doing, I shall have no right to complain if the iron gripe which Despots usually fasten on the throats of those who defy their authority, should clutch at mine.

This is certainly an important consideration, and worthy of the most serious reflection of every citizen, whether Republican or Democrat, who heretofore has indulged the belief that he was one of the SOVEREIGN PEOple. Meanwhile, let us turn over a few pages of familiar history. Seventyseven years ago, on the 17th of September, that matchless work of wisdom, the Federal Constitution, perfect in all its proportions, came forth from the hands of its creators. Go with me, in memory, to the city of Philadelphia, on the 14th of May, 1787. On that day, there assembled in the now venerable Hall of Independence, a Convention, composed of men whose names are written in characters of flame on the scroll of immortality; whose glorious deeds deserve to be recorded on the tablet of every freeman's heart. From the 14th of May to the 17th of September, those sages were engaged in earnest, prayerful deliberation; and what was the burden of their anxiety during all those months? You, my countrymen, each individual of you-your happiness and mine your liberties and mine! The great problem to be solved was the construction of a confederative system of Government, while yet preserving, in perfect distinctness and vigor, the sovereignty of each individual State; in order thereby to perpetuate to their latest posterity those inestimable political blessings, which, after seven long years of toil, of blood, of poverty, destitution, and horror, they had wrung from the tyrant of Britain. This was the grand problem, which, during that period, from . May until September, claimed the God-like intellect, wisdom, and devotion of men clothed in the vesture of nature's nobility-heroes, patriots, sires-our fathers,-a race of men whom God will vouchsafe to the world but once.

Read the immortal record-James Madison and John Blair of Virginia, the two Pinckneys of South Carolina, Langdon of New Hampshire, Sherman of Connecticut, Alexander Hamilton of New York, Livingston of New Jersey, Franklin, Mifflin, Ingersoll, the two Morris's, and Clymer of Pennsylvauia, Dickenson of Delaware, Carroll of Maryland, Williamson of North Carolina, Baldwin of Georgia,-these are some of the names. And then we read the name of one, presiding over that august Convention, who, even amidst that noble band, stands majestically prominent. The peerless example for the study of mankind, created, as it were, to animate our race in every age and in every clime, to ennobling aspirations, and virtuous deeds—a name encircled with the effulgent light of its own undying glory-a name enshrined in the inmost chambers of every heart, where virtue and the love of liberty delight to dwell-the name of one, whom mousters, like Wendell Phillips, Garrison, Cheever, and Beecher desecrate, on the same principle which causes vice and uncleanness to abhor the presence of virtue and purity—the name of one, whose sacred ashes reposing in the bosom of his own beloved Virginia, belong equally to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and every other State, and will not be surrendered by a patriotic and sturdy yeomanry.

Yes, my fellow-countrymen, at the portals of the tomb of Washington sits the genius of Liberty, State Sovereignty, and Union; and while the echo of fratricidal artillery disturbs the silence of that hallowed spot, let us invoke the lofty spirit of the Father of his country, to exorcise the demon of discord from the land he loved so well; that hate, and passion, and wild fury, and fanaticism may flee the American heart, while love, and reason, and generous counsel, may animate to the great work of rescuing from everlasting ruin, the priceless legacy which he bequeathed to us.

In transmitting to Congress a copy of the Constitution, and the resolutions of the Convention, recommending its submission to the States for ratification, George Washington, who performed that duty, thus wrote:

"The Constitution which we now present, is the result of a spirit of amity, and of that mutual deference and concession, which, the peculiarity of our political situation rendered indispensable. That it is liable to as few exceptions as could reasonably be expected, we hope and believe; that it may promote the lasting welfare of that country so dear to us all, and secure her freedom and happiness is our most ardent wish,"

In his immortal Farewell Address, he writes: "Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments, which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.'

Again he writes in the same Address: "The bases of our political systems, is the right of the people to make and alter their constitutions of government; but the Constitution, which at any time exists, till changed, by an explicit and authentic act of the WHOLE PEOPLE, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government, presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government."

Mark the language that Washington uses. It has been said that "words are things;" General Washington does not use the singular noun base of our political system, but he employs the plural nouns bases, systems, and constitutions of Government. I repeat the sentence: “The bases of our political systems, is the right of the people to make and alter their constitutions of government," &c.

Now, if Washington had written ten folio volumes, upon whose every page he had declared that the Federal government was the creature of the so ereign States, and not that the States are creatures of the Federal government (which is the theory of the present Republican party), he could not have more clearly and emphatically announced his opinion.

Let it be observed, also, that he uses the words "constitution" and "government" synonymously, proving that he regarded the Constitution as the Government. Again he writes:

"The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which, in different ages and countries, has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction,

more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation on the RUINS OF PUBLIC LIBERTY."

"It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking, in a free country, should inspire caution in those intrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres; avoiding, in the exercise of the powers of one department, to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create,-whatever the form of government,— a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position." "If in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment, in the way which the Constitution designates. BUT LET THERE BE NO CHANGE BY USURPATION, for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon, by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance, in permanent evil, any partial or transient benefit which the use can, at any time, yield."

In these extracts, you have Washington's opinion of the Constitution. Says James Madison, in his first inaugural address, delivered in 1809:

"Prefer in all cases, amicable discussion, and reasonable accommodations of differences, to a decision of them by an appeal to arms; to hold the Union of the States as the basis of their peace and happiness; to support the Constitution, which is the cement of the Union, as well in its limitations as in its authorities; to respect the rights and authorities reserved to the States, and to the people, as equally incorporated with, and essential to the success of the general system;" "to preserve in their full energy, the other salutary provisions, in behalf of private and personal rights, and of the freedom of the press." "Always remembering that an armed and trained MILITIA is the firmest bulwark of republics-that without standing armies, their liberty can never be in danger, NOR WITH LARGE

ONES SAFE!"

Said Thomas Jefferson, in his first inaugural, in 1801 :

66

All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is, in all cases, to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate, would be oppression." "And let us reflect, that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little, if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions."

Again, Mr. Jefferson writes:

"The support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies;" "A JEALOUS CARE OF THE RIGHT OF ELECTION BY THE PEOPLE. The supremacy of the civil over the military authority, economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burdened. Freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and freedom of person, under the protection of the habeas corpus, and trials by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages, and blood of our heroes, have been devoted to their attainment; they should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone, by

which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps, and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety."

Says Chief-Justice Story, a name universally esteemed, referring to the high responsibilities of the people, to preserve their Constitution from usurping power:

"It must perish, if there be not that vital spirit in the people, which alone can nourish, sustain, and direct all its movements. It is in vain that Statesmen shall form plans of government, in which the beauty and harmony of a republic shall be embodied in visible order, shall be built up on solid substructions, and adorned by every useful ornament, if the inhabtants suffer the silent power of time to dilapidate its walls, or crumble its massy supporters into dust; if the assaults from without are never resisted, and the rottenness and mining from within are never guarded against, who can preserve the rights and liberties of the people, when they shall be abandoned by themselves? Who shall keep watch in the Temple, when the watchmen sleep at their posts? Who shall call on the people to redeem their possessions, and revive the republic, when their hands have deliberately and corruptly surrendered them to the oppressor, and have built the prisons, or dug the graves of their own friends? This dark picture, it is to be hoped, will never be applicable to the Republic of America; and yet it affords a warning, which, like all the lessons of past experience, we are not permitted to disregard; America, free, happy, and enlightened as she is, must rest the preservation of her rights and liberties upon the virtue, independence, justice, and sagacity of the people. If either fail, the REPUBLIC IS GONE. Its shadow may remain with all the pomp, and circumstance, and trickery of government, but its vital power will have departed. In America, the demagogue may rise as well as elsewhere. He is the natural, though spurious growth of Republics; and, like the courtier, he may, by his blandishments, delude the ears and blind the eyes of the people, to their own destruction. If ever the day shall arrive, in which the best talents and the best virtues shall be driven from office by intrigue or corruption, by the ostracism of the press, or the still more unrelenting persecution of party legislation, THE GOVERNMENT will cease to be national. It will be wise by accident, and bad by sytem."

Montesquieu declares that

"The political liberty of the citizen is a tranquillity of mind, arising from the opinion each person has of his safety. The enjoyment of liberty, and even its support and preservation, consists in every man being allowed to speak his thoughts and lay open his sentiments.”

In a letter from that great statesman, Silas Wright, dated April 9, 1847, he writes:

"No one familiar with the affairs of our Government can have failed to notice how large a proportion of our statesmen appear never to have read the Constitution of the United States, with a careful reference to its precise language and exact provisions, but rather, as occasion presents, seem to exercise their ingenuity, unfortunately too often powerful and powerfully exerted to stretch both to the line of what they at the moment consider EXPEDIENT."

Said that enlightened statesman and scholar, John McPherson Berrien, of Georgia :

"A knowledge of the Constitution, whichis for the most part plain and simple in its provisions, would often enable the citizen to spurn indignantly the efforts of demagogues to mislead him, and awaken him to a deeper sense of gratitude for the privileges which he is permitted to enjoy."

On the 18th of February, 1847, George M. Dallas wrote these words:

66

"It [the Constitution] should form the rudimental basis of American thought, by being made a perpetually recurring object of memory."

I will conclude these quotations with one from the great expounder himself, though they might be continued almost indefinitely: on the 11th of December, 1850, Daniel Webster, then near the close of his useful life, thus wrote:

"The Constitution of the United States is a written instrument, a recorded fundamental law; it is the bond and the only bond of the Union of these States; it is all that gives us a national character. Almost every man in the country is capable of reading it, and that which so deeply concerns all, should be made easily accessible to all."

These are some of the recorded opinions of sages, statesmen, and philosophers, in relation to the Constitution of the United States-most of then Democrats. Now, let us look at the published opinions of the leaders of the abolitionized Republican party. Contrast is at least an artistic arrangement.

Bear in mind, if you please, that the Constitution must be accepted or rejected as a whole. It was so adopted, and not one line or syllable can be rejected without endangering the whole system of government, of which it is the life.

The fourth article just as clearly recognizes the right to hold property in slaves as the fifth article recognizes the right to alter and amend the instrument itself. One article is just as obligatory upon the people as another, and any person or persons who would endeavor to escape that obligation by setting up "a higher law," a law of sentiment to be obeyed in preference to the Constitution, whenever its provisions conflict with their tender consciences, prove themselves traitors to the Government of the United States. And this is the kind of treason that has produced this civil war, and deluged the land in fratricidal blood.

I now deliberately charge the leaders of the so-called Republican, but really Abolition party, with a premeditated conspiracy to destroy the Constitution of the United States, and per consequence, the American Union. Mark, I say, leaders of this party, for, as I have already remarked, the rank and file of one party are just as honest as those of the other, but deceived and betrayed.

Now, to the proof of this serious charge. In cases of capital crime circumstantial evidence, where the chain is unbroken, has been regarded by writers on criminal law as the safest kind of proof upon which to find a righteous verdict. We have both circumstantial and positive evidence upon which to rest our case.

The nomination of Abraham Lincoln, at Chicago, was only one scerc