ng of this controversy they have
stood firmly by the Constitution. No body of men in the world's history
ever exhibited higher or nobler devotion to principle under such adverse
circumstances.... Amid the opprobrious epithets, the gibes and jeers of
the enemies of the Constitution; worse than this, amid words of distrust
and reproach even from men of the South, these great-hearted patriots
have marched steadily in the path of duty.... The union of all these
elements may yet secure to our country peace and safety. But if this
cannot be done, safety and peace are incompatible in the Union. Amid
treachery and desertion at home, and injustice from without, amid
disaster and defeat, they have risen superior to fortune, and stand
to-day with their banners all tattered and soiled in the humble service
of the whole country. No matter what fortune may betide us in the
future, while life lasts, I have a hand that will succor and a heart
ready to embrace the humblest soldier of this noble band."

At that time there were thirty-three States in the Union. The committee
on platform consisted of one from each State. The delegates from
California and Oregon, voting with the South, gave them seventeen votes
in committee. The resolutions were quickly framed, with the exception of
the one on slavery. Here was the deadlock. The majority plank declared
that the right to settle in the Territories with slaves "was not to be
destroyed nor impaired by Territorial legislation." The minority
proposed once more to leave the question to the Supreme Court. The
compromise was not accepted. The two reports came before the convention,
and, the Douglas men being in the majority on the floor, the minority,
or squatter-sovereignty report, was adopted by a vote of 165 to 138.
Here came the crisis. The delegates from Alabama, Mississippi, Florida,
Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and a part of Delaware, withdrew from the
convention. Hon. William L. Yancey of Alabama led this movement. He was
a man of courage and decision, with unrivaled powers of oratory. He had
been a member of Congress, and his influence in the South was large. So
far back as June 15, 1858, he had written a famous letter to James M.
Slaughter that "no national party can save us; no sectional party can
ever do it; but if we would do as our fathers did, organize committees
of safety all over the cotton States--and it is only to them that we can
hope for any effectual movement--we shall fire the S