I Will Admit No Bond That Holds

I Tried All In My Power To Avert This War. I Saw It Coming, For Twelve Years I Worked Night And Day To Prevent It, But I Could Not. The North Was Mad And Blind; It Would Not Let Us Govern Ourselves, And So The War Came, And Now It Must Go On Unless You Acknowledge Our Right To Self Government. We Are Not Fighting For Slavery. We Are Fighting For Independence.

Every One Must Understand That, Whatever Be The Evil Of Slavery, It Is Not Increased By Its Diffusion. Every One Familiar With It Knows That It Is In Proportion To Its Sparseness That It Becomes Less Objectionable. Wherever There Is An Immediate Connexion Between The Master And Slave, Whatever There Is Of Harshness In The System Is Diminished.

It Is Our Duty To Keep The Memory Of Our Heroes Green. Yet They Belong To The Whole Country; They Belong To America.

Sir, It Is True That Republics Have Often Been Cradled In War, But More Often They Have Met With A Grave In That Cradle. Peace Is The Interest, The Policy, The Nature Of A Popular Government. War May Bring Benefits To A Few, But Privation And Loss Are The Lot Of The Many. An Appeal To Arms Should Be The Last Resort, And Only By National Rights Or National Honor Can It Be Justified.

Tradition Usually Rests Upon Something Which Men Did Know; History Is Often The Manufacture Of The Mere Liar.