Year: 1860

speech, and thereby add to, rather than
impair its efficiency, and accompanying
that legislation with bill declaring it
to be felony of the highest grade, and
subject to heavy penalties by fine and
imprisonment, to rescue or attempt to
rescue slave in custody of the officers,
or after he had been restored to his
master, and making the general gov
ernment responsible for the value of
the slave rescued, and holding it as
charge against the State that shall per-
NIT the law to be thus violated within
its territory then suppose, in reference
10 the territories, there should be wis
dom and patriotism enough in both Sec
tlons Of the contry to restore matters
to the condition they occupied prior
to 1854, by re-establishing the Missouri
Compromise line ; don't you think, my
good friend, you could then be persuad-
ed to agree that all the Southern States,
except South Carolina, qcouM agree
even without the restoration of the
Missouri line, to remain little longer
in the Union ? although South Caroli-
ma might assume that she was too good,
and high toned, and chivalric to remain
where Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee,
Maryland, North Carolina and Missou-
ri would be proud to stay? And if
South Carolina should be deaf to all
remonstrances, and insist that she
would stay out after that, don't you
think she ought to be left to share the
fate she has so unnecessarily courted
and provoked


And this | have strong hope may be
accomplished, if reasonable time is al
lowed, suitable spirit is adopted, and
a proper course is pursued; but / do
not think it can be done by the system
of bullying and bravado that many of
our leading men have decided pas
sion for. The North and the South are
equally brave, and brave people like
brave man, will always despise and
defy bully, and there has been too
much of that game played on both
sides.


believe in the patriotism of reflect
ing men of all parties and both Sec
tions, and / am confident i'm the belief
that each will, in the spirit that animat-
ed our fathers, for the sake of the
Union, surrender much that has been
claimed on both sides, before they pull
down this great temple of liberty on
their own heads.


will not stop to inquire which sec-
ton would suffer most from rupture
of the. Union, because l do not calcu-
late its value by dollars and cents; it
is enough for me to know that both
would sustain calamity that neither
time, nor labor, nor money could repair.
But to accomplish anything, reason and
persuasion must take the place of
threats and taunts, and elimination and
recrimination. How all this is to be
brought about is another question,
which / leave to those who are in pow.
er to bring it about but / have an
abiding trust and confidence in the
same Good Spirit that has directed us
through every trying difficulty, that the
way will be prepared to save the great,
glorious, thrice blessed and God-like


work of our fathers to us, and to our
children and our children's children.


One thing my friend, you may be


assured of, that when the necessity
shall arise for Virginia to take up arms
against the government of the United


States, she will require no other state
to set her an example of what it be-


comes her honor to do-but she will


neither be stitched on" nor dragged


into" any rebellious or reasonable


movement by the most spoiled child Of


the whole family. Virginia made the
Union it is chiefly the work of the


hands of her children, and she will ad


here to, abide in, protect and preserve


it, until some stronger reasons than now


exist for its destruction.


One word more. Are we to have 9
State Convention? l hope not, there


is no sufficient reason for convention
the public mind is not in a condition


for convention it is in too excited .
state for such deliberation as the publ,


interest demands and artful meanl
|, have been used to make it so, and tn,
state of your own mind serves an evi
, dence of that fact.


Men are not made wiser or NOR,
temperate from being sent into con
vention than to any other deliberativ,
body, such as Congress or the legisla
ture; nor have we any reason to sup
pose, when party spirit runs as high a
) it does now, that wiser and better me-
t would be selected for such a place AM


for such purpose as is contemplated
| and would you ordinarily trust, the ex
istence or disruption of this nationa
< government to the hands of those VIII
r fill either of these departments? TIL
: world was not made in an hour; it j
{ not likely to be destroyed in day
: There is no occasion, then, for such re
markable haste.


: Nobody proposes TO fire our dwell
[ ings, or steal our substance away iron
: us; there is plenty of time before us


let MS then be patient, be wise, be mod
! erate-give time for the passions ex
' cited by the late election and the scene
that now surround US to calm down
l Let us act like men, and not like child
D rem, and above all, let us take time Il
f ascertain facts, and not to be led ava.
: from the path of duty and honor b.
e the ten thousand misrepresentation


that are scattered broadcast over tn