Year: 1860

demand, or those that slavery give usS
What constitution? That of Washing
ton and Madison, or that of Slidell,
Douglas and Taney? Loud and long
continued cheering.


The conflict stands there WithF the
stubborn, brutal force of reality. How
ever severely it may disturb the nerves
of timid gentlemen, there it stands and
speaks the hard, stern language of fact.
| understand we'll that great problems
and responsibilities should be approached
with care and caution. But times like
these demand the firm action of men who
know what they will, and aoiU 1t, not that
eunuch policy, which, conscious of its
own unproductiveness, invites us blantly
to settle down into the intbecils e5titent-
ment of general impotentcy. They cam
not ignore the conflict if they would, hot
but have nerve enough to decide it Ii
they could.


AS to the


THREAT OF THE SOUTH TO DISSOLVE THE UNION.


Mark we'll what position ther North
will take, if by a revolutionary act
against our national government you
should attempt to cut loose from the
Union. The territories are the property
Of THE Union as such; those who in5a
volutionary way desert the Union, give
UP their right to the property of the
Union. That property, the territories;
will remain where the Union remains,
and the slave power would do we'll first
to consider how much,blood it can;spare,
before it attempts to strip the Union of
a single square foot of ground Tire
mendous cheers.


HOW TO SETTLE THE. HE.IRREPREss1BLE.c coNPLrcf:


There is but one way of settling the
"irrepressible conflict" It is not by re-
sisting the spirit Of the times and trying
to neutralize its iihpelling power, for you
attempt that in vain; but 1is By neatsras-
sizing the obstacles sohtc8 hate atsoson them.
selues into Its path. There is No other.
The irrepressible conflict viii rage with
unabated fury until our social and pd-
litical development is harmonized with
the irrepressible tendency Of the age,


That is the solution which the Re:
publicans propose: Their programme
is simple and consistent:


Protection of our natural and consti=
tutional rights.


Non-interference with the social and
political Institutions existing by the leg
islation of sovereign States. Exclusion
of Slavery from the national Territofies;
they must be free because they are ma
tional. Immense cheering.


Promotion and expansion of free la.
Dor by the homestead bill and the EN-
coaragement ofhome industry. lCheer.
ing renewed


THE WEAKNESS OF THE SOUTH IN WAR.


But we are told that the people of
Slave States are a warlike race, and that
they will gain, by force, what we are un-
willing peaceably to concede. VAIL
What charm there is in that word for
a people ofcolonels and generals! Well;
since that old German monk invented
that insignificant black powder, which
blew the strongholds Of feudalisM into
the air, war falls more and more under
the head of mathematical sciences. Don
Quixote, who, undoubtedly, would have
been hero in the seventh century, would
certainly be the most egregious fool in
the nineteenth. l have nothing to say
about the bravery of the Southern peo-
pie, for aught [ care they may be bra.
yer than they pretend to be; but / invite
them candidly to open their eyes, like
sensible men. 90 -


l will not compare the resources of
the South, in men and money to those
of the North, although statistical state
ments would demonstrate the over
whelming superiority of the latter. We
can afford to be liberal, and for argu-
ment sake, admit that the South will
equal the North in numbers and if
they insist upon it, excel as in martial
spirit. But it reduires very little
knowledge of military matters to under
stand that, aside of numbers, equipment
courage and discipline, the strength Of
an army consists in it's ability to cuA-
centrate its forces, at all times, upon the
decisive point. Providence is on the
side of the big battalions, said Napoleon.
That means not that victory will be with
the most numerous army, bat that
which is always able TO appear in
strength when the decisive blow is to
be struck. An army that is always scat-
tered over large surface, is, properly
speaking, RIO army at ALL Even BY i
much less numerous, but concentrated
enemy, it will be beaten in detail, diyi-
sion after division; it is defeated before
having lost man. This is plain.


The South thinks of going to war for
the benefit and protection of slavery -
But slavery is not merely an abstract
principle; slavery consists materially in
the individual slaves-in so and SO many
millions Of human chattels scattered
over so and SO many thousands Of square
miles. In order to protect slavery, it is
essential that the shareholders be pros
teeted in the possession of their slaves,


[ say, therefore, that slavery cannot
be protected in general without being
protected in detail. But how can you
protect it in detail? By guarding if.
teen hundred miles of northern frontier
and two thousand miles of seaeoast an
enemy who is perfectly free in hism moves
ments, and aided by an extensive rail-
road system always able to Concentrate
his forces wherever he pleases2 It is
impossible; the dullest understanding
sees it. 1t may be said that it will not
be necessary; indeed, for the Free States
it would not; they may, in order to con-
centrate their forces, expose, their terri
tory; for the damage done by an inva-
sion is easily repaired. The retreating
invader cannot carry the liberties of the
invaded country away with llim.-
(Cheers.9


Not SO with slavery. A northern an
ti-slavery army, or even a small flying
corps invading a slaVehofding State
would perhaps not Systematically libc-
rate the slaves, but at all events it would