soul. A new standard of excellence shall prevail; and honor, divorced from all deeds of blood, shall become the inseparable attendant of good works alone. Far better, then, shall it be, even in the judgment of this world, to have been a door-keeper in the house of Peace, than the proudest dweller in the tents of War.

There is a legend of the early Church, that the Saviour left his image miraculously impressed upon a napkin which he had placed upon his countenance. The napkin was lost, and men attempted to portray that countenance from the Heathen models of Jupiter and Apollo. But the image of Christ is not lost to the world. Clearer than in the precious napkin, clearer than in the colors or the marble of modern art, it appears in every virtuous deed, in every act of selfsacrifice, in all magnanimous toil, in every recognition of the Brotherhood of Mankind. It shall yet be supremely manifest, in unimagined loveliness and serenity, when the Commonwealth of Nations, confessing the True Grandeur of Peace, shall renounce the wickedness of the War System, and dedicate to labors of Beneficence all the comprehensive energies now so fatally absorbed in its support. Then, at last, shall it be seen, that there can be no Peace that is not honorable, and there can be no War that is not dishonorable.

SPEECH AGAINST THE ADMISSION OF TEXAS

AS A SLAVE STATE, MADE AT A PUBLIC MEETING IN FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON, NOV. 4, 1845.

MR. CHAIRMAN,

I could not listen to the appropriate remarks of my friend, the Secretary of the Commonwealth, (Hon. John G. Palfrey,) who has preceded me, without being reminded of an important act in his life, and without feeling anew what all must feel, the beauty of the example he has afforded in the fraternal treatment of the slaves descended to him by inheritance; manumitting them as he has, and conducting them far away from slavery into these more cheerful precincts of freedom. In thus publicly offering him my humble tribute, I feel that I must awaken a response not only in every bosom in this assembly, but in every heart that has not ceased to throb at the recital of an act of self-sacrifice and humanity. By this act he has done, as a citizen, what Massachusetts is now called upon to do, as a State,

to divest herself of all responsibility for any accession of slave property.

There are occasions in the progress of affairs, when the attention of all, though ordinarily opposed to each other, is arrested; and even the lukewarm, the listless,

the indifferent, unite heartily in a common object. Such is the case in great calamities, when the efforts of all are needed to avert a fatal blow. If the fire-bell startles us from our slumbers, we do not ask of what faith in politics or religion is the unfortunate brother whose house is exposed to destruction. It is enough that there is misfortune to be averted. In this spirit we have assembled, on this inclement evening, putting aside all distinctions of party, forgetting all disagreements of opinion, only to remember one point on which all are agreed; renouncing all discords only to cling to one ground on which we all meet in concord; I mean the opposition to the admission of Texas as a slave

state.

The scheme for the annexation of Texas, begun in stealth and fraud, and with the view to extend and strengthen slavery, has not yet received the final sanction of Congress. Even according to the course pursued by the framers of this measure, it is necessary that Texas should be formally admitted into the family of States by a vote of Congress, and that her Constitution should be approved by Congress. The question on this measure will arise this winter, and we would, if we could, strengthen the hands and the hearts of the friends of freedom by whom the measure will be opposed.

Ours is no factious or irregular course. It has the sanction of the highest examples on a kindred occasion. In 1819, the question now before us arose on the admission of Missouri as a slave state. I need not remind you of the ardor and constancy with which this was opposed at the North, by men of all parties, with scarcely a dissenting voice. One universal chorus of

protests thundered from the Free States against the formation of what was called another black State. Meetings were convened in all the considerable towns in Philadelphia, Trenton, New York, New Haven, and everywhere throughout Massachusetts, in order to give expression to this opposition in a manner to be audible on the floor of Congress. At Boston, on December 3d, 1819, a meeting was held in the state-house, without distinction of party, and embracing the leaders of both sides. That meeting, in its objects, was precisely like this now assembled. A large committee was appointed to prepare resolutions. Of this committee, William Eustis, afterwards Governor of Massachusetts, was chairman. With him were associated John Phillips, at that time President of the Senate of Massachua name dear to every friend of the slave as the father of him to whose eloquent voice we hope to listen to-night-Timothy Bigelow, Speaker of the House of Representatives, William Gray, Henry Dearborn, Josiah Quincy, Daniel Webster, William Ward, of Medford, William Prescott, Thomas H. Perkins, Stephen White, Benjamin Pickman, William Sullivan, George Blake, David Cummings, James Savage, John Gallison, James T. Austin, and Henry Orne. A committee, more calculated to inspire the confidence of all sides, could not have been appointed. Numerous as were its

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members, they were all men of mark, high in the confidence and affections of the country. This committee reported the following resolutions, which were adopted by the meeting:

Resolved, As the opinion of this meeting, that the Congress of the United States possess the constitutional power upon the