T '7 " y .-"N.: r r-s . " " ' ' ' - ' - - --
t . :
; . BY S. B. KOW.
CLEARFIELD, PA., AVEDIESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 2, 1860.
VOL. 7.-T0. 3.
POLITICAL ISSUES OF THE DAY.
ADDRESS OF
HON. CHAS. FRANCIS ADAMS,
OF MASSACHUSETTS.
We publish in full tbespeechof Hon. Chas.Fran
cU Adams, delivered before an immense meeting
of the friends of Freedom and Protection at Phil
adelphia on the 23th Aug.. and ask for it a careful
perusal by every voter, into whose hands it may
come. .Air. Adams is the son of Johs Qlincy Ad
ams, and in point of literary ability ranks fore
most among the "shining lights" of our "literary
republic." Mr. Adams, on being introduced, was
received with prolonged cheering, after which he
gpoke as follows :
I presume that I address the citizens of a
place claiming to be the most conservative
city in America. By the word "conservative"
I mean adverse to"cbange,and most particular
ly unwilling to favor any movement which
seems likely to unsettle the established ideas
and the customary social and political relations
which time has sanctioned, and habit has ren
dered familiar to all. "Conservative." There
Is much virtne in that word. Although com
ing from a diflerent and a more excitable com
munity, I think that I, too, may claim to be
conservative. I, too, am averse to change ;
1, too, am very unwilling to unsettle anything
that is established on good and sufficient foun
dations. I even desire to preserve much that
is called old, merely because it is old. For
that reason, when I am home I prefer to live
in an old house, rather than to build a new
one. Not that I think it the best, or the hand
somest, or the most convenient, for in all these
lespects I well know that it is vastly inferior
to modern constructions, but solely becanse it
is old, and because my fathers lived there be
fore me.
If I choose to put up with the inconvenien
ces of small rooms, or narrow windows, or un
even floors, for the sake of long habit and
pleasant association of ideas, I do not know
why any one has a right to find fanlt. Even
if there were no other reason whatever, it is
enough that I like it and do not care to change,
to justify me in my choice. To this extent it
Keeins to me wise and proper to be conserva
tive. Hence, if I apply this reasoning to mat
ters of government, I should say that I am per
fectly satisfied with the Union and the federal
Constitution, with existing State, and city and
other municipal organizations, and do not,
therefore, want to make a change. Nay, I
would go lurther, and say, that I do not care
to lavor any plan which should appear to
threaten or to disturb the useful tenor of their
operations. This is what I call sound, conser
vative, national doctrine. I suppose you to
approve of it with me, so that to this extent
we may be said to be quite agreed. So far,
so good.
But now suppose we go a step forward. ' Let
us assume that in course of time something
turns up that, if not attended to in season,
threatens to make very serious changes for
the worse, in the old system to which we are
attached. Supposing, in my old house, for
example, I discover the dry-iot beginning in
the timbers, or that my foundation" is starting
a little, or perhaps my neighbor is building to
shut cut my light, or that he is setting up a
business that affects the purity of the air ; sup
posing that Le undertakes to keep thousands
of hops in a place so near that I have the
stench in my rot ms at all times of the day and
night. What am I to do then ? Must I be
conservative here too? Must I make np my
mind that I had better bear all this than make
any noise about it ? Must I insist on liking
this change, and calling it excellent, for fear,
if I complain or resist, that I may make my
neighbor cross or violent, and . that he may
threaten to burn his house down in order that
mine may catch fire and burn down too Per
haps this might bo considered the conserva
tive course too. But if that is what you call
conservative, I certainly cannot agree with you
any more. Here I am no longer conservative.
I should call such a course lolly, if not down
right madness. My notion would be to act at
once yes to remonstrate, to resist, and if ab
solutely indispensable, to change altogether.
The true conservative policy in such a case
Is not submission, but reform. Something
that will restore to me the advantages of my
old way of life. Something that will prevent
me from suffering by a most unpleasant change.
Fellow citizens If 1 now apply the sime
sort of reasoning to the present condition of
our political aflairs, you will see at once where
I am coming ont. The time has arrived for
us to look caretully into the condition of our
federal government. If we have reason to
suspect that a sort of dry rot is creeping into
the timbers, and a moral stench is spreading so
as to infect the air we breathe, then the ques
tion arises whether it be conservative to let it
go on without any hindrance or attempt at
prevention 5 or whether it be not the really
wise course to set about a plan of prevention,
o that we may continue to enjoy life as we
have done. In other words, ourduty is now re
form. We must be up and abate the nuisance.
We must look sharply into the causes that
make the trouble, and, if possible, put an end
to them before matters grow any worse. Not
a moment is to be lost. If we act at all we
must act now, right off, without an instant's
delay. . Is there anybody here that denies the
fact that some action is indispensable? I
know of nobody, unless it be the office-holders,
and their friends all over the country, who
consider themselves personally benefited by
keeping things as they are. With this excep
tion, whatever else we differ about, all, at least
in the free States, and very many in the slave
States, agree on this point. Dissatisfaction
with the existing administration of the Gen
eral Government is general, it not universal.
Look for a moment at the various political or
ganizations that have sprung np in this canvass
for the Presidency. All but one of the four,
and that one apparently composed of office
holders, insist upon reform.
At least two-thirds of w hat was lately the
Democratic party in the free States are as
loudmouthed about this as aDy one. They de
clare their want of confidence ic Mr. Buchau
an and his adherents, and their conviction of
necessity for reform that is, a thorough
change of men and measures. The friends of
Mr. Bell in other words, the remains of the
old Whig party say just the same; and the
Republicans are more emphatic than cither on
that point. There has not been so much una
nimity of sentiment on any one subject in pol
itics tor thirty years, since the time of-the
second election of James Monroe. It stands
, o reason, then, that there must be very strong
- r"ndfor such a singular result. ' r .
This universal conviction among persons not
5a agreement about anything else, goes to
prove that not only are there great abuses in
the. Government, but that there is an absolute
necessity ror immediate measures of correc
tion. This, then, is not a time for folding our
nanas, or standing aside, and calling it conser
vatism. No. In this case true conservatism
is change. It is reform. It is the restoration
of the old, by cutting out without hesitation
the. material that is rotten or diseased, and
putting in its place what is sound and new.
Having settled this among ourselves, having
agreed that our present duty, is reform, the
next subject to consider is the best and most
practicable way to get at it. And here it is
necessary to remind you that no reform can be
really effective which is not carried into exe
cution by vigorous and capable hands. It will
not do to trust the operation to the feeble or
the incompetent. There must not only be ca
pacity in the agents, but there must also be
corresponding strength in the popular con
fidence to sustain them. We all of us very
well know that a single man, let him be ever
so well fitted for the task, could of himself do
nothing. He must have support and co-ope-raiion
on the part of others. Aud just in the
proportion that these others are strong enough
and numerous enough to constitute what is
called popular opinion, will be the probability
of establishing some system that may be use
ful and permanent' To expect of a small
party organization, even supposing that acci
dent should make it possible to try, that it
should succeed in executing any distinctive
policy of its own, would be unreasonable, if
not positively absurd. Such a serious thing
as reform cannot be confined within the circle
of the Executive department.
The spirit that animates it roust be spread
among the people at large, and among their
representatives everywhere. Especially must
it predominate in both branches of the Legis
lature. We all know that everything like the
cutting oil of abuses must meet with dogged
and steady opposition Irotu those classes the
most subject to be affected by it. They will
set heaven and earth in motion to resist the
movement from step to step. They will resort
to the thousand and one expedients to raise
jealousies and disseminate distrust, which are
touiia bo etlectual in bunging to nought the
best conceived enterprises. In order to over
bear all this resistance, and make it of no ef
fect, there is a necessity for a united and com
pact association of the common strength.
Men must be combined into a political party,
acting together for the securing of common
objects. They must understand, and have con
fidence in one another. They must have a
bead to devise as well as hands to execute,
and multitudes to confirm. Without the pres
ence of all these elements, no real movement
under a popular form of gevernment is likely
to teiminate in good. Without harmony and
union of numbers there can be no satisfying
popular opinion. Hence the inexpediency at
all times of inaugurating any 'kind of novel
policy in a government where there is not a
large array of people prepared to accept and
maintain it.
Now, let me ask of yon, if you really be
lieve such a reform necessary at this. time,
where will you look for the requisite agency
to execute it? You must find some popular
organization or other to act with, or you will
do nothing at all. You have got to select
your instruments: you have got to elevate
your candidates for high places in tho Govern
ment, before you can begin to hope to do any
good. Who shall they be ? That is the ques
tion. In order to arrive at some conclusion,
let us consider w hat state of things it is that
we have before us.
I have already alluded to the fact that we
have four distinct forms of popular organiza
tion in the present canvass for the Preidency.
You all know them well enough to save me
the need of much explanation. There is the
party supporting Mr. Breckinridge, and that
supporting Mr. Douglas. These are the frag
ments of the former Democratic party, but
now opposing each other with more vehe
mence than they do their old adversaries.
Then there is the party of Mr. Bell, composed,
as I said before, almost exclusively of old
Whigs.- And lastly, there is the Republican
party, which presents Mr. Abraham Lincoln.
One thing is here worthy of notice and that
is, that it is universally acknowledged to be
true, that but one of these four parties stands
the smallest chance of success in electing its
candidate by the popular vote. The very best
that the three others can hopj for is to gain e
lectoral votes enough to defeat any choice at
all. By this means, as you all know, the elec
tion of i President would be transferred by the
Constitution to tho House of Representatives.
Here it is well known that one out of the four
must be shut out. The Constitution confines
the selection between those three having the
highest number of votes; and at the proper
time the House must proceed to elect one on
of three. Of these three, nobody doubts that
Mr. Lincoln would be one. But who the two
others may be I think nobody at this moment
is ready to predict with confidence. The pre
vailing opinion now is, that it would be Messrs.
Breckinridge and Bell, and that Mr. Douglas
would be shut out. Let us, for the sake ot ar
gument, suppose that this is so, and that the
candidates are Messrs. Lincoln, Breckinridge
and Bell. Which of these would you select
with any hope of executing your project of ne
cessary reform ? Very certainly it would not
be Mr. Breckinridge, lor he is tho only one of
all the candidates who is whollv asainst re
form. He thinks things well enough as they
stand. He is supported by all the office-holders
under whom the abuses complained of have
been tolerated. He is the candidate of Mr.
Buchanan, who has not deemed it unbecoming
the dignity of his office to come forward and
advocate the election of his successor. Of
course, if you vote for Mr. Breckinridge you
vote in effect to approve tho policy of the very
Administration which it is so universally deem
ed indispensable to condemn. Of course, then,
if you are honestly a reformer. Mr. Breckin
ridge cannot be your choice. Very certainly
you would -not select Mr. Bell. For though
his will might be good enough, to execute a re
form, it is very plain that the basis of his pop
ular support would not be.in any way commen
surate with its successful execution. We all
know the precise extent of the co-operating
power on which he could rely In the legislative
department as at present constituted. We all
know that in the Senate ; he w ou Id hare just
two friends out of the sixty-six members, and
one of these he is certain to lose next year ;
and in the House he might get as many as
twenty-tour out of two hundred and thirty Rep
resentatives.' - Now, 1 ask you', as men 6f sense,
what sort of an administration would you be
likely to bare, so iar as any certainty of a def
inite policy of reform is concerned, with such
a basis of popular confidence as is 6hown here ?
But let us change the programme again, and
suppose Mr. Bell to be the candidate, shut
ous oi me uouse by the Constitution, and Mr.
Douglas to come in in his place, as one of the
three highest candidates. Is Mr. Douglas
any more promising agent of reform ? : Not a
bit. In the Senate of the United States be
has but a single friend, and he is certain to
lose him next year; whilst in the House the
number of his friends can scarcely be said to
exceed twenty. It would seem then that, so
far as effective assistance in the great work is
concerned, there is little to choose between
these two. Each of them is equally powerless
iu tuuuuiiuig me means ot executing n is de
signs. . Then, again, you should call to mind
the circumstances under which the election of
either of these candidates would be made. He
must be chosen by the House of Representa
tives. That is to say,you will, with your eyes
open, put either Mr. Bell or Mr. Douglas into
that body, to take his chances against Mr.
Lincoln. Jn other words, you will set one
candidate lor reform against another, with no
expectation of electing your friend, excepting
by the aid of the adherents of Mr. Breckin
ridge, who are known to be totally opposed to
reform. I shall not now enlarge upon the dan
gers to which the country will be exposed by
the process of an election in the House, nor
upon the opening it would make to all sorts of
intrigue, and to coruption even worse than
any we are trying to break up. The time has
been when many of the wor'hy and respecta.
ble citizens who seem now to look with com
placency upon the possibility of squeezing
Mr. cell into such a scene, were among t!
loudest to deprecate the happening of any
such contingency, and to exhort their fellow
citizens not to throw away their votes, which
could elect a good . candidate, in the wild ex
pectation of helping the cause of some third
person who could not be chosen.
I remember that was the talk in 1844, when
we were many of us engaged in the advocacy
of Henry Clay against Mr. James K. Polk.
I remember that at that time 1 did what 1 could,
within the range of my feeble powers, to pre
sent that doctrine to the minds of those who
were leaning to the support of a third candi
date. 1 remember also, that many of them
persevered in their policy ; and that through
their action Mr. Clay was defeated, and Mr.
Polk -was finally elected. And the' issue of
that election, and its effect upon the subse
quent policy of the country, we all know.
Just so it may again be now, supposing any
friends of reform to vote for Mr. Bell or for
Mr. Douglas, well knowing that the election of
either of them by the people is utterly out of
the question, but hoping that by some sort of
legerdemain, by hook or by crook , if the elec
tion can be defeated by the people, and they
can 'go into the House "of Representatives,
one or the other of them will succeed there.
How is he to do it excepting through the votes
of the Administration States; friends of Mr.
Breckinridge? Surely the Republicans will
not abandon their strong ground. It would be
unieasonable to expect so large a party to move
a foot from the position they occupy as the
true friends of reform. To trade or to barter
or to higgle for votes at the expense of their
principles, would at once shatter the confidence
in their honesty, which is their only solid ba
sis of support. But if there can be little hope
in that quarter, then these reformers must go
to their opponents, to those who uphold the
present administration, to those who have been
giving contenance to, if they have not them
selves been actively engaged in, the very abu
ses which it is the object of all honest men to
correct. Of course it follows that any combi
nation made with these persons that - will se
cure the election ot either of the candidates
can only be made by a surrender, or at least a
compromise ot the hostility which should ani
mate them against the commission of wrong
by them. Need I add that an election alone
would not be enough ? It would be absolutely
indispensable to a person chosen to have some
basis broad enough to rest his administration
upon. That basis must be made ot those who
vote for him. It will then happen that the
very class of people who are now held respon
sible for their misdeeds must be continued in
office to contend with a Republican opposition
not disposed to qualify, or compromise or tol
erate the wrong doers. In other words, there
would be no change, no reform at all, and the
work would yet remain to be done at some fu
ture election.
If I have mademyself understood,then I think
you will see that the only way by which we
can hope to gain a real good in the election is
by effecting a choice by the popular vote, in
the first instance. And this can only be done
by uuiting heartily in the support of Abraham
Lincoln. We all know that this canvass dif
fers in its nature from any preceding one for
twenty five years past. We all know that if
Abraham Lincoln be not elected by the peo
ple, there is no probability that anybody else
will be. It is for us to determine whether he
shall be President by our votes, or whether
somcbod' else whom we may not desire shall
have a chance to wriggle through the Iiouse
of Representatives. This is the true ques
tion: and if you are really the friends of .re
form which you proless to be, th only way o
pen to your success is through the elevation
ot Abraham Lincoln and of his friends, who,
with your aid, are numeeous enough, and de
termined enough to carry their point, in the
face of all the resistance that can be combined
into opposition. - . ' "
But, independently of all considerations con
nected with the practicability of executing any
movement of reform w hatever, there is anoth
er and potent reason why the selection of A
braham Lincoln as the agent is absolutely an
imperative duty. A reform, to be in any way
beneficial, must be searching and thorough.
It must go down to the very root of the mat
ter. Now, however much the professiouamay j
be sounded abroad from the otherparties, there !
are reasons connected with the nature of their
position and alliance which ' render it hardly
reasonable to anticipate from them any very
energetic effort to probe the abuses of the pres
ent government to the core. It is the Repub
lican party alone which declares its wish to ex-1
pose the influence which the Advocates of sla
very exert in introducing and perpetuating
these abuses in the General Government.. It
is here that the real trouble is to be found. ; If
any of you have a doubt of this, let him look
at tho evidence in the Covode investigation,
article Lecompton. Then he will see what
stavery has to do with corruption. Everything
else is merely superficial The true evil is to
be found in the fact that the alaveholding in
terest has been driven to the expedient of at
tempting to bribe the people of the free States
wun meir own money in order to maintain it
sen m the control of the government., That
it the solemn truth, and the history of the Le
compton Btruggle proves it beyond contradic
tion. . . :
? And here I must ston to sav a fw wnrd a.
bout this matter of slavery- , I know very well
that in this city there are a great many people
who dislike to meddle with it, and who honest
ly believe that if all of us would only consent
to stop talking about it, and to shut, our eyes
so as not to see it, then the country would be
perfectly happy. To all such persons 1 have
only to say this in answer : . There are some
things which men can do, and it is right and
proper in all such cases for them to try. Suc
cess will, perhaps, compensate for the exer
tion. But whenever they undertake to con
trol a power that is entirely beyond their
reach, then they aro wasting both their time
and . pains. They may as well give it up first
as last, lor anybody to insist that an evil
does not exist, when everybody, knows that it
does, is pure folly. If my neighbor's house is
burning, and the flames are already throwing
their red glare into my windows, of what use
is it to me to shut my eyes and say there is no
fire ? Will that save my house ? If a heavy
flood i covering the roofs of the smaller tene
ments around mine, and is rapidly rising to
my third story, how will it benefit me to keep
my eyes fixed straight up in the sky, and say
that there is no rain ? Will such a coursejstay
the water ? For my part, I consider it proof
of great feebleness of character to insist upon
ignoring the pressure of an evil, because it is
unpleasant to be forced to think of a remedy :
to suffer it to grow without molestation, be
cause any attempt to check it may be attended
with difficulty. It has been very clear to my
eyes for many years, that this subject of slave
ry in America has got to be met by the people
of the United States sooner or later that there
is no way to escape its baneful influence, and
that the only thing left for us is to take right
hold of it, examine it calmly, quietly, in a
statesmanlike manner, to fix its relations to the
government of the country at the minimum
rate of its disturbing force, and there to keep
it for the future forever. I do not believe in
tho wisdom of the policy that has been adopt
ed along back, which is, to let, it have its full
swing, under the pretence that it is the safest
plan to let it entirely alone. 1 do not believe
it is right to pretend that it does not gain
strength in the Federal Government, when we
see with our eyes how completely the Senate,
the President and the Supreme Court are con
trolled by it. I do not believe in the proprie
ty of holding still about the attempt to saddle
upon us a wicked policy, because if we do not,
we may run the risk of driving the slavehold
ing States to desperate and suicidal extremes.
My notion may be wrong, but I hold it from
conviction, that the way to deal with this mat
ter is in no respect different from that which
commou sense teaches us to deal with every
other critical question in life that is, to ex
amine it patiently, firmly, boWly, and, after a
full and satisfactory investigation of its politi
cal bearings, and of the bad effects it may pro
duce to us, as a nation, to adopt and to exe
cute a plan of counteraction, in no bad spirit,
but purely to save the whole country from be
ing unnecessarily and injuriously affected by a
thing which ought to be strictly confined with
in the limits in which it actually exists. In
my mind this is, or ought to be always known
as a Government favorable to human freedom ;
and so far as any influence or any exertion that
may be able to use is concerned, however
eble that is, it will remain such. And when
ever the institution of slavery appears to mo
to be endeavoring to undermine the policy of
the Government, so as to turn it against free
dom and for slavery, I shall take a citizen's
liberty to speak out about it, just the same as
I should about any other doctrine or policy
that I hold to be mischievous or dangerous to
the public good. -
Isoxr let me go back a moment to where 1
first touched this matter of slavery. I was
saying that no reform could be at all thorough
in the General Government which did not be
gin by changing the spirit in which it was ad-
mimistered, in connection with this particular
Interest. Nobody who is not willing to blind
his eyes and to close his ears to w hat has been
going on during the last eight years can fail
to understand the use that has been made of
the Federal authority to the maintenance and
extension of the slave power in that time.
We all know well enough how the last Admin
istration acted after the repeal of the Missouri
Compromise in favoring the various desperate
attempts to force a slaveholding Government
upon the free lerritory ot Kansas. iDese
facts have gone into history, and are beyond
the possibility of contradiction. So we all
know how assiduously the present Administra
tion continued and enlarged that policy by
the abuse of its influence over members of
Congress from the free States in the case ot
he Lecompton Constitution and the English
bill, as well as bv its indefatigable exertions
to palm off the extra-judicial opinions of a
slaveholding bench of Judges of the Supreme
Court in the Dred Scott case upon the country
as being established and recognised by law. We
all remember this. We all feel the use that has
been made of the Executive authority in these
cases, to discourage the doctrines of liberty
and to extend the influence of slavery. Now
maintain that this sort of action should be
all of it reformed by the voice of the people.
t is all wrong from the beginning and ought
o be made right. But nobody will be likely re
ally to make it right, unless it be Abraham Lin
coln and his. friends in the Republican party.
Mr. Bell certainly will not, and Mr. Douglas.
f we are to judge by the submission to take
any slaveholding decree that the same judges
may hereafter make, and an ultra slaveholding
candidate for Vice President on his back in
advance, will not be likely to get very fat.
1 here is, then, no other cnoice for the true
believers in reform. All efforts made in any
other direction will be in a great measure was
ted.: If you honestly mean to restore free
dom as the rule of action for a government
professing to be founded on the principles of
he Declaration of Indepedence, Lincoln is
your man. '
Even in the secondary light of money trans
actions, let us now bee the' connection which
slavery has had in fostering the corrupt prac
tices of the present government. I do not
know whether yon have been made fully : a
ware of the fact, which appeals tolerablytwell
established -by. the testimony given before the
Covode Investigating Committee of Congress,
that the. people's, money yes, your juoney
and my moneywhich, we give exclusively for
the purpose of paying the ordinary expenses
Of the Federal system, has been constantly
and persoveringly directed Into '. particular
cnannels called contracts, by means of which
snch great profits have been given to particu
lar persons, as to enable them to devote large
sums to the object of sustaining presses, and
seenring the election to Congress of represen
tatives in the free States who will justify and
defend any and everything which the slave
holding party may require. Nay even more
than this. Your money and my money has
been used without scruple to sow the seeds of
division and discord among ourselves to such
a degree, that even though a large majority
may desire to effeet some useful and perma
nent reform, we shall be sure to fail in doing
anything at all, because we do not agree in our
choice of the agents through whom to execute
it. This was the policy of 1853, when the
friends of Mr. Fillmore, in their innocent sim
plicity, were led directly into the Democratic
trap, baited with the principles of Native A
mericanism. The division then fostered in
this very city and county of Philadelphia was
the real cause of the failure at that election of
the movement for reform, and of the corrupt
practices which have been since exposed.
Bat, although the evidence' of this truth is
sufficiently displayed, the same agencies are
once more at work, in hope of once more ef
fecting the same object. In the free States
at least the name of Mr. Bell is held forth
solely for the purpose of division and the con
tinuation of tho corrupting slaveholding su
premacy in the general government. And
hostile as the same authority has ' shown
itself to the success of Mr. Douglas, it is not
averse to the use of Buch power as he may ac
quire in the free States,by catching votes un
der a separate organization for a delusive doc
trine, to the end of dividing and weakening
and destroying the movement for reform.
Divide et impera was a maxim of ambitious
leaders thousands of years ago. Divide and
rule by dividing your opponents is the instinctiv e
lesson of a great political association now.
, Fellow citizens : I address you in the words
of sad and serious soberness, without exagge
ration, and without an attempt to appeal to
your passions. - Are yon seriously and truly
discontented with the course of the present
rolling power at Washington ? Do you believe
that it has squandered your money .abused your
power and perverted your principles for the
sake of sustaining a policy which your con
science and your reason unite in pronouncing
to be wholly unjustifiable ? Do you entertain
a hope that something may be done to rescue
the reputation of the country now notoriously
discredited in the eyes of the world by the
mortifying disclosures of the last few years ?
Do you really believe in the truth of the dec
larations made by yonr ancestors, that there is
such a thing as human liberty, too sacred to
be touched by any tyrannical hand ; that there
is such a thing as government intended to
protect human rights and not destroy them ;
that there is snch a thing as love, the exponent
of benevolence in construing the privileges of
mankind ; that, in fine, there is such a thing
as downright, independent honesty, without
which no forms of authority can be anything
but a mockery ? I say, fellow citizens, do you
believe in all these things ? Then tho hour
for you to be up and doing is wou?. The way
is open. Unite with the only association of
men who have it in their power, and who like
wise desire to effect your object. Declare for
the party of reform. The honest men of A
merica constitute an immense majority of the
population. The only thing needed at this
time is that they should unite to dictate a pol
icy, and to name the men to execute it, and
the honor of the country may yet be redeem
ed. We may again be what we once were,
proud of the work of our hands, because it is
good. -
Fellow citizens : I come not here before
you to praise particular men, or to censure
others. I never was, in my youth, a hero
worshipper, neither do I feel disposed to be
come bo at my present time of life. My pres
ence is rather to analyze the principles that
move the action of great political combina
tions of men, than to dwell upon the mSrits or
demerits of single individuals. Yet I cannot
forget the importance of selecting suitable
agents to carry out even the best purposes. I
acknowledge the necessity of explaining the
reasons for my confidence in the candidates I
support, as well for my faith in the principles
profess. With Mr." Lincoln I have never
had the opportunity of a personal acquaint
ance. I cannot, therelore, speak ot him Irom
knowledge.' But I have taken some pains to
inform myself, by reading his published
speeches, and by inquiry from persons who
know - him familiarly. And the result
of my reflections is this. I think that his dis
cussion in 1858, with Mr. Douglas, shows him
to advantage as a better logician and a sound
er statesman, whilst he is incomparably su
perior in one great province of political duty
1 mean in tracing the connection between
the higher law of pure morality with the obli
gations of public life. From the character of
his argument I should infer that he was a man
of ability and still more, that he was a man
of integrity. Whatever else there may be in
a party of reform, one thing we must have,
and that is, an honest . man, an incorruptible
man, an independent man. Such a man the
testimony of all my witnesses unites in repre
senting him to be. That is the man for the
present emergency. . I believe that we may
safely trust him. But let the intentions of
the person for whom we vote be what they
may, it should be recollected that his ability
o execute them must, after all, depend upon
the degree in which he is supported by the
popular view. I do not conceal irom myself
that, if elected, Mr. Lincoln is destined, in
all probability, to serious trials of his firmness
as well as of his energies. Whatever these
may be, his best action will gain prodigiously
n force from the knowledge that he enters up
on his duties as tho representative of an over
whelming mass of public sentiment. Especi
ally is this essential, because from the necessi-
tv of the case he must, at nrst at least, look
for his support mainly in the free States of the
Union. - - - ' "
We all know that there exists In the slave-
holding States a species ef despotism which
renders even the expression of an opinion ad
verse to its supremacy somewhat dangerous."
And -this despotism andc kes to deny the
right of .any.pne there to advocate or support
Mr. Lincoln. The. proper remedy lor this is
ime for the development of his policy.' Rest-
ng upon the broad basis ot the confidence or
a very large number of the voting population
thin cnuA if tima f an hA affitrdml in him : and .'
nnnnrMihitir nrtll t.a irlvnn tn hnw that. hnWAT. I
er. thorough tne reform; it mil f ettectea oy i
legitimate means, and only for legitimate ends.
Having no right to complain, the resistance of
the violent men in the slaveholding States wjll
lose its popular force ; and the threats or se
cession and disunion will do injury, only to
those who make them. This process of men
ace has been carried on so incessantly for years
back, to deter us from doing our plain duty to
the country and ourselves, that I, for one, am
thoroughly tired of it. I do not believe it will
be sustained by the sober aud sound sense of
the quiet citizens of the South. We have hu
mored and indulged it so long, and given way
so constantly to the sacrifice of our own con
victions of right, without producing the small
est effect in putting a stop to it, that it seems
to me expedient now to try the other way for
once. Let ns do light. Let us insist upon re
form in the policy ot the general government
exclusively within the sphere in which we havo
the most uoquestionable privik-ge to exercise
the authority vested in a constitutional major
ity of the people, and then let us see who will
be so unreasonable as to call our action Into
question by a resort to suicidal measures. It
is said to be a custom with the Japanese- that
when a man imagines himself to have been af
fronted by another, he does not call that other
to account, but straightway proceed? to rip up
his own bowels, and thus put an end to bim
self. So it maybe, indeed, with the' good
people ot the slave States. .They may choose
to kill themselves purely to spite us. But I do
not believe it; I have too good an opinion of
their common sense. Theyareimpulsive.it
is true, but they are by no means idiots. They
have demagogues who go about talking non
sense, inertly to excite men's passions, as well
as we. But the great body of the citizens I
believe to be perfectly sound ; and if convinc
ed that the majority seek only to reinstate in
the government the very same principles upon
which it was originally started, under the di
rection of George Washington, they will disa
vow all treasonable counsels, and consent to
share in the blessings which, under our happy
system, all parts of this magnificent country
equally enjoy. It remains, then, to bo seen,
whether the honest and independent voters of
the United States are so far convinced of the
responsibility pressing upon them at this cri
sis as to unite together to reform the Govern
ment, and to give stability to a liberal Admin
istration. The question is between order and
system, as prefigured by the elevation of Lin
coln, and intrigue, confusion, weakness and
discord amoug a batch of competing candi
dates, not one of whom has the confidence of
any large portion of the people. Choose ye,
then, under which banner you will enlist.
Can I permit myself to doubt which it will bo?
If I did, I should be insulting your understand
ing, not less than denying your patriotism.
Let us suppose for a moment that Mr. Breck
in ridge could be elected. - now are you going
to gain by that Mr. Breckinridge is the can
didate of the extreme, wing of the slavehol
ding, secession disunion people in the South
ern States: the same men.who threatened last
winter that they would prevent a Speaker from
being elected by a plurality, even though they
knew that success in such apian might bring
on a dissolution of the government ; tlie s.ima
men who talked the rankest treasonable talk
all the season about what they would do if the
people of these States should elect certain
persons to the Presidency whom tbey did not
like. I am very well aware of the fact that
Mr. Breckinridge himself has disavowed all
sympathy with such doctrines by the earnest
ness with which he has reiterated his devotion
to the Union. But it is always well in similar
cases to extend our view a little beyond the
mere incident of the election. We aro bound
to bear in mind when we vote for a candidate,
the precise position in which ho may be pla
ced alter he is chosen who are bis friends and
advisers, and what his policy will be. Obvi
ously Mr. Breckinridge can find these only in
the quarter where he will have been sustained
before he is chosen. We have then a right to
presume that his administration will be simply
an aggravated form of the present one. ' We
have then a right to presume that the cardinal
principle of it will be tho perpetuation, the
protection and the extension of slavery the
fortification of the political doctrines proclaim
ed In the Supreme Court by tho decision on
Dred Scott ; and I do not hesitate to declare
it, as my own opinion, that an early measure
will be the retraction of the policy of the
country on the abolition of. the slave trade.
All this I say is unavoidable, whatever may be
the personal feelings of Breckinridge : if ho
succeeds as the candidate of the extreme par
ty of the slaveholders. He must go with bis
1 friends or be can do. nothing. He must be the
exponent oi ine exireine opinions, or no win
be at the mercy of his opponents, and his ad
ministration wili come to an end as lamentable
as the present one has done. In the mean
time the country will gain no respite from
the agitation which has so long disturbed It,
For you may rest assured that so long as the
old principles of human liberty are not recog
nized as the rule of action in the general gov
ernment, just so long will there be an Opposi
tion that will leave nothing undone - within its
legitimate sphere to affect a peacef nl and per
manent establishment of its policy.' With,
this power victory is only a question of time.
As to the scheme of presenting Mr. Bell,
with the idea of reinstating the old Whig
notions, I must bo permitted to say that I re-,
gard it as almost exclusively designed in the
freo States, to maintain and uphold the exis
ting authority in the Federal government.-'It
is aimed as a blow at the Republican -move-,
ment, by dividing the sentiment which ought
to animate the free States. The proof ot this,
is found in the way that it has been tolerated
by the friends of the other candidates oppos
ed to Mr. Lincoln. They all understand tho
fatuity of the idea of restoring a defunct par
ty. As well .might you undertake to push
back the current of the Mississippi ? As well
might you pretend that you would place a
statue on the eternally frozen apex ot Chim
borazo! No man, with the smallest concep
tion of what belongs'to the character of a
statesman, will presume: to affirm that can
have been a nomination made in good faith,
which is made without any regard to the ques
tions that really agitate the nation,' and which
is based upon principles that not a handful of
men can be found in America to dispute. 'If
Mr. Bell could by any possibility be elected,
the first thing ho would have to do would be
to fake his side on present questions between
the two, and the only two parties-really based
upon existing conflicts of opinion. .Without
the co-operation bf one or the other' of these
two parties, he could cot carry on the govern-
Blent ft Weekl ,W all knOW that,' Who
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