hanced value of the farmer's products, and the profit of a market at home, established by the operation of the Tariff, they were far cheaper to the consumer than English goods had ever been. The manufactured article fell in the course of a few years to one-sixth of its former price; the value of labor increased fourfold; and the produce of the farmer and the staple of the planter increased, in worth, from 50 to 100 per cent. The home markets being protected from the floods of foreign goods, the currency of the country was kept at home, and business was thus saved from derangement and the industry of the people from prostration. The South, while she found a market for a large amount of her cotton at the North, received in return manufactured goods, much cheaper than she had ever procured them from abroad. Land slowly but steadily rose in value; domestic commerce increased largely in amount; provision was made for the speedy extinction of the national debt; and the prosperity of the people seemed placed upon a secure and permanent foundation. Such was the operation of the Tariff of 1824, as shown by the experience of the seven years following its establishment; and such will always be the effect produced by adequate Protection to American Industry, if at the same time the currency of the country rest on a safe and healthful basis.

The admission of Missouri as a State into the Union, was made, by its connection with the subject of Slavery, one of the most violently contested questions that ever agitated the councils of the nation. The name of Mr. CLAY will for ever remain associated with it, from his efforts to allay the tempest which it aroused, and his successful exertions to ward off from the Union the terrible danger which impended over it. A bill had been introduced into Congress, at the session of 1818-19,

providing for the admission of Missouri, on condition that all children of slaves, born after the passage of the act, should be free, after reaching the age of twenty-five years, and that the further introduction of slavery should be prohibited. Af ter a long and ardent debate, the bill, with the condition, was passed; but, in the Senate, the condition was stricken out. The House refused to recede, and thus the bill was defeated. The excitement in Congress now infected the people, and during the recess the only topic that engaged general attention throughout the Union, was the admission of Missouri. It was discussed, and resolved upon, by State Legislatures; travelling orators spread the flame and fed the fire already burning with portentous fury; and the public press teemed with violence and inflammation. The whole North arrayed itself against the admission, and claimed for Congress the right to forbid the introduction of slavery into any new State. The South denied this right, and planted themselves upon the Constitution of the Union. Under these circumstances, and in this state of public feeling, Congress convened in 1819-20, and the discussion was renewed. Mr. CLAY, with all his power, urged the admission, on the ground that to Missouri alone belonged the subject of her domestic slavery; declaring at the same time, that, so great was his detestation of the system, were he a citizen of that State, he would never consent to a State Constitution which should not provide for its extinction. Above all things, he urged conciliation and compromise for the safety of the Union was threatened, and the stability of this he deemed of paramount importance. A compromise, through his exertions, was finally effected: Committees of Conference were appointed, and an act was passed, authorizing Missouri to form a Constitution and State Government, and requiring that they should be Republican,

and "not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States." A final vote, after these preliminary steps should have been taken by the State, would still be necessary for her full admission. In June, 1820, the people of the State proceeded to form a Constitution, and inserted a section, providing for the "exclusion of free negroes from the State." The State government thus went into operation, in secure confidence of her speedy admission into the Union. But the public press found yet ground for a renewal of the contest: the original opponents of the admission of Missouri, protested against the provision for the exclusion of free negrocs from the State as a violation of that part of the constitution which gave to every citizen of any State the right to remove to, or travel in, every other State: and obedience to this constitution the act of Congress providing for the admission of Missouri had made imperative. On the other hand, it was maintained, that the African race, bond or free, were not parties to our political institutions, and that free negroes were not, therefore, citizens, within the meaning of the Constitution: and furthermore, that, if they were, the provision in the State Constitution could be of no force-since it would be repugnant to, and overruled by, that of the nation. The perilous excitement with which the discussion of this question was again debated at the next session of Congress, had never been .equaled by that of any other topic. Mr. CLAY, intending to leave Congress, by reason of embarrassinent in his private affairs, at the opening of the session resigned lus office as Speaker, and did not resume his seat in the House until the middle of January, 1821, when the discussion was at its height. Being fully aware of the nature of the issue to which the existing state of affairs was tending, and deeming no exertions too great to effect the peaceable settlement of the question, by

which alone the continuance of the Union could be secured, he moved the reference of the whole subject to a Select Committee of thirteen. The proposition passed, and on the 10th of February, as Chairman of that Committee, he made an able Report, concluding with an amendment to the resolu tion before the House, providing for the immediate admission of Missouri, on condition that she should never pass any laws preventing any description of persons, who were citizens of any other State, from coming into her territory; and requir ing the assent of the Legislature to this condition. Though this resolution placed the whole matter upon ground to which neither party could object, it still left the main question, whether free negroes were, or were not, citizens, to the decision of the proper tribunals. Mr. CLAY urged its adoption, on the 12th, when it came before the Committee of the Whole, by strong arguments and by most earnest appeals to the patriotism of Congress. In committee, it was rejected, by a vote of 73 to 64; but, in the House, their decision was overruled, and the resolution passed to its third reading, when a a most violent and bitter debate ensued, and it was lost by a vote of 83 to 80; brought about by the defection of Mr. RANDOLPH, who voted against it himself and procured a change of one or two other votes, expressly and avowedly on the ground, that its passage would, by increasing his popularity, secure the election of Mr. CLAY to the Presidency of the United States. The next day, however, a re-consideration was carried; the question again came up, and, in all its fierce personality and party bitterness, the debate was renewed. Mr. CLAY maintained his ground with dignity and with great zeal. All his powers of argument and eloquent entreaty were exhausted in the high attempt to secure, by the settlement of the question, the peace of the country;. but all was to no

purpose: the resolution again was lost. The situation into which this final rejection of all attempts at pacification threw the country, seemed at once to alarm even the most headstrong and intemperate. It was known that propositions for steps, which must end in the dissolution of the Union, had been secretly and deliberately made, and this action of the House seemed to afford them a fair hope of success. A deep consciousness of the peril which thus overhung the country disposed Congress to avail itself of the aid of Mr. CLAY, who was the only member of that body at once cool and power.. ful enough to devise any adequate expedient to rescue the nation from her dangerous position. After allowing this feeling of apprehension and alarm to acquire sufficient strength and permanence, Mr. CLAY introduced a resolution simply providing for the appointment of a joint committee, to consult with a like committee from the Senate, upon the expediency of the admission of Missouri into the Union. In the House the motion was instantly and eagerly passed, by a vote of 103 to 55, and in the Senate it prevailed by a large majority. The joint committee met, and with great unanimity followed the lead of Mr. CLAY, who, the next day, reported a resolution precisely like the one before rejected. By a vote of 87 to 81 it was at once adopted by the House, and the Senate soon concurred. Thus was settled, solely by the exertions of Mr. CLAY, one of the most portentous disputes ever known in our history. The question in itself was calculated, more than any other, to arouse all the bitterness and animosity of the members of Congress, from different sections of the Union, and the manner in which it was discussed by the factious and unprincipled, left little room to hope for an amicable adjustment. At no time, however, did Mr. CLAY despair of the Republic, or relax his efforts to avert from it the