MR. CLAY:—­Mr. President, I said nothing with respect to the character of Mr. Rhett, for I might as well name him.  I know him personally, and have some respect for him.  But, if he pronounced the sentiment attributed to him—­of raising the standard of disunion and of resistance to the common government, whatever he has been, if he follows up that declaration by corresponding overt acts, he will be a traitor, and I hope he will meet the fate of a traitor.

THE PRESIDENT:—­The Chair will be under the necessity of ordering the gallery to be cleared if there is again the slightest interruption.  He has once already given warning that he is under the necessity of keeping order.  The Senate chamber is not a theatre.

MR. CLAY:—­Mr. President, I have heard with pain and regret a confirmation of the remark I made, that the sentiment of disunion is becoming familiar.  I hope it is confined to South Carolina.  I do not regard as my duty what the honorable Senator seems to regard as his.  If Kentucky to-morrow unfurls the banner of resistance unjustly, I never will fight under that banner.  I owe a paramount allegiance to the whole Union—­a subordinate one to my own State.  When my State is right—­when it has a cause for resistance—­when tyranny, and wrong, and oppression insufferable arise, I will then share her fortunes; but if she summons me to the battle-field, or to support her in any cause which is unjust, against the Union, never, never will I engage with her in such cause.

WENDELL PHILLIPS,

OF MASSACIUSETTS. (BORN 1811, DIED 1884.)

ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ABOLITION MOVEMENT, BEFORE THE MASSACHUSETTS ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, AT BOSTON, JANUARY 27, 1853.

Mr. CHAIRMAN: 

I have to present, from the business committee, the following resolution: 

Resolved; That the object of this society is now, as it has always been, to convince our countrymen, by arguments addressed to their hearts and consciences, that slave-holding is a heinous crime, and that the duty, safety, and interest of all concerned demand its immediate abolition without expatriation.

I wish, Mr, Chairman, to notice some objections that have been made to our course ever since Mr. Garrison began his career, and which have been lately urged again, with considerable force and emphasis, in the columns of the London Leader, the able organ of a very respectable and influential class in England. * * * The charges to which I refer are these:  That, in dealing with slave-holders and their apologists, we indulge in fierce denunciations, instead of appealing to their reason and common sense by plain statements and fair argument; that we might have won the sympathies and support of the nation, if we would have submitted to argue this question with a manly patience; but, instead of this, we have outraged the feelings of the community by attacks, unjust and unnecessarily