there have been more cases of kidnapping
of free negroes in Ohio, than of peaceable or unlawful rescue of
fugitive slaves in the whole United States. It has been shown that
the law of recapture and the penalties of rescue have been almost
invariably executed. Count up all the cases of rescue of negroes
in the north, and you can find in your newspapers more cases of
unlawful lynching and murder of white men in the south. These
cases have now become so frequent and atrocious, as to demand the
attention of the general government. The same article of the
constitution that secures the recapture of fugitives from service
and justice, also secures the rights of citizens of Pennsylvania
and Ohio to all the immunities and privileges of citizens of the
several states. No law has been passed by Congress to secure this
constitutional right. No executive authority interposes to protect
our citizens, and yet we hear no threats of retaliation or rebellion
from northern citizens or northern states. So, I trust, it ever
may be.

"The great danger that now overshadows us does not arise from real
grievances. Plotters for disunion avail themselves of the weakness
of the executive to precipitate revolution. South Carolina has
taken the lead. The movement would be utterly insignificant if
confined to that state. She is still in the Union, and neither
the President nor Congress has the power to consent to her withdrawal.
This can only be by a change in the constitution or the acquiescence
of the people of the other states. The defense of the property of
the United States and the collection of the revenues need not cause
the shedding of blood, unless she commences a contest of physical
force. The increase, in one year, of our population is greater
than her entire population, white and black. Either one of several
congressional districts in the west has more white inhabitants than
she has. Her military power is crippled by the preponderance of
her slaves. However brave, and gallant, and spirited her people
may be, and no one disputes these traits, yet it is manifest she
is weak in physical force. This great government might well treat
with indulgence paper secession, or the resolves of her convention
and legislature, without invoking physical force to enforce the
laws among her citizens.

"Without disrespect to South Carolina, it would be easy to show
that Shay's rebellion and the whisky insurrection involved the
governmen