The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1861-01-24
Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana,


side, there shall occur the intervention of AN
uprising ferocious African population of four,
or six. perhaps twenty millions?
/ The opinions Of mankind change, and with
them the politics OF nations. One hundred
years ago all the commercial European
States were engaged 10 transferring negro
slaves from Africa to this hemisphere To.
day all those States are firmly set in hostili
ties to the extension and even to the prac
tice of slavery. Opposition to it takes two
forms; one European, which is simple. di-
rect abolition. effected, if need be. by com.
pulsion; the other American, which seeks to
arrest the African slave trade, and resist the
entrance of domestic slavery into Territories
where it is yet unknown, whilr ii leaves the
disposition of existing slavery 10 the consid
crate action of the ST ates by which il is sus-
tanned. 1t is the L Mon that restricts the op-
position to slavery in this country within
these limits. If dissolution prevail. wha;
guarantee shall there be against the full ue-
velopment here of the fearful and uncom-
promising hostility to slavery which else.
where pervades the world, and of which the
recent invasion of Virginia was an illustra-
ton?
Mr.. President, l have designedly dwelt
So long on the probable effects of disunion
upon the safety OF the American people as to
leave me little time to consider the other
evils which follow in its train. But practi :
cally. the loss Of safety invol. es every 9TH
er form of public calamity. When once the
guardian angel has taken flight, every ything
is lost.
Disunion would not only arrest, but ex-
tinguish the greatness Of our country. Even
il separated confederacies could exist and
endure. they could severally preserve no
share OF the common prestige of the Union.
Ii the constitution is to be broken up, the
stars. whether scattered widely apart or
grouped in smaller clusters. will thenceiorth
shed forth feeble. glimmering and lurid
lights. Nor will great achievements be
possible for the new confederacies. Disso.
sution would signalize its triumph By acts
Of wantonness which would shock and as
tound the world. 1t would provincialize
Mount Vernon and give this Capitol over to
desolation at the very moment when the
dome is rising over our heads that was to be
crowned with the statute OF Liberty. After
this there would remain for disunion no act
OF stupendous infamy to be committed
No petty confederacy that shall follow the
United States can prolopg, or even renew,
the majestic drama Of national progress.-
Perhaps it is to De arrested because its sub
Unity is incapable of continuance. Let it
ba SO, if We have indeed become degener-
ate. After Washington, and the infir rxible
Adams. Henry, and the peerless Hamilton,
Jefferson. and the majestic Clay, Webster,
and the acute Calhoun. Jackson. the modest
Taylor. and Scott, who rises in greatness
under the burden of years. and Franklin.
and Fulton, and Whitney. and Morse. have
all performed their parts, let the curtain
fall.
While listening to these debates, have
sometimes forgotten myself in marking their
contrassed effects upon the page who custo-
marily stands upon the dals before me. and
the venerable Secretary who sits behind him.
The youth exhibits intense but pleased emo
tion in the excitement, while at each irrev-
Grant word that is uttered against the Union
the eyes of the aged man are sutfused with
tears. Let him weep no more. Rather re-
joice. for yours has been lot of rare felici-
ty. You have seen and been part of all
the greatness OF your country, the towering
national greatness of all the world. Weep
ouly you. and weep with all the bitterness
of anguish who are just stepping on the
threshold of life; for that not greatness per-
ishes prematurely and exists for you, not
for me, for any at shall come after US.
The public prosperity! how could it sur.
vive the storm? Its elements are industry
in the culture of every fruit; mining of all
the metals; commerce atshome and on every
sea; material improvement that knows no
obstacle and has no end; Invention that RACES
throughout the domain of nature; increase
o. knowledge as broad as the human mind
can explore; perfection Of art as high as hu-
man genius can reach; and social refinement
working for the renovation Of the world
What guarantees will capital invested for
such purposes have. that will outweigh the
premium offered by political and military
ambisiou! What leisure will the citizen
find for study. or invention, or arr, under
the reign Of conscription; nay, what inter
est IN them will society feel when fear and
hate shall have taken possession of the na-
tional mind? Lee the miner in California
take heed. for its golden wealth will become
the prize of the nation that can command
the most iron. Let the borderer take care,
for the Indian will again turk around his
dwelling. Let the pioneer come back into
our denser settlements. for the railroad the
post road. and the telegraph advance not
one furloug further into the wilderness
/ With standing armies consuming the SUBJ
stance OF our people on the land. and our
navy and postal steamers withdraw from the
ocean. who will protec, or respect, or who
will even know bv name our petty confed-
eracies? The American man of-war is a
noble spectacle. I have seen i. enter an
ancient port in the Mediterranean. All the
world wondered at it. Salvos of artillery.
from forts and shipping 10 the harbor. saiu-
ted its fa.,. Princes and princesses aud
merchants paid il homage, and all the peo-
pie blessed it as a harbinger of hope for
their own ultimate freedom imagine now
the same noble vessel entering the same ha.
ven. The flag of thirsy-three stars and
thirteen stripes have been hauled down, and
in It's place signal has been run up. which
faunts the device Of lone star or palmet-
to tree. Men ask. 'Who is the stranger that
thus steals into olr waters?' The answer
contempsuously given is. '.She comes from
one OF the obscure republics of North Amer
ica- Let her pass on
Lastly, public liberty. our own peculiar
liberty. most lansui for time. and then