very? If this is true, how do you propose to improve the condition
of things by enlarging slavery,--by spreading it out and making it
bigger? You may have a wen or a cancer upon your person, and not be able
to cut it out lest you bleed to death; but surely it is no way to cure
it, to engraft it and spread it over your whole body. That is no proper
way of treating what you regard as a wrong. You see this peaceful way of
dealing with it as a wrong,--restricting the spread of it, and not
allowing it to go into new countries where it has not already existed.
That is the peaceful way--the old-fashioned way--the way in which the
fathers themselves set us the example.

On the other hand, I have said there is a sentiment which treats it as
not being wrong. That is the Democratic sentiment of this day. I do not
mean to say that every man who stands within that range positively
asserts that it is right. That class will include all who positively
assert that it is right, and all who, like Judge Douglas, treat it as
indifferent, and do not say it is either right or wrong. These two
classes of men fall within the general class of those who do not look
upon it as a wrong. And if there be among you anybody who supposes that
he, as a Democrat, can consider himself "as much opposed to slavery as
anybody," I would like to reason with him. You never treat it _as_ a
wrong. What other thing that you consider a wrong do you deal with as
you deal with that? Perhaps you say it is wrong, but your leader never
does, and you quarrel with anybody who says it is wrong. Although you
pretend to say so yourself, you can find no fit place to deal with it as
a wrong. You must not say anything about it in the free States, because
it is not here. You must not say anything about it in the slave States,
because it is there. You must not say anything about it in the pulpit,
because that is religion, and has nothing to do with it. You must not
say anything about it in politics, because that will disturb the
security of "my place." There is no place to talk about it as being a
wrong, although you say yourself it is a wrong. But, finally, you will
screw yourself up to the belief that if the people of the slave States
should adopt a system of gradual emancipation on the slavery question,
you would be in favour of it. You would be in favour of it! You say that
is getting it in the right place, and you would be glad to see it
succeed. But you are deceiving yourself