I believe from the bottom of my soul,
that the measure is the reunion of this Union. I believe it is the dove
of peace, which, taking its aerial flight from the dome of the Capitol,
carries the glad tidings of assured peace and restored harmony to all
the remotest extremities of this distracted land. I believe that it will
be attended with all these beneficent effects. And now let us discard
all resentment, all passions, all petty jealousies, all personal
desires, all love of place, all hankerings after the gilded crumbs which
fall from the table of power. Let us forget popular fears, from
whatever quarter they may spring. Let us go to the limpid fountain of
unadulterated patriotism, and, performing a solemn lustration, return
divested of all selfish, sinister, and sordid impurities, and think
alone of our God, our country, our consciences, and our glorious
Union--that Union without which we shall be torn into hostile fragments,
and sooner or later become the victims of military despotism, or foreign
domination.
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