11 and cheers.) It is in the State and near the spot where this treason that has been growing up in the North, so lately culminated in violence and bloodshed. We would lose the grave—we would lose all connection with the name of Washington. But our philanthropic and pious friends who fain would lead us to this result, would, of course, comfort us with the consoling reflection that we had the glorious memory of John Brown in its place. (Great laughter and cheers.) Are you, gentlemen, prepared to make the exchange ? (Cries of “No, no.”) Shall the tomb of Washington, that rises upon the bank of the Potomac, receiving its tribute from every nation of the earth—shall that become the property of a foreign Ssate—a State hostile to us in its feelings, and we to it in ours ? Shall we erect a monument among the arid hills at North Elba, and deem the privilege of making pilgrimages thither a recompense for the loss of every glorious recollection of the past, and for our severance from the name of Washington ? He who is recognized as the Father T>f his Country? (Cries of “No, no,” and cheers.) No, gentlemen, we are not prepared, i trust, for this sad exchange, this fatal severance. We are not prepared, I trust, either to part with our glorious past or to give up the advantages of our present happy condition. We are not prepared to relinquish our affection for the South, nor to involve our section in the losses, the deprivation of blessings and advantages necessarily resulting to each from disunion. Gentlemen, we never would have attained the wealth and prosperity as a nation which is now ours, but for our connection with these very much reviled and injured slaveholders of the Southern States. And, gentlemen, if dissolution is to take place, we must part with the trade of the South, and thereby surrender our participation in the wealth of the South. Nay, more—we are told from good authority that we must not only part with the slaveholding States, but that our younger sister with the golden crown—rich, teeming California, she who added the final requisite to our greatness as a nation—will not come with us. She will remain with the South. Gentlemen, if we allow this course of injustice toward the South to continue, these are to be the consequences—evil to us, evil also to them. Much of all that we are most proud of; much of all that contributes to our prosperity and greatness as a nation, must pass away from us. The question is—Should we permit it to be continued, and submit to all these evils? Is there any reason to justify such a course ? There is a reason preached to us for permitting it. We are told that slavery is unjust; we are told that it is a matter of conscience to put it down ; and that whatever treaties or compacts, or laws, or constitutions, have been made to sanction and uphold it, it is still unholy, and that we are bound to trample upon treaties, compacts,' laws, and constitutions, and to stand by what these men arrogantly tell us is the law of God and a fundamental- principle of natural justice. Indeed, gentlemen, these two things are not distinguishable. The The law of God and natural justice, as between man and man, are one and the same. The wisest philosophers of ancient times—heathen philosophers—said, The rule of conduct between man and man is, to live honestly, to injure no man, and to render to every man his due. In words far more direct and emphatic, in words of the most perfect comprehensiveness, the Saviour of the world gave us the same rule in one short sentence—“ Love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Ap. plause.) Now, speaking between us, people of the North and our brethren of the South, I ask you to act upon this maxim—the maxim of the heathen—the command of the living God: “ Render to every man his due,” “ Love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Applause.) Thus we should act and feel toward the South. Upon that maxim which came from Him of Nazareth we should act toward the South, but without putting upon it any new-fangled, modern interpretation. We should neither say nor think that any Gospel minister of this day is wiser than God himself—than He who gave us the Gospel. These maxims should govern between us and our brethren of the South. But, gentlemen, the question is this: Do these maxims justify the assertion of those who seek to invade the rights of the South, by proclaiming negro slavery unjust ? That is the point to which this great argument, involving the fate of our Union, must now come. Is negro slavery unjust? If it be unjust, it violates the first rule of human conduct, “ Render to every man his due.” If it be unjust, it violates the law of God which says, “ Love thy neighbor as thyself,” for that law requires that we should perpetrate noinjustice. Gentlemen, if it could be maintained that negro slavery is unjust, is thus in conflict with the law of nature and the law of God, perhaps I might be prepared—perhaps we all ought to be prepared to go with that distinguished man to whom allusion is frequently made, and say, there is a “ higher law ” .which compels us to trample beneath our feet, as a wicked and unholy compact, the Constitution established by our fathers, with all the blessings it secures to their children. But I insist—and that is the argument which we must meet, and on which we must come to a conclusion that shall govern our action in the future selection of representatives in the Congress of the United States—1 insist that negro slavery is not unjust. (Long continued applause.) It is not unjust; it is just, wise, and beneficent. (Hisses, followed by applause, and cries of “Put him out.”) Let him stay, gentlemen. President—Let him stay there. Order. Mr. O’Conor—Serpents may hiss, but good men will hear. (Cries again of “ Put him out;” calls to order; confusion for a time.) The President—If anybody hisses here, remember that every one has his own peculiar way of expressing hftnself, and as some birds only understand hissing, they must hiss. (Applause.) Mr. O’Conor—Gentlemen, there is an animal upon this earth that has no faculty of making its sentiments known in any other way than by a hiss. I am for equal rights. (Three cheers were-
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4ODY=