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Peace & Union™ War & Disunion 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 HON. JOHx\ McKEON, 
 
 DELIVEKED BEFORE THE 
 
 DEMOORATIO UNION ASSOCIATION, 
 
 Headquarters, So. 932 Broadway, on Tuesday ETeDing, March 3. 
 
 NEW-YORK: VAN EYRIE, HORTON & CO 
 
 . 1863. 
 
 FBICB, by EXPRESS, $2.00 PER HUNDRED; $15.00 PER THOUSAND. By MAHx. 
 SINGLE COPIES FIVE CTS., or FORTY CTS. PER DOZEN. 
 
 f\ 
 

. ^.^t • ■ ■ ■ 
 
 Peace and Union— War and Disunion. 
 
 HON. JOHN McKEON, 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE 
 
 The Democratic Union Association, 
 
 AT THEIR HEADQUARTERS, No. 932 BROADWAY, 
 
 ON TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH 3. . 
 
 Mr. McKeon, after being introduced by the : 
 Cbairman of tbe meeting, sijoke as follows.: — | 
 I congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, and ] 
 tbrough you, my fellaw-citizens, on the success 
 which has thus .far attended the labors of this | 
 Association. Through your exertioqs, frequent 
 opportunities are presented for placing before 
 the country the opinions of the Democracy in 
 relatioH to the pending questions of the day.— 
 In this Hall are collected, night after nighr, 
 the labor and the wealth, in a word, the solid 
 men of the metroi^olis, to listen to the various 
 suggestions which may be made as to the 
 course of policy to be adopted in out present 
 perilous condition. This crowded Hall shows 
 the deep interest taken in public matters at a 
 time when no election is at hand in this State. 
 It shows the anxiety to ascertain the true state 
 of things, and, if possible, to apply a remedy to 
 the eviis under which we are suiforing. Your 
 organization has not only been a bi'ight exam- 
 ple, which has been followed by the Democracy 
 m other cities of the Union, biit it has been the 
 cause of calling into existence, j amongst our 
 Bepubhcan friends, oreanizations under the 
 name of " Union Leagues," the object of .vhich 
 is to meet the arguments adduced here, and to 
 submit to the great tribunal of the people views 
 which will counteract the eifect of those here 
 enunciated. I congratulate the Republican 
 party on this movement, which is intended to 
 appeal to the judgment and fjatriotism of the 
 people. I congratulate them on this resort to 
 discussion. If they are right in then' poUcy, 
 appeals to the reason of the masses will be 
 
 more iDOwerful than the bars and bolts of any 
 Bastile. I congratulate the Republicans that, 
 after having tried " the argument offeree, they 
 are, now about to try the force of argument.'' 
 
 Since I last had the honor to address you, this 
 great State has witnessed an important political 
 revolution. A majority of the electors of this 
 Commonwealth have called Horatio Seymour to 
 I the Gubernatorial chair. By the voice of the 
 ! people of this State, Horatio Seymour has been 
 ' elected Governor of the State of New York,and, 
 in theJang.nage of trie Constitution of the State, 
 i Commander-in-Chief of ah the military and na- 
 I val forces of the State. His election was a 
 I bloodless revolution, transferring the political 
 power of the State into tnc hands of one who 
 would conduct our p.li'airs noi only in obedience 
 to the Constitution and laws of the United 
 States, but of this State. It wis not an ordi- 
 nary partizan triumph. It was more. By the 
 election of Seymour, in obedience to the voice 
 of the people, a rampart ot protection was 
 thrown around the rights and liberties of every 
 man witliin the territorial lines of the State. — 
 Horatio Seymour, invested as Governor, v/ith 
 the authority of the people of this State, has 
 declared that the Constitution of the State of 
 New York, and all laws passed in pursuance 
 thereof, shall be respected and obeyed, that the 
 rights of all her citizens shall be protected. I 
 believe that the pledge of the Goveliior will be 
 conscientiously redeemed. In Seymour's first 
 message to the Legislature of this State, in re- 
 ferring to the war now desolating the land, he 
 addressed that body as follows : 
 
" The genius of oiir government, and the in- 1 
 terests of onr people demand that the aspects | 
 of this war should he discussed with entire I 
 freedom. Not only is the National life at stake, i 
 but evcrj' personal, every family, every sacred I 
 interest is involved. We must grapple with I 
 the great questions of the day ; we must can- 1 
 front the dangers of our position. The truths j 
 of our financial and military situation must not 
 bs kept back. There must be no attempt to i 
 put: down the full expression of public opinion, i 
 It must be known and heeded, to enable Gov- j 
 ernment to manage pubUc atiairs with success, l 
 There is a yearning desii'e among our people to [ 
 learn their actual condition. They demand 
 free discussion. " Tliis should be conducted in \ 
 an earnest, thoughtful, patriotic spirit." • 
 
 In the full confidence of the sincerity of these | 
 assm-ances, and of the povrer of the State to j 
 sustain the right of free discussion, and as a i 
 native-born citizen of the State, claiming the j 
 right to discuss public measures, I appear be- 
 fore you to-night. I come to speak frankly i 
 with my fellow-citizens. 'It is a time for free- ' 
 dom of discussion. We must exercise that j 
 freedom, or we are lost as a people. This Gov- | 
 ernment beldtgs, not to the temporary mcum- 1 
 bents of offices, not to rapacious and linscrupu- \ 
 lous contractors, but to the laborhig masses, j 
 who seek to enjoy its blessings, and to transmit 
 them to their children. In our present terrible 
 affliction of civil war, there is no possible sal- [ 
 vation for us, except in the bold, resolute, and 
 energetic action of every true American citizen. 
 Indiflerence, timidity, and above all, that sel- 
 fishness which shrinks from danger and respon- 
 sibility, must be cast aside by every man in the I 
 community, or our hbtsrties, and our splendid I 
 form of government, will be crushed forever.— 
 They may yet be saved, and our integrity as a i 
 united Confederacy may yet be restored hj the 
 uprising of the masses of the people, and by 
 them alone. 
 
 My pui'pose to-night is not to appeal to your 
 passions or your prejudices. My object is to 
 endeavor to place b 3fore you reminiscences of 
 the past — that past, the history of which is 
 interwoven with the struggle of the infant co- 
 lonies against, the usurpations and oppressions 
 of the British Crown ; of the formation of our 
 pecuhar foi^m of gevernment, its practical 
 operations, with its trials an ;1 its triumphs ; to 
 point out to you the dangers through which it 
 has passed, and by what means it has been 
 saved from destruction ; and gathering toge- 
 ther from that past its rays of light, and, if pos- 
 sible, by the light of experience, to grope our 
 way through the darkness of that futvire which 
 lies before us. 
 
 Amidst the great events which convulsed the 
 world during the last century, the most impor- 
 tant was the Arnerican Revolution. For years 
 prior to the Declaration of Independence, the 
 Colonies remonstrated against the policy of 
 Great Britain, which "hampered the trade, vio- 
 lated the privileges and otiended the pride of 
 Americans." The Colonies sent rjetition on peti- 
 tion to England, asking for a redress of griev- 
 ances, but they were unheeded. The leading 
 minds of the Colonies clung to the idea of Union 
 with Great Britain. They professed their at- 
 tachment to the British Crown, but they were 
 not believed to be sincere in their professions. 
 Lord Camden, in reply to a suggestion that a 
 redress of grievances was all that the Ameri- 
 cans wanted, asserted that the Am'^'ricans did 
 not mean to be satisfied \\'ith such redress, but 
 that they intended to imfurl the baimer of in- 
 dependence. Benjamin Franklin indignantly 
 
 repudiated any such intention. George Wash- 
 ington, just before the Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence, declared that he cherished a love for the 
 Union %\ith Great- Britain, and Thomas Jefferson 
 iumself sought connection with the British 
 empire, with security for the rights of the Col- 
 onists, in preference to separation. The Colonies 
 sought, by entreaty, a concession to their jiist 
 demands. This concession was denied them. — 
 Every overtui^e for conciliation was repudiated 
 Forbearance ceased to be a vii'tue after years 
 of useless entreaties. The cry then went "forth 
 tiiroughout the land of Liberty and Indepen- 
 dsace. 
 
 The Declaration of Independence was forced 
 upon the Colonies. When it was pub- 
 Ushed, it was not the act of the people 
 of the Colonies, acting as one mass, but 
 was the declaration, as that instrument de- 
 clares, of the representatives of the " United 
 States of America." rt was the declaration that 
 these united colonies " are, and of right ought 
 to be, free and independent States, and as free 
 and independent States have power to buy and 
 conclude peace, contract alliances, estabUsh 
 commerce, and do all other acts and things 
 which independent States may of right do." The 
 author of the Declaration of Independence 
 stated to the world the Ust of grievances un- 
 der which the colonies were groanmg, and 
 which in their jiidgment justified tliem in sev- 
 ering political ties whicli bound them to Great 
 Britain. But not satisfied with the enumera- 
 tion of the wrongs committed against the colo- 
 nies as a justification for their c mrse, they ad- 
 vanced one step fm'ther and announced new and 
 peculiarly American doctrines as then" authority 
 for then" conduct. Whilst the governments of 
 the Old World rested their foundations on the 
 authority of Kings to govern by divine right, 
 and thert^by claimed obedience from the people 
 and the right to coerce, by/orce, submission of 
 the people to the wUl of the sovereign, the 
 American colonies repudiated sucli doctrines 
 and proclaimed that " all governments derive 
 their just powers from the consent of the gov- 
 erned," and that the people have a "right to 
 alter their form of government, and to institute 
 a new government, laying its foundation on 
 such principles and orgauizmg its powers in 
 such form as to thein shall seem most likely to 
 effect their safety and happiness." The line of 
 demarkation between the governments of the 
 Old World and the New, was distmetly drawn. 
 The formor was founded on force, the latter on 
 consent. The former was upheld by bayonets, 
 the latter rested on the hearts of the people. 
 These American doctrines were the cause as 
 well as the great object of our Revolution. It 
 was to maintain these views that indu'^ed 
 the able men of that time, to use the language of 
 a distinguished living British statesman, " to cut 
 the towing rope and steer a course for them- 
 selves over the world's ocean." When the rep- 
 resentatives of the American colonies spoke to 
 the world their resolution to attain inde- 
 pendence, their declaration fidly came up to the 
 wishes of Washington, who, in referring to the 
 necessity of it said, "I would m open, undis- 
 guised and manly terms, proclaim our wrongs 
 and our resolution to have redress. I woiild 
 tell them v.e had borne much, that we had long 
 and ardently sought for reconciliation uiDon 
 honorable terms — that it liad been denied us — 
 that aU our attempts after peace had proved 
 abortive, and had been grossly misrepresented 
 —that we have done everything which could be 
 expected from the best of subjects ; that the 
 spirit of freedom rises too high in us to submit 
 
to alaverj'. This would I tell thorn, not under amendment to the address to the crovTu, urged 
 covert, but in words as clear as the suu in its the propriety of recalling the troopa ijom Bos- 
 meridian brightness." I ton, and as "preparatory for the restoration of 
 When our Declaration of Independence was peace. " Eesistance," he said, "to your acts 
 made, the die was cast of eternal separation of was'necessarv as it was just, and your vain de- 
 Great Britain and the colonies. The govern- claratioas of the omnipotence of Parhament, 
 ment of Great Britain was defied. TJ^ integri- and your imperious doctrines of the necessity 
 ty of the Empire was broken into fragments, of submission, will be found equally Luipotent to 
 The war, which was commenced to enforce the convince or to enslave your fellow-subjects in 
 authority of the British government in the colo- America, who feel that tyranny is intolerable to 
 nies, was changed into a war of subjugation British subjects." Again he said : " If illegal 
 and extermination. Thuteen infant nations at violences nave been committed; as is said in 
 once combined to resist tlie overwhelming, and America, cease, open the door of possibility for 
 what appeared almost to be, the invincible re- acknowledgment and satisfaction. Cease your 
 soiurces of the mother country. Hostile forces ' indiscrimidate inflictions. * * * What 
 had met before the Declaration of Independence : though you march from town to town, from pro- 
 and blood had been shed in the land of the ' vince to province— though you should be able 
 " fiery puritans." •To Massachusetts, the slave- to enforce a temporary and local submission, 
 holder vVasliington rushed with his companions ' which I ordy suppose, but admit— how will you 
 ti'om Virginia and other slave-holding States i be able to secure the obedii^nce of the country 
 
 you leave behind you in your progress to grapp 
 the dominion of 1,800 miles of continent ; popu- 
 lous in numbers ; possessing valor, Uberty, and 
 resistance." Again he says, " It is evident that 
 you cannot force them, united as they are, into 
 your unworthy terms of siibmission. It is im- 
 possible ; and when I hear General Gage cen- 
 sured for inactivity I must retort with indigna- 
 tion on those whose intemperate measures and 
 imprudent c:3unoils have betrayed him into his 
 present condition," After speaking of the com- 
 manding talents of the men who led our revo- 
 lutions he said: "I trust it will be obvious to 
 your lordships that aU attempts to impose ser- 
 vitude on such a mighty continental nation 
 must be vain — must be fatal. You will be forced 
 to retract. Avoid this humiliating disgraceful 
 necessity with a dignity becoming your exalted 
 situation, maka the first advances to concord, 
 peace, and happiness, for that is your true dig- 
 nity to act with prudence and justice." On 
 another occasion, when some reference was 
 
 to assist her in her struggle. From New 
 Hampshire to Georgia, all who beheved in 
 tne doctrines of the Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence, stood side hj side, appeahng zo the God 
 of Battles to sustam them in their contest.— 
 Whilst England was waging w§r on this conti- 
 nent, the battle of free principles was fought, \vith 
 earnestness and courage which must command 
 the a<Imiration of every true lover of liberty 
 throughout all time. The names of the illus- 
 trious British statesmen who formed the un- 
 broken phalanx of tlie defenders of our hberty, 
 are indissolublv linked with the histo^' of the 
 Ee volution, and will Uve forever in the' grateful 
 recollections of Americajis. They were the 
 ■demigods worthy of the Pantheon, such as I have 
 heard is erected ia England by a distinguished 
 nobleman who has a gallery which he calls his 
 " Temple of Freedom," in which iie has pre- 
 served the "counterfeit presentments" of all the 
 defenders of Amorican rights, ana particularly 
 of the fv?arles3 and eloquent Chatham, the saga- 
 cious Eockingham, the majestic Fox, and those j made to the British troops operating in Ameri- 
 two glorious Irishmen, the philosophic Burke j an, he remarked : " I love and honor the Eug- 
 and the sincere and dauntless Barro. The les- i lish troops. I know then- vutues and then- 
 son taught by rea^liag the debates ia the House [ valor. I know they can accomplish anything 
 of Commons at the period of the Revolution i but impossibilities, and I know the conquest of 
 ought not to be forgotten at the present day. 1 America is an impossibihcy. You cannot, I ven- 
 The .fearlessness displayed by the British states- 1 ture to say, you cannot conquer America. * 
 
 men, the freedom of expression of their opin- 
 ions, justifying the conduct of the revolted colo- 
 nies, and their severe denunciations of ihe con- 
 duct 01 the government, have drawn fi'om Guizot, 
 the French philosopher and statesman, in his 
 
 * "^ If I were an American, as I am an 
 Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed 
 in my country I would n'^ver lay down my arms. 
 Neves ! nevee ! neveb !"• 
 Among the noblemen who stood forward 
 
 Introduction to the Life of Wasnington, the high- , in defense of the colonies, was the Marquis 
 est eulogium, not only on these men, but of that j of Rockingham, one of the purest a^ld wisest 
 representative system which ia founded on the i statesmen of Great Britain. S'irm, constant, 
 suifrages of the p80i>le, and authorizes and jus- I and incorruptible, he throw himself m be- 
 tifles the glorious spectacle of these statesmen ; tween the Americans and the despotism 
 defending right, law and a just cause. I have of the crown. He was not muchof a de- 
 made some selections from the speeches and bater, but his letters are pubUshed in the 
 writings of the prominent men of that day for i correspondence of Lord Chatham, and they 
 the purpose of Dlustrating th:? frankness and exhibit his fearlessness and fonpcast in an emi- 
 boldness of the defenders of our principles, and , nent degree. In 1778 Rockingham, wi-iting to 
 at the same tune the indulgence exhibited in a : Cnatham, stated as foUows : " I find all concur 
 monarchical* form of government, resting on ! in thinking that the best service which can be 
 divine right. The lesson ought not to be lost i done for the public is to jjoint out and if possi- 
 on a repubUcan form which owes its authority ble to convince them of the i npossibdity of go- 
 siloly to the people and rests on the consent ing on with the war. To show them how much 
 of the governed [ bl)od and treasure have already been wasted. 
 
 Lord Chatham's name is familiar to us all ' and most particularly the miserable state of 
 from om' schojl-bay days. His name is a house- the funds, to point out the weakness and ina- 
 hold word among us, and to his manly defense bility with which the mihtary operations have 
 of the rights of Americans we always turn with ' been planned, and inde !d tiie weakness and 
 gratefid recollection. In 177i the King declared folly ot every measure which the ministers have 
 m his speech his resolution to withstand every taken in this horrid war. The gross inatten- 
 attempt to weaken or impair the supremo au- , tion and mispenditure of the pubUc money in 
 thoriy of the legislature over the dominions of | various instances will I hope be made to appear, 
 the crown. Lorl Cliabha-^, i:i preparing an ' In the aaue -o^r Roc'iin'jham c.jaiu vrrcti to 
 
Chatham, " I concciTC that America will never 
 again assent to this country's having actual 
 power within that continent. My line of poli- 
 tics has ever hAon not to hold out tiattering 
 expectations to the pubUc when I was not able 
 to see the probability of their being accpmphsh- 
 ed. I cannot, therefore, so far betray in j' trust 
 to the public as to act as if that was practicable 
 which I thought of otherwise." He said "It 
 was hi-< dutv among others to show the country 
 the miserable, forlorn, and perilous condition 
 intt) which it had been brought." 
 
 After the siu-rcnder of General Burgoyne, he 
 wrote a letter to Chatham, a letter which, ii 
 one had been written of a .similar tone, by any 
 American Senator after the battle of Bull Rim, 
 it would, probably, have caused his incarcera- 
 tion in Fort La Fayette. Eocidugnani's letter 
 is to bo foaud in the fourth volume of tlic Chat- 
 ham papers, page 468. In tiiis he speaks as 
 follows :— " A gentiemaii has arrived from the 
 city and brings an account that the Warwick 
 man-of-war arrived last night and brings ac- 
 count that General Burgoyne's army has been 
 obliged to surrender, that they are to be march- 
 ed to Boston and thence sent to England, and 
 not to serve against America dm'ing the war. 
 / tnist it is (rue." 
 
 Let us now turn to the House of Commons, 
 where stood a body of statesmen resisting the 
 overwhelming majorities of the Administration ; 
 appealing with prophetic warnings to their fel- 
 low members against the bloody policy of the 
 Crown. These men, loyal to the great princi- 
 ples of Magna Charta and the Revolution of 
 168S, proclaimed those principles, with perfect 
 security that i^Lieu- loyalty to the crown would 
 not be questioned, or that their lives or liberty 
 would not be endangered. They were the true 
 friends of the integrity of tSeir coimtry and of 
 the Uberties and rights of their fellow subjects. 
 Like their co-laborers in the House of Lords 
 they behoved that thro'agh concUiation, conces- 
 sion and peace, the unity of the empire might 
 be preserved, and tiiey boldly declared that 
 through these paths, and not by means of war 
 and exrormination, was their country to be 
 savud from desolation. Time wiU not permit 
 mc to give extracts from the speeches of all 
 those statesmen who preferred peace to war 
 with the colonies. I can only refer to a few.— 
 Edmund Burke stands hrst as the champion of 
 conci iation and peace with America. He de- 
 nounced all measures of violence against the 
 colonics. He compiired the Secretary of W sr, 
 Germaine, to Dr. yangrado, whose remedy for 
 all ills was bleeding. " Bleeding,'" said Burke. 
 " has been his' only prescription. For the two 
 years that he has boon presiding over American 
 afifaire, the most violent scalping, tomahawking 
 measures have been pro,cticed. If a people de- 
 prived of their ancient rights grow trait ca-ous, 
 o'.eed ikeia .' , If they are attainied witli a sph-it 
 of insuiTection, hlebilHiem. If their fever should • 
 rise into robf>lUon, h>jer,d them, cries this State 
 physician. More hlood, moke blood, still mobe 
 
 BLOOD." 
 
 bv the side of Burke stood the majestic Fox. 
 Errtkine said of Fox that he was eloquence it- ; 
 Holf ; that this great man, in the :-i^eness of his 
 wisdom, was strenuously opposed to the insane 
 policy which gave hirtli to the revolutionary v,ar 
 with America and her United States ; that he I 
 bad listened to the splendid orations of Burke. I 
 delivored to empty benches ; that now that time 
 and events liave pronounced their awful judg- 
 mentsj no man would hazard his character by 
 Hupportirig opuiions which, for a long time, tri- 
 umphed in I'arhament, and inCamod the "reat 
 
 body of the people until one-half of the Bnt 
 ' empire was severed. The speeches of F' 
 I which remain as monuments of his powerful 
 gumentkMon and sound judgment, fullv sust: 
 1 the high eulogium .of Erskine. Fox' was t 
 friend of the American cause from the hrst ( 
 ! set. After the colonies had been engaged 
 i years with Great Britain, sustaining tuemsei 
 against her immense resources and power. 
 1779 -Fox told the House of Commons, " 
 have lost America ; we have lost 23,000 me 
 we have speut thirty mUlions by this accm's 
 American war. What has been the cause 
 this miscarriage ? Is not that the question 
 Who led us into this war? Ministers. 'W 
 were our motives for entering into and prose 
 ting hitherto V Th.3 repeated assm-aijces 
 ministers that the war*wa3 practi<?able — t 
 the means for securing success'' were adequat 
 that the issue woulrl be coiTespondent." Foj 
 vain plead for a cessation of hostilities. 
 had supported Mr. Powys in the House of Cc 
 mons in the previt)us year when that gentlen 
 maintained that, from the exhausted state 
 the finances of the country and the great 
 pense into wich the American war had plunj 
 it,' nothing could be more necessary tiiaa pe; 
 with .imorica. Mr. Powj^s moved that coma 
 sioners appohited to treat with America she 
 be authorized to declare the Americans ah 
 lutely and forever independent. Mr. Fox, ia 
 speech on that occasion, declared that the i 
 pend(Aicy of America was impossible and tl 
 Great Britain could not regain her ; that neitl 
 concession nor coercion could recover her. 
 another speech he pronounced the Amerit 
 war to be unjust in its principle, absurd in 
 prosecution, as it would be ruinous in its con 
 qusnces. On another occasion h6 said: "A: 
 ble lord has called the Americiin war a h 
 w-ar. The application of the word holy to 1 
 present wa^r may have appeared new to avi 
 gentleman present but myself. It is not new 
 me, and I will tell the house why it is not. 
 was in Paris j ast at the eve of this very w 
 and Dr. Franklin honored me with his intin 
 cy. I romembor one day conversing with h 
 on the subject, and predicting the fatal com 
 quenoes. He compared the principles of i 
 war and its probable effects to the ancient Ci 
 saders. He foretold that our best blood a 
 treasure woiild be squandered and thro .vn aw 
 to no pur[5ose ; that hke the holy war, v.hile 
 carried rain and destruction into America, 
 should impoverish and depopulate Britain ; a 
 while we went there under pretense of conf 
 ring temporaLnot giiostiy benefits on the vi: 
 quished, our concealed purpose was to destn 
 enslave, or oppress, as it ijromiaed best to i 
 swer our ends ; and like the pretended mart;' 
 or zealot^' in ancient times, we concealed unc 
 this fan- semblance every vice and passion, a'' 
 rice, revenge, ambition, and base as well as i 
 potent resentment." Mr. Fox again, in 17 
 referring to the determination of Lord Noi 
 not to have peace on any termt with the eg 
 nies, remarked : " The noble lord had stak 
 his reputation on carrying on the war. Did a 
 man dispute his intention of carr^ving i* on 1 
 If any man would doubt it, what would tlie r 
 ble lor^l himself say ? Why, recollect I have i 
 pointed Lf)rd Dunmore Governor of Virgin 
 Good God ! then can you suppose I have any : 
 rious idea of peace when I send out to that p: 
 vince a m.an as obnoxious as ever came frc 
 America ?" In the same year he charged tl 
 the American war was continued upon the op 
 ion of men whose interests U .promoted. 
 stated that'lhere w^sro men who -alleged that 
 
time of war the power of the crown was greater 
 than in times of peace. " But," said he, " the 
 power of the crown was more glorious when it 
 rested in times of peace and prosperity on the 
 constitution and affections of the people. — 
 What cause had we to hope that our armies 
 would be more successful in America hereafter 
 than they had been formerly ? We had abun- 
 dance of victorias— the thanks of the House had 
 been voted to (.lidbrent Generals, to Lord Corn- 
 wallis, Sir Henry Clinton, and Admirals Arbuth- 
 not, Rodney, and Clod knows whom. But what 
 did our victories avail '" 
 
 The British ministers would not be governed 
 bv the prophetic utterances of these true friends 
 of hberty. The weakness of the King controlled 
 everythiug. Madness ruled the hoar, and the 
 integrity of the British Empire was destroyed. 
 Is there no lesson in the past fi'om which om' 
 public servants and agftnts can profit ? 
 
 TiioAmericaus accomphshed what their friends 
 in Parliamout could not— the acknowledgment of 
 their indepeadence. The success of American 
 arms ostabiishQd the declaration of July 4, 1776, 
 of the thirteen States to assume then* "places 
 as ii'itio/is amongst tlie sovereign and independ- 
 ent States of the world." The treaty of Peace 
 made by Great Britam with the United States 
 was in the folio wmg words : 
 
 " His Britanic Majesty acknowledges the said 
 United States, vi,5 : New Hampshire, Massa- 
 chusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence 
 Plantations, Counecticat, New York, New Jer- 
 sey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mai-ylaud, Vu- 
 gima. North Carolina, South Carolina and 
 Georgia to be free, sovereign and independent 
 States." 
 
 The ath article of the treaty referred to the 
 thirteen miited States. The 6th article declar- 
 ed that there should be a fum and perpetual 
 peace between His Britanic Majesty and the 
 said States, and that His Majesty should with- 
 draw his armies without carrying away any ne- 
 groes or other property of the American inhabit- 
 ants. Other treaties made about the same time 
 with other European governments rpierred to 
 the separate States by name as cohstitutiag 
 the United States. It is dear that in the Trea- 
 tise on " Adranalty Practice," written some 
 years since by our Republican fellow-citiaen, 
 Benedict, ho is correct in the statemonts that 
 at th3 time of the Revelation each State became 
 an iiidepend'enl nation, clothed with aU the pov/- 
 ers of sovereignty. Iiideed,Hhe treaty to which 
 *I have refeiTed, snows the express aoknowledg- 
 meat of these colonies as separate and dis- 
 tinct nations, ia tne clearest terms. That the 
 States were di-itiuct nitions is the settled doc- 
 trine of the Supreme Com't of the United States 
 in decisions in'vvhicli it became nec3ssary to, re- 
 fer to tiie history of the formation of the gov- 
 ernment. The Supreme Court has declared that 
 each State was, after and before the Declaration 
 of Indepen lence^an in'lependent nation,. Each 
 in its own manner adopted forms of government 
 under which, as independent nations, they h^id 
 all the functions of good government. Jlach 
 was in itsoii an independent nation foreign to 
 the other Sta.tos of the Union, as well a-; to other 
 nations. You are well aware that ui 1777 the 
 States for mutual aid formed a league or arti- 
 cles of perpetual anion, known as the articles of 
 Confederation. In 1789 they broke up this per- 
 petual union, and formed a "more perfect 
 union" under the present Constitution of the 
 United States. By that instrmneut to the gov- 
 ernment was granted only a portion of the pow- 
 ers previously existing in the States or the peo- 
 ple of the States. To use the language of the 
 
 Supreme Court "the government was made by 
 taking from the States and the people thereof, 
 and transferring to the United States and the 
 people thereof, certain portions of sovereignty, 
 so that whilst under most other constitutional 
 governments, including those of the other States 
 of the Union, the legislative or sujjreme power 
 may lawfully do anything which is not forbid- 
 den in the Constitutions, the government of the ' 
 United States has no potcers except such as are 
 granted to it by the Constitution." 
 
 At no period of our existence has it be- 
 come so absolutely the duty of every citizen as 
 at the present time to understand the structure of 
 our State and General Governments. It is a 
 common thing to compare our General Govern- 
 ment mth that of foreign nations. It is a com- 
 mon mistake to draw analogies from foreign 
 governments when speaking of the operation of 
 the government of the United States. This er- 
 ror has contributed largely to bring about the 
 present lamentable state of things under which 
 we all suffer. Om- government has no analogy 
 to any other. The Supreme Court of the Unit- 
 ed States declared, many years since, that our 
 Constitution was a new creation made after the 
 Revolution, after twelve years of actual inde- 
 pedence imder the Confederation, and made, 
 not from any parent State, but from i*u-selves, 
 and nothing else. At the time of the formation 
 of the Constitution our people were not homo- 
 geneous, but consisted of persons from all civi- 
 lised nations— English, Scotch, Irish, Welsh, 
 Dutch, Swedes and French. The framers of the 
 Constitution made a new and original govern- 
 ment. They did not in any manner address 
 themselves to national prejudices, nor adopt, « 
 nor even allude to any pre\iously existing gov- 
 ernment as a pattern or standard, nor re-enact 
 any known code of laws in whole or in part, but 
 they passed by, in silence, the institutions of 
 the whole world, and invented a Constitution 
 which had neither pattern nor prototype in the 
 actual or present stafS or past history of the hu- 
 man race. 
 
 It will not be without interest to trace the 
 steps whereby this novel experiment in govern- 
 ment was called into existence. The history of 
 the formation of the government shows how se- 
 dulously our fathers guarded the rights of the 
 States — how unwUliug they were to have the 
 sovereignty of the States sv/aUowed up in an 
 immense consolidated government. They saw 
 that in the States alone was to be found the 
 great protection of hfe, liberty and property 
 of the citizen. Yet they felt the necessity of a 
 miion to protect their relations with foreign pow- 
 ers, and to ensure peace and pi-otiperity 
 at home. Experience had proved that the ar- 
 ticles of Confederation adopted by the States 
 daring tlie Revolution were not suited to the 
 wants of the United States. Steps were taken 
 to create a more efficient form of government, 
 better calculated than the Confederation to ac- 
 compHsh the desh'e of the people of the several 
 States. When it was proposed to supersede the 
 articles of Confederation, serion? objections 
 were made by the leading statesmen of the day, 
 and amongst others the objection was raised 
 that as the States were already confederated, 
 tinder a perpetual union, no power on earth 
 could dissolve it but the consent of all the con- 
 tracting parties. It was asked, why is the old 
 Constitution to be dissolved because some of the 
 States wish a new Constitution ? Alexander 
 Hamilton thought it wi'oug to allow nine States 
 to institute a new government (m the ruins of 
 the existing one. But i\lr. Hamilton was over- 
 , ruled, and the present Constitution of the Unit- 
 
ed States was agreed upon by delegates from 
 the different States. After being adopted by the 
 Convention, over which Washington presided, it 
 was sent to the different States to be considered 
 by them, and if approved, to be ratified by 
 them. It may be instructive to refer to the his- 
 tory of the action of the several States as illus- 
 trating the apprehensions of the States as to the 
 power of the new government : 
 
 New Hampshire, after much consideration, 
 adopted the Constitution, but with amendments, 
 calciUated; as they declared, to quiet the fears 
 of the people, and guard against an undue 
 administration of the General G-overnment. Af- 
 ter these amendments were made, the Consti- 
 tution was adojjted only by a majority of 11 out 
 of 103 votes. 
 
 Massachusetts called her Convention to deU- 
 berate on the Federal Constitution — " to ratify 
 an explicit and solemn compact." The Massa- 
 chnsetts Convention met before that of New 
 Hampshire. It was in the Massachusetts Con- 
 vention the argument was adduced against the 
 consolidation of the General Government, that 
 the General Government could not swallow up 
 the local government. "Their existence," it was 
 insisted, "is dependent on each other, and they 
 must stand or fall together." Such was the op- 
 posit^n to the Constitution, chiefly ou the 
 ground of the apprehension of the loss of State 
 sovereignty, that the Constitution was adopted 
 by a majority of 19 out of a vote of 355 mem- 
 bers. 
 
 Rhode Island refused to call a Convention. 
 She remained outside of the Union until Con- 
 gress had assembled under the Constitution as 
 adopted by the other States. 
 
 Connecticut— Of this State it has been truly said 
 that to her and New Jersey we are indebted for 
 the Federal Government. They fought the bat- 
 tle of the smaller a,^ainst the larger States. 
 They insisted that, without regard to size, every 
 State shordd have an equal representation in 
 the Senate. " Small States," said Ellsworth, in 
 her Convention, "must possess the power of self- 
 defense. Will any one say there is no diversity 
 of interests in the States ? and if there is, should 
 not these interests be guarded ?" 
 
 Sherman said : " The government of the Uni- 
 ted States was Federal, and instituted by a 
 wimber of sovereicpt States ; that the exercise of 
 the governments of the States would preserve 
 peace and good order in the place most remote 
 from the Federal Government." Ellsworth, 
 with prophetic vision, saw tliat if the United 
 States and the States " want to fight, theij may 
 do it, and no power of government can possibly 
 prevent it. Perhaps, at some time, the S'ates may 
 rise against the General Government.'" It was 
 then that, defending tlie proposed Constitution, 
 he said : " This Constitution does not attempt 
 to coerce sovereign bodies (States) in their po- 
 litical capacity. No coercion is api^lieable to 
 them but of an armed force. If we should at- 
 tempt to execute the laws of the Union by send- 
 ing an armed force against a delinquent State, 
 it would involve the good and the bad, the im- 
 moral and guilty, in the same calamity. But 
 le:ial coercion singles out the' guilty individual 
 and punishes him for breaking the laws of the 
 Union." Other members of the Convention in- 
 sisted on the sovereignty of the States. They 
 insisted that the structure of the General Gov- 
 ernment rested like a most magnificent bridge 
 built on strong and stately pillars, ami these 
 pillars could not be destroyed without the con- 
 sequent destruction of the superstructure.— 
 
 Connecticut adopted the Constitution by a ma- 
 jority of 88 out of 168 members. 
 
 New York. — The delegates ft-om this State 
 to the Federal Convention were Kobert Yates, 
 John Lansing and Alexander Hamilton. Ham- 
 Utou presented a plan of his own. His two col- 
 leagues, long before the Convention dissolved, 
 retired from that body, under the apprehension 
 that the proposed system of government would 
 end in consolidation. Although Hamilton favor- 
 ed a strong form of government, he admitted he 
 never intended the Abolition of the State govern- 
 ments. The contest in the State of New York 
 was extremely severe. The Convention which 
 adopted the Constitution consisted of 55 mem- 
 bers, and the act of ratiflca.tion was adopted 
 only by a majority of 5. Even then, it was not 
 adopted until after the passage of a preamble 
 and resolutions declaratory of the rights of the 
 people and the Sfates. These declarations, 
 amongst others, announce the following doc- 
 trines : — 
 The right of the people to keep and bear arms. 
 That no person shall be imprisoned or depri- 
 ved of his life, liberty or property, without due 
 process of law. 
 
 The right of every person restrained of his li- 
 berty to have an inquiry made into the cause of 
 his arrest, and to be liberated, if he be unlawful- 
 ly arrested. 
 
 The right of every person to be free from 
 searches of his property, liis person or papers. ' 
 After the adoption of the Constitution and the 
 amendments, a circular was addressed by the 
 members of the Convention to the Governors of 
 the several States, caUiug upon them to induce 
 the States to adopt the proposed amendments. 
 The circular stated that the proposed Constitu- 
 ! tion was very imperfect, but that an invincible 
 1 reluctance to separate from their sister States 
 , induced New York to adopt the Constitution.— 
 It is clear that New York never would have as- 
 i sented to the Constitution unless with such 
 I amendments as now form a part of the Consti- 
 j tution of the United States. When it was rati- 
 i fied it was with the express understanding that 
 i the rights set torth in these amendments should 
 I not be " abridged or violated." It was Alexan- 
 I der Hamilton, <>f the New York Convention. 
 ! who gave his idea of the power of the Gen- 
 ' eral Government to compel the submission of 
 States, said : " It has been observed that to 
 i coerce the states is one of the maddest projects 
 that ever was devised. A failure of compliance 
 ; will never be confined to a single state. This 
 [ being the case, can we suppose it wise to hazard 
 I cf dvil u'OT. What a picture does this present 
 to our view ! A complying state at war with a 
 I non-complying state. Congress marching the 
 .troops of one state into the bosom of another. 
 This state collecting auxiliaries and forming 
 perhai^s a majoritj'- against the Federal Head. 
 I Can any man be well disposed towards a govern- 
 ment wliich makes war and carnage tlie only 
 means of supporting itself ; a government that 
 c-m only exist by the sword ? Every such war 
 must involve the innocent with the guilty. This 
 single consideration should be sufficient to dis- 
 pose every peaceable citizen .against such a 
 government. T>ut can we believe that one state 
 wiU suiier itself to be used as an instrument of 
 coercion ? The theory is a dream. It is im- 
 possible. 
 
 In New Je7-sey.— This gallant State unani- 
 mously ratified the Constitution. In the Feder- 
 al Convention, Patterson, her delegate, had 
 manfuUy sustained the banner of State sever- 
 
9 
 
 eignty, and contributed, by hia efiforts, to re- 
 serve to the smaller States an equal represen- 
 tation in the Senate. 
 
 Ill Pennsijlxiania — A warm opxjosition arose 
 against the Constitution. All the zeal and abi- 
 lity of the supporters of the Constitution was 
 required to allay the fears of the people on the 
 subject of consolidation. The preamble to the 
 Constitution, in which the expression is used, 
 " We, the people," was refeiTed to as evidence 
 of this consolidation, to which it was answered 
 by a member of the Pennsylvania Convention, 
 in his appeal to the people. " Though the Fed- 
 eral Convention proposed that it should be the 
 act of the people, yet it is to be done in their 
 capacities ns citizens of the several members of 
 our Confederacy, who are declared to be the 
 people of the United States." 
 
 Still ilirtlier referred to, as an evidence against 
 consolidation, were the provisions of the con- 
 stitution in relation 'to the mihtia, that each 
 state could appoint every of&cer of its own mih- 
 tia and train the same. By this it could have a 
 special and powerful military support, wherein 
 no citizen of any other State could even be a pri- 
 vate sentinel. When it was suggested that the 
 States would be reduced to the footing of coun- 
 ties in an Empire, (the same idea which is taught 
 by the present Executive of the United States,) 
 it was answered, " Where is the county that can 
 independentlv train its mihtia, appoint its civil 
 and militia officers, establish a pecviliar system 
 of penal laws ; in short, where is the coimty in 
 the Union or the world, that can, Uke the States, 
 exercise independent legislation, taxation or 
 judicial powers. Pennsylvania manfully resist- 
 ed the idea of a consolidated government, but 
 insisted on % federal union for specific 2)urposes, 
 Tije constitution was adopted in Pennsylvania 
 by a convention consisting of 69 members. Of 
 these, one-third voted against the Constitution 
 on the ground of their apprehensions that the 
 i'ederai government would assume colossal 
 strength and destroy the rights and liberties of 
 the people of the State. The minority also is- 
 sued an address to these constituents, setting 
 forth the grounds of their opposition to the rati- 
 fication of the Constitution. 
 
 Delaware was tlie first to ratify the Con- 
 stitution. It was for the interest of a 
 small State to exchange her position as an 
 independent nation for an equality with Virginia 
 and Massachusetts in a Congress of the United 
 States. She saw that amendments would be 
 adopted by the larger States, and on the con- 
 vention called to act on the amendments, she 
 TOted for them. 
 
 Mar uland— The convention which adopted the 
 Constitution in this State was composed of 76 
 members, of which a minority of 27 (amongst 
 wh im were Luther Martin and William Pinck- 
 ney) advised amendments to the Constitution. 
 Resolutions were introduced expressive of the 
 sentiments of the convention against a consoU- 
 dated government, against the abrogation of 
 the constitutions or bills of right of the States, 
 and declaring that the doctrine of non-resistance 
 to arbitrary power and oppression was absurd, 
 slaijish and destructive of the good and happiness 
 of mankind. 
 
 Virginia— This State desired to have a fede- 
 ral government with all such powers as were 
 required by it, but stiU so guarded as not to 
 pat in Jeopardy the rights of her people as citi- 
 zens of a sovereign State. Virginia had a dread 
 of a consolidated government. Patrick Henry 
 complained that the constitution had an awful 
 squinting towards monarchy. 
 
 Virginia had a great dread of the power of the 
 
 General Goverament, but she assented to its 
 creation under the p.3rsuasion of some of her 
 wisest statesmen. Virginia was assm-ed that 
 che new Government was one entirely depen- 
 dent on the win of the States. The idea of 
 keeping the Union together by force- was not 
 entertained for one moment, she was assured 
 h<f the framers of the Constitution. The origi- 
 nal plan of the Constitution submitted to the 
 Convention of all the States, gave the 
 General Government authority "to call forth 
 the force of the Union against any member 
 of- the Union failmg to fulfil its .duties 
 under the articles thereof." When this clause 
 was before the General Convention of the 
 States, Mr. Madison, of Vu-ginia, and after- 
 wards President of the United States, said :— 
 " The more he reflected on the use- of force, the 
 more he doubted the practicability, the justiee 
 and the efficacy of it, when appHod to the peo- 
 ple collecti-rely and not individually. A Union 
 of States containing such an ingredient seemed 
 to provide for its own destruction. The use of 
 force against a State would look more like a 
 declaration of war than, an infliction of punish- 
 ment, and would probably be considered by the 
 party attacked as a dissobdion of all compacts 
 by which it might be bound. He had hoped 
 such a system might be framed as might ren- 
 der that recourse unnecessary," and moved that 
 the clause be postponed. The motion was 
 agreed to unanimously. That aflection, not 
 force, was the bond of our Union, John Quincy 
 Adams also beUeved, when he declared, years 
 after Madison :— " If the day shall eome, 
 may Heaven avert it, when the atiections of the 
 people of these States shall be aUenated from 
 each other, when this fraternal spirit shall give 
 way to cold indifference, or colhsions of interest 
 shall fester into hatred, then the politieal bonds 
 of political association will not hold together 
 parties no longer attracted by the magnetism 
 of conciliated interests and kindly sympathies, 
 and far better will it be for the people of the 
 disunited States to part in friendship from each 
 other, than to be held together by restraint." 
 
 The Convention of Virginia adopted certain 
 •amendments, and issued a circular addressed 
 to their sister States, calling on them to join 
 with Vu'ginia in demanding the call of a Con- 
 vention to make amendments. The Convention 
 was composed of 168 members. The Constitution 
 was adopted by only five majority. 
 
 North Carolina refused, in her Convention of 
 2(58 members, by a majority of 100 (134 to 86) to 
 ratify the Constitution untU amendments had 
 actually been made. These amendments were 
 intended to secure to the State all the sovereign 
 rjo-hts she had, except such as were expressly 
 delegated. Indeed, by every State in which the 
 Constitution was debated, the idea was con- 
 stantly presented that the new system of gov- 
 ernment was to give the General Government 
 no power except such as v^as erpressly delegated. 
 North Carolina ' never came into the new gov- 
 ernment until after the amendments were 
 
 South' OaroVna adopted the Constitution in 
 her Convention by a vote of 149 to 73, but with 
 this express declaration appended to her ordi- 
 nance of ratification :— " That no section or 
 paraTaph of the said Constitution warranta a 
 construction that the States do not retain every 
 po>rer not expressly relinquished by them, and 
 vested in the General Government of the 
 
 Georgia ratified the Constitution unanimoosly. 
 
 When'the first Congress, under the new Consti- 
 
 tu'-'on "s^embled, aUtheorigi-^.alt'iirteeaStatea 
 
10 
 
 were not represented. North Carolina and ! among parties having no common judge, each 
 Rhode Island had not then assented to the j pahty has an equal eight to jttdge fob itself 
 
 Constitution. After the amendments to the 
 Constitution were adopted, the thssenting States 
 united then- fortunes wth their sister States. — 
 When this new government of thirteen States 
 was thus inaugurated, the several States of the 
 Union remained as sovereign as they ever were, 
 
 as well of INFEACTIONS as of the mode AlfD 
 MEASDKEOF EEDRESS." 
 
 The Constitution of the United States was 
 formed by the sanction of the States, given by 
 each in sovereign capacity. It adds to the sta- 
 bility and dignity, as well as to the authority of 
 
 except so far as they had surrendered certain i the Constitution, that it rests on this legitimate 
 rights expressly to the General Government.— \ and solid foundation. The Slates, then, being 
 The action of Congress could not, after the now ] the parties to the Constitutional compact, and 
 government was fonned,^ and did_ not, bind any | m their sovereign capacity, it follows of neces- 
 sity that there can be no tribunal above their 
 authority, to decide in the last rosoi?t such 
 questions as may be of sufficient • ma42:nitude to 
 require their intei-position. The authorOy of 
 Constitutions over Governments, and (he sover- 
 eignty of the people over the Constitutions, are 
 truths which are at all times ^lecessary to 6e 
 kept in mind. 
 
 And here is the Virginia resolution, framed 
 by James Madison." 
 
 '■'• Mesolved, That this Assembly [the General 
 Asse ui^j of the State of Virginia] does explicitly 
 and peremptorily declare that it views the pow- 
 ers or the Federal Government— as resulting 
 from the compact to which the States are par- 
 ties, as limited by the plain sense and inten-. 
 tion of the inatnimeut constituting that com- 
 pact — as no further valid than they are author- 
 ized by the grants enumerated in that compact ; 
 and that in case of a dehberate, palpable and 
 dangerous exercise of other powers not granted 
 by tiie said compact, the States who aee par- 
 ties thereto have the bight, and abb in duty 
 
 1 BOUND, to interpose FOR ABBESTING THE PKO- 
 1 GKESS Oi' THE EVIL, AND FOR MAINTAINING WITH- 
 IN THEIB BESPECTIVE LIMITS THE AUTHOBITLES, 
 , EIGHTS AND LIBEBTIES APPERTAINING TO THEM." 
 
 ! These resomtions formed the grfcunds 
 of the success of the Democr, tie par- 
 
 of the States of the old Confederation, which 
 had not formally given their assent to the Con- 
 stitution. That histrument did not specify 
 which were the States bound by it, and it could 
 only be ascei-tained by searching the national 
 archives,, and finding there the resolutions and 
 ordiaances of the several States which had rati- 
 fied it, and had thereby agreed to be governed 
 by the laws of the new government. The Con- 
 stitution was launched in the fuU assm-ance of 
 the sovereignty of the States, except so far as 
 they had sun-endered certain specilic rights to 
 form a National Government. It was organized 
 in the fullesc conhlence. that it never would or 
 could be converted into a huge consolidated go- 
 vernment. 
 
 Lot us how turn to the practical operations of 
 the new government. Geneml Washington, the 
 first President, saw, with serious app'-Gnonsion, 
 the dangers to wLicii tliis new experiment was 
 exposed. " The foremost man oi ail the world," 
 by his patri )tism and judgment, amidst perils 
 of no ordinary character, piloted out our ship 
 of State into the broad ocean of an uncertain 
 future. During his administration, feeble in- 
 surrect'O-is against the law arose, but they were 
 quieted without bloodshed, as much by the exer- 
 cise of liis clemency, prudence and spirit of con- 
 ciUatioa as by any disylay of force. Whjin he sur 
 
 rendered the :m1 ■nil, isti a 't)i Or • tie government, lie I ty in after years. They have been the 
 lei^ to iiis countrymen the rich legacy of Ins pa- great chart of that great conservative 
 ternal advice, in tut; form of a Farewell Address, ! organization of the country. They have been 
 in which he warned them against the insidious endorsed and approved in tm-n by every De- 
 attempts which would be made to array one ! mocratic National Convention. These princi- 
 section of the country ag;)inst the other. Ke , pies alone have given security to om- form of 
 was succeeded by <iohn Adams, under whose governs: ent, and for one, I am not disposed to 
 administration an actempt was made to convert i smrender these doctrines at a time wJien their 
 the Federal Government into a consohdated go- i support will alone save the country from des- 
 vernment. Then arose the questions between ' potism and anarchy. In the States only can 
 the General and State Governments. It was | the people find refuge and protection. 
 
 during his- administration that the States Oi 
 Virginia and Kentucky passed memorable res- 
 olutions declaratiiry of the rights of the States 
 and the powers of tie General Government. 
 
 The Kentucky Resolutions declare as fol- 
 lows : — 
 
 After having thus far traced the origin and 
 progress of om* peculiar government, let us 
 enqiiire when and whence first came any move- 
 ment for its dissolution and destruction. 
 
 The fii-st suggestion for a dissolution of the 
 present Union came from Massachusetts, in 
 
 " Eesolved, That the several States compos- [ 1811, when Mr. Quincy, of that State, declared 
 ing the United States of America, are not j in Congress that if tlie bill for the admission of 
 united on the principles of unhnuttxl submission - Louisiana as a State of the Union should become 
 .to the General Government ; but that by com- 1 a law, the States which composed it were 
 pact midor the style aid title of a Constitution free from their obligations, and as it was tl e 
 for the United States, and of amendments i right of all, so it would be the duty of some to 
 thereto, they constitute a General Government , "prepare for a separation — amicab'U, if they 
 for special purposes, delegated to that govern- i could— forcibly, if they mast." 'Mx. Quincy was 
 ment ccrtaia definite p(rffc'rs, reserving each : called to order tor this declaration. The Speak- 
 State to itself the residuary mass of right to i er decided that the reference to a separation of 
 their o%vn self-govei-nment, and that whenso- the States was not in order. From this decision 
 ever the General Government assumes undele- Mr. Quincy appealed, and the chair was m't sus- 
 gated powers, its acts are uuautiioritative, void, tained by the close vote of 56 to 53. Again, fi'om 
 and of no force ; that to this compact each 1 Now England, the attack on the Union 
 State acccided as a State, and is an integral par- was renewed during the war with Great 
 ty ; that this Government, created by this com- t ''Britain, declared in' 1812. It was then that 
 pact, was not made the exclusive or final judge in Massachusetts the State authorities took 
 of the extent of the powers delegated to itself; miaaures to prevent the General Govem- 
 bince that would have made its discretion, and i ment from obtaining volunteers. It was 
 not the Constitution, the measiu-e of its pow- '■ then that the Hartford Conventicm was held, lit 
 era ; but, that as in aU other cases of com'>act, ' which the doctrine was announced that the 
 
11 
 
 withdrawal of a State from the Union could take cism, with untiring zeal, rallied its hosts to the 
 place under certain circumstances, and would j destruction of slavery. . An unscrupulous sys- 
 be rightful and just. It was also in this Con- ' tem of politics at once seized hold of the preju- 
 vention that the anti-slavery agitation was sug- j dices of the North, and sought for power through 
 gested, and which was renewed in the contest its influences. As was natural, the slavehold- 
 for the admission for Missouri as a slave State, ing States became aroused to a sense of the 
 During the discussions on' this question of the alarming danger to which they were exposed, 
 admission of Missouri, the division of the States and resolved not to yield what they believed 
 of the Union was looked iipon as a catastrophe ' were their rights under the Constitution. ' The 
 to be dreaded by every patriot. Again, during ' line was drawn. The North, by its legislation, 
 the administration of Gen. Jackson, in 1832. the ' by its elections, declared that the black and the 
 onerous duties imposed by our tarifl' laws, j white race shall stand on the same platform, 
 which enriched the eastern inanufactm-ers, ex- under the Constitution and legislation of the 
 cited the opposition of the agricidtural States i United States. The South rephed that black 
 of the South to that degree that South Cpjolina ! men shall be deemed property, when they 
 in solemn convention declared, that as she ' are slaves, and that, under all circumstan- 
 
 deemed the tarifl' laws passed by Congress wi- 
 constitutional, she would not permit these 
 laws to be executed within her limits. The 
 eflect of this stand by South Carolina was 
 to array that State against the General Govern- 
 ment. A collision of arms between that State 
 and the United States was imminent. Tnese 
 points in our political history are refen-ed to for 
 the purpose of asking the question, in what 
 manner v/ere the dangers impending over the 
 country avoided. The answer is, that the same 
 spirit of compromise and conciliation which fram- 
 ed the Constitution and created the UnioE, on all 
 occasions saved our government from destruc- 
 tion. On all these trying occasions the General 
 Government was preserved by conciliation, by 
 concession, by compromise — terms which, at the 
 
 E resent day, are repudiated by our Republican 
 •lends. Yet these terms were dear to Demo- 
 cratic Presidents like Madison, Monroe and 
 Jackson. Thaee patriots held no defiant aspect 
 towards States, whether they were eastern or 
 southern, biit with statesmanlike prudence sug- 
 gested yielding to compromise ^yith the com- 
 plaining members of the Confederacy. These 
 patriotic men loved the Union more than the 
 triumph of any party 0¥er any State. Thev 
 knew that the existence of this government 
 rested on the attachment of the people of each 
 and every State, and not on the power of the 
 General Government to compel, by force, sub- 
 mission to its decrees. 
 
 But this expenmsnt of a government depend- 
 ing on the consent of the goveraed, was to be 
 subjected to a still severer trial than any to 
 which it had yet been subjected. A sadder sight 
 was to be witnessed than had over yet been 
 presented, \yithm some of the northern and 
 eastern States a spirit arose which seemed 
 resolved on the annihilation of sJavery. This 
 snirit, born uf a fanaticism \?hich looks on 
 slavery as an evil heaven has ordained 
 should be abolished, with steady and unyield- 
 ing step has advanced doling the past thii'ty 
 years, gathering strength \rith each year, 'antil 
 it has at last proclaimed its determination that 
 
 ces, they shall be in a subordinate condi- 
 tion to the white man. The slave States 
 insisted that the government of the United 
 States was made by and for white men 
 alone. They insisted that the Supreme 
 Court of the United States had virtually decided 
 that tliis construction put on the Constitution of 
 the United States is correct. That this differ- 
 ence of opinion between the slave and ' free 
 States would lead to civil war and the disrup- , 
 tion of the Union, unless some concession svere 
 made by both parties, was the opini^in cf every 
 leading mind of the countiy. Webster and Clay, 
 who now sleep in thoir honored graves, mourned 
 by all who revere that patriotism which rises ' 
 above party fidelity, forewarned then- country- 
 men against the agitation of t'lis. dangerous 
 question. The statesman of the North appealed 
 to his fellow-citizens to conquer their prejudices. 
 The statesman of the South solicited his coun- 
 trymen to yield something of their constitution- 
 al rights to save the glorious inheritance of our 
 Union. These distinguished men, rich in feel- 
 ings of devotion to the whole country — rich in 
 experience — desired to meet and settle the 
 teiTible question of the day, not as fanatical 
 zealots, not as wild enthusiasts, but as states- 
 men who had to deal with the stern realities of 
 Kfe and not -nith the theories of philosophej-s. 
 They knew that tlie reasoning of a Buxton 
 or a Brougham was inappUcabie to our pressing 
 difficulti'-s. They dealt with slivery tliousande 
 of miles distant from the mass of the British 
 people, whilst we stood, for the first time in 
 the history of the world, surrounded by mUhnns 
 of a race diS'oreat from and inferior to, as was 
 insisted, the white race. The question was 
 novel and overwhelming. It must be met. 
 The Union or slavery was and is the issue. 
 For me, come wkat wfll, I am with the 
 oatriots of the past, for the Union as our 
 forefathers made it. The Union imder which 
 my loreiathers lived is good enough for me, 
 and it is for its preservation I am pre- 
 jiaied to make any sacrifice. It is in vain to 
 dis'ruise the fact tliaf- the election of the present 
 
 slavery shall no longer be tolerated under our [ Executive was the triumph of the anti-slavery 
 government. The status of the black race, un- idea of the North. True, he was elected by di- 
 der the government of the United States, has visions amongst his political opponents, yet 
 thus become the great question of the day. — \ still he was constitutionally elected, and the op- 
 The free States claim that the declaration that ponents of slavery claimed that the power of the 
 
 " aU men are born free and equal," justifies 
 their position in favor of the equality of the 
 races. To this it is ansv.'ered that Mr. Jefferson 
 
 'the 
 general go-^ ernment should be exercised to *ar- 
 ry out their ideas. No sooner was his election 
 announced, than the rumbhng of the coming 
 
 borrowed the expression from Ulpian, who, ia ' earthquake was heard. Again the patriots of 
 the third centtuy, declared the same doctrine, the country, under the lead of .tlie chivalrous 
 Omiies liberi nasceniar, and that Ulpian, in the ' Crittenden, proposed terms of compromise, 
 then dawning Ught of Christianity, referred not They were, Tinfortimately for that country, re- 
 to an inferior race, hke. the black, but) to those j jected. Most of the slave States called their 
 who were of his own race, iisdeni seminibHS or- ' conventions together to repeal the ordinances 
 turn, to the white slave, like Spartacus, into ' which bound them to the Union, and thereby 
 whose mouth the dramatist has placed thril- ' formally separate from their sister States. — 
 ling allusions to liberty. Eeligious fanati- Amidst the tumult of poUtical excitement, tl^ 
 
12 
 
 slave States of Virginia and Kentucky united reads a newspaper, draws a check or sends a 
 with the free State s in a call for a Peace Con- i telegraphic message, is taxed for war purposes ; 
 veution. Hero again the friends of the Union but I need not further enumerate the dili'erent 
 proffered terms of concession to the free States, j modes in which everybodj' is taxed every day 
 and again they were rejected. ITiat Conyention ! to i>ay the exj^enses of the war. This war debt 
 
 adjourned. A few weeks only passed and the 
 scene opened on " the bloodiest picture on the 
 page oftime." The tramp of armed men— the 
 glittering bayonet— tlie rumbling roll of artil- 
 lery, proclaimed that the die was cast. "We were 
 in the midst of the direst of calamities — Civn; 
 Wab. 
 
 It is useless to refer to the past to inquire 
 how we have been brought into this affliction. 
 I could charge that the war has been chang- 
 ed from its original policy- its original object. 
 I am here to say what should be done now, under 
 existing circumstances. In my judgment, we 
 are compelled to decide, not whether the South 
 is to be subjugated, but whether the North 
 is to be saved. The man who talks of sub- 
 jugation and extermination of the South, neither 
 appreciates the teachings of Christianity nor of 
 profane history. Such men are unsafe advi- 
 sers in times like these. . The people must look 
 at facts, and not be carried away by iancies. Let 
 us look at some few facts, for the past two 
 years a war has raged, not between us and a 
 foreign nation, but with our own countrymen— 
 with men who are the relatives and friends of 
 the people of the North. I ask any man who 
 has a heart to feel, if there are not sufficient 
 homes made mournful and desolate to make us 
 all pause and reflect — not sufficient blood to 
 satisfy any Moloch ? The character of the war, 
 its exhausting expense, its consequences, are 
 so powerfully given by Mr. Spaulding, one of 
 the Repubhcan members of Congress from this 
 State, that I must refer you to his speech for 
 one of the best portraits I have yet seen of the 
 present struggle. He calls it a bloody and ex- 
 hausting war. He teUs us that it costs over 
 $2,500,000 a day— that the G-overnment is spend- 
 ing at a fearful rate the accumulation of years 
 of former prosperity — that it withdraws mil- 
 lions from industrial pursuits, and takes from 
 the wealth of the country— that an immense 
 army must be supported by those who labor 
 
 is a mortgage alike on all the productive indus- 
 tiy and property of Eepublicans, democrats, 
 old line whigs, conservatives and abohtionists. 
 This war tax is aheady beginning to be noticed 
 by the people ; but, as the war is procrastina- 
 ted and the debt increased, the bui'den wiU be 
 more deeply felt. While we are running along 
 at forty miles an hour under the pressure of 
 irredeemable paper, necessarily issued and cir- 
 culated to prosecute the war, the present taxa- 
 tion is easily jsaid, and there is a seeming j)ros- 
 perity ; hue I can assure gentlemen that a 
 reckoning day will surely come." 
 
 I ask m;p countrymen if they ever dreamed, 
 in theu' wildest enthusiasm, that the struggle 
 between the North and the South would ever 
 assume its present gigantic proportions ? — 
 Even the President of the United States, with 
 all the advantages which his ofiicial position af- 
 forded him, when he called for 75,000 men, 
 showed his opinion of the feebleness of the se- 
 ceding States. These numbers have been in- 
 creased to that degree tlxat the President has 
 had more than a milhon of men under his com- 
 mand. At the commencement of the war the 
 country groaned under an expenditure of one 
 milhon of doUars per day. Now our daily ex- 
 penditures are admitted to be two and a half 
 millions, and probably are nearer three mil- 
 lions. The present head of the Treasury De- 
 partment, in submitting its estimates to Con- 
 gress, has been compelled, it Was well been said, 
 to resort to figures which bear greater resem- 
 blance to the .calculations of astronomers con- 
 cerning the movements of celestial bodies in 
 illimitable space, than to anything ten-estrial. 
 I need not refer to the hundreds of thousands 
 of the best men of the land, who have been lost 
 to their families and the industry of the nation. 
 We have arrived at that point in the progress 
 of the war when each man must decide for him- 
 self, what should be his coiu'se. I am aware 
 that a vigorous prosecution of the war is the 
 
 daily and those who have acquired property.— ^ only test of loyalty in the judgment of Eepubh- 
 He admits the inherent difficulty of conquering ' can partizans. The Democracy and Conserva- 
 " and subduing an intellU,ent people, extending tive men of the country are denounced as trai- 
 oner such a wide extent of territory as is covered tors. Under such denunciation the Democracy 
 by the revolted States," and particularly over a , wiU not quail. Pointing to the briUiant record 
 
 from" Mr. Spaulding's speech. Speaking of the apply to our defamers the words of Moore," 
 
 debt contracted by the war, he says : a conte.....t .-n the rain-on w.o . .,,iv u, ,ii>i,.y,,i ' 
 
 " Every dollar of debt contracted becomes a 
 first mortgage upon the enthe property and We have here, inthis city, thousands upon 
 productive industry of the country. It affects thousands of patriotic Democrats, loyal to the 
 the farmer, laborer, mechanic, nianufacturer, Union and the Constitution, but not to the Ee- 
 merchant, banker, commissioned merchant, publican party. They seek foi' a restoration of 
 professional man and retired capitalist. Every that Union, for the preservation of that Consti- 
 pound of tea, coffee and sugar use.! is taxed to tution, but they do not believe that war alone- 
 pay the expenses of the war, and the person can accomphsh this desirable result. We have 
 using these articles of daily consrjnption. pays tried for two years the pohcy of a vigorous pro- 
 the tax in the increased price. Every person secution of war. Is it not time to try the ex- 
 £hat uses wine, brandy, whiskey, beer, segars periment of a vigorous prosecution of peace. 
 or tobacco, pays a portion of the war tax. All War has slaughtered hundreds of thousands of 
 necessaey articles of dress, such as shoes, our tVUow-citizens, and squandered tlie miihons 
 boots, hats and wearing apparel, are taxed in taken from industry and the savings of labor. It 
 like mannei*, and ail superfluous and unneces- has added to the primeval curse of man by re- 
 sary articles, such as silks, laces, diamonds and quiring 'additional hours of toil to meet the 
 jewelry, are heavily taxed ; and I would bo glad taxes of the government. It is impoverishing 
 to see the tax still further increased on them, the laborer while it em-iches the heartless con- 
 in order to prevent, if possible, their use at this \ tractor, and is widening and deepening the 
 time. Every person that rides upon railroads, chasm dividing the northern and southern 
 
13 
 
 states. The fiery ordeal of battle has been , 
 tried for two years. The administration al- ' 
 though armed with iUimitable powers over the j 
 men and currency of the country, with its pro- ] 
 clamaticn of emancipation, with "its bills of con- 
 fiscation, has not restored the Union. All then- 
 efforts have proved fruitless, have signally [ 
 failed. Shall this erperimentum crucis be still 
 further tested ? Are we not prepared to try the 
 experiment of peace. If there be such a dis- t 
 tinction as War Democrats and Peace Demo- 
 crats, I rally under the white banner of peace. 
 For myself I cannot understand why any man 
 who desires a vigorous prosecution of the war 
 should hesitate to sustain the RepubHcan party. 
 If the country demands a war policy, it is due to j 
 the country that the administration should be 
 sustained by men who insist on a vigotous pro- 
 secution of hostilities. The Republican party 
 stands before the world committed to the war. 
 Its avowed policy is the subjugation of the 
 South. President Lincoln, as the head of that 
 party, proclaims ertiancipation to every slave in 
 the South. The President is, imder the late le- 
 gislation of Congress, authorized to command 
 the services of every able-bodied man to execute 
 the RepubUcan policy. Every man who believes 
 in the President's policy should sustain him and 
 his party. If the Republican party has a ma- 
 jority of followers, let us not, as Democrats, by 
 false pretences, and by political juggleiy, de- 
 prive them of the opportunity of carrying out 
 their views. Let the Democracy say that they 
 gloriously carried on war with foreign foes, when 
 the opponents of Democracy attempted to take 
 sides wth these foes, but the Democracy now 
 wish to live in peace with their owri countrymen. 
 They believe, with Cicero, that peace is prefera- 
 ble to any civil war ; IbeUeve that if the present 
 policy of the Administration be carried out, the 
 Union is irrevocably gone. It is time for th§ 
 Democracy to declare that we seek to call back 
 the seceded States to the Union, with aU their 
 rights, with all their institutions as guaranteed 
 to them under our present Constitution. That 
 we seek restoration, not over the bloody fields 
 of war, but by the paths of conciliation and 
 peace. 
 
 We cannot mistake the signs of the times. 
 The elections of last fall were clear and unequi- 
 vocal condemnations of the Administration. — 
 When this war broke out the Administration 
 held power, because it seemed as if the popular 
 wiU was with it. Since the calnj and " sober sec- 
 ond thought" of the American people has begun 
 to operate, it has found expression in a variety 
 of forms. In the western States the legisla- 
 tures have before them suggestions for a settle- 
 ment of our difficulties. New Jersey, in like 
 manner, is moving for some measures "whereby 
 we can remedy our present difficult es, and Con- 
 necticut has, with a courage which does her hon- 
 or, presented, as the standard bearer of her De- 
 mocracy, her worthy son, Thomas H. Seymour, 
 the soldier and the'atatesman. The people are 
 aUve to a sense of their danger. This govern- 
 ment is, after all, founded on popular will.— 
 Sustained by that, an administration is strong ; 
 opposed by it, it is powerless. That popular 
 will is 'now being marie known. The local elec- 
 tions in this State, within the past few weeks, 
 show a wonderful revolution Ie the public mind. 
 
 They show that if Horatio Seymour were now a 
 candidate, he would be elected by over 100,000 
 majority. The masses of the people desire a 
 change of policy in the administration of the 
 Government. The voice of the people cannot 
 be disregarded by pubUc servants. It must be 
 obeyed. In this hour, beyond question, " the 
 voice of the people is the "voice of God." Poli- 
 tical power is with the men of the State, 
 not with the Governors. Cardinal Bellarmine, 
 in that "Dark Age" for liberty, the Seventeenth 
 century, tinily says : 
 
 " The supreme power is given by God to the 
 men who compose a State, or a regularly consti- 
 tuted political community. There is no such 
 thing as an organization of government, hold- 
 ing power by any positive institution, or any 
 givincj-over of rights, distinct from the natara 
 constitution of the people, but only as the natu- 
 ral consequence of the principles upon which 
 the government has been framed. Therefore 
 the sovereign power can neter be given over to 
 one person, nor to any set of men, but abides in 
 the whole constituted body of ih.e people.'" 
 
 The President of the United States, the Gov- 
 ernors of the States, all pubhc men, cannot but 
 feel that they would rather have aU the super- 
 visors and constables of a .^reat State like New 
 York with them than a division of any army. — 
 When an administration has the supervisors 
 and constables, they have the people, and with- 
 out popular support, nothing can be achieved. 
 
 I have endeavored to show you, my fellow- 
 citizens, that conciliation and concession cotdd 
 have saved these colonies to the British Empire 
 —that history shows that war cannot re-unite, 
 but can divide forever brethren of the same 
 family. Educated in a Christian community, I 
 have been taught to beUeve that "Blessed are 
 the peace makers." Obedient to the promptings 
 of the spkit of true religion — enlightened by the 
 teachings of history— inspired by the recollec- 
 tions of the common glory which belongs to the 
 northern and southern States, I am ready to 
 stand forward as one of the advocates of peace. 
 I am ready to try the experiment of recovering 
 our lost brethren, not by arms, but by endeav- 
 oring to conciliate them. To the Republicans, 
 let us leave the cry of war. Let us Democrats 
 appeal to the people to stay this fratricidal strife. 
 Let us insist that peace " hath her victories as 
 
 weU as war." Let us demand an armistice 
 
 Let us have a convention of the States. Let us 
 civilians imitate the pickets of both armies. If 
 they with arms in their hands can talk together 
 and bring back the past history and past re- 
 nown of a common country, I cannot see why 
 civilians cannot deliberate together. We have, 
 thus far, seen the fniitless efforts of powerful 
 and overwhelming millions with their armies on 
 the field to restore our broken Union. In the 
 name of the God of mercy, let us try to restore 
 it by peace. Who is there amongst us that will 
 not rejoice at the close of this struggle ? Not 
 one amongst us but will hail with joy that day 
 when the dove of peace, set free from the Demo- 
 cratic ark, shall find a resting place, and retiuTi 
 to proclaim that the encrimsoned waters of this 
 civil war are subsiding, and we can behold the 
 bow of concihation and unity embracing once 
 more at.t. the States of this Union. 
 

T II E 
 
 |lfto-|orli MtM^ €ni\imm] 
 
 THE WHITE~¥aN^ paper. 
 
 The Proprietors of The Caucasian are happy to announce tha 
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 The principles of The Caucasian are the principles of White Men 
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 of habeas corpus, and all assaults upon the freedo'm of speech or of tl 
 press. It isjalso devoted to an explanation of the so-called Slavei 
 Question, and stands firmly for White Supkemacy, and a defense < 
 the rights and welfare of the Producing and Working Classes, now in 
 l»erilled by the doctrine of Negro Equality, High Tariffs, Paper Cu 
 rency and Excessive Taxation. 
 
 With the principles of our forefathers as its platform, The Caucasia 
 confidently appeals to all lovers of their country for support, and, sul 
 jected as it has been to the persecution of the misguided men now i 
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