No. 149.] 307 



kindred; not divided into petty principalities, or feeble leagues, 

 bat united as they are to-day, under a government, the freest, 

 the happiest, and the noblest upon which the sun has ever 

 shone." 



The sentiment I adhere to — here and elsewhere I proclaim it — 

 I desire to see the Union which binds these States stand. To 

 perpetuate it, we must be just to each other. 



We occupy a great central position ; Europe lies on one side 

 of us, Asia on the other ; and if we hold together as one people, 

 no glass is broad enough, or clear enough, to read the horoscope 

 which the Future opens before us. Here agriculture will yield 

 its exhaustless treasures ; here commerce will bring the products 

 of every clime ; mechanic industry will achieve its greatest 

 triumphs ; the arts will produce their noblest works ; intellect 

 will accomplish its highest labors and exhibit its grandest dis- 

 coveries ; civilization will here make its abode, and surround it- 

 self with every thing which can adorn and brighten liuman 

 life. 



Let us then stand by the Constitution. The enemies of the 

 Constitution are the enemies of the government — the enemies of 

 the country. The Government cannot exist unless the Constitu- 

 tution is to be obeyed. If some of its provisions seem to bear 

 hard on you, you must remember that some of its provisions 

 seem to bear hard on us. The Constitution must be respected — 

 its authority is supreme. We must bear and lorbear. When a 

 crisis comes, which appeals to our sectional sentiments — a crisis 

 which would array the North against the South, let us rekindle 

 our patriotism, by going back to the scenes in which the great 

 and good men took part, who formed the Constitution, and we 

 shall learn from them to deal with each other as members of the 

 same great family, and to cherish a patriotism broad enough to 

 embrace our whole country. 



I thank you, fellow-citizens, for your kind indulgence in bear- 

 ing with me, and for the very cordial manner in which you have 

 responded to the sentiments which I have ventured to express. 



