The constitutional union., 1860-12-21
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
Fellor- Citizens oC the Senate
 nuI LLn-Laa of Da1lraaorL nt..aa

roUs in all its material interests The ueue- raj health has been excellent; our haryes5s have been abundant, and plenty smiles throughout the land Our commerce and manufactures have been prosecuted with energy and industry, and have yielded fair and ample returns in short no nasion in the tide of time has ever presented sDac- tacle of greater material prosperity than We have done, until within a very recent period. | Why is 1t then that discoutent now czten- sively prevails, and the Union of the States, which is the source of all these blessings. s ! threatened with destruction The long con- tnued and incorporate interference of the Northern people with the question of slavery in the Southern States. has at length pro- duced its natural effects The different sec tons of the Union are now a1rsyed against each other, and the time has arrived. so much dreaded by the eatho.' of nis colnt=y. wheu hostile geographical parties have been formed. ] have long toreseen and often tprgwarHed my couutry0ca oi the now Impending dam ger. This dees not proceed solely from tha claim on that part of Congress or the Terri t9riat Legislatures to exclude slavery from tho Territories nor from the efforts af differ ea. States to defeat tAa execution of tie IU- 4i..ya Slave Law. Al CT any of ,lese evils might have been endured bv tic South
 without any danger to the tnlon. as others have been. ill the hope that time aud Ie1ec- tion might apply the remedy. The immcdi- ate peril arises. not so much from these causes as from the fact that the violent agi- l tation of the slavery question throughout the ! North for the last quarter of a century, has at length produced its maii4n influence on ! the slaves and inspired them with vague notions oi freedom. Hence u sense of secu- rity no longer exists around the family altar. I his feeling of peace at home has given ] place to amuehcnsions of seryile instruction. Many matron throughout the South returns at night in dread of what may bcfaIl herself and her children before the morning. Should this apprehension of domestic dan ger. whether real CT imaginary. extend and intensity itself until it ,hali pcryado the masses of the Southern people, disunion will become inevitable. Eclt-Wascgyation is the first law of nature and ha. been implanted in tine heart of man buAj~ Creator for tre wisezt f#u2ht with blessings and benefits iu aIi other respects. can long continue. if the necessary consequence be to render JIe homes and the h.esidcs of nearly half the parties toit habituaIly and hopcles>ly insecure. Sooner 5v later. the bonds of such d union must be severed. 1t Is my conviction that this fatal period has not yet arrived, and my prayer u God .s. that He would preserve the Con,tltl,- tion and the Union throughout All genera tions. Bat let uS ta6e warning in tme and remove the cause of danger 1t cannot le d.a;el that r five .0d tr-.Hr vaar .1ea,i- .aton at the North s-.u-- -.Farv ia tHa South has been iaeas>aut. Tn .3 pictorial han1lli and iu-amm..ar- .s-..l- we're c.r- cuiatci extensively tiHua-a.at tae ~.a.1 oi a character to excite tae n.,-~ a- o ;hc slaves and in t6e language ot General Jack son. to stimulate them Jo lasw-ot.u mI produce ail the horror, o' eeN.Ia war. This agitation has ever since ieoa caaGr- vod hv the public pres. h. the proceedings of ~a.a and county Conventions ald av Abolition armm< and lectures. and the time of Congress ha- been occupied in violent speeches ca this never ending subject and appeals in raMph.e, and other .uru- mIu--od ay di.enwi' he'd names have leep .ut forth from this central point &la -pre.j broadcast over the nion. flo" e"-v i- " uld Nc tor the American people to settle tAo slavery question forever and to restore peace and harmony to this distracted country. They alone can do it. AiI that is ncce .~alv to ac- compliSh the object. and all ior which the slave States have cycr coUtouaed. iS t0 he let alone and permitted lJ manage their domestic institutions in their own Way. as sovereign States, They. and they alone, are re~pousi- bic before God and tLe world fyr the slavery existing among them For this the people o. the North are not responsible. and haze no more right to interfere than with similar in-ti- unions m Russia or in Brazil lu0u their good sense and rau c ior5euanco confess -roalyroly. Without their aid t !, beyond the power any President. mo materWhat nmv 6c h,~ ~u political l9oo.iyiries C restore peace and harmony among the States. Wise iv limited and restrained as Is his power un- der our Constitution and laws. Le alone @ln accomplish but little for good CT evil, on such d momeutous question: and this brings mo to observe that the election of any of our fellow citizens to the office of President does not of itself afford just cause for dssolying the Un- ion. This Is more especially true if his c'cc- tion has been effected by mere plurality, and not q majority of the people, anl has re- suited from transient and temporary causes which may probably never again occur. In order to justify a resort to' revolutionary re- sistance the Federal Government must be guilty of deliberate, PaIpabIe, and danger ous exercise of power not granted by the Con stitution. The late Presidential election. however, has been held in strict conformity with its express provisions. How, then. can the result justify q revolution to destroy this very Constitution? Reason, justice and rc- gard for the Constitution all require that we shall wait for some overt and dangerous act on the part of the President elect before rc sorting to such a remedy. It is said, howcy- CT, that the antccedents of the President elect have been sufficient to justify the fears of the Souts; that he will attempt to invade theil Constitutional rights: but arc such apprehen sions of contingent danger in the future sufi cient to justify the immediate destruction o the noblest system of Government ever de- yised by mortals. From the very nature ot his office and its high responsibilities he must necessarily be conservative. The stern duty of administering the vast and complicated