“I am aware how difficult is the task to preserve free institutions over so wide a space and so immense a population, but we are blessed with a Constitution admirably calculated to accomplish it. It...”

“What we want, above all things on earth in our public men, is independence. It is one great defect in the character of the public men of America that there is that real want of independence; and, i...”

“I hold that there is a mysterious connection between the fate of this country and that of Mexico so much so that her independence and capability of sustaining herself are almost as essential to our...”

“Protection and patriotism are reciprocal. This is the way which has led nations to greatness.”

“I am a planter - a cotton planter. I am a Southern man and a slaveholder - a kind and a merciful one, I trust - and none the worse for being a slaveholder.”

“I know that there is a great diversity of opinion as to who, in fact, pays the duties on imports. I do not intend to discuss that point. We of the staple and exporting States have long settled the ...”