och of slavery upon, the fair domain of freedom.
But however much you may argue upon it, or smother it in soft phrases,
slavery can only be maintained by force--by violence. The repeal of the
Missouri Compromise was by violence. It was a violation of both law and
the sacred obligations of honour, to overthrow and trample underfoot a
solemn compromise, obtained by the fearful loss to freedom of one of the
fairest of our Western domains. Congress violated the will and
confidence of its constituents in voting for the bill; and while public
sentiment, as shown by the elections of 1854, demanded the restoration
of this compromise, Congress violated its trust by refusing, simply
because it had the force of numbers to hold on to it. And murderous
violence is being used now, in order to force slavery on to Kansas; for
it cannot be done in any other way. [Sensation.]

The necessary result was to establish the rule of violence--force,
instead of the rule of law and reason; to perpetuate and spread slavery,
and, in time, to make it general. We see it at both ends of the line. In
Washington, on the very spot where the outrage was started, the fearless
Sumner is beaten to insensibility, and is now slowly dying; while
senators who claim to be gentlemen and Christians stood by,
countenancing the act, and even applauding it afterward in their places
in the Senate. Even Douglas, our man, saw it all and was within helping
distance, yet let the murderous blows fall unopposed. Then, at the other
end of the line, at the very time Sumner was being murdered, Lawrence
was being destroyed for the crime of Freedom. It was the most prominent
stronghold of liberty in Kansas, and must give way to the all-dominating
power of slavery. Only two days ago, Judge Trumbull found it necessary
to propose a bill in the Senate to prevent a general civil war and to
restore peace in Kansas.

We live in the midst of alarms; anxiety beclouds the future; we expect
some new disaster with each newspaper we read. Are we in a healthful
political state? Are not the tendencies plain? Do not the signs of the
times point plainly the way in which we are going? [Sensation.]

In the early days of the Constitution slavery was recognized, by South
and North alike, as an evil, and the division of sentiment about it was
not controlled by geographical lines or considerations of climate, but
by moral and philanthropic views. Petitions for the abolition of slavery
were presented