How great a majority, do you think, would have been given
had Kansas also been secured for slavery? [A voice: "A majority the other
way."] "A majority the other way," is answered. Do you think it would
have been safe for a Northern man to have confronted his constituents
after having voted to consign both Missouri and Kansas to hopeless
slavery? And yet this man Douglas, who misrepresents his constituents and
who has exerted his highest talents in that direction, will be carried in
triumph through the State and hailed with honor while applauding that
act. [Three groans for "Dug!"] And this shows whither we are tending.
This thing of slavery is more powerful than its supporters--even than the
high priests that minister at its altar. It debauches even our greatest
men. It gathers strength, like a rolling snowball, by its own infamy.
Monstrous crimes are committed in its name by persons collectively which
they would not dare to commit as individuals. Its aggressions and
encroachments almost surpass belief. In a despotism, one might not wonder
to see slavery advance steadily and remorselessly into new dominions; but
is it not wonderful, is it not even alarming, to see its steady advance
in a land dedicated to the proposition that "all men are created equal"?
[Sensation.
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