Nor can the Union be saved by invoking the name of the illustrious
Southerner whose mortal remains repose on the western bank of the
Potomac. He was one of us,--a slave-holder and a planter. We have
studied his history, and find nothing in it to justify submission to
wrong. On the contrary, his great fame rests on the solid foundation,
that, while he was careful to avoid doing wrong to others, he was
prompt and decided in repelling wrong. I trust that, in this respect, we
profited by his example.
Nor can we find any thing in his history to deter us from seceding
from the Union, should it fail to fulfil the objects for which it was
instituted, by being permanently and hopelessly converted into the means
of oppressing instead of protecting us. On the contrary, we find much
in his example to encourage us, should we be forced to the extremity of
deciding between submission and disunion.
There existed then, as well as now, a union--between the parent country
and her colonies.
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