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Show 288 Charles O'Conor. the South, and compel them, by injustice and breach of compact, to sC'parate from us and dis~olYe the U ~1ion ? The reatne s and the glory of the Amencan name w1ll then be a ~1inrr of ye terday. The glorious R evolu tion of the Thirteen Stat~s will be a r evolution, not achieved by u , but by a nation that has ceased to exist. The name of vVashin gton will, at least to us of the North, (cheer s) be but as the name of Julius C::csar, or some other great hero who has lived in times gone by, whose nation has peri hcd and .exists no ~ore. The D eclaration of Independence- what will that be . The act of a state that no longer has a place among the nations. All the brirrht and glorious r ecollections of the past mu t cea e to b . be our proper ty, and become mere memonals of a depar ted race and people. Nor will these be the only consequences. 'Vill this mighty city, growing, a it now is, with wealth fl owing into it from every portion of this great empire, continue to flourish as it has done ? ("No!") Will your marble palaces, lining Broadway, and rearing their proud fronts towards the sky, continue to increase, until, as is now promised under the U nion, it shall present the roo t glorious picture of wealth and pro perity that the world has ever seen. (Cheer .) No, gentlemen, no ; such things cannot Le. I do not say that we will starve - that we will peri 'h a a people if we separate from the South. If the line be drawn, I admit they will have their measure of prosperity and we will have ours - but meagre, small in the extreme, compared with what is existing and promised will be the pro perily of each, if that <lire event shoulu occur. Truly has it been aiu here to-night, we were made for ea ch other. L et u separate, and though it may not clc troy either, it will r educe each to so low an ebb that all goou men would deplore the evil cour es that brough t about such a result. True, we would have left to boast of our share of the glory won by r evolutionary sires. 'l,'he Northern states sent forth their band of l1erocs, and shed their blood a~ frt' >ly as tho'e of the outh. But the diYiding line woultl tak t· !'rum us the grave of vVashington. (Cheer~.) I t i ~ iu hi.:; uwn .. Charles O'Conor. be_Joved Virginia. It is in the State and near the ~pot where this t rea::>on that has be n rrrowinrr ur) in the Norti1 - 1 l 1 b <::> , o acy culminated in violence and blood:hcd. "\V e would lo ·e the grave and lose all connection with the name of ' Va ·I11"11 rr to . • • c n n ' b ut o ~r philanth ropic and pious friends wlw fa in would kad us to th 1::; r esul t, would of colll·~c comfort us with the con olinrr ~·efl<•ct.ion that ·we had the gloriou memory of J ohn Brown i~ Its place. ( Great la ughter and cheerjng.) A rc you, gcntlc~ e n , p.repared .to m~k e the exchange? (Renewed cheering, mtcrnungled wtth cn es of "No, no ! ") Shall the tomb of 'Va hington, that ri. es on the banks of the P otomac r eceivinO' . 'b ' b Its tn ute from every tmtion of the earth - hall that become the property of a fo reiorr n state' (cries of 'No , no") - asta te ho tile to us in its feelin g;;;, and we to it in ours? Shall we erect a monument among the a rid hi lls at Nor th E lba and deem the privilege of making pilgrimagc>s thither a rccom~ense fo1· the Io~s of every glorious recollection connected with our R evolution, and for our severance from the name of Wa ·bington ? (Loud : heCI·ing.) No, gentlemen, we are not prepared, I tru t, for tlus sad excha nge>, this fatal severance. vVe a re not prepared, I tru t, either to part with the memories of our glorious pa:' ~, or to give up the advantages of our present happy condttwn. '\Ve a re not prepared to involve our cction in the losses, the deprivation of blcs ings and advantages which w01dd necessarily result to each section from the sentiment of di ~ uni o n , were it unhappily carried into effect. (Cheer8.) We u c ve~· woul~ ha~'C attained to the wealth and prosperity a::; a natwn whtch IS now ours, but for our connection with tlH• ..; ;e very much reviled a nd injur ed Slaveholder.. If a dis ol ution of the Union i. to take place, we mu t part with the tr~u1 e of the South, and thereby surrender our pa r ticipation in the wc.alth of t~lC South. Nay, more; we arc tolU upon goou at~ t ho nty ~b at 111 t~1e event of disunion, we will part not only w1th the Sla veholdmg State , Lu t that our young si ·ter with the golden crown, rich, teeming California - she who added the last final requisite to our groatuess as n, n~tion, will not 25 |
