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THE UNION; PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. 
 
 A SPEECH 
 
 delivp:red by 
 
 HON. W. W. EATON, 
 
 AT CITY HALL, HARTFORD, 
 
 On Saturday Evening, March 3d, 1860. 
 
 Pdblished by order of the Democratic Stati: Central Committee. 
 
 March, 1860. 
 
 The questions which now agitate the public mind are of greater 
 an'l more vital importance than any which have claimed the at- 
 tention of the people since the organization of this confederacy. 
 New theories are promulgated, new doctrines are put forth under 
 the high authority of leading minds in one section of the Union, 
 startlhig in themselves, and, in my judgment, subversive of the 
 principles upon which our government is founded, and menacino- 
 to the integrity of the Union. ^ ° 
 
 The great apostle of a law, higher than the obligations of that 
 Constititution which we have all sworn to support, in his pronun- 
 ciamento made at Eochester some time since, announced to his 
 countrymen, that there was an irrepressible confiict between free and 
 slave labor, a spirit of antagonism, of war, between the North and 
 the South, which would endure until the Free States were made 
 Slave States, or until the Slave States succumbed to the over- 
 whelmmg power of the North. Such infamous teachings could 
 only result in aroiLsing a spirit of hostility towards our brethren 
 of the South, which naturallv culminated in the disgraceful and 
 l)loody outrage at Harper's Ferrv. 
 
 Tlie. maxim of the distinguished Frenchman (Rochefoucault,) 
 appli s with as much force to men as to women, especially to that 
 class of men called politicians. No politician pauses at the first 
 ^vil act ; if unsuccessful,, he is forced omvard by his desire to retrieve 
 the ground which he has lost. If successful," inexorabh^ necessity 
 ent<ails upon him the commission of other and less justifiable acts, 
 to maintain the position which he has assumed, until at la.st he is 
 possessed by an ungovernable desire and an unfiincliing determin- 
 ation to push to the last extremity a course of policy which his 
 better judgment should tell him, if carried out, involves his coun- 
 Jryin rum, and proves disastrous to the best interests of mankind. 
 . SuchI believe to be the position of the leaders of the Brown 
 Republican party ; entertaining but one idea, and following that 
 
2 
 
 
 with blind iullituatiou and fanatical zeal, ambitious for, and grasp- 
 ing at, political distinction and power, they have forgotten the les- 
 sons taught by the history of the past, and casting all upon the 
 hazard of the die, they prove the couplet of the poet, 
 "Better rule in hell, 
 Than serve in heaven." 
 
 The present is a crisis in the history of our government, an im- 
 portant crisis, great for good or evil. ^ I am informed, I presume 
 correctly, that Mr. Cassius M. Clay while speaking in this city a 
 few evenings since, said : 
 
 " That if the Democrats carried the State of Connecticut this Spring, 
 there was the end of the Presidential controversy." And further, '"That 
 if the Democracy were successful in the next Presidential canvass, a gen- 
 eral insurrection at the South would be the result," 
 
 Before I pass upon this question, if I may be allowed a parlia- 
 mentary remark, I move to divide it. AVith Mr. Clay, I believe 
 if the National Democracy of our State are successful in this open- 
 ing fight, that the back-bone of "John Brown Republicanism" 
 will be broken, and in the greater battle for the Presidency, the 
 motley crew who rally upon sectional issues, will be scattered 
 before the legions of the Democracy, like chaff before the wind. 
 
 That the success of the Democratic party in the Presidential 
 election, will cause insurrection at the South, is to me quite a new 
 idea, and I doubt not was to the hearers of Mr. Clay. It therefore 
 has one merit, it is original ; and if Mr. Clay wall speedily file his 
 caveat in • the office of Commissioner of Patents, I presume the 
 first "Brown Republican" who is placed at the head of that branch 
 of public service, will issue a patent for the full term of fourteen 
 years, with liberty to extend, ad infinituvi. 
 
 But the crisis k a momentous one, the public mind is thoroughly 
 aroused to its importance, and a feeling has obtained throughout 
 our broad country, that for "weal or woe" the acts of the people 
 in the ensuing elections will detennine the destiny of this confed- 
 eracy of sovereign states, and either greatly strengthen the bonds 
 which bind them together, or render them yet weaker than they 
 now confessedly are. 
 
 I say to you. Freemen of Connecticut, that the time has.arrived 
 when every man who reveres the Constitution, and would fulfil all 
 its obligations, who loves the Union of the States and would per- 
 petuate it to the latest time, is imperatively called upon to use his 
 exertions for the best interests of the country. 
 
 All little differences of opinion must be laid aside, all individual 
 interests and passions must be forgotten, and all the intelligence 
 andall the strength of the National men of Connecticut must be joined 
 in one common and energetic clYort to avert the calamities which 
 hang like a pall over our loved land. 
 
 With the views which I entertain of the momentous character 
 of the struggle in which the people of the Confederacy are now 
 engaged, it is not unimportant that we should briefly glance at our 
 
arly liistory ; look back to a time when the men of the North aud 
 ilie South, a band of brothei^, were animated bj feelings of friend- 
 ship and fraternity, holding to each other 
 
 '•With hooks of steel," 
 confiding in their own honesty and integrity, and relying upon 
 that feeling of patriotism and love of liberty which characterized 
 each and all, they precipitated the struggle "for Indepmdmce, and 
 dared the utmost efforts of the British crown. 
 
 From the condition of this great confederacy to-day, a state of 
 ill-feeling, of crimination and re-crimination, of almost civil 
 war, it is a relief to a man with a patriot heart beating in his bosom 
 to carry back his thoughts to the colonial age, to the years imme- 
 diately preceding the revolutionary struggle, when, to use the lan- 
 guage of Gadsden of South Carolina, one of the most eminent men 
 of the day, ''There must be no New England men, no New York- 
 ers, no Carolinians, but all Americans, one bundle of sticks and 
 then we cannot be broken." 
 
 Could my voice be influential in persuading my fellow citizens 
 to any particular course of action, I would urge them to follow in 
 the footsteps of their fathers, to cast from them all uncharitableness, 
 all ill-feeling against their brethren living in other sections and 
 surrounded by circumstances diiiering from their own. I would bid 
 them remember that when the infamous stamp act was inaugurated 
 as a law in 1765, striking as it did with terror and amazement the 
 hearts of all the American people, and while Massachusetts, Con- 
 necticut, Ehode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and 
 Maryland proposed no definite plan of action, no mode of resist- 
 ance, a comparatively young and imkn own member of the legisla- 
 ture of the glorious "Old Dominion," (God bless her,) to use the 
 words of a British officer, "rang the alarm bell, and gave the 
 SIGNAL TO A CONTINENT !" Patrick Henry, of Virginia, in a 
 speech of wonderful power and masterly eloquence, bore down all 
 opposition in the Virginia Assembly, and paved the way for a union 
 of the colonies. 
 
 But to South Carohna belongs the honor of taking the initiative 
 in the only measure which promised success, and but for the un- 
 bending will and resistless energy of the indomitable Gadsden, there 
 would have been no Union, no Congress, in 1765. New Hampshire 
 held back, New Jersey was loyal, and Maryland was not alive to 
 tJie urgencies of the occasion ; but after^the adverse action of 
 three colonial legislatures, the patriots of Carolina, sensible of the 
 importance of the crisis, induced the first "Federative Assem- 
 bly," and inaugurated a Union which has been perpetuated to the 
 present day. 
 
 All honor to South Carolina, and ever be remembered with 
 grateful feelings, and cherished by patriotic hearts, the name of her 
 distinguished son, Christopher Gadsden ! 
 
 The Union was effected, the difierent colonies were bound to- 
 gether as one people, and the morning star of National Freedom 
 
arose in the political firmament, and may its brilliant rays illume 
 this western world until the latest day. There was then no crimina- 
 tion and re-crimination, no miserable slang about the slave pow- 
 er, and slave oligarchy ; all was brotherly love and kindness, and 
 the angel spirit of fraternization imbued the minds of the whole 
 people. 
 
 And now fellow-citizens, the struggle has at last commenced 
 between the parent State, the most powerful nation then upon the 
 face of the globe, and thirteen weak and widely seperated colonies. 
 The struggle commenced with the assembling of the Congress of 
 1765, and it becomes us to ask, and to ponder well over the an- 
 swer, what had Maryland and Virginia and the Carolinas to gain? 
 As now, so then, New England was commercial and to a certain 
 extent manufacturing in her industry. The South was exclusively 
 agricultural. The rice of Carolina and its indigo found a market 
 in Great Britain ; and the tobacco of Virginia and Maryland, their 
 sole source of wealth, went abroad for purchasers. 
 
 The exports of South Carolina alone amounted to the at that 
 time immense sum of two millions of dollars. The youth of the 
 South went "home" as England was fondly called, to be educated 
 at Oxford and Cambridge, from whence many were placed in the 
 army and navy of the mother country. What then had the South 
 to gkin ? Nothing, literally nothix(J. She entered into the strug- 
 gle for a principle, her undying love of liberty and her rights as a 
 free people, joined to a persistent determination to stand by the 
 Northern Colonies at every hazard and under all circumstances. 
 
 These truths cannot be denied. There is not a Brownist in the 
 land that will dare deny the truth of a single proposition which 
 is here stated. But says some disciple of that "gi-and old hero" 
 who suffered in Virginia, "the South deserves no credit for all this, 
 it was her duty to strnid by the rights of the North, and the com- 
 mon weal of all." I'rue, and she did it; and it is our duty wao to 
 remember that fact, and to maintain the rights of the South under 
 a common constitution, despite the clamors of demagogues, and 
 the ravings of flmatics, come they from where they may, Massa- 
 chusetts, Connecticut, or Kentucky. 
 
 Onward rolled the chariot of American freedom ; and as though 
 stricken with judicial blindness, the acts of the British Parliament 
 increased in tyrannic violence until 1774, when the infamous "Poi^T 
 15ILL," was cast over the devoted city of Boston. 
 
 By its vile provisions, her commerce was destroyed, her indus- 
 try paralyzed, and utter ruin and absolute starvation menaced her 
 patriotic citizens. The British Lion was at last thoroughly grous- 
 ed ; payment for the Tea so ruthlessly cast into the Imrbor of Bos- 
 ton was demanded at the hands of her people, and the refusal of 
 Boston to submit, was to be the signal for her destrucSon. Our 
 own noble fathers stood lirmly by the side of Boston. New 
 York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania temporized, and where, where 
 were the Southern Colonies in this great crisis of American Lib- 
 
 W«8t. Uea. HlBt. Soo. 
 
KKTY ! Thank God, the hearts of the people of the South were as 
 warm as their own sunny clime, and, throwing aside all selfish and 
 personal considerations, they resolved to sustain Boston, be the 
 consequences what they might. The noble planters of South Car- 
 olina were the first to administer relief to the suffering martyrs of 
 Boston. Two hundred barrel*of rice were immediately forwarded 
 to feed the poor, with a promise of a thousand additional barrels; 
 and wrote tlie indomitable awl enegetio Gadsden to the town com- 
 mittee of Boston — "we send you rice and money, we will feed you 
 and stand by you to the death, but dont pay for an ounce 
 OF THE DAMNED TEA." jSTorth Carolina sent rice and flour 
 and more than five thousand dollars in specie. Delaware, 
 !N[aryland and Virginia freely poured out their money and 
 provisions ; and at this time it is worthy of remark, that 
 from the backwoods of the "Old Dominion ;" from that section, 
 where rushing through the mountains the bright and glancing 
 Shenandoah mingles its waters with the lordly Potomac, from that 
 very section where now may be seen the village of Harper's 
 Ferry, the hardy hunters and mountaineers, destitute of money, 
 sent to their starving brethren of Boston two hundre<l barrels of 
 flour as their offering to be laid upon the altar of a common 
 brotherhood ! 
 
 Oh, angel spirit of philanthrophy and fraternity, bom of God's 
 own heart, ennobling and elevating the mind of man, may the peo- 
 ple of New England under your benign influence and the recollec- 
 tions of the past, emulate the acts of the men of the South ; and 
 as their fathers Avere to our fathers, so may we be to them. 
 Brethren ! 
 
 Fellow citizens, there was then no howling about slave labor; 
 no vOe slanders from the pulpit, the press and the forum, against 
 the men of the South who were large holders of that class of prop- 
 erty called .slaves. 
 
 The people of New England in genercd^ and ^os^ionm particular, 
 did not then denounce their brethren of the South, as "man Steal- 
 ers," "robbers," "scoundrels," fit only to be kicked from the com- 
 munion table of a common Eedeemer, hunted and spurned from 
 all respectable associations ; in short, chief of all sinners, repro- 
 bates, alike to be shunned by man and punished by God ! No cut- 
 throats and assassins, no John Browns armed with Kifles, Pistols 
 and Pikes bought with money begged in churches in Massachu- 
 setts and Connecticut on God's day, were hurled by New England 
 upon their defenceless brethren and sisters of the" South, inciting 
 insurrection and servile war with all their attendant horrors. Oh no, 
 fellow citizens, cries and tears of joy were the weajoons of our fathers, 
 prayers went up to Heaven from every New England assembly, im- 
 ploring the blessings of the Father of all mercies upon their Southern 
 friends. 
 
 The Congress of 1775 assembled. The men of the North and 
 the South stood shoulder to shoulder, .pledged to each other their 
 
fortunes and their honors, and the grand drama of the Revolution 
 opened to the eyes of a gazing world. The first scene was enacted 
 amid gloom and doubt and uncertainty on the soil of the " Bay 
 Colony," and after seven years of labor and carnage, the last act 
 closed in glory on the soil of the "Old Dominion." 
 
 The great struggle wavS over. The thirteen united colonies, had 
 become thirteen free and independent States. But they were im- 
 poverished by the arduous contest just closed, destitute of credit 
 abroad, their commercial, manufacturing and agricultural interests 
 paralyzed ; for a few years they struggled on, without a government 
 worthy of the name. 
 
 The old confederation, sufficient under the energetic pressure 
 naturally called out by a state of war, was found to be illy adapted 
 to the arts of peace, and the wise patriots of the respective Statee, 
 in 1787, were called together to make "a more perfect union." 
 
 I now desire, fellow citizens, to call your attention to some of 
 the proceedings of the convention of 1^87, a convention authoriz- 
 ed to form a system of government applicable to the condition of 
 the respective states, which was to be submitted to said States for 
 their adoption. 
 
 There was a great difference of opinion among the distinguished 
 men who composed that convention, upon various matters of pub- 
 lic interest, and not the least troublesome question which attracted 
 their attention, and embarrassed their action was this question of 
 African Slavery. 
 
 But the delegates from the various States met for the purpose of 
 making a "more perfect union ;" not to wrangle, not to throw fire- 
 brands into the respective communities which they represented, 
 and they brought to the consideration of the various questions 
 arising before them a ^^ure and enlarged patriotism, a determina- 
 tion to establish such a constitution, and such a union as would 
 stand unimpaired against the assaults of fanatics and traitors. 
 
 I repeat, fellow citizens, the question of slavery was one of, and 
 perhaps taken in all its phases, the most vexed and disturbing issue 
 which presented itself before that assemblage of great and illustri- 
 ous men. At one time during its consideration, great fears were 
 expressed that no union could be perfected ; there was in the Con- 
 vention a strong anti-slavery feeling, likewise a powerful interest in 
 favor of the institution, and the matter was adjusted at that time, 
 as it must be and will be at this time, by utterly ignoring the moral 
 view of the question, regarding only its political character, so far as 
 the constitution of the United States was concerned ; permitting 
 the States individually in their sovereign capacity to determine as 
 to the morality of the institution, and tocvStablish it or reject it at 
 their option. 
 
 To show that I am quite correct in my view of this interesting 
 question I desire to submit to you certain extracts from the discus- 
 sion upon the clause as to the importation of Slaves — 
 
 Mr. Ellsworth, a man whose memory is universally respected in 
 this his native State, said 
 
"The morality or wiscloin of slavery are considerations belonging to 
 the States themselves. What enriches a part enriches the whole, and 
 the States are the best judges of their particul^ interest." 
 
 Mr. Sherman of Connecticut said 
 
 "I disapprove of the slave trade ; yet, as the States are now possessed 
 of the power to import slaves, and as the public good does not require it 
 to be taken from them, and it was expedient to have as few objections as 
 possible to the proposed scheme of government, I think it best to leave 
 the matter as we find it ; I am in favor of allowing the Southern States to 
 import Slaves rather than to part with them, if they make it a sine qua 
 non." 
 
 Mr. Mason of Virginia and 'Mw ^[artin of ^^Larvland were c]ecid- 
 edly anti-slavery intlieir views. 
 
 Mr. Pinckney of Soutli Carolina, Ish. Baldwir. of Georgia, 
 Mr. Kutledge of Soutli Carolina. j\[r. Williamson of North Caroli- 
 na, were as decidedly pro-slavery. 
 
 Mr. Eufus King of Massachusetts said 
 
 "That the subject should be considered in a political light only, that the 
 constitution ought not to consider the moral question." 
 
 Isiv. Governeur Morris of Pennsylvania, said 
 
 "I wish the whole subject to be committed, including the clauses relat- 
 ing to taxes on exports and to a navigation act. These things may form 
 a matter of bargain between the Northern and Southern States." 
 
 Mr. Randolph of Virginia said 
 
 "lam in favor of committing the whole matter, that some compromise 
 may be made, some middle ground if possible found, that all may be sat- 
 isfied. I would not like to endangoi- the proposed plan of government." 
 
 The result to which th^ Couvention arrived may be found in sec- 
 tion 9th of the 1st arti^ie of the Constitution of the United States, 
 by which the importation of African Slaves is not to be prohibited 
 by Congress prior to the year 1808 ; and just in this place I desire 
 to remark, that while Delegates representing Southern States were 
 in favor of preventing such importation as early as the year 1800, 
 Northern Delegates, and among them our own Sherman, preferred 
 and sustained the longer time. 
 
 That compromise, that middle ground which the just minded 
 and patriotic Virginian was so desirous of, was made, was found. — 
 It was common ground, upon wliich the men of Connecticut and 
 A'irginia agreed to stand, that a vexing and annoying c[uestion 
 might be so settled as that the plan of government, then in pro- 
 cess of construction, might not be endangered, and the best inter- 
 ests of the people of thirteen commonvrcalths trilled with and be- 
 trayed. 
 
 The truth is, the anti-slaver}- men who formed a part of the 
 convention of 178<, were neither mouthing demagogues nor cant- 
 ing fanatics, and though unquestionably opposed to slavery, jQt 
 when the common good of the States required their action, they 
 did not hesitate to join with their associates, in the recomnienda- 
 
tioti ol" a Coiistitiitioii, which beyoud all cavil, again and again 
 acknowledges the presence of the institntion of slavery, and guar- 
 antees it a,s both legal ai.d valid. 
 
 The adoption of the clause providing for the restoration of fugi- 
 tive slave.-^, was the subject of but little controversy; indeed it was 
 acted upon WITHOUT A DIVISION, and so apparent was the justice 
 of the provision, that not a member of the convention objected to 
 its incorporation in the organic law on the grounds either of power 
 or riglit . I take occasion here to admit that Mr. Sherman did ob- 
 ject on the ground that there was no necessity for such a clause ; 
 and I commend his reasoning to the careful and earnest considera- 
 tion of those "unco guid and rigidly righteous" old women in pet- 
 ticoats and breeches, whose consciences are at this time so troubled 
 about the delivery to their masters of escaped fugitive slaves. Mr. 
 Sherman said "That he saw no more propriety in the public seizure 
 and surrendering a slave than a horse — both being property and 
 subject to the laws." 
 
 Mr. Sherman's opinion undoubtedly was, that an ordinary ac- 
 tion of replevin, would recover the runaway; or that trespass or 
 trover would enable the owner to recover the value from any per- 
 son who held possession of said slave, or had in any way assisted 
 in his escape. That such was his -judgment I cannot doubt, as at 
 that time, twelve of the thirteen States then represented in con- 
 vention, were Slave States ; Massachusetts being the only State 
 which had acted prospectiveh' even, for the abolition of the insti- 
 tution. 
 
 But all difficulties were overcome by the wisdom and patriotism 
 of the great and illustrious men who were empowered to frame the 
 new system of Government ; and when submitted for ratification, 
 the good sense of the people put the last seal to a confederation, 
 which I fondly trust will exist — 
 
 "Until time shall lall 
 The darkness for Creation's pall 1" 
 The illustrious chief who had led the armies of the Eevolution, 
 was by the unanimous voice of his Fellow Citizens placed at the 
 head of the new government, and the as yet nntried experiment 
 of a self existing constitutional power commeiiced its operation, 
 commanding the attention of the civilized world. It is not my 
 purpose, fellow citizens, for the time which I have allotted me, 
 would not serve for such a task, to follow the course of the admin- 
 istration of President Washington or his successor with particular 
 minuteness ; I but propose to briefly glance at certain great events, 
 land marks so to speak, which should have their weight upon the 
 })ublic mind to-day. Yon will bear in mind that at this time there 
 were thirteen States in the Union, twelve of which were Slave 
 holding, and one non-Slave holding. We are told now by such 
 men as C. M. Clay of Kentucky, Lincoln of Illinois and others of 
 that ilk^ that the fathers of the republic were animated by the 
 same views, and governed by the same political principles that dis- 
 
tingiiish them and the party to which tliey arc attached. This I 
 deny, utterly deny, and go to the record for the proof. 
 
 The first State which made application for admission to the new 
 Union, was Vermont, which was admitted on the 4th day of ^farch 
 1791 — Vermont was admitted as a free State. Next came Ken- 
 tucky which was admitted in 1792 as a slavk statk. Next came 
 Tennessee in 1796, likewise a slave state. 
 
 I desire right here in this place to put this " Brown Republican 
 Party" on the stand as a witness, I care not whether its represen- 
 tative man be Cassius Clay, or Lincoln, or Seward, or Dixon, or 
 Foster, or Buckingham, or IlaNrley, or Gillette. Did the Fathers 
 of the republic admit into this I'nion Slave States? Why, (doubt- 
 less with some little hesitation) they did. Would you, to-day, were 
 the power in your hands admit into the Confederacy Slave States? 
 Would these representative men, or cither of them, answer yes ! 
 Not one, not one ; if they did, they or he^^ould be forsworn. — 
 Would it be the New York apostle of a law higher than the obli- 
 gations of his own oath? not he ; as he says— there is an "irrepressible 
 conflict" between the Free States and the Slaves States ; there is war, 
 antagonism between them, and they cannot exist under the same 
 government. How would the gentleman who has been imported 
 from Illinois to enlighten the benighted sympathizers with the 
 " grand old hero," here in Connecticut ; how would he answer that 
 question ? This gentleman was most essentially flogged by Senator 
 Douglas not very long since, in a closely contested fight in Illinois, 
 and duriuG: that, not to him, but to us, amusinc:; struc'gle, he is re- 
 ported to have used the following language : 
 
 '•In my opinion, it (the slavery agitation) will not cease until a crisis 
 shall have been reached and passed. A house divided against itself 
 
 cannot stand. I BELIEVE THIS GOA'ERNMENT CANNOT ENDURE PER- 
 MANENTLY, HALF SLAVE AND HALF FREE. T clo not BXpect the hoUSe tO 
 
 fall, but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one 
 thing or all the other." 
 
 If this gentleman was honest — and no doubt of that will I give 
 utterance to — when he used such language, then he would not do 
 as the " fathers of the republic" did, admit new Slave States. I 
 might here observe in passing, that if Mr. Lincoln of Illinois, 
 preaches the same doctrines in Connecticut which he is reported to 
 have uttered at home, the national men of this State are under ob- 
 ligations to their oi)ponents for their western importation ; and in 
 my judgment the speculation, politically speaking, will be to them 
 quite as unfortunate, as many of the "Hail lioads,'" and divers 
 other western securities have proved to the people of New England, 
 in a pecuniary point of view. It would be almost a waste of time 
 to suggest that my friend Hawley would answer the question in 
 the alfirmative ; not he, never ! he is a Hebrew of the Hebrews on 
 this question, one of the old abolition guard, determined at all 
 hazards to prevent the admission of any new Slave State, and as 
 he avows from day to day, enlisted for life in the fight against 
 " Slavery and the Shama." 
 
10 
 
 No, fellow citizens, the membere of this falsely called " Republi- 
 can Party" are not governed by the principles of the "fathers of 
 the republic ;" power and place, the Heshpots of Egypt, the high 
 places of the confederacy, the government of the very Union 
 which is now endangered by their pernicious teachings, constitute 
 the end and aim of these men who have ^ 
 
 " Stolen the livery of Heaven 
 To serve the devil in." 
 
 But I propose to thoroughly unmask these false claimants to gov- 
 ernmental purity; and, therefore, I might here in this place, as well 
 as at a later point, allude to the argument which they urge, derived 
 from the much controverted ordinance of 1787. This ordinance 
 constitutes the stock in tri.de of the political gamblers who have 
 in charge the interests of the combination which is arrayed against 
 the national Democracy. 
 
 Let us now briefly glance at the history of this ordinance. In 
 1784 the State of Virginia ceded to the old confederation the 
 Territory north-west of the Ohio river, entering into a solemn com- 
 pact with the United States and the people of the States to be 
 formed out of said Territory. In 1787 this celebrated ordinance 
 was passed. The preamble to the articles of the ordinance is in 
 these words, to wit, 
 
 " It is hereby ordained and declared, by the United States in Congress 
 " assembled : 
 
 '' That the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact, 
 "between the original States, and the people and States in the said 
 "Territory, and forever i-emain unalterable, unless by common consent. 
 " to wit : (I quote the 6th article only.) 
 
 " Art. 6th. — There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude 
 "in said territory, otherwise than in tlie punishment of crimes, whereof 
 " the party shall have been duly convicted ; provided, always, that any 
 " person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully 
 "claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully 
 " reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or ser- 
 " vice as aforesaid." 
 
 It will be perceived at a glance, and the candid mind will admit 
 without cavil, that here is a perfect compact and agreement, which 
 cannot be broken or altered, except by the terms and in the man- 
 ner prescribed by itself; and, be it remembered, that this compact 
 was formed and entered into b}'' the oi.D confederatiox, the 
 original States, and the people of the States to be formed out of the 
 Territor}^ before the assembling of the convention which formed 
 the Constitution of the United States, and nearly tavo years pre- 
 vious to the adoption of that instrument by which it obtained 
 efficacy and force. It was a contract between Virginia, the peo- 
 ple of the north-west Territory, and the United States under the 
 old confederation; perpetual, enduring as time, and unalterable, 
 except by the consent of alt^ the parties. It was accepted by all 
 the parties ; and legally speaking, was a contract executed. The 
 
first Congress wliich assembled under tlio requirements of the 
 Constitution, found this executed contract in existance ; and by 
 the very terms of the instrument which gave Congress life and 
 power, that body was bound to carry out to the letter the terms of 
 said contract. (Art. 6, Constitution U. S.) All the legislation by 
 Qongress attaching to the various territories (five, I think) carved 
 out of the north-western territory, was authorized by the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States, (Art. 6,) for no other purpose, and under 
 no other consideration, than to carry into effect a contract entered 
 into under the old confederation. 
 
 I assert here, and defy contradiction, that the power to prohibit 
 the people of the different States of this Confederacy, from emigrat- 
 ing to, and entering into the common territories of the Union, with 
 any kind of property, slaves included, was never claimed by the 
 Congress of the United States, from the adoption of the Constitu- 
 tion,, until the broken down demagogues of a defeated party, 
 brought it forward in 1820. And yet, there is not a " Brown Re- 
 publican," from Seward and Lincoln, down to the merest whipster 
 who worships the memory of the " Virginia martyr," who do not 
 deceive, or try to deceive the people upon this very point, claiming 
 with the utmost gravity and solemnity as truth what every well- 
 informed man in the community knows to be utterly false and 
 unworthy of consideration. 
 
 During the administration of ^Mr. Jefferson, who, if I recollect 
 aright, was one of the "fathers of the republic," the Territory of 
 Louisiana was acquired by purchase from France. Mr. Jefferson 
 was, as a Virginian, up to the time of the great division of parties 
 dming the administration of "Washington, an anti-slavery man. — 
 As a public man, as a national officer, as President of the United 
 States, he never permitted his views as to the morality of the ques- 
 tion of slavery, to interfere with the high duties which at times de- 
 volved upon him, or in his construction of the Constitution, when 
 the great interest of the confederacy demanded action, which may 
 have differed from his personal views. In short, ]\[r. Jefferson had, 
 more than one idea, and ever acted from high principle and earnest 
 love of his whole country. To illustrate — Mr. Jefferson advised 
 when the old confederation was in existence, as early I believe as 
 1785, that the North- West territory should be free territory, forever. 
 It was the advice of an honest lover of his whole country, based 
 upon political science, and th*e natural capabilities of the territory. 
 At the same moment Mr. Jefferson was perfectly well aware that, 
 at no distant day the South-Westcrn territorv would come in to 
 the confederacy as Slave States ; and that opinion doubtless had 
 its full weight in determining his coui-se as to the North- Western 
 Territories. 
 
 But to return to the action of this "father of the republic," (this 
 man whose opinions the "Brown Republicans" claim to follow,) rel- 
 ative to the purchase of Louisiana. What governed Mr. Jefferson 
 in his desire to acquire this immense domain, capable as he well 
 
12 
 
 kucw of formiug half a dozen first class States, the policy of which 
 from the very nature of the climate must be slave holding? The 
 necessities of the whole country, public policy, an enlarged view 
 of the future destiny of this great confederacy of commonwealths, 
 the immense beneficial results which he with, the eye of a States- 
 man clearly foresaw imperatively demanded the acquisition. Not 
 for a moment did the patriot public officer hesitate in performing 
 his duty ; foreseeing as he himself says in his correspondence, that 
 his course would call upon his devoted head the unmeasured abuse 
 of the old Federal Party, yet he pursued the even tenor of his way, 
 and acquired for his country a new empire. True, it was slave ter- 
 ritory ; but what of that ? by his wise action the great highway of 
 of the West became American property, and for the garden of the 
 Union an uninterupted outlet was secured for all time ! Who is the 
 '(Brown Eepublican" sufficiently imbued with patriotism and love 
 of country to emulate this conduct of one of the ''fathers of the re- 
 public ?" It cannot be the Kentuckiau, who at this time, here in Con- 
 necticut, is feebly inlaying the role of Peter the Hermit, traducing and 
 berating that section of the Union w^here he first drew breath, and 
 upholding a policy utterly at variance with the teachings of Thomas 
 Jefferson. Cassius M. Clay is certainly not the man who would stifle 
 his abolition proclivities, when the necessities of his country de- 
 manded such a sacrifice. By no means; he is one of the apostles of 
 abolitionism ; and, if we are to believe his own story, the mantle of 
 some ancient prophet has fldlen upon his shoulders. He consent 
 to the acquisition of new slave territory ! not he. He takes occas- 
 ion to tell us that he knew in advance, that if Mr. Polk was elected 
 President, the Mexican war would inevitably follow; and sure 
 enough, Mr. Polk was elected, and sure enough the war did follow 
 that event; and, tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of 
 Askelon, the flag of the Union was carried in triumph to the 
 heart of Mexico ; the insults and outrages w^hich for years had 
 been heaped upon us by a neighboring power, were punished, and 
 the honor of our country vindicated; and worse, worse than all the 
 rest, a new Empire richer than Ophir in precious metals and of 
 surpassing fertility in soil was added to the Union, and the American 
 roll call is now heard upon the shores of the Pacific. 
 
 And this new '"Elisha" confide^it in his prophetic powers, informs 
 the citizens of Connecticut that if the nominee of the Charleston 
 Convention should be successful in the- approaching contest, Cuba 
 will be appropriated at all hazards. 
 
 Good ! the Democracy of Connecticut wall exert every nerve and 
 use all honorable means, first to elect said nominee, and second to 
 sustain the prediction of Mr. Clay. Of all sections of this great 
 confederacy, Xew England would be most benefitted by the ac- 
 quisition of the "gem of the Antilles." In territorial extent but 
 little greater than the State of Maine, less than one fifth of its soil 
 under cultivation, it now replenishes the coffers of Spain to the 
 tune of 30,000,000 of dollars annually. Thirty millions of dol- 
 
 ^44, 
 
lars, eveniinder Spanish laws and Spanish cnlture! Under the ben- 
 ificent sway of American self-government, with the impi'ove- 
 ments in machinery and the active energy which would be infused 
 by our people, Cuba would indeed be the garden of the world. — 
 As a State of this Confederacy, with her ports open to the manu- 
 factures of New England, she would l)ecome invahiable to our in- 
 dustry. 
 
 When Cassius Af. Clay insults the good sense of our })cople 
 by saying, as he is reported to have said in llaiiford, "that slave 
 masters would force us to assume possession of Cuba," he disgraces 
 himself, and doeg not dishonor us. Let me tell Mr. Clay, that the 
 democracy of Connecticut, the democracy of the North, acknowl- 
 edge no superiors ; know no masters ; and this miserable, dirt}'-, 
 vile slang, about "slave power," "slave masters," joasses by us 
 
 "As the idle wind, 
 
 Which we respect not." 
 
 The Democracy of Connecticut regard Cuba as the Gibraltar to 
 the American Mediterranean; as destined by theirresistible /7a^ of 
 the Creator, to be a constituent part of the government which 
 shall have in hand the destinies of this continent. The North de- 
 mands the acrpiLsition of Cuba, whenever it can be obtained in ac- 
 cordance with national honor. It will benefit the North, its com- 
 merce, its manufactures, and every branch of its industry ; that 
 the measure might work injury to the sugar interest of the South, 
 and therefore that its acquirement may in that section meet with 
 opposition, is not improbable. But the benefit to the whole coun- 
 try far outweighs the injury to one section, and Ave "bide our 
 time," confident of the result. 
 
 But to return to the action of "the fathers of the republic." — 
 As I before said the Territory of Louisiana was acquired, not be- 
 cause it was Slave territory, not for the purpose of making new 
 Slave Statas, but because it was necessary for the public good and 
 the advancement of the best interests of the great whole. Other new 
 States were admitted into the Union. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and 
 Maine as Free States — Louisiana, Mississippi and j:Vlabama as Slave 
 States. The Union prospered, good feeling, a spirit of fraternity 
 prevaded the minds of all the joeople. Agriculture flourished. — 
 The inventive talent of the country, made wonderful advancement 
 and improvement, and our manufacturing interest became of im- 
 mense importance, while our commercial marine whitened the 
 ocean with its canvas, and carried our flag into every sea. The 
 war of 1812, menacing at first to the internal peace of the country-, 
 in the end was of vast consequnce to our national character. It 
 exalted our reputation abroad ; it strengthened the bonds of the 
 Union, and gave us confidence in our ability to cope successfully 
 with any and all foreign foes, on the land or on the sea. The twen- 
 ty years, from 1800 to 1820, may well be termed "the era of good 
 feeling." 
 
 In 1820 and 1821 there arose a question upon the admission of 
 
u 
 
 Missouri as a State of the Union, the difficulties attending which 
 were averted for the time by a compromise that, in my judgment, 
 was in principle violative of the organic law, and in policy ques- 
 tionable, and as has been jiroved, mischievous in its action upon 
 the future of the country. For the first time since the adoption of 
 the Constitution, and the establishment under its provisions of a 
 Federal Government, had Congress been called upon to assume 
 any restrictive or proliihitive power in relation to the matter of Slav- 
 ery. Its previous legislation, as I have heretofore satisfactorily 
 shown, so far as the North- Western Territory was concerned, was 
 not in any manner controlled by the Constitution itself, but was 
 governed by a solemn compact, to which the old confederation and 
 the States were parties. 
 
 By the precedent which had been established in the admission of 
 Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and above all of Louisiana, 
 without an objection worthy of the slightest consideration, Mis- 
 souri had the right to demand admission into the sisterhood of 
 States, upon the same terms, and under no other restrictions than 
 such as had been imposed on the above named States. 
 
 This opportunity will not serve to enter into a full discussion of 
 this question, nor is it all necessary upon this occasion ; suffice it 
 to say that after two years of excitement, which aroused an an- 
 tagonism of feeling between different sections of the country, 
 exceeding in violence any which had arisen in the history of the 
 Union, a compromise was effected, by the terms of which Mis- 
 souri took her place among her sister States. Jeffekson and 
 Madison, "fathers of the republic," were aroused in their retire- 
 ment by the wild spirit of fanaticism and sectionalism which then 
 for the first time showed its horrid front, and in strong and indig- 
 nant language, in words of w^arning which should never be forgot- 
 ten, condemned this assumption of prohibitive power by Congress 
 as contrary to all precedent and violative of the rights of the 
 States and the people. Many of the ablest statesmen of the coun- 
 try pronounced the act of Congress as ^utterly in violation of the 
 Constitution, and predicted that the time would arrive, at no dis- 
 tant da}', when the establishment of the so-called Missouri Com- 
 promise line would be the source of national difficulties, the ad- 
 justment of which would demand the utmost efforts of all patri- 
 otic men. The opinion^was correct ; the prediction was true ; and 
 the evils resulting from that unwise, unconstitvitional and unstates- 
 manlike act are now spread broadcast all over our common country, 
 placing former friends in the position of enemies, arraying broth- 
 er against brother, convulsing the present of the Union, and men- 
 acing its future. But to return : following the action and imitat- 
 ing the example of Jefferson and Monroe, "fathers of the republic," 
 a later adfninistration, with the assent of the people of the United 
 States, permitted Texas to assume her ])ositionasoneof the sister- 
 hood, becoming in all respects the equal of her elders. 
 
 The arbitary line established in the Missouri case was also ap- 
 plied in relation to Texas. 
 
 '^ 
 
^; 
 
 15 
 
 It will be remembered that upon the re-establishment of peace 
 between the United States and Mexico, in 1848, the latter power 
 ceded to our Government many thousands of square miles of terri- 
 tory, and upon a consideration of all the questions arising out of 
 that acquisition, the inherent mischief of the ISIissouri settlement, 
 became palpable and evident to every intelligent and reflecting 
 mind. Here was a vast amount of new territory acquired by the 
 blood and treasure of the whole countr}-. It was the common pro- 
 perty of the people of all the States ; the rights of each were 
 equal in the new acquistion, but every proposition for its govern- 
 ment was met in Congress by a defiant opposition, rendered the 
 more violent from its sectional character. 
 
 The Statesmen of the South, as I am constrained to believe 
 with great fairness, proposed that the Missouri Compromise Hne, 
 though operating djsadvantageously to their section, and perhaps 
 of doubtful constitutionality, should be extended to the Pacific 
 Ocean, thus prohibiting the institution of Slavery in all the teri- 
 tory north of 36.30, and leaving it an open question south of that 
 latitude. I say, again, the proposition was a fair one ; it manifested 
 a desire upon the part of the South to avoid the agitation of a 
 question from which no good could possibly result, while great and 
 manifold evils were seriously to be apprehended. Many of the 
 leading Democratic Statesmen of the North were willing to accede 
 to the proposition. The able and accomplished Statesman who 
 now occupies the Presidential chair, the distinguished Senator 
 from Illinois, together with many others, doubting the justice and 
 propriety of the measure as an original enactment, were willing to 
 adopt it, to quiet the disturbance in the pubhc mind, and give 
 eace to the country. But under the pressure of a violent and 
 ilesperate opposition, that fair, equal, and just proposal of the South 
 "TO is not acceded to; and after a contest unexampled up to that 
 t/ne in the history of the Confederacy for its rancor and bitterness, 
 and through the untiring energy and exalted patriotism of 
 Webster, Clay, Douglas, and their distinguished and eminent 
 associates, the Compromise Measures of 1850 passed the Na- 
 tional Legislature, striking at the root of thirty years of false and 
 unconstitutional legislation — crushing out the erroneous and un- 
 worthy precedent which had established in the Missouri question 
 restriction and prohibition — and asserting the great principle of 
 non-intervention by Congress in the matter of Slavery in the 
 Territories of the U nited States, leaving the people at perfect lib- 
 erty to enter all public domain with their property of every des- 
 cription, subject only to the provisions of the Constitution of the 
 Country ; with full power, upon the formation of a State govern- 
 ment, regardless and irrespective of either arbitrary or imaginary 
 lines ; each community to determine for itself, whether the African 
 race should be free or subjected to a state of servitude by the 
 organic law. 
 
 Under these measures, the country became comparatively quiet, 
 until it became necessary and important to incorporate into a ter- 
 
16 
 
 litorial bill the principles upon which they were based and put 
 in operation the machinery of a territorial government. In 185-i 
 Mr. Douglas of Illinois reported to the Senate of the United States, 
 the territorial bill known as the Kansas-Nebraska act ; re-asserting 
 the principles upon which the Compromise measures were founded, 
 the unquestioned intention and object of the bill, was to permit the 
 peojile of the Territon,^ to organize a government and adopt a 
 State Constitution which would fairly express and represent their 
 own o})inions upon the all-absorbing cpiestion of African Slavery. 
 Innnediately upon the introduction of this bill into the Congress 
 of the United States, the Abolitionists and Free Soilers of the "Nor- 
 thern States in general, and New England in particular, organized 
 an opposition to the ])rinciples of the bill, and appealing to the 
 prejudices and fanaticism of a class in the Free States, a feeling of 
 undisguised hostility to the South and her institutions has been 
 aroused, which has shaken and convulsed the entire Union. Cor- 
 porate powers were granted by the Legislatures of Massachusetts 
 and Connecticut, establishing a new institution in the history of 
 American progress, called " Emigrant Aid Societies," the avowed 
 and only object of which was, by a forcing and hot-liouse operation, 
 to engraft particular views of policy into the legislation and laws 
 of the embryo State of Kansas. The citizens of the State of Mis- 
 souri, taking the alarm from the key note which had been sounded 
 in the Free States, established their " Blue Lodges" and other as- 
 sociations for the purpose of counteracting the efforts of those who 
 they believed were antagonistic to the welfare and best interests 
 not only of themselves, but of the hona-fide settlers and inhabitants 
 of the Territory of Kansas ; and open and undisguised hostility. 
 civil war between citizens of the same country, brethren of the 
 same political faith, for the first time, disgraced and dishonored the 
 annals of American history. I say for the first time, as. I regard 
 the insurrection in Penns3dyauia, and Sha3-"s rebellion during the 
 last century, as mere spots upon the sun, unworthy of remembrance 
 or consideration. 
 
 I am not about to review the disgraceful struggle which for two 
 or three years annoyed all honest residents of the territory and 
 covered with inl'amy the American name. My opinions upon all 
 the questions connected with the subject, based upon testimony 
 which caimot be shaken or controverted, were announced again and 
 again during the presidential struggle in 1856 and the State can- 
 vasses of 1857 and 1858. I say here, what all honorable and fair- 
 minded men, however they may differ in their political sentiments, 
 well know and must admit to be true ; that in the excited state of 
 the public mind great wrongs were pcr])etrated, great crimes com- 
 mitted b}' both the contending parties during tlie progress of that 
 infamous and unworth}^ struggle. Iliat this contest was caused by 
 the insidious and .sectional declamation of free state demagogues, 
 that it was protracted for years, when an honorable and patriotic 
 course of action would have quelled it within a period of six 
 
17 
 
 months, for the purpose of advancing to power and place men 
 sectional in all their views and deadly hostile to the interests and 
 institutions of fifteen sovereign states of this confederacy, I believe 
 and know to be true. The admissions of the leaders of the free 
 state faction, the letters which have appeared within the hist six 
 months, with which you are all familiar, in the public press, the 
 testimony which has b«cn and is now being taken by the investi- 
 gating committee of the U. S. Senate, establish the truth of the as- 
 sertion beyond all successful contradiction. But the great evil 
 which resulted from this Kansas difliculty, an inevitable result 
 which was feared and apprehended by all patriotic men, was the 
 complete demoralization of a portion, a class, so to speak, of the 
 public mind. Familiarize the mind with any course of action, 
 however pernicious and erroneous, imbue it with political theories 
 however dangerous and unconstitutional, when the time arrives 
 for a public movement based upon such mischievous theories, it will 
 be pushed with energy and vigor, ^regardless of, and blind to conse- 
 quences. I assert then, that the teachings and theories of Mr. 
 Seward and his coadjutors ; the promulgating a law and rule of 
 action, based upon the changing and uncertain consciences of men, 
 higher than the obligations of the supreme political law of the 
 land, the Constitution of the United States; the asserting in the 
 most imposing manner, that there is an "irrepresstble conflict" 
 war, antagonism, between the Northern and the Southern Statea ; 
 that one must be conquered and absorbed by the other ; that free 
 labor and slave labor, cannot in the future, as it has in the past, 
 exist under the same* government, and act in harmony as one grand 
 whole ; I say, that these teachings have had a mischievous and 
 baleful effect upon the mind of the country, and brought the union 
 to the verge of destruction! I assert^that these damnable doctrines, 
 have arrayed a large portion of the people of the non-slaveholding 
 States, against their brethren of the slaveholding States, caused the 
 shedding of fraternal blood, and directly Jed to treason, insur- 
 rection and murder! I assert that the murderer and robber, 
 John Brown, who attained an infamous notoriety by his bloody 
 and atrocious acts upon the soil of Missouri .and Kansas— who treach 
 . erously entered the territory of a sister State in the dead of night, 
 with a band of assassins, armed with rifles, knives and pikes, and 
 amply supplied with munitions of war purchased by money fur- 
 nished in part at least by New England men, committing murder 
 upon the defenseless citizens of Virginia, and inciting her servile 
 population to insurrection regardless of the horrors which would 
 have been inevitable, but carried out to their logical conclusions, 
 the premises of the New York Senator and his leading associates ; 
 and, though justly punished by the law which he had so wantonly 
 violated, he was less guilty than the men under whose deadly 
 teachings he learned his lesson of crime. Let their names while 
 living, be execrated by every patriot! Let their memories when 
 dead, be joined in infamy with that name which is regarded as ac- 
 cursed by every American citizen, Benedict Arnold ! 
 
18 
 
 I am aware, fellow citizens, that I am ocxiupying more of your 
 time than I ought, and therefore I shall lefive much unsaid which 
 might well be spoken, but a few minutes and 1 will be done. 1 
 desire to remind you that aiJj the Brown llcpubhcan leaders, and 
 every Brown Kepublican press in the State of Connecticut^ sustain 
 and uphold the doctrines and principles advanced by Messrs. Sew- 
 ard, Lincoln, Wilson and others, and must be held responsible 
 before the great tribunal of public opinion for the consequences 
 resulting from the advocacy and dissemination of opinions, so much 
 opposed to the c[uiet and good feeling which should characterize 
 such a political community as is contained within the borders of 
 old Connecticut. Examine for yourselves the course that the 
 opposition press in this State have pursued with regard to the 
 atrocious inroad of John Brown upon the soil of Virginia. Two 
 papers openly defend his murderous conduct; and the others, so 
 far as they have fallen under nay observation, deal out a kind of 
 apologetic condemnation, which smacks quite as strongly of praise 
 and approval, as of indignation and abhorrence. They all unite 
 as one, in ridiculing the raid as a small afl'air, not worthy of notice — 
 a nine days wonder which will soon be forgotten. One, ridicules 
 the President of the United States for doing his duty under the 
 obligations of his oath, in protecting the peaceable citizens of Virginia 
 from the knives of assassins ; another says Brown is just the man 
 we need, just the man for our money. (Query, did he have any 
 of it?) The unwarrantable and indefensible course, pursued by 
 the Brown ]lepublican press of the State, an\J the North, is some- 
 what singular, when we take into consideration the fact, that Free 
 State leaders in Kansas, over their own signatures, have denounced 
 the assassin in unmeasured terms. Politics, are indeed 
 " Sadly out of joint." 
 
 When, for party advancement and party purposes, a press, con- 
 ducted by men who in private social hfe are estimable and worthy 
 gentlemen, should find it necessary when speaking of a man who 
 has been guilty of the most atrocious public and private crimes, to 
 say, "doubtless he was wrong," "he has suffered the penalty," 
 " he meant well and posterity will be proud of him," he was a 
 "grand old hero," a "christian martyr," thus 
 '■'Praisinff with faint damns.'" 
 
 The legislation of no less than eight of the Free States during 
 the past five years, upon the matter of the rendition of fugitive 
 slaves, called in the new lexicon of abolitionism "Personal Lib- 
 erty Bills," M'as openly and avowedly procured lor the very pur- 
 pose of crippling or preventing the operation of a wise and salutary 
 law of Congress, enacted to give life, vigor and ellbct to a clause 
 of the Constitution; and is, to say the least, a wanton violation of 
 good faith, and utterly unworthy of any political organization, 
 especially one, pretending to be travelling in the footsteps of the 
 "fathers of therepubhc;" those "fathers," being tlie authors of the 
 
w 
 
 orioinal law during the administration of the Father of his Couutry; 
 and whenever the national men of Connecticut obtain legislative 
 power, let tlieir first act be to strike from the Statutes of the State,^ 
 an enactment, which dishonor the good name and good faith of 
 our old Commonwealth. 
 
 Fellow citizens, I am greatly obliged to you for the attention with 
 which you have listened to a somewhat lengthy and discursive 
 speech. I have asked you to go back with me to our early history, 
 to our historv as colonies. You have travelled with me through 
 ! the glorious past of our couutry under the confederated system; 
 you have seen thirteen weak and war worn States, under 
 the magic of the Union, with majestic stride take .their place 
 amongst the leading powers of the earth. Numbering less 
 than three millions of people at the close of the revolutionary 
 war, you now find within our borders, thirty millions of 
 inhabitants, .unsurpassed in intelligence, in virtue, in public and in 
 private worth, by thirty millions of any other people upon whom 
 shines God's Sun I 
 
 The past of our history, is unexampled in the history of the 
 world. Glorious beyond compare, it challenges the admiration and 
 aatonishmeni of every civilized nation on the globe. At the com- 
 mencement of the present union, a little belt of ^,^tates, we were 
 confined to the shores of the Atlantic ; but step by step weadvanc- 
 ed to the Blue Ridge and the Valley of the Mississippi ; the Rocky 
 Mountains proved no barrier, no obstacle to the onward march of 
 American greatness; and crossing the valleys of the West, the 
 •flag of the union" was firmly planted on the shores of the farther 
 ocean. The great and varied interests of the Union have proved a 
 safeguard to itself and a benefit to mankind. The cotton crop of 
 the United States, is a bond of peace between this country and Eu- 
 rope ; its failure for a single season, would cripple Great Britaiii to 
 the verge of bankruptcy." The agricultural resources of theUnited 
 Stiites are immense. An unoccupied and uncultivated territory at 
 the South and West, gi-eatin extent, fertile in soil, and generally 
 ealubrious in climate, invites the emigrant from the elder States 
 and from abroad. The wonderfully inventive talent of our people 
 enables our manufacturing interest to contend successfully with all 
 competitors, and not unfrequently to bear away the palm. Our 
 commercial marine exceeds in tonnage that of Great Britain herself' 
 while the internal trade of the Union defies computation. Such, fel- 
 low citizens, is the present of our country. What shall be its future ? 
 The future of this great confederacy, is in the hands ol" the men of to- 
 day. It is in our hands. The destiny of the Union, the future of the 
 country, rests upon the actions of the national men of the North. 
 There is but one question which threatens the confederacy, and 
 as we deal with that, so will be the future of our country. — 
 If we treat it wisely, if we follow in the footsteps of th(^. " fathers 
 of the republic," if we take heed of tlie advice left us by the 
 matchless Washington, in Lis "Farewell Address," if we not 
 
20 
 
 only icok'h>, out kiU, the sl^ctional snake which has insidiously- 
 crawled into our American Eden, the future of our country will 
 exceed in power and glory and honor, anything which my imagi- 
 nation can depict. If wc fail in our duty, tliere will bo a divided 
 country, a bi-oken Union, a patchwork of^ governraente. But, fol- 
 low deiTifK-rats, national men of Connecticut, let our mf^tto br>^ 
 "There is no such word as — Fail !" 
 
 'The eycri of the Union are fixed upon our uobic old common 
 v.'-ealth. Th9 position occupied by the inflexible democracy of 
 Connecticut, is understood and appreciated all over the country. 
 It has ever been true in its national character, as the needle to the 
 pole. AVe abhor and loathe that sectional feeling which has band- 
 fed together a portion of the people of the North, to crush to the 
 earth the constitutional rights of the South. We recognize the 
 T)crfect equality of the States, and accord to the South equal rights 
 with ourselves in the common domain of a comrrton U"nioft. Such 
 is the reputation of the Democracy of 'Connecticut, in every section 
 of this vast confederacy. 
 
 By the universal admission of the leaders of the " Sectional 
 party," their defeat in this conflict in Connecticut, will be decisive 
 of the Presidential contest. 
 
 Then, make read}'- democrats and national men, for the great 
 light of tbe 2d of April. Be thoroughly prepared and perfectly 
 organized. Let each one. of you act as though success depended 
 upon your individual exertions. Use all honorable means to secure 
 a triumph of your principles, those principles which for more than 
 half a century have lighted the pathway to American greatness. — 
 'I'his is a conflict in one respect of ftxr more importance than any 
 previous one known in ou'r political history, involving as it un- 
 fiuestionably does, matters of national moment. Should success 
 crown the efforts of the Democratic party it will quicken the pul- 
 sation in the heart of every national man from the Arostook to the 
 Rio Grande. The new era of fraternal feeling will have commenc- 
 ed, and the men of the South and the men of the North will 
 once more join hands around the altar of a common brotherhood. 
 Then gird on your armor and prepare for the conflict ! Our State 
 Ti(iket is in the field — good men and true, from the first to the last. 
 Our accomplished and distinguished leader, victor in many r, hotiy 
 contested and well fought field, is a tower of strength in the good 
 old cause of democracy and State Eights. Then rally around him, 
 bring up the old democratic guard; close in with the thousands of 
 new men whp have determined hereafter to stand shoulder to 
 shoulder with the party of the Union, and the uncouquercd, and 
 unconquerabl*.; Seymour will once more lead to victory the mas- 
 ses -of the Democracy and strike a blow for the Constitution and 
 the Union which will be felt from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from 
 the St. Lawrence to the Mexican Gulf, and crown with imperishable 
 glpry. the indomitable democracy of old Connecticut! 
 
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