which
they come. I will not say that we may not sooner or later be compelled
to meet force by force; but the time has not yet come, and if we are
true to ourselves, may never come. Do not mistake that the ballot is
stronger than the bullet. Therefore let the legions of slavery use
bullets; but let us wait patiently till November, and fire ballots at
them in return; and by that peaceful policy, I believe we shall
ultimately win. [Applause.]

It was by that policy that here in Illinois the early fathers fought the
good fight and gained the victory. In 1824 the free men of our State,
led by Governor Coles (who was a native of Maryland and President
Madison's private secretary), determined that those beautiful groves
should never re-echo the dirge of one who has no title to himself. By
their resolute determination, the winds that sweep across our broad
prairies shall never cool the parched brow, nor shall the unfettered
streams that bring joy and gladness to our free soil water the tired
feet, of a _slave_; but so long as those heavenly breezes and sparkling
streams bless the land, or the groves and their fragrance or their
memory remain, the humanity to which they minister SHALL BE FOR EVER
FREE! [Great applause.] Palmer, Yates, Williams, Browning, and some more
in this convention came from Kentucky to Illinois (instead of going to
Missouri), not only to better their conditions, but also to get away
from slavery. They have said so to me, and it is understood among us
Kentuckians that we don't like it one bit. Now, can we, mindful of the
blessings of liberty which the early men of Illinois left to us, refuse
a like privilege to the free men who seek to plant Freedom's banner on
our Western outposts? ["No! No!"] Should we not stand by our neighbours
who seek to better their conditions in Kansas and Nebraska? ["Yes!
Yes!"] Can we as Christian men, and strong and free ourselves, wield the
sledge or hold the iron which is to manacle anew an already oppressed
race? ["No! No!"] "Woe unto them," it is written, "that decree
unrighteous decrees and that write grievousness which they have
prescribed." Can we afford to sin any more deeply against human liberty?
["No! No!"]

One great trouble in the matter is, that slavery is an insidious and
crafty power, and gains equally by open violence of the brutal as well
as by sly management of the peaceful. Even after the ordinance of 1787,
the settlers in Indiana and Illinois (it was all o