their own land. Let them all come on; let them present themselves in whatever order, and to the extent of my ability I will discharge and cancel my obligations to the whole. If my friend from Georgia [Mr. DAWSON] supposes that this is a measure I am going to require him to support, as a relief of aliens, or of the alien and the foreigner, I will tell him, and I will tell the Senator from Illinois, [Mr. DOUGLAS,] that they much mistake the nature and character of my sentiments and principles with regard to aliens and foreigners. I am in favor of the equality of men-of ALL men, whether they be born in one land or born in another. I am in favor of receiving the whole. I acknowledge them all to constitute one great family, for whom it is the business of statesmen and the business of man to labor and to live. And, sir, when I do have occasion to ask the votes of those distinguished senators and friends in behalf of the alien and the foreigner, it will not be the exile, merely, who is commended to our sympathies for the sufferings he has sustained in the cause of liberty in Europe; but it will be for the melioration of the laws of naturalization, which put a period of five years and an oath in the way of any man of any country in becoming a citizen, which raise a barrier between ourselves and those who cast their lot amongst us. There is where they will find me; and they will find that to the extent that humanity bears the semblance which is impressed upon us by the hand of our Maker, it is my design and my purpose to labor to bring about that equality in the land in which I live, and as far as may be, in all other lands.

And, going upon this broad principle, I have no hesitation in saying that there is no distinction in my respect or affection between men of one land and of another; between men of one clime and another; between men of one race and another; or between men of one color and another; no distinction but what is based, not upon institutions of government, not upon the consent of society, but upon their individual and personal merit. If the Senator from Georgia [Mr. DAWSON] will test this, if he has this sympathy for free negroes which I am rejoiced to hear him proclaim, let him bring in his bill, and the first aye that shall respond to it will be mine-if none should so respond to it before my name should be alphabetically reached, shall be mine. More than that; if his sympathies embrace a class that deserve them still more the slave-let him bring in his bill for the slave, and

my voice for emancipating the slave in any district or territory shall go for it. Nay, more; let him show me a way in which I can give a vote, an effectual vote, for the emancipation of the slave, in his own state, or any state, and I shall feel honored to participate in the movement; and my vote shall be given to sustain it, with more gladness, more gratitude, and more joy, than it was ever given upon any occasion in my life.

Sir, neither here nor elsewhere will I admit, as a rule for the government of my own conduct, that there is a distinction between men. But, on the contrary, I will walk up to the mark, assigned in the Declaration of Independence, that "ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL." Sir, the first vote given by me to keep any man, or any class of men, in a condition below my own, is yet to be given. It never will be given in this place.

Mr. President, I have submitted the remarks I thought necessary to vindicate my proposition from the censure it received when it has so indirectly made its appearance before the Senate. When that proposition shall be brought before the Senate in its proper order and manner, after the Senate shall have considered the resolution of the honorable Senator from Michigan, [Mr. CASS,] I shall be pleased to state the reasons why I have submitted that proposition in detail, and the grounds upon which I have given it its present form.

ON THE CENSUS.

APRIL 10, 1850.

NOTE. MR. KING, of Alabama, moved to strike out of the interrogatories prescribed by the Bill, the following:

"If a female, the number of children she has had known to be alive,-known to be dead."

It appears to me that the information sought to be obtained by this clause is essential, and that it will be found to be so. It is interesting to us all, as a question of political science, to know the actual condition of every class of population in this country; and certainly it concerns the public, as well as the government, to know the actual relative condition of the different

classes of population. As I understand the proposition of the committee, they desire to procure information in regard to the comparative longevity of the white and black races in their various conditions. If this information be obtained, it will be useful with reference to that purpose. They desire to ascertain the number of children that each woman has borne, the number that are living, and the number that are dead, with reference to the question of comparative longevity. It is very desirable that we ascertain whatever affects the social and physical condition of the masses of society.

But there is another point. There is no woman, with great deference to the Senator from Alabama, who can have forgotten the number of children that she had borne. If it be true, as he says, that there are women who do not know whether their children be living or dead, and even how many they have borne, I should like to ascertain the number of such that there are of all races. And I desire this information because we have all cherished a hope that the condition of African servitude in this country was a stage of transition from a state of barbarism to a state of improvement hereafter. I wish to know how rapid that progress is. I believe it cannot be possible that there are any women, even in Africa, who have forgotten the number of children they have borne. If there be any in America who have forgotten that fact, so important and interesting to themselves, I wish to know it for the purpose of ascertaining the operation of our social system, and the success of that system as leading to the improvement of the African race. I wish to know also what is the extent of the education or of instruction that prevails, so as to ascertain whether they are advancing toward that better condition which constitutes the only excuse, as I understand, that we have for holding them in servitude.

SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.*

MAY 1, 1850.

I AM happy to perceive, Mr. President, indications all around the Chamber that there is no disagreement in regard to the importance, or in relation to the propriety, of a search on the part of this nation, by the government itself, or by individual citizens, for the lost and heroic navigator. Since so much is conceded, and since I come from the state whence this proposition emanates, I desire to notice, in a very few words, the objections raised against the mode of carrying the proposed design into effect. It is always the case, I think, when great objects and great enterprises, which are feasible, are hindered or defeated, that they are hindered or defeated, not so much by want of agreement concerning the measures themselves, as by diversity of opinion concerning the mode of carrying them into execution. Since this is so generally

the case, the rule which I always adopt, and which seems to be a safe one, is, that where I cannot have my own way of obtaining a great public object, I will accept the best other way which opens before me. Now, I cordially agree with those honorable senators who would have preferred that at some appropriate time, and in some proper and unobjectionable manner, the government should have moved for the attainment of this object as a government, and have made it exclusively the act of the nation. And I would have preferred this, not so much on account of the glory that it is supposed would have followed it, as because of the beneficence of the enterprise. Enterprises which spring from a desire of glory are very apt to end in disappointment. True national glory is always safely attained by prosecuting beneficient designs, what

* Remarks on Mr. Henry Grinnell's offer of two vessels for an exploration in search of Sir John Franklin.

ever may be their success. I say, sir, then, that I would have preferred the alternative suggested; but the fact is, without stopping to inquire where the fault lies, or whether there be fault at all, the government has not moved, and the reason which has been assigned is, I have no doubt, the true one. I do not know that it has ever been contradicted or called in question; that reason is, that the navy of the United States contains no vessels adapted to the enterprise, but consists of ships constructed and fitted for very different objects and purposes than an exploring expedition amid the ice-bound seas of the Arctic pole. Our naval marine consists of vessels adapted to the purposes of convoys, military armament, and the suppression of the slave trade on the coast of Africa. The executive portion of the government failed for want of vessels suitable to be employed in this particular service. It therefore devolved upon the Legislature of the United States. But, although we have been here now nearly five months, no committee of either House, no member of either House of Congress has proposed to equip a national fleet for this purpose. While this fact exists on one side, it is to be remarked on the other, that the time has arrived in which the movement must be made, if it is to be made at all, and also that a careful investigation, made by scientific and practical men, has revived the hope in Europe and in America that the humane object can be attained. There can, then, be no delay allowed for considering whether the manner of carrying the design into effect could not be changed. Let us, then, practically survey the case as it comes before us. The government of the United States has really no vessels adapted to the purpose. To say nothing of the expense, the government has not time to provide, prepare, or equip vessels for the expedition. Under such circumstances, a citizen of the United States tenders to the government vessels of his own, precisely adequate in number, and exactly fitted in construction and equipment for the performance of the duty to be assumed. Since he offers them to the government, what reason can we assign for refusing them? No reason can be assigned, except that he is too generous, and offers to give us the use of the vessels instead of demanding compensation for it. Well, sir, if we do not accept them, then this enterprise cannot be carried into effect; at least, not now, probably never. If we do accept them, it can be immediately carried into execution, with a cheering prospect of attaining the great object