He was too ill to read it, but sat, gaunt and haggard, with
burning eyes, while his friend spoke for him. It closed with the
declaration that the admission of California as a slave or a free state
was the test which would prove whether the Union should continue to
exist or be broken up by secession. If she came in free, then the South
could do no less than secede.
Three days later, March 7th, Webster delivered one of the great speeches
of his life. In it he said, "The law of nature, physical geography, and
the formation of the earth settles forever that slavery cannot exist in
California."
Seward followed with a speech mighty in its eloquence. He said:
"California, rich and populous, is here asking admission to the Union
and finds us debating the dissolution of the Union itself. It seems to
me that the perpetual unity of the empire hangs on this day and hour.
Try not the temper and fidelity of California, nor will she abide delay.
I shall vote for the admission of California directly, without
conditions, without qualifications, and without compromise."
On September 9, 1850, California was at last admitted.
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