The Placer herald., 1856-04-19
NUMBER %.
Let the Union Slide.

This expression, says the Baltimore Patriot
is attributed to the Speaker of the House of
Representative and we refer to it that we
may mark our condemnation of those dan
gerous words so tlippantly uttered 1t mat
ters not upon what contingencies they were
based; they are reasonable in their essence,
and deserve to meet with the severest repro
baton from all who desire to maintain the
power and glory of the noblest and freest
Republic the world ever yet saw
He who first seriously contemplated q sew
erance Of the confederated States was trail
tor in his heart and became morally amen
able to a traitors doom. lie who first put
that thought into language would have been
mercfulIy dealt by if the penalty of ostra-
cism had been enforced against him. Let
the Union slide. Loosen the fabric built up
by the sacrifice of many heroic life; by the
tolls and sutferings of many heroic heart;
by many a plundered homestead; by the
ashes Of many hearth made desoate; by
widows tears and orphans cries2 At Con-
cord, and Lexington, and Bunkers Hill; and
in the sad march through the Jerseys; in the
winter camp at Valley Forge, and the blood
stained foot prints Of the patriots recorded
on the winters snow; in the jails and prison
ships at New York, in the swamps of Geor-
gia and the Carolinas; in the wilds of Ken
tucky; amid fierce savages; Tory malignants,
and but too barbarous foreign foes the foun-
dations of the Union were laid
The wild Christmas night upon the Della
ware, when Washington dared the opposing
ice, and hardly plucked at Trenton victorious
laurels from the brows Of his pursuers, the
fabric of the Union rose remotely visible to
mems eyes; and growing gradually more dis
tinct at Bennington, and Saratoga and Kings
Mountain, and Camden and Yorktown, pene-
trated the thick haze of doubts and fears. and
exhibited its fair proportions sharply defined,
upon the back ground of the future. And
yet there are those among us who cry out,
'Iet the Union Slide" reckless of the rever-
ent nature of the Inheritance won by toll
and agony and bequeathed with prayers and
solemn admontions There are, we say,
those among us who proclaim themselves
ready to prove false to their trust, to ignore
the memory Of their fathers, to mine with
an insane hand the glorious building they
reared, and to shout exultingly, Let the
Union slide?" Slide where9 Into chaos and
black night? Into that terrible limbo of
things magnificent of promise, yet untmely
shattered9 Or where9
We say the people Of the Union will new
er consent at the hidalins nf any
OF men upon mere sectional issues, to Let
the Union slide" Three-quarters of cen
tury have made this Union not mere con
federation of States, but confederation of
hearts, bound by ties stronger than the Con-
stitution whose provisions they revere, and
by interests it would be madness to dissolve.
Let the Union slide-no, Let it last for
ever Let it be handed down to succeeding
generations intact and impregnabe. Let it
stand like the Old Rhodian Wonder, with
foot upon opposite shores, and lifting up to
the oppressed of all nations beacon to guide
them into heaven of rest, where all may
enjoy freedom Of political action restricted
only by laws of their own adoption, and
where liberty Of conscience is protected be,
meath the Kgis of the Constitution. Mr..
Banks said, Let the Union slide" We say,
"Let Mr.. Banks slide" NJ O. Creole