and zeal, as they would enforce a law of their own, were, after all, right. The anti-slavery men in the Senate said nothing to encourage Clay's hopes, as, indeed, they could not in justice to their own feelings and those of the people they represented. But when Clay, in the course of the debate, classed them with the abolitionists aiming at disunion, Chase rebuked him with great force and dignity, declaring that, while they would restrict slavery within the limits of the Slave States, and “not allow it within the exclusive jurisdiction of the national government,” their fidelity to the Union was immovable. But, on the whole, the sanguine view prevailed. The judiciary committee of the Senate, to which the President's message was referred, reported that no change of the law concerning the President's power to call out the militia was required.
It was the last session of Congress in which Clay was active, and he found opportunity to speak some parting words about the “old Whig policies,” which once had been among the great inspirations of his public endeavors. When presenting some petitions he commended to the Senate the consideration of the tariff question in these faltering accents: “I will take occasion to say that I hope that now, when there is apparent calmness upon the surface of public affairs, — which I hope is real, and that it will remain without disturbing the deliberations of Congress during the present session, — for one, I should be extremely delighted
