Preble County Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1857-1859, 1858-03-04
ra-Hon. ALBERT g. Brown, of Miss

0A.don. ALBERT ". BROWN, of Miss,
issippi, delivered in the U. s. Senate, or
the Bird and 4th inst, a powerful speech
on the Presidents Kansas Message. 1
was an effort worthy the distinguished
gentleman and the South, Astounding il
argument aud eloquence, and evincing
a dispositio n in the highest degree com
mandatory for its kind language, blu
hard argument. We have given it a
perusal, and would like to place it be-
fore our readers, but its great length
compels US to forego that pleasure. We
cannot however, refrain from giving the
concluding paragraphs:
sWe have heard a great deal said in
the course of this debate about appre-
hension of cival war, and bloodshed,
and dissolving the Union, and all that.
Sir, there is a sovereign remedy for all
such apprehended evils. Obey the law,
respect the Constitution, fulfill your
contracts, and there will be no civil
war; there will be no b~loodshed; there
will be no dissolution of the Union
Fulfil all your obligations to the laws
and the Constitution and the contracts
between the sections of the Union on
the subject of slavery, and all other sub
jects, and 1 guaranty that your Union
will stand forever. Trample upon these
obligations, and oon your Union will
pass away as 'the baseless fabric of n
vision" In the future 1 see the Union
standing upon pillars a firm as the
eternal rock of ages: but l see it only
through those paths which lead to the
law, the Constitution, and the fulfill
ment of Obligations. In a diffe 'ent di-
~rection I see it a dissolving Union; l
see the stars of our galaxy being blotted
out, and the sun of our glory running
away as it were in rivulets of blood; and
all this is seen over the traces of viola
ted laws, PROSTATE constitutions, viola
ted compacts.
Let me say, Mr.. President, to the
Senator from Illinois, that on him rests
a fearful responsibility. He is the au-
thor of this measure. He has stood by
it until he has brought it to its present
condition. He sees a who'll United
South arrayed on the n side, and he
has thrown himself into the northern
scale. Does he mean to array a whole
united North against the whole united
South ? If this result shall ever be ae-
complished, it will be done, in my opin-
ion, over laws violated, constitutions
trampled under foot, and compacts fla
GRAVITY outraged. 1t will not be res
ponsible for the consequences when this
state of things shall be brought about.
Let not the Senator from Illinois sup
- - + I.,o ,aonf 70 oSSaIl him
that / have meant to join in any cry
against him. Let him not suppose that
/ am pursuing him with any of the in
~stincts of a bloodhound, Heaven
knows I would to-day much rather en-
brace him as u friend than regard him
for u solitary instant as an enemy. He
knows how much l have loved him in
the past. He knows with what fidelity
1 have followed his flag, and with what
JOY l have with essed the rising star of
his glory. But it is not in the name OF
these thai 1 would appeal to the honora-
BILE Senator. We have a country, a COM
NOR country, a country dear to him and
to me; to you, sir; to one and all of us.
That country is in peril. The hearts of
stout men begin to quail. Thousands
and hundreds of thousands Of our peo-
pie believe that the Union is now rock
ing beneath our feet. The Senator has
it in his power to put a stop to all this
agitation. If he will but say to the
angry waves, "Peace, be still, calmness
will settle on the great deep of public
sentiment. Whether he thinks so or
not, he is the very life and soul of this
agitation. If he ,tood now where he
stood at the passage Of this bill, with his
Democratic friends, supporting the
strong arm of the President who dares
to do his duty in the face of every dan
ger, there would not nave been u ripple
on the surface, or if there had been, it
would nave subsidized and died away in
the great ocean of oblivion where other
ripples have gone, and VIC should al
me st without an effort introduce Kansas
into the Union. Sir, the Senator from
Illinois gives life, he gives vitality, he
gives energy, he lends the aid of his
mighty genius and his powerful will to
the opposit ion on this question. IfI
ruin come upon the country, he more
than any other and all other men, will
be to blame for it. If freedom shall be
lost-if the Union shall fail-if the
rights of man shall perish on earth-if
desolation shall spread her mantle over
this our glorious country-let not the
Senator ask who is the author of all this,
lest expiring Liberty, with a death-rat-
tie, in her throat, shall answer to him as
Nathan answered David, thou art the
man !