MR. PRESIDENT,--It seems to me that this discussion to-day tends irresistibly to one conclusion,--that the Senate is not now prepared to act. I do not say that it will not be prepared in one, two, or three days, or in a week; but it is not now prepared to act. Not a Senator has spoken, either on one side or the other, who has not made points of law, some of them presented for the first time in this Chamber. Hardly a Senator has spoken who has not presented questions of fact. How are we to determine these? Time is essential. We must be able to look into the papers, to examine the evidence, and, if my friend will pardon me, to examine also the law, to see whether the conclusion on which he stands so firmly is one on which the Senate can plant itself forevermore. The Senator must bear in mind that what we do now with reference to Virginia we do permanently and irrepealably, and that we affect the interests of that great State, and I submit also the safety of a large portion of its population. Sir, I am not willing to go forward in haste and in ignorance to deal with so great a question. Let us consider it, let us approach it carefully, and give to it something of that attention which the grandeur of the interest involved requires. I think, therefore, the suggestion of my colleague, that this matter be postponed for several days, is proper; it is only according to the ordinary course of business of the Senate, and it is sustained by manifest reason in this particular case. I should prefer that the postponement were till next Monday, and I will be precise in assigning my reason. It is nothing personal to myself. My friend from New York said, or intimated, that, if the Senator from Massachusetts wished to be accommodated, he would be ready, of course, to consent to gratify him. Now I would not have it placed on that ground; I present it as a question of business; and I, as a Senator interested in the decision of this business, wish to have time to peruse these papers and to obtain that knowledge which will enable me to decide ultimately on the case. I have not now the knowledge that I desire with reference to the actual condition of things in Virginia. I am assured by those in whom I place confidence that in the course of a few days that evidence will be forthcoming. Will not the Senate receive it? Will it press hastily, heedlessly, recklessly, to a conclusion, which, when reached, it may hereafter find occasion to regret? Let us, Sir, so act that we shall have hereafter no regrets; let us so act that the people of Virginia hereafter may be safe, and that they may express their gratitude to the Congress of the United States which has helped to protect them.