In view of this wise provision so necessary to secure stability to our government, how rediculous it is to talk about a single State declaring this Union dissolved against the well-known wish of four-fifths of all the people of our entire country. The thing is absurd in the extreme and should not be entertained for a moment, for such a principle once established would be the end of all constitutional governments. But suppose we grant the independence of such States as choose to withdraw from the Union. In order to do this we must amend the constitution so as to empower Congress to act upon the matter, and until then, every member of Congress is bound to stand by the constitution as it is, for there is no power granted them to treat with a portion of this nation as an independent sovereign power. The framers of the Constitution did not grant Congress any more than a State the right to dismember or dissolve the Union. And who would for a moment consent to the assumption of such extraordinary and important authority by those who were sent to Washington to support the very constitution which they are now called upon to disregard and destroy.
WHAT SHOULD THE PEOPLE DO TO AVERT THE THREATENING STORM?
In my opinion, the best way to stop this disunion and treasonable clamor, is for all friends of the Union to come out and call meetings, and pass resolutions such as are appropriate for the times, telling our enemies that it was for this Union our fathers fought, bled and died, and we will do (if necessary) as our fathers did. Let there be but one sentiment, and the unbroken ranks of eighteen millions of freemen will do more to silence treason than all the constitutional amendments that could be prepared by twice the number of pacificators that are now offering their services to induce the government to meet the traitors on what is termed "middle ground." It is this continued wavering and uncertain position of the people that give those who are plotting our destruction such full and perfect confidence in their final success. Few men could be found who would enter the enemies ranks, if the certainty of being dealt with according to the laws of our country was before them. The boasted bravery of those chivalrous gentlemen who are now firing the hearts of the ignorant with bitter hatred against the noblest government on earth, would hesitate, reflect, and recoil at the sight of the hangman and the gallows. I question not their bravery, neither do I doubt their determination, but with the certainty of defeat before them, would they strike the fatal blow? Every sane man is apt to count the chances of success when he enters upon any very important undertaking, and if there is nothing before him but humiliation and defeat, where is the man who would be found fool hardy enough to risk his life in such a hopeless enterprise? They are few and far between. We are told that unless the nation gives way to these traitors, that the war that will ensue will be the most bloody and desperate ever known to civilized man. There is no doubt but they will fight, but will they be found any more brave and determined in destroying than we will be in maintaining our glorious country? I presume not. Then we can easily discover the character of the war by deciding upon the course we would pursue in such a contingency. This talk about such a war being any worse than other wars, is a mere bugbear, sent out to frighten the timid into submission, and the less notice there is taken of it, the more unfrequent will it be referred to. It is a noticeable fact, that those who are bringing about this great calamity are the very ones who are picturing to our visions the horrible consequences that would result from an effort to stop their career. Can impudence go further? Could Arnold have done more to have accomplished his base and ignoble purpose?