The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1863-02-11

which he Is subjected IN the free States
All this, sir, may be sspro- -slaveryism, . il
there be such word Perhaps it is; but
the people of the West begin now te
think it wisdom and good sense. We will
not establish slavery in our midst; neither
will we abolish or interfere with it out
lside of our own limits.
Sir, an antislayery paper in New York
(the Tribune the most influential, and
therefore, most dangerous of all that
|class-it would exhibit more of dignity
and command more of influence, if it were
always to discuss public questions and
public men with decent respect--layina
aside now the epithets of "Secessionist 7
and Traitor has returned to its ancient
political nomenclature, and calls certain
members of this House proslavery =
Well, sir, in the old sense Of the term as
applied to- the Democratic party, I will
not object. / said years ago, and it is a
fitting time now to repeat it:
eff to love my country; to cherish the
Union; to revere the Constitution; If to
abhor the madness and hate the treason
which would lift up a sacrilegious hand
against either; if to read that in the past,
to behold it in the present, to feresee it in
the future of this land, which is of more
value to us and to the world for ages to
come than all the multiplied millions who
have inhabited Africa from the creation to
this day!-if this tits to be pro-slayery,
thenin every nerve, fiber, vein, bone, ten
don, joint and ligament, from the topmost
hair of the head to the last extremity of
the foot, am all over and altogether a
pros slavery man.
And now, sir, I come to the great and
controlling questions within which the
whole issue of union or disunion is bound
up: Is there " an irrepressible conflict !"
between the slayeholding and non slave
holding States2 Must /" the cotton and
rice fields of South Carolina, and the SUI
gar plantatiens of Louisiana" in the Ian
guage of Mr.. Seward, ssbe ultimately TIL
led by free labor, and Charleston and New
Orleans become marts for legitimate mer-
chandise alone. or else the rye fields and
wheat fields sof Massachusetts,. and New
York again be surrendered by their far
mers to slave culture and the production
Of slaves, ,sand Boston and New York be-
come once more markets for trade in the
bodies and souls Of men?" If sos<khen
there is an end of all union aud fo3eyers
You can not abolish slavery by theSsword;
still less by proelamations, thoagh the
Presideutwereto sproelain" every month.
OF what possible avail vas his pfeciama-
tion of September? Did the Sonfh sub
init? Was she oven alarned? And yet
he has now fulmined another "bull against
the come" "-brutum 5alnaen-and, threat
ening scrvile insurfcction with all its hor-
rors, has yet coally appealed 10 the judg-
ment of mankind, and invoked the bless
ing Of the God Of peace and love! But
declaring i military necessity. an essen
tial measure o. war to subdue the rebels,
yet, with admirable wisdom, he expressly
exempts from its operation the only States
and PARTS of States in the South where he
has tie military power to execute it..
Neither, sir, can you abolish slavery by
argument As we'll attempt to abolish
marriage or the relation Of paternity
The South is resolved to maintain it al
every hazard and by every sacrifice; and
if this Union can not endure part slave
ana pdTC ITcc, tHcu IL 10 dITSduj duu Hudl-
llySdissolved Talk not to me of g West
Virginia. Tell me not of Missouri
tram Piled under the feet of your soldiery
AS we'll tlk to me of Ireland Sir, the
destiny of those States must abide the
issue of the war But Kentucky you may
find tougher. And Maryland
..E'sn in her ashes live their wonted dres.p
Nor will Delaware be found wanting il
the day of trial.
Bat deny the doctrine. It is full @
itself. Whoever first taught it ought t
be dealt with as not only hostile to tn
Union, but an enemy of the human race
Sir, the fundamental idea of the Consti
tuition is the perfect and eternal compati
3Gbility of a union of States, sspart 6lav
and part free, else the Constitution neve
would have been framed, nor the Uniel
/ founded, and seventy years of successful
experiment have approved the wisdom O
! the plan. In my deliberate judgment,
Coniederacy made up of slaveholding an,
non -slaveholding States is, in the natur
of things, the strongest of all popula
/ governments. African slavery has been
and is, eminently conservative. 1t make
the absolute political equality of the whit
race every where practicable 1t dispen
ses with the English order of nobility
and leaves every white man, North an
] South, owning slaves or cwning none, tn
equal of every other white man. 1t ha
reconciled universal suffrage throughou
the free States with the stability of gov
ernmeut. speak not now of its materis
benefits to the North and West, which ar
many and more. obvious. But the Sout
!. too, has profted many ways by a unio
with the -slaveholding States. Enter
prise, industry, self reliance, perseverance,
and the other hardy virtues Of a peopl
living in higher latitude, and withor
hereditary servants, she has learned or r.
! eeived from the North. Sir, it is easy,
know, to denounce all this, and to revil
him who utters it. Be it So The Ems
e tlish is, Of all languages, the most copio,
/, in words of bitterness and reproacl
TIE Pour on: I will endure.
Then, sir, there is not an ssirrepressib
e conflict between slave labor and free /
s. Dor. There is no conflict at ALL Bo,
: lexist together in perfect harmony in tt
e etSouths The master and the slave n