Year: 1861

the nation. And if this onset upon th


Constitution, and laws, and order, of thes


United States, shall prove to be success


ful, then the goodly fabric of govern


ment, erected by the labors and cement


cd witn the blood Of our patriot.fathers
and committed as their most precious


earthly legacy to US, with the solemn


charge that we shall preserve it intact


and so deliver it to those that follow us


this government, the best that man will


the aid Of Providence ever devised


this government, under which our coun
try has arisen from feeble beginning tt


its present degree of prosperity ane


greatness, affording security at home


and commanding respect and protection


abroad-this government, if the onset up


on it shall prove to be successful, soil


fall to rise no more.


Now. it does not come within my de.


sign to inquire particularly what may OF


may not be the causes which have led Ia


the attempted destruction of our Nation


al life. Doubtless there are many indi.


vidual and national sins, on account ol


which, in part, the Supreme Ruler has


permitted this dire calamity to overtake


US. And doubtless He has wise pur-


poses to be subserved in the result oil


these civil commotions. But these what.


ever they may be, form no justification


Of the stupendous wickedness manifested


in this conspiracy to dsmember the Un-


ion, and overthrow the government oI


our country.


AS to the immediate causes which


have produced this widely extended re.


bellion, there may be some diversity OF
sentiment among men who are equally


patriotic. 1t is my object at presen,
rather to treat Of the fact, than to inves-
tigate its cause. l may however remark
that the exciting question Of slavery is
intimately connected, either as cause, or
pretext. or partly as both, with this at.
tempted subversion of the government.
To those who look merely upon the sur
face of things, it will probably be re-
garded as the main cause. Others, who
regard the movement with a more philo.
sophical eye, will probably regard the
slavery question as being chiefly the oc-
casion of the movements pretext seized
upon by designing men with which to
intiame the minds of the Southern people,
and thus the more easily to accomplish
their sinister purposes in the destruction
Of our glorious Union. And this is the
view taken by many eminent statesmen
Of the South as we'll as of the North
statesmen who were opposed to the cleo
ton Of our present Chief Magistrate.
Take, for example the recent emphatic
Inference Of the distinguished candidate
of the National Democratic Party during
the late Presidential canvass: There
has never been n time from the day that
Washington was inaugurated first Presi-
dent Of these United States, when the
rights Of the Southern States stood firm.
or under the laws of the land than they
do now. There never was a time when
they had not as good cause for disunion
as they have to-day. What good cause
have they now that has not existed under
every Adm inistration The
slavery question is mere excuse. The
election Of Lincoln mere pretext The
present secession movement is the result
Of an enormous conspiracy formed more
than year since-formed by leaders Of
the Southern Confederacy more than
twelve months ago. They use the sla-
very question rs means to aid the &C.
of their ends."A


Says DR.. Il. J. Breckinridge. Of Ken.
lucky, than whom there are few men Of
the present. or Of any other age, better
versed in questions Of politics as well as
Of Theology: AT the present moment,
the slave States that have seeded, are Of
all the slave States the very ones that
would not have seeded, and the slave |
States which are most anxious to pre-
serve the Union are the very ones which |
would have promptly seeded. ifthe cur
rent impression Of the case was true and
complete. 1t is tie idea of
to be diminished by re-
in the Union and to DO incalcu.
lably augmented by leaving it the idea
of ,osalth. Of conquest, Of adVancemens-
all Of them, we are thoroughly convinced.
in The highest degree Elusive and fatal
but it is these ideas-.Jar more than any
disgust that the North condemns slavery as
immoral, or any appreciation that slavery
,ViN be disturbed, or slaves stolen, or the
South annoyed IN the Union-that pre-
vades the present dominant party in the
cotton States. and enabled it to precipi-
tate them into revolution"


Now l have not q doubt that there
were many upright and good men in the
far South even, who were drawn into the
secession movement by designing men.
under the false impression that their in
s,itutions and homes were endangered.
Aud just as little doubt have l. that
there was a prsmeditated design on the
part Of leaders in this movement to break
lown the government Of these United
States, whenever its administration would
pass from their control.


II is related Of the late Mr.. Calhoun. of
South Carolina-the great apostle Of
,ulli6cat,on and soession-that. nearly
ifty years ago. he claimed that the
aristocracy held in their hands
he chief power Of the government and
declared that {" When soe cease to control
his nation through disjointsd Democ-