That, sir, is the speech of the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Atchison), whose authority, I think, must go for something upon this question.  What does he say?  “When I came to look into that question”—­of the possible repeal of the Missouri prohibition—­that was the question he was looking into—­“I found that there was no prospect, no hope, of a repeal of the Missouri compromise excluding slavery from that Territory.”  And yet, sir, at that very moment, according to this new doctrine of the Senator from Illinois, it had been repealed three years!

Well, the Senator from Missouri said further, that if he thought it possible to oppose this restriction successfully, he never would consent to the organization of the territory until it was rescinded.  But, said he, “I acknowledge that I have no hope that the restriction will ever be repealed.”  Then he made some complaint, as other Southern gentlemen have frequently done, of the ordinance of 1787, and the Missouri prohibition; but went on to say:  “They are both irremediable; there is no remedy for them; we must submit to them; I am prepared to do it; it is evident that the Missouri compromise cannot be repealed.”

Now, sir, when was this said?  It was on the morning of the 4th of March, just before the close of the last session, when that Nebraska bill, reported by the Senator from Illinois, which proposed no repeal, and suggested no supersedure, was under discussion.  I think, sir, that all this shows pretty clearly that up to the very close of the last session of Congress nobody had ever thought of a repeal by supersedure.  Then what took place at the commencement of the present session?  The Senator from Iowa, early in December, introduced a bill for the organization of the Territory of Nebraska.  I believe it was the same bill which was under discussion here at the last session, line for line, word for word.  If I am wrong, the Senator will correct me.

Did the Senator from Iowa, then, entertain the idea that the Missouri prohibition had been superseded?  No, sir, neither he nor any other man here, so far as could be judged from any discussion, or statement, or remark, had received this notion.

Well, on the 4th day of January, the Committee on Territories, through their chairman, the Senator from Illinois, made a report on the territorial organization of Nebraska; and that report was accompanied by a bill.  Now, sir, on that 4th day of January, just thirty days ago, did the Committee on Territories entertain the opinion that the compromise acts of 1850 superseded the Missouri prohibition?  If they did, they were very careful to keep it to themselves.  We will judge the committee by their own report.  What do they say in that?  In the first place they describe the character of the controversy, in respect to the Territories acquired from Mexico.  They say that some believed that a Mexican law prohibiting slavery was in force there, while others claimed that