DOUGLAS

the  recovery  of  fugitives  from  labor  included),  are
received  and  acquiesced  in  by  the  Whigs  of  the
United  States  as  a  final  settlement,  in  principle
and  substance,  of  the  subjects  to  which  they  relate;
and  so  far  as  these  acts  are  concerned,  we  will  main-
tain them,  and  insist  on  their  strict  enforcement,
until  time  and  experience  shall  demonstrate  the
necessity  of  further  legislation  to  guard  against  the
evasion  of  the  laws  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  abuse
of  their  powers  on  the  other,  not  impairing  their
present  efficiency  to  carry  out  the  requirements  of
the  Constitution;  and  we  deprecate  all  further
agitation  of  the  questions  thus  settled,  as  dangerous
to  our  peace,  and  will  discountenance  all  efforts
to  renew  or  continue  such  agitation,  whenever,
wherever,  or  however  made;  and  we  will  maintain
this  settlement  as  essential  to  the  nationality  of
the  Whig  party  and  the  integrity  of  the  Union."
As  "the  nationality  of  the  Whig  party"  could  be
maintained  only  by  holding  its  Southern  members,
the  leaders  found  it  necessary  to  commit  their  party
to  a  position  practically  identical  with  that  taken
by  the  Democrats. So  the  national  character  of
the  party  was  preserved  for  what  it  was  worth  at
the  cost  of  its  moral  character. The  Whigs  could
hardly  have  had  any  hope  of  success. "The  North,
the  free  States,"  Seward  wrote,  "are  divided  as
usual,  the  South  united. Intimidation,  usual  in
that  quarter,  has  been  met,  as  usual,  by  concession,


PRESIDENT-MAKING  165

and  so  the  platform  adopted  is  one  that  deprives
Scott  of  the  vantage  position  he  enjoyed. I  antic-
ipate defeat  and  desertion. When  will  there  be
a  North?"  Later  in  the  summer  he  said:  "I  still
remain  strongly  inclined  to  give  up  this  place  and
public  life. If  the  State  Whig  convention  adopt
the  platform,  I  think  I  shall  be  justified  in  resigning
at  once."  Yet  Scott  suffered  because  it  was  sup-
posed that  he  would  be  dominated  by  Seward. So
strong  was  this  feeling  that  Mr. 