, ex the interest of so large a Confederacy justly de
claim, .with the falling Cresar, "Et tu Brute!"^l manded. Gentlemen desirous of ascertaining the
shatl pam no sentence upon him; I shall not true extent of power conferred upon Congress by
ulndetake to pronounce what conduct like this de- the Constittlion, enabling it to admit "new
serve; but the Bible (if ever that Representatiwe States," should keep this in view in examining
reads such a book) might teaah hit Ae fate of one into tie history of the article conferring the
who fogot what was due to himself and to his power. What is its history? Its root and origin
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Yancey, William Lowndes. Speech of Hon. Wm. Lowndes Yancey, of Alabama, on the annexation of Texas to the United States, delivered in the House of Representatives, Jan. 7, 1845., book, 1845; Washington. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth2415/m1/4/?rotate=270: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .