2. In his first message the President advised the people of California to prepare for admission into the Union. The advice was promptly accepted. A convention was held at Monterey in September of 1849. A constitution _prohibiting slavery_ was framed, submitted to the people, and adopted. [Illustration: Zachary Taylor.] 3. When the question of admitting California came before Congress the members were sectionally divided. The admission of the new State was favored by the representatives of the North, and opposed by those of the South. The latter claimed that, with the extension of the Missouri Compromise to the Pacific, the right to introduce slavery into California was guaranteed by the general government, and that therefore the proposed constitution of the State ought to be rejected. The reply of the North was that the Missouri Compromise had respect only to the Louisiana purchase, and that the Californians had framed their constitution in their own way. 4. Other questions added fuel to the controversy. Texas claimed New Mexico as a part of her territory, and the claim was resisted by the people of Santa Fé. The people of the South complained that fugitive slaves were aided and encouraged in the North. The opponents of slavery demanded the abolition of the slave-trade in the District of Columbia. [Sidenote: The Omnibus Bill.] [Illustration: Millard Fillmore.] 5. Henry Clay appeared as a peacemaker. On the 9th of May, 1850, he brought forward, as a compromise, the OMNIBUS BILL, of which the provisions were as follows: _first_, the admission of California as a free State; _second_, the formation of new States, not exceeding four in number, out of Texas, said States to permit or exclude slavery as the people should determine; _third_, the organization of territorial governments for New Mexico and Utah, without conditions as to slavery; _fourth_, the establishment of the present boundary between Texas and New Mexico; _fifth_, the enactment of a stringent law for the recovery of fugitive slaves; _sixth_, the abolition of the slave-trade in the District of Columbia. 6. When the Omnibus Bill was laid before Congress, the debates broke out anew. While the discussion was at its height, President Taylor fell sick, and died on the 9th of July, 1850. Mr. Fillmore at once took the oath of office and entered upon the duties of the Presidency. A new cabinet was formed, with Daniel Webster at the head as Secretary of State. 7. On the 18th of September the compromise proposed by Mr. Clay was adopted, and received the sanction of the President. The excitement in the country rapidly abated, and the controversy seemed at an end. Shortly afterwards Mr. Clay bade adieu to the Senate, and sought at Ashland a brief rest from the cares of public life. [Sidenote: "Filibustering" in Cuba.]