Political text-book for 1860 : comprising a brief view of presidential nominations and elections, including all the national platforms ever yet adopted ... with the most notable speeches and letters of Messrs. Lincoln, Douglas, Bell, Cass, Seward, Everett, Breckinridge, H.V. Johnson, etc., etc., touching the questions of the day : and returns of all presidential elections since 1836

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) 1'70 .A POLITICAL TEXT-BOOK FOR 1860. TREA.SO~ Al~D DISUNIO~ .A. VO\VED. _ _, ......... _ Is I 5ti, a now, many of the leading States­men and <•<litor~ of the Democratic party in the outl•crn States nttcrc'l prodictious of Disunion, made argurnc-nts fot· Disunion and very solemn t h r·eat$ of Di. union in cn.se they shoulu be beaten iu the Pre ' identia.l Elcctiou. Me. Rlidell, 8cn:tt.or· from Loui i1\na, and the panicular frit•nd and champion of Mr. Buchnnan, dechtred in 18.){) that "if Frcrnont . llonh.l be e lected the U nion would be di,solvcd." ~lr. 'l'oomb~: of Georgia, sairl " that in such an event the Union \\ OUJ,JIH' dissolved, and otwht to be di ·­~ olved ., j{r. Butler·, of S. U., a l~a<lirw m em­ber of the U. ~- ~e111Lte and chairman ° of the J udil: ia ry 'or11r11it tc • in 1 ' 5(), said : When l<'remont. is elected, we muAt r ely upon whnt we have-a hood 8Lale Uovernment. Every Ucvernor of the South shoulcl call the Legislature of his Sta.te to­gc. ther, an~l h:t\'C measure~ of t.he ~o u tlt decided upon. fl they duL t!Ul, anct 8U(nnit to the de(JI'(l(/ation, t/, ey wou?tl de~erve tltcfrLtp; r~( Rl•t1'(',~. I ~:~hcmtct atlvi11e my Leyt.~lat tM'O tu (JO at t!te tap of the drnm. i\[r-. Keitt, of S.C., m:t<h' a fi c t·y r-;pccch nt, Lyuelrbttrgh, Va., in l S.it.i <tll<l in view or t he apprehenucJ l'I.'cLion of Col. .Frl!monL, ex­claimed : I tellr ~ou ~ ow, thn.t :~Frem ont Is elect.etl, adherence to the {)nton t.~ trett8on to liberty. (Lout! cheers.) I t~ll you .now\ tha.t tl ~o southern man who will ~ubmit to Ius electton 1s a t,·aLtor and a coward. (Enthusiastic cheers.) '!'hi speeeh was irulorRcti as " souncl Joe-trine" lty the !fort. John B. Floyd, of V<t., uow .Mr. Bnchanan's Seeretat·y of W:ll'. . .Mr. Pre ton . Hrooks was complilltcnted for hts. attempted (and ueal'ly successful) nssassi­nutiOn of Senator 'umn('l' by an ovation n.t the hanJ ' of his constit uents a't 'vhich Senators But­ler, S. C., A.nd Too·11bs, of Georgia, a. sisted. The hero of ~he d.a.Y, ~Jr. Brooks, made a speech on the occaswn fro!ll which the followinrr is an extract· 0 ' arm oj.~OI£t1Lern.fi·eentcn npon the Trettlt~ti'Y and a,.. chives ojtke Government. (Applau:~e. ) 'rho Ch :\rleston "Mercury,', the rcco,.nized orga.n of the , outh C:u·olina Demoemc? in a recent article say : · ' . Upon t;le pol i<· y of d i.~.~olz i n(J the Union, of Mpm·at­t~~(/ _the &mtk .fi·om het· northern enemies, a ncl e8tab­l~ lil~w(J ££southern Co11jederac.y, partil'.~, 'JIN~s811, poli­tww~~ ·~. nnrt f) t'Ople, (tt·e (£ zutit. 1'/tere i11not a 8111{1~ pn1JlW.11Wn in Iter lim_its, not one o.f Iter pre.~e nt repre.. IUmlalwes or sena tor.~ tn (.onor eMt •who i.-; 1wt "Jled{Jed to lite lips infavor ojdili1t.ni<m. ln<lee(i, we wel{remem­bc~ that one of tho m•>S~ prominel)o(, leaners of the coope· ration 1>art.y '. w.hen J,auntc~l with su?mlssion, rebuked the thought by s.,ytng, tAat tn O])J?08ut(J IICCI'8Nitm he only took rt 11tep /J(tckrzo(tr'l to strike a blow mor~ deadly ayain8t the Union •. " In tlre autumn of 1 Governot· of Virginia, State that-- ,3G, Henry A. \Vise, then tolti the people of that The S?uth could not, without tlogrndalion submit to I he electiOn of a Dlack ltepuhlican Prcsi(lent. 'l'o tell me we ~houl tl submit to the election of n Black Hepubli· c:~n •. u.nder circumstances like these, i~ to tell me that Vtr~111m and the fourteen lave tates nrc alrently subju­~: Uc(l .and degraded, [cheers;] that the southern peonle ~~r·c wtthout spirit, and without purpo!le to tlefcnd the nghts th er know and dare n ot maintain. (Cheers] If yo~ su,b rlllt to the el~ction of Fremont., you will prove wh.tt :::lcward and ~urhngamc said to he true-that the outh can not l>e k1cked out of the Union. Du~ing the r1·e~idcntial camp:-tign of 1 56, the 'Vashmgton correspondent of the "New Orloa111 Delta.," a journal high in the confidence of the Pierce adrninistr:1tion, wrote : It Is alren<l~ arranged, In tho event of Fremont's ele~U~n, or a fatlur~ to elect by the people, to call the LegJsl,ltures of Vlrgmla, outh Carolina nn1l Georgia 'to concert measures to withdraw· from tho Union before Fremont can get possession or the Army and navy and t~e purse-strings of government. OoverTJ.or Wise i8 ac­t~ vely at work alr(,a(/y in the matter. 1he &uth can 'r~ly on tl~e Pre-Ricfent in the emer uenmJcontenllplated. The questton now 1s, whether the people or tbe South will sustain their leaders. . At a Union meeting r ecently ltelcl at Knox­vtlle, 'l'en_n ., Jttllge Daily, fol'llwrly of Georgia, made a vrolent south ern spe ch 111 the course of which he said: , We have the Issue upon us now; nnd ho1v are we to meet i~? I tell you, fell ow-citizens, from the bottom of my h.ear~, t!mt the only mode which I thiuk an.llable for Seettog 1t t8j1J,8t .to tettr the Oon11titution ojtl~e Dnlted During the Presidential contest., Governor Wise had ad-tales, trample ~t under foot cnulform a 801ttl~e;·n drel!sed letters to all the southern governors and tha~ ('onf~deraey every State of rzoltich will be a slamelwld- tll_e on.e to t(t~ Governor of Ftoridt£ had o:en 6hown tn(J ,State . . I Loud and prolonged cheers ) I L>elieve it I~Hn, '!111. whwh Oov. fVlse llai<l he turd. 11 n army in r ead­as_ I sta!H~ !0 the face of my lllaker; I believe it on my mess to prenent .F'I'emontjl'om t11kin(J hi~t seat If elect.­r e.."ponstbtltty to you as your honored representative ed, and asking the cooperation of those to whom be that tlte only hope of the Smtth iAJ in tlte South and wrote: '!~tt ltlte e.~,eet ve tq,~n ttyo acvuati l<astbul-en dmere atnhes obojmndask ithna{t! ttAiea t11'~lw tpoe- . Clr_adrs J. Fclttlkrl"" r, f()t'tt1 er·l ,', ,·•• J>,,".p r·e"" cnta-oe. thcr! and take o1tr scpctrate position in the family ttve ~~ Co! t g rc~s f rom Virginia, ( 'lrairnran of the oj nattons. _'L'!tese are my oplulons. They have always Dcrnoc::-attc Concrt'C88ional Collllllittec in 1856 been my opmtons. I have been a dis!Vn · 1 • t ,. d 'f' · 0 ,., , ' the ti;,l.e I couut think. . . . w 118 J rom an . ll ow 11 r_mstc r to F ranee, at a rrecn t Demo- Now, !cll .. w-citizenl!, I ha ve told you very frankly cmttc rnecttng held in Virrrinia over which be ~~<1 u~ll~sgui~edly, , that I l>elievc tiLe only !wpe of tiLe presiJed, , aid: 0 ' •.:x>tt.th U1 m d t.~.~vtmny tlte bondiJ 'Which connMct 1tll w 't!. the Goo(~rnuumt-in s~p<tratino tlte livin(J body fr~ t wiY''c? ~hlit noble nn<l gfl'llaot son. of Virginia, Tlcnry A. tiLe dead Ci£r'CU811. lC I was the commander or an armm if z,e, c.ednrecl, as wo.s s:ud he clld tn October, 18156, th!!.\ I never wo1lld po~<t a .~entinel who would not 8W Y! I remont sltould be elected, rrK wout..o :~rm:~o: ruR N.t.· tli.at f:ilU"OIJI'Y is t·iyht." . . . e<£t TIO'.A.L .AHSKNAL_ AT ll.ARPE!t'S VIOtHY1 how few would, d I speak on tny individual respousihilit . Ij F 'l'rmo tha.t tune, have JU ·tine1l so llold and dL•cid ••cl a measure f be cleeted President of tho United State% ·I am '.I< eft J ~ 'UI ~ILefortnne nj11ome (J,·eat rtnd oifterl mind11 to u,, people in their majesty risin(l above 'the luwora:J l1aur t.n n(l'O(li1W6 o,l tl~eir conte;mporariAA Should W~ ka.d ers, takin(! the powl:lr into thetr oum !wm.d.$ . I u;"m II. Seward be elected ln 1S60, where i!! the man now bJ,• conce-rt or not Of! oon.oerl and 1,.,.--:.ln th6 ' ~mn(l ,, our midst, toho '..Dmtld n,ot call for th"' impeachmanl • .....,llv' " 8 ron(J o,~ a Governor of 7t,rginia tolw would 1il6ntl1;6~6r DISUNIO~ A VOvVED AT TITE SOU'l'U . 171 tMt annvr?/ to 11ass tmd er the co?)tl·ol of 8t,ch (lin Ea;­~ O'utive hettcl T T he Hichmond Enqu·irer, long ouc of the lcadinO' exponents of the Southern Democ racy, in COtllllrCrtting 011 the murderOUS l1S8!tUlt 011 Senatot· ,.'urnnor , 13aid : the blemslngs of , lnr ry, likt• the reliaion of 01£1' Df-rint ..biasler, to the utte rmo::~t emil! of the earth; anrl, rchc ~ lious and wickecl as the Yankees ho.ve been, 1 would eun e~tend it to 6/tem. . . . . . Sumner, anti Sumner's friend'l, must be punished and sl· lenc8(1 Either such wretches must ho hung or put in Ut.e penitentiary, or tbe South shoultl prepare at once to qUJt Whether we can obtain tho Territory while the l.'nmn lasts, I <lo not !mow; I fear we cannot. Jlnt I would make an honest eiJ'ort, nnd If we falletl, I would go out. of the Union, and try it then•. I speak plainly- I would make o rt.'futial to acquire territory, hecause it was to he slave tc,r rltory, a c;tu~e for 1lh-!union, just nR 1 would make tbe refu· sal to 1Uiurit a new State, l!ecaul!e It was to be a Slave Stat<', the Union. u. cam:~e for disuDion. . . . . 1f .i''rc111ont Is elected, th_e Union wlll not last nn hour nrter Mr. Pierce'!:! term exp1rcs. If Fremont i.'l elected, IL will be the duty of tho South Lo dl~sol\ e tl•c Union and form o. outhern Co~1fed ·rncy. },ct the South present o. compact and uadtvitlcd front. Let her if posHIIJie, detach l'ennsylvnnla n.nd southern Ohio so'ut!H·rn lndi tina, and southern llllnols, from the North and nta ke the !Jighlan<ls between the Ohio and. the lt\kt!S tJ10 tlividiug line. J~ct the South treat with Cnhfor· nla; and, if necessary, ally herself with ltusshl, with Cuba, The election of !llr. Sewnrcl, or any other man of hlr party, I::~ not, J>el' se, justlflahle ground for dls~olvlng the lft~ion. llut the a('t of putting the Government In the hands of men who mean to usc It for om subjugation , ough\ to be r e!!i~tccl, even to the disruption or every tic thu\ bind~ us to the Uulon. and Dmzll. !:'cuator I verson, of Gc01·gin, in a. !'peech naule to Jri con~titucu ts previous to the as ' cmbli11g of the scCOJHI ses~iou of the 30th Congn .:' , said: Slove?'Y m•tRt be mai'lltained-in tlte 'C'n!on, ijpos­~ ible · out of it, y nece81Jat'Y : j)eaceu.bly, if we utay, jo1·oibly if we must. . . . . • . ln 11. confedcra.tell government of th eir own, the South­ern States would enjoy sources of wealth, prosperity, and power unsurpa ·sed hy nny nation on earth. No neutra· tt.y la~vs would restrain our a1lventurous sons. Our ex­panding policy wonlrl stretch far beyond present limits. Ccutral A111erica. woultl join her destiny to our:~, and so woultl Cuha now withheld from us l>y the voice aut! votes of Abolition 'enemies. Our irw the bte memorable co11tcst for Spca1icr, t lll· .nn~t', 'cnator remark 'U, as follows: :'ir, I will tell you what I woulcl do, if I had the control of the southern member~ of tltis House and the other, when \'Oll elect John Sherman. If I hatl control of tho public s ~ntimcnt, the very moment you elect John Sherman, tlius giving Lo the Sonth the cx tun ple of in~~ it as well as lujurr I would walk every OIJe of us, out ol the ll alls of t:l\s 01;Lpitol, nntl CO:l~Ult Olll' constituents; llllti l WOUld never enter tt!{llin until I was hade to do so by those who hall the rigltt to control me. Sir, I ~o further than that. 1 woul1l eounsel my constituent:; inst:wtl.r to dissolve all politic•d tics 11 ith a. party and a people who thus tmmple on our right:J. 'l'hu.t is what l would <lo. In till ehhorate 8prrch ucliv •reel ltltCI' in the scs=-ion lty the same Senntor, he :tid : Sir there Is L>ut oue path of snJety to the South ; but one ,;,ode of preserving her institution of domestic ::\lavery; and that i~ n. confederacy of tates having no lncougruou:~ and oppo~ing clements-a confederacy of Slave tate~ alone, with homogeneous language, laws, lntere::~~s, an_d in· stitutlons. Und •r such a confedcrnte<l ltcpuhhc, wrth a Constitution which should shut out tho approach and en­trance of all incongruous antl conl1lctlog clement , which shoulll protect the institution ft·om change, and keep the whole nation ever bound to its preservation, hy nn un­ehangea! Jle fundamental law, the tifteen Slave States, with thel.r power of expansion, would prcf!cnt to the world the most free, pro:;perous, an<l happy nation on the face of the wide earth. lr, with these views, and with the firm conviction which I httve entertained for many years, and which rcce ~t events have only seemed to confirm, that the "Irrepressible coo­filet" L>ctwccn the two sections must and will go on, and with accumultttcd speed, nnd must end, In the Union, with the total extinction of African la.vcry in the southern States, that I ha.ve announced my determination to ap­prove nod urge the sout hern States to <.lis!loil·e the Union upon the elcdion of u. lllack Republican to the Presidency of ~he United States by a sectional northern party, and upon a platform of oppo~ltlon anu hostility to southern Slavery. Senator Brown, of M:l ssi ~sippi, in a r ecent fpeech to his con sti tu e n ts, saiti: I wwnt 0?£ba ,· I want Tanu~ullpns, Potosi, nnd one or two other Mexican States; antl 1 u:rmt them all for tlte &ame ?'eason-jor th6 plwnt:ino cvnd 8pt·ead'in(J of Sla- 1'~;'y. And a footing iu Ct!ntml America will powerfully aid us In acquiring those other States. Yes; I wa11t tAe/Je COit.ntruiJfin· the spread oj Sl(J!I)OI"!J. l would spreud J cfl'e r. on Dn. vis, U S. Senator from Mis is­sippi, in an ndurcss to the people of his tate, July G, 18nn, aiu: For myself, I say, ns I said on a former occasion, In tho contingency of the election of a l'rcsi<knt on the plat form of Mr. Seward's Rochester speech, let the Union be dissolved. Let the "great, bu~ not the greates~ of evils," como. Mr. Clay, of Alnhurna, in a recent speech in the S enate, contcmplnt.iug the pos~ihl e d feat of his party in the corniug Presidential contest, said : I make no prediction!!, no promise for my State; hut in conclusion will ouly say. that lf she is fai th ful to the 'pledges she h'as mfHie nnd princip les she has pro­fessccl- if she Is true to her own int erc!lt nncl her own honor-If she is not recreant to nil that lnte pride, in­tegrity and tlut,y clcmand-8he will never submit to your authority. I will !l(ltl, that unlc!ls she and all the southern tates of this Union, with perhapii but two, or, at mo t three exception!~, n.re not faithlcq~ to the plctlge3 they ha1ve given, they rzvill11ever littlmtit to t~~~ (fcrvel:1"1r meut of a P reHident proje81iill(! 110 1' polttM·alfatth wnd elected l y yow· sectional mnjol'ity. W hen Mr. Olav had taken hi~ Rcat, )ft·. Gwin, of California, niadc a speech in which lre de­cl!\ red it n.s ''tho i n evitable t·e .. '~ult that the South woulti prepare f o t· rcRi tnnec in the ennt of the election of n Hcpubliean Pr ·~id nt." On the 24th of January, 1 fiO, the. Jlon . Robert Toombs, of Georgia, made a vtolent speech in the St>rmtr, on l\l r·. Doug~as' Re olu­tion tiireetitw the Judiciary Comrntttee to r e ­port n Ltill fo~ Lhe protection of each State nnd Territory against inva.ion front any otlwr tat.e o r '1\•rri tory. Mr. Toomln> commctwctl ltts speech bv tire nnnounC<'ment tl1at ~he eoun~ry wtLA in tl1e miust of civil wnr, a <hhrw, "1 feel anti know thnt a lar·ge body of these enators arc enemies of my country." Mr. Toombs pro ceedcu in un eli\boratc anJ vi tuperative Rpee_ch to prove that the P?ople of th.c _North l t~ d vt~· latcd the Con. titutron, by r fu mg tu cnptu~o anti return fugitive slaves to their ma~tc t·' Ill the South. s· I have but little more to add-nothing for ~~tyself. I fe~i that I have no need to pledge my poor servJcCt t'l this reat cause-to my country. My State has spo en f h~rself Nine years ago a convention of her people ~~t and decla.red that her connection _with tltls g-o~l'!·n­rnent depenclctl upon the faithful executiOn of ~1t11~ flA'Il~~c slave law and her full enjoyment of equal rtg t s n 1 w . moo 1•erritories. I have shown th!LL the one cont n­com .1 d. the other wults only the sue· ~~~~c;/~ft~ ~~~~~~Ttc~~ ;~rty in tho approach!Jrg l'_resl<leni I 1 1 was a member of that convcntton, atH tit\ I e ('Ct on. I I d to its action I h·t ve faith· stood \hen and now P e< gc . · ' 1. 1 f II I ho ed to nvert these cnlamltteR. I will yet ,, >or u t~ ~ 1 rlast contingency happcnR, faithfully, ltont' tly, un 1 1 :he hest of my poor abilities. When th~t t~uc and to f emen of Georgia redeem your pl ecl!iC, l am con:,es,tor~cdcem mine. Your honor Is involved-your refu Y is lighted. 1 know .vou feel n stnin as a wountl; ~~u; peice, your social system, your firealdes are I.P