against the Fugitive Law, or against the Nebraska Bill, did the most uncompromising fidelity to "the paramount issue," ever satisfy them, while their own ambition was ungratified? But now that they are fairly, or unfairly, seated in the Senate or the House, they are quite willing to fortify themselves in their position by drawing around them the very gentlemen whom they have ousted, and some of these gentlemen are polite enough to fall in at the word of command.

And this brings me to my principal objection to the new party, and that is, its eminent adaptation to defeat the very ends at which it professedly aims. I am one of those who believe that the ultraism and recklessness of some of these old Free-soil leaders, who are now calling on the whole people to sustain them in the offices which they have gained by every degree of indirection and indecency, have been the occasion of not a few of those very aggressions which they are so vociferous in condemning, and are destined to be the occasion of still new ones, if they are to be encouraged and strengthened in their fanatical career. No class of men in the country, either Northern or Southern, have, in my judgment, been more responsible for many of the measures which they have been loudest in denouncing, than your regular Northern agitators, who have at last alarmed the South into an idea of the absolute necessity of strengthening herself for the protection of her domestic institutions. Sometimes, we know, the South has received the most direct and positive aid from this source. Nobody doubts that Texas was brought into the Union through the instrumentality of New York Free-soilers, at least one of whom may be found at this moment among the leading Republican candidates in that State.

But even the Nebraska Bill owed not a little of its success, in my opinion, to the fatuity of some of these ultra men. The violence to which they resorted, here and elsewhere, but particularly here, in resisting the Fugitive-slave Law, produced the impression that the North intended to keep no faith on any point. And when at length this Nebraska Bill was introduced, a handful of them precipitated themselves into the front ranks of the opposition, in a way to drive off the only persons who could have prevented its consummation. Half-a-dozen of them, under the style of Inde

pendent Democrats, got up a flaming manifesto in such hot haste that it was said to have been dated on Sunday, and put it forth, cock-a-hoop, half-signed, to the utter discomfiture of all who hoped to prevent the bill from passing. They usurped a lead which belonged to others, and gave an odor of abolition to the whole movement. From the moment I read that ill-advised paper, I despaired of seeing that Southern opposition to the measure, which, under other circumstances, I fully and firmly believe we should have obtained. My worthy friend, Mr. Eliot, of New Bedford, called this protest, in a late speech," the first unmasking of the plot." No it was the first unmasking of our own batteries, and that before they were manned or ready for action; and upon. those who adopted this rash policy, not a little of the responsibility for the result must justly fall. We read, in ancient history, of a young Spartan officer who was punished for rushing prematurely and unarmed upon the enemy, even although he gained a victory. What shall be said of those who perilled and lost this momentous stake by their unwise and reckless precipitancy?

It is not enough considered that the real retarders of any movement are often found among those who are claiming to be its leaders. Has it not been so in the case of Temperance? Has not excessive zeal and blind one-idea-ism led at last to the enactment of laws which have created a general re-action, and put back the cause of temperance, we know not how far? Just so has it been, and will it be again, with these ultraists in the cause of freedom. For one, I never witness one of their violent spasmodic agitations about slavery at the North, without looking to see it followed forthwith by some fresh triumph at the South. Our Northern fusion phalanxes, indeed, in the present instance, seem to be taking up the line of march after the mischief is accomplished, as I once saw some of our militia companies (before the days of such prompt disciplinarians as General Edmands and Colonel Chickering), turning out after a riot had been successfully carried through, and parading near the scene as if in celebration of the success of the mob. We had a grand rising about Texas, I remember, after it was irreparably annexed, and now we are to have a grand rally about the repeal of the Missouri restriction, after it is hopelessly accomplished. And while we are thus

engaged, the South will be looking about them for some fresh chances of fortifying their institutions. Our ultraists will have succeeded in nothing but in alarming them afresh into a feeling. that some new defences must be secured. They will have alienated and disgusted all the moderate and reasonable men among them and among ourselves; and, with the aid of the Democracy, some fresh annexation of new territory, or some other repeal, if any thing remains to be repealed, of the restrictions upon old territory, will be successfully attempted. Geographical parties will have been arrayed against each other, and thus, the action and reaction of ultraism at both ends of the Union will go on to the end of the chapter, involving us in a never-ceasing series of mischievous and deplorable measures.

And to this end we are called on to forget the past, to disregard all experience, and to rush into the formation of what has been elegantly denominated a grand "Back-bone Party." No: the vertebral column must support a sounder brain, before I can desire to see it assuming any thing of additional strength or solidity. Better let it remain as fragmentary and fleshless as that of some fossil reptile of the coal measures, if it is only to be employed as an instrument for disjointing the carefully compacted framework of our national body politic, or if it is for ever to serve as a bone of contention among those who ought to be able to live together in unity and concord.

One thing I have resolved on in my own political career, and that is, never to give countenance or support to any policy or any party which tends in my conscientious conviction towards disorganization or disunion. Three or four years of retirement from public office have served to wean me from all inordinate affection for official station, if I ever had any, and I bring to the consideration of the present state of parties the most absolute indifference to any mere personal results. But I am not indifferent, I never can be indifferent, to the honor and welfare of my native State, or of the great and glorious country of which it forms a part.

Others may find their "paramount issues" in whatever secondary or subordinate questions they may see fit to select. I hold nothing, nothing within the range of political action, to be paramount to the honor of Massachusetts, and the integrity of the

American Union, under the Constitutions which severally secure liberty for them both.

Let me only, in conclusion, apologize for the length of this letter by saying, that I do not propose to address my fellow-citizens in any other form, and that this must serve instead of any speech or speeches which I may have been expected to make.

I am, respectfully and truly,

Your obedient servant,

ROBERT C. WINTHROP.

FARNHAM PLUMMER, ESQ., Chairman of the Whig Executive Committee.

AGRICULTURE OF THE UNITED STATES.

A SPEECH MADE AT THE BANQUET OF THE UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, BOSTON, 26 OCTOBER, 1855.

I KNOW of few things, Mr. President, better calculated to take the courage out of a man, than to find himself rising on such an occasion and in such a presence as this, with the full knowledge that he has been advertised, in a hundred bills and broadsides, for a fortnight beforehand, as being relied on to furnish one of the formal addresses for this crowning banquet.

For one, I cannot help feeling that the brute beasts, who are on exhibition with us, have had something of an unfair advantage over their human yoke-fellows in this respect. They have been permitted to come comparatively unconscious into the field. They have been privileged to exhibit their points and show their paces without any solicitude as to the expectation which they may disappoint or gratify. The most ruminating animals among them all have never spent a moment, I venture to say, in considering what sort of a figure they should cut, or what sort of an utterance they should find. They have chewed their cud in undisturbed complacency, even while these uncounted thousands of spectators have been crowding in to gaze upon their qualities. They have, certainly, stood in awe of no reporters. They have pondered no periods, unless, indeed, it be that welcome period which shall put an end to their strange confinement, and send them quietly back to their pleasant pastures or their comfortable stalls. Enviable condition of insensibility and immunity! Theirs is a sort of Know-nothing party, which I could be well content to join, even though it should consign me to "a lodge in some vast wilderness!" "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise."