The strongest cord, of a political character, consists of the many and
powerful ties that have held together the two great parties which have,
with some modifications, existed from the beginning of the Government.
They both extended to every portion of the Union, and strongly
contributed to hold all its parts together. But this powerful cord has
fared no better than the spiritual. It resisted, for a long time, the
explosive tendency of the agitation, but has finally snapped under its
force--if not entirely, in a great measure. Nor is there one of the
remaining cords which has not been greatly weakened. To this extent the
Union has already been destroyed by agitation, in the only way it can
be, by sundering and weakening the cords which bind it together.
If the agitation goes on, the same force, acting with increased
intensity, as has been shown, will finally snap every cord, when nothing
will be left to hold the States together except force. But, surely, that
can, with no propriety of language, be called a Union, when the only
means by which the weaker is held connected with the stronger portion
is force.
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