cipation of the existence of the present state of
things:

"I submit to you, my fellow-citizens, these considerations,
in full confidence that the good sense which has so often
marked your decisions will allow them their due weight and
effect; and that you will never suffer difficulties, however
formidable in appearance, or however fashionable the error
on which they may be founded, to drive you into the gloomy
and perilous scene into which the advocates for disunion
would conduct you. Hearken not to the unnatural voice, which
tells you that the people of America, knit together as they
are by so many cords of affection, can no longer live
together as members of the same family; can no longer
continue the mutual guardians of their mutual happiness; can
no longer be fellow-citizens of one great, respectable, and
flourishing empire. Hearken not to the voice which
petulantly tells you that the form of government recommended
for your adoption is a novelty in the political world; that
it has never yet had a place in the theories of the wildest
projectors; that it rashly attempts what it is impossible to
accomplish. No, my countrymen, shut your ears against this
unhallowed language. Shut your hearts against the poison
which it conveys. The kindred blood which flows in the veins
of American citizens, the mingled blood which they have shed
in defence of their sacred rights, consecrate their Union,
and excite horror at the idea of their becoming aliens,
rivals, enemies. And if novelties are to be shunned, believe
me, the most alarming of all novelties, the most wild of all
projects, the most rash of all attempts, is that of rending
us in pieces, in order to preserve our liberties, and
promote our happiness."

Grant us then, gentlemen of the North, what we are willing to stand
upon--what we will try to stand upon, and what we believe we can. At
least, this will save the rest of the States to yourselves and to us.
The States that are now in the Union will continue there.

What is it we ask you to do? It is to settle this question as to our
present territory. To settle it--how? By dividing it. And how by
dividing it? By the line of 36 deg. 30'. Apparently, you think we are
asking the North to yield something. I tell you it is we who are
yielding. By the decision of the Supreme Court we