St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1864-05-26

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safeguards which. surround a nation some
thing may be found with which to assas-
sinate it. ,.
-, While, events meve forward with gigantic
steps they src rapidly :trampling into the
ground that poor, lanes blind absurdity,
State sovereignty 1,at basiard of the I'D
Confederation, that prolific parent Of manv
of the woes which have fallen Upon US.
that bulwark behind Which even vet trea.
aon betakss itself in its hour ot terror
The~Anerican. peor1e sfe determined sto>be
one nation, one absolute, supreme, irresist-
ible nation; notin thewords of. Washing
ton, qs applied to the Confederation, "one
nation to- day and thirteen to morrow" not
a Polish diet with as many vetoes as mem
hsrs, ,fuot a mere rope Of santl,. but one,n
tion, for good and i'll, now and forever ONE
NATION II The absolute over khiEh rests
somewhere shall rest in the hands of this
Government. 1t matters nothing in what
way the nation arose whether from. its
:reative, abundance il gave. birth to, the
States, or whether it grew from q congela-
tiom Of the States. ,. Possessing existence
and being sovereign it has right to all
things necessary to q continuance Of its
life and sovereignty.
We who come, Mr.. Speaker, from the far
West have not that deep and ingraincd ven
Grafton for State power which is to be found
among the Inhabitants Of some of the older
States We have found that State lines,
State names, State organizations> are in
most cases, the yeriest creatures Of acci-
To 10 of
about them. Our people move into a re-
gion Of country and make the State. We
feel ourselves to be otfshoots of the nation.
we look to the nation for protection. The
love of ;our hearts gathers around the ma
tion; and there is no prouder and no glad
der eight to our eyes than the flag Of the
nation Auttering in the sunshine over our
frontier homes. We are willing to trust
the nation. We have never received aught
at it's hands but benefits. We need erect
no bulwark:: Of State, sovereignty behind
which to shelter ourselves from tha gifts
Which it 50 generously and bountifully
show ers upon US and when the order of
nature is reversed and it calls to US in its
extremity for help and protection, the far
merwill be ouadtleaying bis plow in,the
furrow, and the woodman the tree half
felfed IN the forest, to fly to its assistance.
Part Of mighty nation, We feel that our
fame and our greatness reach to the utter
most enls Of the Garth, over all the seas,
and through all the continent. Citizens Of
States, we are lost and buried from the
gaza Of m ,nkind, the tributary Nubias of
those governments which control the mouth
of. f.onr Nile; without commerce. without q
navy, without a, Aag; the merest insignif-
cant accidents. Be assured sir, those in
terror States will forever insist upon "the
Union" and will continue 20 insist uhon it,
even if abandoned by all the rest ct the ma
exsfv tSn discts thsss ols rsach Tie sea in
nav, i! IS more than their right ii is their
IL. r.. -;
There is, then, one soiidihed sentiment
in the hearts Of our people. one sentiment
which will not be denied, ono sentiment
which rises above all political considera-
tions-tAis nation must lice. Wha; Shall
stand in Tile way of its life? The institu-
ton Of slavery? Put the nation and sla-
uery i'll the balance anl ask the people Of
the Northwest 10 choose between them.
What is slavery to them: Untitled for
their climate, repugnant to their tastes,
destructive to their Interests, bloody with
the blood of theic children, onerous with
the weight Of taxation 70 themselves, and
terrible with portents of ruin to the nation
in the future, what interest have they in the
of slavery? Will they for
slavery give up that Kind and generous
which has SO long blessed and
protected theuie viii they for slavery see
their fair, brigh, flag, with all its cluster
iag stars and all its lines Of light, torn into
shreds and trampled ia the dast? Will
they for slavery drag down upon themselves
The fabric OF their Government and bury
themselves beneath mountains of anarchy
and destruction! Never! 1t needs but to
present the question to call forth unani-
NOUS answer. Let the man step forth who
is willing to bring G calamity and ruin upon
himself and family tlrot a gigantic crime
may continue to exist, undis,i, i,rbed, n thou
sand miles away; who is willing to sacri-:
fee the esniioyments Of earth that hell may
escape annoyance. .:,....-;.3.,.t ......t
But it may be. said slavery aainla The, nia-
ton may continue to exist in unison.
appeal to history. Scarce had our Gov
ernment taken shape when the anti Slavery
agitation commenced under the lead of that
great and good man, Benjalnin Franklin !;
he who dragged the lightnings from heaven
and the sceptcr from the grasp Of tyrants.
From that day to this the history Of the
country has been the history of slavery.
For this end were our acquisitions Of terri
tory-Louisiana,: Florida, New Mexico.
For this end was the. Mexican war. For
this end were our conventions, our plat
forms, our fugitive slave laws, our compro
misses. Not content with the wide scope
afforded in our own country, the demoria.
cal energy of slavery swept over the mar
the islands Of the Gulf and the
territories Of the Isthmus. Iteven plumed
its dark wings for a. wilder. flight, and
sought the reopening of the African slave
trade, the terror, the horror, and. the dis.
grace; Of mankind. AT length assailed and
resisted by people who had either to re-
sist or fall PROSTATE before it, its accumu-
lated vengeance burst 70, ,th in q tempest
which now shakes the. world to its center.
And, now-what now! Why, we are
asked to call, nay, to coax back this rest
less, insatiate, grasping, ungevernable
now clouding the horizon Of the
world and filling the air with the clangor of
his arms, into the casket from which he
escatcd, to be held in peace forever under
the Solomdnic seal of the Constitution 1t
was permitted US to make of the cub of the
lion q plaything and pet; but the beast
has reached the age of maturity; his eye.
balls have learned to roll and his name to
bristle = he has broken loose from his fas-
Jennings, and betaking himself to the forest
has brought horror and death upon whole
countryside and now, now we are soberly
asked I'd restore him, ,antamed and unharm-'
ed, to the tender bosom of our family cir