Year: 1861

have occurred, l dare not hope for peace
unless you can show me a foundation of
rock or solid ground (but no quicksand
basis) on which peace can be re-establish.
ed. The nature Of your ministry and mine
necessarily implies that we should be the
friends of pesce. 1t was the special legacy
of our Divine Master to his flock. And it
would be strange if we, his appointed
ministers should be found in the ranks of
its enemies. His words were, as we find
in St. John, "Peace | leave to you, my
peace give to you" And yet st. Paul,
in writing to the Christian converts of
Rome, says: "If it be possible, as much
as it is in you, have peace with all men,"
| think this latter inspired quotation has
at least remote bearing on our present
sad difficulties.


Your explanation of the causes which
have led to this war are entirely Southern
in their premises and conclusions. But
they are SO wildly, and even plausibly
stated, that I leave them uncontroverted.
Your description of the evils resulting from
the war is too correct to be gainsaid by
me. Still, here We are in the mids: of
sanguinary contest, which, so far as / can
see, like hurricane on the ocean, must
exhaust its violence before we can expect
the return Of national calm There is no
one who desires more ardently than / do
the advent of that bright day on Which we
shall all be reunited in one great prosper
ous country.


Instead Of controverting the correctness
of your views in regard to the causes of
our actual troubles, or determining where
or on whom the responsibility of their ex-
istence rests, shall beg leave to make my
own statement from point of view which
is found in the general sentiment of the
people north of Mason and Dlxon's line.


They say that whatever may have been
the anterior origin Of this war, its ipnme-
diate ceuse was the overt act of turning
guns, put in place by the the State of
South Carolina, against public military
defence Of The country at large, which of
right belonged to all the States in COM
mon. Then it is thought or at least sta.
ted, in these quarters, that the South for
many years pas, would not be satisfied
with less than paramount control of the
National Government. The South, it is
well known, has been in fretful mood
for many years under Northern assaults,
made upon her civil and domestic institu-
tions. 1t would be on my part, very un.
candid to disguise the conviction that in
this respect the South has had much rea-
son to complain. Leaving, however,
opinions to fluctuate as they may, / vii.
simply give you my own as to the pri-
mary causes of our present strife.


You know that free speech and free
press are essential constituents of the frst
notions Of Anglo-Saxon liberty. These
were the shibboleth Of its existence, PROS
perity and prospects. In the exercise of
these peculiar privileges, the North of
this country has used its type and its
tongue Extensively against the South.
Neither was the South backward in the
work of retaliation on the same principle.
But the Anglo Saxon, whether of the
South or of the North, would see the
whole world set in "A blaze rather than put
limits to the freedom Of the press or the
unbridled license of the tongue, except
when the laws interpose for the protection
Of public authority or individual rights of
character and property.


AT the commencement of our national
institution as an independent State, sla-
very, for instance, was found to exist al.
most universally. in the North as well as
in the South The word itself was not
used in any Of the paragraphs found in the
Magma Charta of our Government The
slave trade from The western coast of Af>
RIGA had been encouraged by the subjects
and the Government of Great Britain.
The Government of England did not hesi.
tate to affix its veto on some of the enact
ments made by the recognized local au-
therlties Of the colonies for the diminua-
ton of the Save trade. 1t would appear
that from this trade SO abominable in its
primary origin there were certain emolu>
ments accruing to the treasury of the
mother country. And these emoluments
were looked to as source Of revenue, Just
as some countries in Europe, in tbeirsov-
ereign capacity, monopolize the largest
portion of profits resulting from COM
merce in salt and tobacco.


After the Revolution, slavery was dis
pensed with in the Northern States.