Washington telegraph., 1856-01-30
LET the Union sIIde.u

This expression is attributed to the most
prominent candidate for Speaker now before
the House of Representatives, and we refe,
to 1t that we may mark oar condemnation
OF those dangerous words SO fippantly ut
! tered. 1t matters not on what occasion
they were elected: it matters not upon wha,
contingencies they were based they are
treasonabie II their essence, and deserve TO
meet with the severest reprobation from all
who desire to maintain the power and glory
OF the nobiesi and freest Republic the world
ever yet saw
He who first seriously contemplated a
severance of the eonfederated States was a
traitor in bis heart. and became morally
amenable to traitors doom He who first
put that thought into language would have
been mercifully dealt by if the penalty of
ostraclsm had been enforced against him
Let the Union slide Loosen the grand
fabric built up by the sacrifice of many a
heroic life; by the tolls and sufHerings of
many heroic heart: by many plundered
homestead; by the ashes of many hearth
made desolate; by widows tears and or
phans' cries. AT Concord, and Lexington,
and Bunker's Hill; in the sad march thro'
the Jerseys; in the winter camp at Valley
Forge; and in the blood-stained foot-p prints
OF the patriots recorded on the winter S
snow in the jails and prison-ships at New
York: IN the swamps of Georgia and the
Carolipas: In the wiids of Kentucky: amid
fierce savages, Tory lnalignants, and but too
barbarous foreign foes. the foundations Of the
Union were laid
That wild Christmas night on the Della
ware, when Washington dared the o,posipg
lee. and hardly plucked at Trenton victori.
Gus laurels from the brows of his pursuers,
the fabric Of the Union rose remotely visi-
bic 10 mems eyes; and growing gradually
more distinct at Bennington, and Saratoga,
and Kings Mountain, and Camden, and
Yorktown. penetrated the thick haze of
doubts and fears, and exhibited its fair pro-
portions, sharply defined, upon the back
ground of the future. And yet there are
those among US who cry out. Let the Union
Slide reckless Of the reverent nature of the
Inheritance won by toll and agony, and be-
queatbed with prayers and solemn admoni-
tions- 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 All insane hand
the glorious building they reared, and to
shout exultingly, LET the Union slide :"
Slide where Into chaos and black night :?
Into the terrible limbo of things magnii-
cent of promise, yet un;inely shattered !
Or where?
We say the people of the Union will nev-
er consent. at the bidding of any man CT
set Of men, upon mere sectional issues, to
Let the Union Slide Three quarters of
a century have made this Union, not a
mere confederation of States, but a coufed-
Grafton of hearts, bound by ties stronger
taan the Constitution whose provisions they
revere, and by interests it would be mad
ness to dissolve
Let the Union slide-no, Let it last
forever Let it be handed down TO succeed
ing generations. intact and impregaable-
Let it stand Ike the old Rhodlan Wonder,
with foot upon opposite shores, and lifting
up to the oppressed CT all nations beacon
to guide them into haven of rest, where
all may enjoy freedom Of political action re-
strieted only by laws of their own adoption
and where liberty OF conscience Is protect
ed beneath the -dsgis cf the Constitution
Mr.. Banks said Let the Union slide ~ we
say, Let Mr.. Banks slide -
Bait Patriot.