We come to speak of this
broader class of business men.
Ah, my friends, we say not one word against those who live upon the
Atlantic Coast, but the hardy pioneers who have braved all the dangers
of the wilderness, who have made the desert to blossom as the rose--the
pioneers away out there, who rear their children near to Nature's heart,
where they can mingle their voices with the voices of the birds--out
there where they have erected schoolhouses for the education of their
young, churches where they praise their Creator, and cemeteries where
rest the ashes of their dead--these people, we say, are as deserving of
the consideration of our party as any people in this country. It is for
these that we speak. We do not come as aggressors. Our war is not a war
of conquest; we are fighting in the defense of our homes, our families,
and posterity. We have petitioned, and our petitions have been scorned;
we have entreated, and our entreaties have been disregarded; we have
begged, and they have mocked when our calamity came. We beg no longer;
we entreat no more; we petition no more.
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