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petition for the dissolution of the Union, the member from Massa- chusetts (Mr. Adams) has justly incurred the censure of this House. The following resolution was also introduced by Mr. Marshall, of Kentucky:
Resolved, therefore, That Hon. John Q. Adams, a member from Massachusetts, in presenting for the consideration of the House of Representatives of the United States a petition praying the dissolu- tion of the Union, has offered the deepest indignity to the House, of which he is a member; an insult to the people of the United States, of which that House is the legislative organ; and will, if this out- rage is permitted to pass unrebuked and unpunished, have disgraced his country, through their representatives, in the eyes of the whole world.
Two weeks were exclusively devoted to Mr. Adam's trial, at the end of which the entire proceedings were laid on the table. I find the following note on page 236 of the Globe :
The trial of Mr. Adams, to the exclusion of all other business, commenced on the 25th of January, and terminated on the yth of February, when the whole proceedings were laid on the table, with- out deciding a single point. The expenses of the House during that time, thus wasted, exceeded $26,000.
The failure on the part of the House to even censure Mr. Adams was construed by many as an admission that Mr. Adams's construc- tion was correct.
This sentiment in favor of secession continually gained strength, and five years later the Legislature of Massachusetts passed another secession resolution. I read from "Acts and resolutions passed by the Legislature of Massachusetts in the year 1844," page 319:
1. Resolved, That the power to unite an independent foreign State with the United States is not among the powers delegated to the General Government by the Constitution of the United States.
2. Resolved, * * * That the project of the annexation of Texas, unless arrested on the threshold, may drive these States into a dissolution of the Union.
3. Resolved, That his Exellency, the Governor, be requested to transmit a copy of the foregoing resolves to each of the Senators and Members of the House of Representatives of this Commonwealth in the Congress of the United States.
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