10 in that body, where he will sit as a representative of the whole North, a man who united in causing that book to be distributed through the South, carrying poison and death in its polluted leaves. (“Hang him,” and applause.) Is it not fair to say that this great and glorious Union is menaced when such a state of things is found to exist ? when such an act is attempted ? Is it reasonable to expect that our brethren of the South will calmly sit down (“ No ”) and submit quietly to such an outrage ? (Cries of “No, no.”) Why, gentlemen, we greatly exceed them in numbers. The non-slaveholding States are by far the more populous; they are increasing daily in numbers and in population and we may soon overwhelm the Southern vote. If we continue to fill the halls of legislation with abolitionists, and permit to occupy the executive chair men who declare themselves to be enlisted in a crusade against slavery, and against the provisions of the Constitution which secure that species of property, what can we reasonably expect from the people of the South but that they will pronounce the Constitution -—with all its glorious associations, with all its sacred memories—this Union, with its manifold present and promised blessings—an unendurable evil, threatening to crush and to destroy their most vital interests—to make their country a wilderness. Why should we expect them to submit to such a line of -conduct on our part, and recognize us as brethren, or unite with us in perpetuating the Union ? For my part I do not see anything unjust or unreasonable in the declaration often made by Southern members on this subject. They tell us: “If you will thus assail us with incendiary pamphlets, if you will thus create a spirit in your country which leads to violence and bloodshed among us, if you will assail the institution upon which the prosperity of our country depends, and will elevate to office over us men who are pledged to aid in such transactions, and to oppress us by hostile legislation, we cannot—much as we revere the Constitution, greatly as we estimate the blessings which would flow from its faithful enforcement—we cannot longer depend on your compliance with its injunctions, or adhere to the Union.” For my part, gentlemen, if the North continues to conduct itself in the selection of representatives to the Congress of the United States as, from, perhaps, a certain degree of negligence and inattention, it has heretofore conducted itself; the South is not to be censured if it withdraws from the Union. (Hisses and applause. A voice—“ that’s so.” Three cheers for the Fugitive Slave Law) We are not, gentlemen, to hold a meeting to say that “We love this Union; we delight in it; we are proud of it; it blesses us, and we en- joy it; but we shall fill all its offices with men of our own choosing, and, our brethren of the South, you shall enjoy its glorious past; you shall enjoy its mighty recollections; but it shall trample your institutions in the dust.” We have no right to say it. We have no right to exact so much ; and an opposite and entirely different course, fellow-citizens, must be ours—must be the course of the great North, if we would preserve this Union. (Applause, and cries of “ Good.”) And, gentlemen, what is this glorious Union ? What must we sacrifice if we exasperate our brethren of the South, and compel them, by injustice and breach of compact, to separate from us and to dissolve it? Why, gentlemen, the greatness and glory of the American name will then be a thing of yesterday. The glorious Revolution of the thirteen States will be a Revolution not achieved by us, but by a nation that has ceased to exist. The name of Washington will be, to us at least at the North (cheers), but as name of Julius Cassar, or of some other great hero who has lived in times gone by, whose nation has perished and exists no more. The Declaration of Independence, what will that be ? Why, the declaration of a State that no longer has place among the nations. All these bright and glorious recollections of the past must cease to be our property, and become mere memorials of a by-gone race arid people. A line must divide the North from the South. What will be the consequences? Will this mighty city—growing as it now is, with weath pouring into it from every portion of this mighty empire—will it continue to flourish as it has done? (Cries of “No, no!”) Will your marble palaces that line Broadway, and raise their proud tops toward the sky, continue to increase,, until, as is now promised under the Union, it shall present the most glorious picture of wealth, prosperity, and happiness, that the world has ever seen ? (Applause.) No! gentlemen, no! such things cannot be. I do not say that we will starve, that we will perish, as a people, if we separate from the South. I admit, that if the line be drawn between us, they will have their measure of prosperity, and we will have ours; but meagre, small in the extreme, compared with what is existing, and promised under our Union, will be the prosperity of each. Truly has it been said here to-night, that we were made for each other; separate us, and although you may not destroy us, you reduce each to so low a scale that well might humanity deplore the evil courses that brought about the result. True, gentlemen, we would have left, to boast of, our share of the glories of the Revolution. The Northern States sent forth to the conflict their bands of heroes, and shed their blood as freely as those of the South. But the dividing line would take away from us the grave of Washington. It is in his own beloved Virginia. (Applause
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