The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-07-03
W AsIlISGToN, d. c.. }
June 10, 1856.

June 10, 1886.
Gentlemen: Circumstance, of Il personal
character, and over which | have no con.
troll, will prevent me from uniting will YOU
i'll the ratification meeting in Charleston.
The issue in the pending election of Il
PresI'lcnt Is the issue Of Union or Disuu.
| ion; for if the strength of the F,,Sinni>ts
who now prcdoninatc in the lower IInus,.
OF Congress, becomes augmented bv Prsi.
dental power and patronage, us surely as
| there is II heaven above It's. the tcnl,c of
! republican liberty, which our revolutionary
! sagcs erected in moderation, wisdom and
hou"r, will crnmhlc into ruins, and every
fragment Of the wreck will be stained with
blood. 1t can never be that the people Of
fifteen sovereign States will passively I" walk
under the yoke" while weapons of defence
are to be found, and there are the hands of
white men to use them.
regard it us tho highest duty Of every
patriot in the land to contribute his hest
energies to avert this fearful catastrophe,
and am persuaded that it can be avoided
only by the triumphant success Of the Dem
ocratic party.
Mr.. Buchanan was neither my first or
second choice for the Presidency, but, as
the representative of type of principles.
and standing boldly as he does up Oh the
Baltimore platform, upon which Gen. Pierce
was carried into enlarged, improved
and strengthened as it has been by the
supplemental resolutions adopted at Gin
cinnati, and by which resolutions our prin-
ciples, as practically applied to the Territory
of Kansas. have been Reimbursed by the
American Democracy and by their nominee,
could not be un(aithfu to tho man with
out :reachery to the principles lie represents.
We have reached the turning point in
the experiment Of the people to govern
themselves. Ours is yet IL youthful Re-
public, and so far, we have made only trial
trips to test the machinery of our govern
ment; but the periIs OF the ocean of un.
certainty are now TO be encountered, and
every man and every timber of the Ship of
State will be subjected to the severcst proof.
Let us do our duty to the Constitution and
the country, in an earnest and concerted
effort with the law-abding and conservative
men of every State, III driving off the
piratical crew Of Black RepubIicanisrn who
hover around us, with the emblems of death
at their mast head, and rule or ruin for
their motto.
The high moral duty of forbearance,
when fortified by n consciousness of having,
as far as is consistent with honor, avoided
the necessity of collision, will steel the arm
of any man. with soul in his BODY. to
strike against every odds in resistance of
insult or oppression. To this condition of
mind l hope to see brought every man in
the South who is capable of bearing arms.
If, with the aid of the patriotic Democracy
of the North-a Democracy which ia
honored by having on its muster roll the
names of Pierce of. New, Hampshire,
Douglas, Of Illinois, and Toucey, of 'Oea.
necticut-the issue of disnnion mays rrsr pe,
avoided, l will llprsise God for it; but, after
doing our whole duty, if the issue of blood
must come, why thdk Ne will Be prepared
70 meet it and tn thank God for that sl
We have frieAds throughout the entire