rict the right to destroy
or mutilate a system regulated with so much care.

'The only manner in which the right of secession could exist in one of
the American States, would be by an express reservation to that effect
in the Constitution, There is no such clause; did it exist it would
change the whole character of the Government, rendering it a mere
alliance, instead of being that which it now is--a lasting Union. But,
whatever may be the legal principles connected with this serious
subject, there always exists, in large bodies of men, a power to change
their institutions by means of the strong hand. This is termed the right
of revolution, and it has often been appealed to to redress grievances
that could be removed by no other agency. It is undeniable that the
institution of domestic slavery, as it now exists in what are termed the
Southern and Southwestern States of this country, creates an interest of
the most delicate and sensitive character. Nearly one half of the entire
property of the slaveholding States consists in this right to the
services of human beings of a race so different from our own as to
render any amalgamation to the last degree improbable, if not
impossible. Any one may easily estimate the deep interest that the
masters feel in the preservation of their property. The spirit of the
age is decidedly against them, and of this they must be sensible; it
doubly augments their anxiety for the future. The natural increase,
moreover, of these human chattels renders an outlet indispensable, or
they will soon cease to be profitable by the excess of their numbers. To
these facts we owe the figments which have rendered the Southern school
of logicians a little presuming, perhaps, and certainly very
sophistical. Among other theories we find the bold one, that the
Territories of the United States are the property, not of the several
States, but of their individual people; in other words, that the native
of New York or Rhode Island, regardless of the laws of the country, has
a right to remove to any one of these Territories, carry with him just
such property as he may see fit, and make such use of it as he may find
convenient. This is a novel copartnership in jurisdiction, to say the
least, and really does not seem worthy of a serious reply.'

'SLAVERY.

'The American Union has much more adhesiveness than is commonly
imagined. The diversity and complexity of its interests form a network
that will be found, li