I
speak to-day for the preservation of the Union. "Hear me for my
cause." I speak to-day out of a solicitous and anxious heart, for the
restoration to the country of that quiet and that harmony which make the
blessings of this Union so rich, and so dear to us all. These are the
topics that I propose to myself to discuss; these are the motives,
and the sole motives, that influence me in the wish to communicate
my opinions to the Senate and the country; and if I can do any
thing, however little, for the promotion of these ends, I shall have
accomplished all that I expect.
* * * We all know, sir, that slavery has existed in the world from time
immemorial. There was slavery in the earliest periods of history, among
the Oriental nations. There was slavery among the Jews; the theocratic
government of that people issued no injunction against it. There was
slavery among the Greeks. * * * At the introduction of Christianity, the
Roman world was full of slaves, and I suppose there is to be found no
injunction against that relation between man and man in the teachings
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ or of any of his apostles.
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