Washington sentinel. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1856, 1856-08-19
Hon. j. ID. Bright's Letter.
TO the great Democratic mass meetingat Indian
apolis on the I'm July.
WASHINGTON, July IL, 1856

GpOtis on the I'm JHly.
WASHINGTON, July II, 1856.
DEAR SIR: have seen Senators Cass, Doug
las, and Brown, and Representative Cobb, OF
Georgia, and agreeably to your request, have
invited them in behalf Of the :" State Central
Committee" TO attend the mass meeting of our
friends at Indianapolis on the 18th instant. Mr..
Cobb has assured me that he would be present,
but the other gentlemen feel that they cannot,
consistently with their pressing duties here, be
absent for the length OF time such visit would
necessarily require, and they beg to be excused.
For myself, nothing would afford me more plea
sure than TO unite on the occasion with the
democracy Of our State in rauiying the nomi-
nations of that experienced and profound states.
man, James Buchanan, for President, and the
equally worthy aud gifted young son Of Ken
lucky, John {. Breckenridge, for Vice Presi.
dent, but my official engagements here are OF
such character as to forbid my leaving at this
time.
avail myself, however, Of the opportunity to
say to you aud TO the mass gathering of our
friends, and TO my constituents generally, that
so soon as my duties here will permit, shall
hasten home with the intention Of visiting as
many counties as time will allow, and holding
converse with the people, face to face, on the
absorbing questions of the day. If there ever
was time when the constituent and his rep
resentative should be brought close together TO
commune with each other freely, tits the present.
The systematic effort that is being made to
array one section ofou country against another
upon purely local question, and to inHame the
worst passions of men by misrepresentation
and fasehood, is calculated to alarm those who
love the Union and desire its perpetuity. Against
the dangers Of sectionalism we were early
warned by the Father of his Country; yet the
tendency Of the public mind for the past few
years, led on by men sometimes designing and
always fanatical has been toward that result,
until now we see for the first time In the
history of our country, a formidable sectional
party, presenting sectional candidates for the
highest offices in the nations gift, and basing
their claims to election upon purely sectional
grounds 1t is appalling to contemplate the
consequences which mustresult from the success
Of such party; for It can end in nothing less
thar the lismemberment of that glorious Union
the work Of our revolutionary patriots--the
bequest Of our revolutionary sires-to which
we are indebted Tor our security at home and
our consideration aud dignity abroad.
The Union had It's origin in the wants ant
necessities Of the whole people and of the
several States, and every year Of its existenc,
has afforded fresh proofs -of its utility and it
blessings Under It's benign influences, agri
culture, commerce--every industrial pursuit
have fourished III an unparalleled degree an,
we have grown, in the short period Of three
quarters Of a century, from an iuconsiderab
power to be one Of the mightiest nations of th,
world. One might well pause to conside
whether il would be wise TO throw all thest
advantages away for the very illusory, unsub
stantial gains which sectionaism viii furnish
For myself, /" / have not" in the language o
the immortal Webster, coolly weighed tn
chances of preserving liberty when the bond
that unite US together shall be broken asunder