606 



PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



from this, they can only do so against law and by rev- 

 olution. The Union, and not themselves separately, 

 procured their independence and their liberty. By 

 conquest, or purchase, the Union gave each of them 

 whatever of independence or liberty it has. The Union 

 is older than any of the States, and, in fact, it created 

 them as States. Originally some dependent colonies 

 made the Union, and, in turn, the Union threw off 

 their old dependence for them, and made them States, 

 such as they are. Not one of them ever had a State 

 constitution independent of the Union. Of course, it 

 is not forgotten that all the new States framed their 

 constitutions before they entered the Union; never- 

 theless, dependent upon, and preparatory to, coming 

 into the Union. 



Unquestionably the States have the powers and 

 rights reserved to them in and by the national Consti- 

 tution ; but among these, surely, are not included all 

 conceivable powers, however mischievous or destruc- 

 tive ; but, at most, such only as were known in the 

 world, at the time, as governmental powers ; and cer- 

 tainly a power to destroy the Government itself had 

 never been known as a governmental as a merely ad- 

 ministrative power. This relative matter of national 

 power and State rights, as a principle, is no other than 

 the principle of generality and locality. Whatever 

 concerns the whole should be confided to the whole 

 to the General Government ; while whatever concerns 

 only the State should be left exclusively to the State. 

 This is all there is of original principle about it. 

 Whether the national Constitution in defining boun- 

 daries between the two has applied the principle with 

 exact accuracy, is not to be questioned. We are all 

 bound by that defining, without question. 



What is now combated, is the position that secession 

 is consistent with the Constitution is lawful and 

 peaceful. It is not contended that there is any ex- 

 press law for it ; and nothing should ever be implied 

 as law which leads to unjust or absurd consequences. 

 The nation purchased with money the countries out 

 of which several of these States were formed : is it 

 just that they shall go off without leave and with- 

 out refunding ? The nation paid very large sums (in 

 the aggregate, I believe, nearly a hundred millions) to 

 relieve Florida of the aboriginal tribes : is it just that 

 she shall now be off without consent, or without mak- 

 ing any return ? The nation is now in debt for 

 money applied to the benefit of these so-called se- 

 ceding States in common with the rest : is it just 

 either that creditors shall go unpaid, or the remain- 

 ing States pay the whole ? A part of the present na- 

 tional debt was contracted to pay the old debts of 

 Texas : is it just that she shall leave and pay no part 

 of this herself? 



Again : if one State may secede, so may another ; 

 and when all shall have seceded, none is left to pay the 

 debts. Is this quite just to creditors? Did we notify 

 them of this sage view of ours when we borrowed their 

 money? If we now recognize this doctrine by allow- 

 ing the seceders to go in peace, it is difficult to see 

 what we can do if others choose_ to go, or to extort 

 terms upon which they will promise to remain. 



The seceders insist that our Constitution admits of 

 secession. They have assumed to make a national Con- 

 stitution of their own, in which, of necessity, they have 

 either discarded or retained the right of secession, as 

 they insist it exists in ours. If they have discarded 

 it, they thereby admit that, on principle, it ought not 

 to be in ours. If they have retained it, by their own 

 construction of ours they show that, to be consistent^ 

 they must secede from one another whenever they 

 shall find it the easiest way of settling their debts, or 

 effecting any other selfish or unjust object. The prin- 

 ciple itself is one of disintegration, and upon which no 

 Government can possibly endure. 



If all the States, save one, should assert the power 

 to drive that one out of the Union, it is presumed the 

 whole class of seceder politicians would at once deny 

 the power, and denounce the act as the greatest outrage 

 upon State rights. But suppose that precisely the 

 same act, instead of being called " driving the one 



out," should be called " the seceding of the others from 

 that one," it would be exactly what the seceders claim 

 to do; unless, indeed, they make the point that the 

 one, because it is a minority, may rightfully do what 

 the others, because they are a majority, may not right- 

 fully do. These politicians are subtile and profound 

 on the rights of minorities. They are not partial to 

 that power which made the Constitution, and speaks 

 from the preamble, calling itself " We, the People.'' 



It may well be questioned whether there is, to-day, 

 a majority of the legally qualified voters of any State, 

 except perhaps South Carolina, iu favor of disunion. 

 There is much reason to believe that the Union men 

 are the majority in many, if not in every other one, of 

 the so-called seceded States. The contrary has not 

 been demonstrated in any one of them. It is ventured 

 to affirm this even of Virginia and Tennessee ; for the 

 result of an election held in military camps, where the 

 bayonets are all on one side of the question voted upon, 

 can scarcely be considered as demonstrating popular 

 sentiment. At such an election, all that large class 

 who are at once for the Union, and against coercion, 

 would be coerced to vote against the Union. 



It may be affirmed, without extravagance, that the 

 free institutions we enjoy have developed the powers 

 and improved the condition of our whole people, be- 

 yond any example in the world. Of this we now have 

 a striking and an impressive illustration. So large an 

 army as the Government has now on foot was never 

 before known without a soldier in it but who had taken 

 his place there of his own free choice. But more than 

 this : there are many single regiments whose members, 

 one and another, possess full practical knowledge of 

 all the arts, sciences, professions, and whatever else, 

 whether useful or elegant, is known in the world ; and 

 there is scarcely one trom which there could not be se- 

 lected a President, a Cabinet, a Congress, and perhaps 

 a court, abundantly competent to administer the Gov- 

 ernment itself ! ]S or do I say this is not true also in 

 the army of our_ late friends, now adversaries, in this 

 contest; but if it is, so much better the reason why 

 the Government which has conferred such benefits on 

 both them and us should not be broken up. Whoever, 

 in any section, proposes to abandon such a Govern- 

 ment, would do well to consider, in deference to what 

 principle it is that he does it ; what better he is likely 

 to get in its stead; whether the substitute will give, 

 or be intended to give, so much of good to the people ? 

 There are some foreshadowings on this subject. Our 

 adversaries have adopted some declarations of inde- 

 pendence, in which, unlike the good old one, penned 

 by Jefferson, they omit the words, " all men are cre- 

 ated equal." Why ? They have adopted a temporary 

 national constitution, in the preamble of which, unlike 

 our good old one, signed by Washington, tliey omit 

 " We, the People," and substitute, " We, the deputies 

 of the sovereign and independent States." M hy ? 

 Why this deliberate pressing out of view the rights 

 of men and the authority of the people ? 



This is essentially a people's contest. On the side 

 of the Union, it is a struggle for maintaining in the 

 world that form and substance of government whose 

 leading object is to elevate the condition of men ; to 

 lift artificial weights from all shoulders ; to clear the 

 paths of laudable pursuit for all ; to afford all an un- 

 fettered start and a fair chance in the race of life. 

 Yielding to partial and temporary departures, from 

 necessity, this is the leading object of the Government 

 for whose existence we contend. 



I am most happy to believe that the plain people 

 understand and appreciate this. It is worthy of note, 

 that while in this the Government's hour of trial, large 

 numbers of those in the army and navy who have been 

 favored with the offices have resigned and proved false 

 to the hand which had pampered them, not one com- 

 mon soldier or common sailor is known to have de- 

 serted his flag. 



Great honor is due to those officers who remained 

 true, despite the example of their treacherous asso- 

 ciates; but the greatest honor, and most important 

 fact of all, is the unanimous firmness of the common 



