Year: 1863

Il
e That it was used as a pretext, will adm
0 but that it was moving cause, I deny
E These things have been gradually working


their issue for years. The Southern politicaI


saw what every one else has seen, that on a
count of the institution of slavery, the polit
f cal power of the Government was passing OF


of their hands. They found out long ag
f what The world could have told them muc


sooner, that civilization and material pro-


perity could not go hand in hand with slaverl


they found that, by the laws of population


while they were losing in their political chal
acter and strength, the virgin soil Of this grea


Northwest was being occupied with hard


and thrifty people, who were not only exter


ding the area Of votes; that the time was no


far distant when the States north of Maso


and Dixon's Line would control the destinie


of this country. What was to be done? The
came up the dogma. that slavery must be tn


baIance-wheel in the Government, and regu


late the admission of free States into the Tn


ion. They therefore said TO the North, yoI


must adopt the rule that slavery shall go hanC
| in hand with freedom in order to preserve thu
| equilibrium of proven Well, the Democrat,


party had shouldered great many things il
its time, till, to use a steamboat expression
we used to employ under such circumstances
they Utterly loaded us down to the guards
they gave us, as a Virginian would say, more
than we could tote. What was the result ?


We struggled under it as long as we could
but when they piled Oh this additional amount
the Democratic resolution staggered at it
They of the South said, it is either that or we
will secede and dissolve the Union. l Stood
upon the pavement in Cincinnati when Bu-
chanan was nominated, and every five min
utes heard that threat from some Southern
nabob: You are bound to take this thing, or
we will secede. Well, they patched up anoth-
er compromise and nominated Buchanan, and
be would have been a wise man who could
have foretold the result,


-Four years of another Democratic admin
istration rolled on, Southern men had got
bond and security for another four years; but
they were pretty sure it could not be obtained
again, for there was no body that would give
it. During that administration it is a notori-
Gus fact that men were called into the Cabi-
net from the Southern States who made them
selves busy as bees preparing for the conflict.
The Secretary of the Navy sent forth all the
ships of the feet to far distant seas, whence
they could not be recalled short of year or
two. The Secretary of War took from the
arsenals, in the North, all the guns and muni-
tions be could get at, and crowded them into
Southern bands, who had been taught to use
them For four years they were busy disar
ming US, and quietly engaged in placing the
arms among themselves. Yet, in the face OF
these facts it is said that they seeded only be-
cause Mr. Lincoln was elected. Well, if they
did they made an almighty good preparation
for that event. Laughter. More than hat,
they actually went to the existing Admins
tration aud asked the President, how far viii
you let US igo in our peaeelble measures o
separation before you bring to bear upon US
the power of the Government? Don't you
wish Old Hickory had been there to have
been asked that question He would have
aiken his pipe out of bis mouth, drawn him
self up, and sworn, if you go single step, by
Heaven, will hang every one Of you, Ap-
plause. say to you, my friends, that righI
sorry am that when the pen of the historian
fills this page of our history, there will be
found many record over which the patriot
will shed tears of shame; aud it will not be in
the power of the recording angle to blot the
record out.


Suppose we admit that they had not made
preparations. Let us prove the point from
other circumstances. When Mr.. Lincoln
came to take his seat in the Executive chair,
what reason was there still fer Southern men
to raise the hand ofsuicide against the nation
Why. they said, ''You have been sacrificing
and trampling upon our rights all over this
country" Pray, how? Pray, where? What
have we done? The people Of the whole
country, in the regular and constitutional
mode, had elected the President just as every
other President had been elected. Had we
repealed any of the Fugitive slave Laws p
Not one; for the week after Mr.. Lincoln's in
auguration, slave could have been taken
back to his master as easily as before. Had
we enacted any obnoxious laws that interfer-
ed with their rights? '.Oh, no; but you are
Just going to do it. You have brought the
Aboitionists into power, and they will ruin
us'' A very small body they have been for a
long time. used 10 fight them very hard;
but many years ago, found out that [ was
fighting a windmill. But" they said, you
brought the Abolitonists into power, and we
are compelled to secede, in order to protect
our right in the future Why? You have the
President Well, he was Kentucian by birth
and as to his opinions on slavery, know moth
ing and care less. You have the President,
what else Well, you have the Abolitionists.
Had we the Senate? No, they held a working
majority in the two branches of Congress, and
they had !wothirds of the Judges in the Su-
preme Court of the United States. Now,
what was there to justify rebellion under that
state of things? Nothing, more than the fact
that they had determined Cd it before hand
Let US see if they determined on it before
hand There was held in 1860, after the old
usages of the Democratic party, Convention
in Charleston. There was great many men
who knew beforehand what was going to come
to pass, and were not considered very sagacious
for all that. What was il? There were men
there who had determined 10 create a division
between The North and South, in order to re-
gain this political power; but there stood be-
tween them bulwark more powerful than any
thing they had encountered before. They
stole the guns and the money, and everything
else, according to their capacity, and that was
by no means limited; but there still stood be-
fore them power they must strike down,
and that power was the Democratic party
That power had stood before them for quar-


Ter of a century. 1t must be broke down and
ground into powder And at that Conven-
tion they struck down the Democratic party,
because it was in their way. They knew well
enough that il they had nominated Douglas,
or james Guthrie, or either of halt dozen
other men, aud given him an honorable sup
port in the South, he would have been elected.
But if he had been elected, secession would not
have had pretext for inaugurating this re-