Year: 1861

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cable to every question which may occur
in practical administration. No foresight can
anticipate, nor any document Of reasonable
Iergth contain express provisions Tor aii
possible questions. shall fngiiives from labor DO
surrendered by national or by State authorityl
The constitution does not expressly say. Must
Congress protect slavery in the Territories! The
constitution does not expressly say. From ques-
tons OF this class spring all constitutional
troversies, and we divide upon them into majori-
ties and minorities.


II the minority viii not acqaiesce the majority
must, or the government must cease. There Is
no alternative for continuing the government but
acquiesceDce on the one side or the other Ii
minority in such case will secede rather than
acquieSce, they make precedent which in turn
viii ruin and divide them, for minority Of
their own viii seccde from them when
ever a majority refuses TO be controlled by
such minority. For instance, why not
any portion Of a new confederaey, year or two
hsnee, arbitrarily sccede again, precisely as por
tinns Of the presenr Union now claim to secede
from 10. All who cherish disunion sentic,cnts are
now being educated TO the exact temper of doing
this. Is there snch perfect identity of interests
among the States To comprise u new Union as
to produce harmony only and prevent renewed
secession. Plainly, the central idea Of secession
is the essence of anarchy.


A majority held in restraint by constitutional
checks and limitations, and always changing easily
with deliberate changes OF popular opinions and





people. Whoever rejects it docs Of necessity, fly
to anarchy or to despotsm. Unanimi,y is mpossi-
Bile. The rule Of a minority, asa permanent ar
rangement, is wholly inadmssibie. So that, re-
jecting the majority principle, anarchy or despot-
ism In some form is all that Is left


Ido not forgetthe position assumed by some, that
constitutional questions are to be decided by the Su
preme Court, nor do | deny that such decisions
must be binding in any case, upon the parties to


suit as to tho object of that suit while they are
also entitled to very high respect and considera-
tion in all parallel cases by oil other departments
of the government; and while it is obviously pos
sible that such decision may be erroneous in any
given case, still the evil effect following it, being
limited to that particular case, with the chance
that II may be overruled and never become pre-
ccdent for other cases. can better be borne than
could the evils Of o different practice. At the
same time the candid citizen must confess that il
the policy OF the government upon the vital ques-
ions affecting the whole people il to be irrevoca-
bly, fixed by the decisions Of the Supreme Court,
the instant they are made in ordinary litigation
between parties in personal actisns the people
will have ceased to be their own, unless having to
that extent practically resigned their government
into the hands OF that eminent tribunal Nor is
there in this view any assault upon the Court or
the Judges.


II is q duty from which they may not shrink
to decide cases properly brought before them,
and 1t is no fault Of theirs il others seek TO turn
of country believes slavery is right, and ought
10 be extended while the other believes II is wrong
and ought not to be extended. This is the only
substantial dispute; and the fugitive slave clause
Of the constitution, and the law for the suppress
sion Of the foreign slave trade, are each as well
enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a
community where the moral sense OF the people
mperfectly supports the law itself. Tho great
body Of the people abide by the dry, legal obiiga-
ton In both eases, and q few break over In each.
This, think, cannot DC perfectly cured and ii
would be worse in both cases after the separation
OF the sections than before. The foreign slave
iulna ta,
matey revived, without restriction in section,
while fugitive slaves now only partially surren-
dered, would not be surrendered at all by the other
Physically speaking, we cannot separate-we
cannot remove our respective sections from each
other, nor build an impossible wall between
them. husband and wife may be divorced and
go out Of the presence and beyond the reach Of
each other; but the dMerent parts Of our country
cannot do this. They cannot but remain face to
face, and intercourse either aincable or
hostile, mast continue between them. Is
il possible, then, to make that intercourse
after separation than before? Can aliens make
treaties easier than friends can make laws? Can
treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens
than laws can among ir'endsg Suppose you go
to war; you cannot light always, and when, after
much loss ON both sides, and no gain ON either,
you fighting, the identical questions as To
terms OF intercourse are again upon you. This
country, with its institutions, belongs TO the
people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall
grow weary Of the existing government trey can
exercise their constitutional right OF amending, or
their revolutionary right To dismeinber or over
throw il. | cannot be ignorant of the fact that
many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous
of having the national constitution amended.
While | make no recommendation of amend
Dlent, freely recognise the full authority of the
people over the whole subject, to be exercised In
either Of the modes prescribed in the instrument
itself; and should, under existing circumstances,
favor rather than oppose q fair opportunity
being afforded the people to act upon it.
l will venture TO add that to me the
convention mode seems preferable, in that IL
allows amendments 10 originate with the people
themselves, instead Of only permitting them to
take or reject propositions originated by Others
which might not be precisely such "a they
would wish themselves to accept or refuse.
| understand proposed amendment to the
constitution-which amendment, however, |
the effect that the federal government shall
never interfere with the domestic institutions Of
States, including that Of persons he'd to service
To avoid misconstruction Of most have said,
depart from my purpose, not to speak Of par
ticular amendments far as to say that
holding such q provision to now be i'm
piled constitutional law, have no
objection TO its being made express aud irreyo-
cable. The Chief Magistrate derives all his autho
rity from the people, and they have conferred
none upon him to fix the terms for the separation
of the States. The people themselves also can do
this il they choose, but the Executive, as such,
mas uOtufuH 10 10 WIN IL. uuLy IL
10 administer the present government
as II came TO his hands, and to transmit IL unm-
paired by him to his successor. Why shond there
not be n patient confidence in the ultimate justice
of thepeople? Is there any better equal hope in
the world? In present differences ia either party
without faith Of being in the rgh,y RI the Almighty
ruler Of nations, with His eternal truth and JUS
tice, BIO your side Of the North. or on yours OF
the South, that truth and that justice will surely
prevail by the Judgment OF this great tribunal
American people. by the frame of the government
under which we live, this same people have wisely
given their public servants but little power for mis-.
chief, and have, with equal wisdom, provided for
the return Of that little to their own
hands nc very short intervals. While the
people retain their virtue and vigilance, no ad-
ministration, by any extreme wickedness or fol.
ly, can very seriously injuro the government In
the short space Of four years.


My countrymen, ono and all, think calmly and
well upon this whole subject Nothing valuable
can be lost by taking time.


II there be M object TO hurry any Of you, ia hot
haste, to o step which yon would never take deli
berately that object will be frustrated by taking
time; but no good object can be frustrated bv IL