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with the right of deciding these questions according to its sound discretion. Congress is composed of the representatives of all the states, and of all the people of all the states, but we, part of the people of one state, to whom the constitution has given no power on the subject, from whom it has expressly taken it away,—we, who have solemnly agreed that this constitution shall be our law, we now abrogate this law, and swear, and force others to swear, that it shall not be. obeyed, and we do this, not because Congress has no right to pass such laws; this we do not allege; but because it has passed them with improper views. They are unconstitutional, from the motives of those who passed them—which we can never with certainty know; from their unequal operations—although it is impossible, from the nature of things, that they should be equal; and from the disposition which we presume may be made of their proceeds-although that disposition has not been declared. This is the plain meaning of the ordinance in relation to laws which it abrogates for alleged unconstitutionality.

5. But it does not stop here. It repeals, in express terms, an important part of the constitution itself, and of laws passed to give it effect, which have never been alleged to be unconstitutional. The constitution declares that the judicial power of the United States extends to cases arising under the laws of the United States, and that such laws, the constitution, and treaties shall be paramount to the state constitutions and laws. The judiciary act prescribes the mode by which the case may be brought before a court of the United States, by appeal, when a state tribunal shall decide against the provision of the constitution and laws of the United States; forces judges and jurors to swear that they will disregard their provisions, and even makes it penal in a suitor to attempt relief by appeal. It further declares that it shall

not be lawful for the authorities of the United States or of that state to enforce the payment of duties imposed by the revenue laws within its limits.

6. Here is a law of the United States, not even pretended to be unconstitutional, repealed by the authority of a small majority of the votes of a single state. Here is a provision of the constitution which is solemnly same authority.

abrogated by the

XLI. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.

1. I have urged you to look back to the means that were used to hurry you on to the position you have now assumed, and forward to the consequences it will produce. Something more is necessary. Contemplate the condition of that country of which you still form an important part; consider its government, uniting in one bond of common interest and general protection so many different states-giving to all their inhabitants the proud title of AMERICAN CITIZENSprotecting their commerce-securing their literature and arts facilitating their intercommunication-defending their frontiers-and making their name respected in the remotest parts of the earth! Consider the extent of its territory, its increasing and happy population, its advance in the arts which render life agreeable, and the sciences which elevate the mind! See education spreading the lights of religion, morality, and general information into every cottage in this wide extent of our territories and states! Behold it as the asylum where the wretched and oppressed find a refuge and support!

2. Look on this picture of happiness and honor, and say, WE, TOO, ARE CITIZENS OF AMERICA--Carolina is one of

these proud states; her arms have defended-her best blood has cemented, this happy Union! And then add, if you can, without horror and remorse, This happy Union we will dissolve; this picture of peace and prosperity we will deface; this free intercourse we will interrupt; these fertile fields we will deluge with blood; the protection of that glorious flag we renounce; the very name of Americans we discard. And for what, mistaken men? For what do you throw away these inestimable blessings-for what would you exchange your share in the advantages and honor of the Union? For the dream of a separate independence-a dream interrupted by bloody conflicts with your neighbors, and a vile dependence upon a foreign power. If your leaders could succeed in establishing a separation, what would be your situation? Are you united at home- are you free from the apprehension of civil discord, with all its fearful consequences? Do our neighboring republics, every day suffering some new revolution or contending with some new insurrection — do they excite your envy?

3. But the dictates of a high duty oblige me solemnly to announce that you cannot succeed. The laws of the United States must be executed. I have no discretionary power on the subject; my duty is emphatically pronounced in the constitution. Those who told you that you might peaceably prevent their execution deceived you; they could not have been deceived themselves. They know that a forcible opposition could alone prevent the execution of the laws, and they know that such opposition must be repelled. Their object is "disunion"; but be not deceived by names; disunion by armed force is TREASON. Are you really ready to incur its guilt? If you are, on the head of the instigators of the act be the dreadful consequences· -on their heads be the dishonor; but on yours may fall the punishment--on

your unhappy state will inevitably fall all the evils of the conflict you force upon the government of your country.

4. It cannot accede to the mad project of disunion, of which you would be the first victims. Its first magistrate cannot, if he would, avoid the performance of his duty. The consequences must be fearful for you, distressing to your fellow-citizens here, and to the friends of good government throughout the world. Its enemies have beheld our prosperity with a vexation they could not conceal; it was a standing refutation of their slavish doctrines, and they will point to our discord with the triumph of malignant joy. It is yet in your power to disappoint them. There is yet time to show that the descendants of the Pinckneys, the Sumters, the Rutledges, and of the thousand other names which adorn the pages of your Revolutionary history, will not abandon that Union to support which so many of them fought and bled and died.

5. I adjure you, as you honor their memoryas you love the cause of freedom, to which they dedicated their lives—as you prize the peace of your country, the lives of its best citizens, and your own fair fame, to retrace your steps. Snatch from the archives of your state the disorganizing edict of its convention-bid its members re-assemble and promulgate the decided expressions of your will to remain in the path which alone can conduct you to safety, prosperity, and honor, tell them that, compared to disunion, all other evils are light, because that brings with it an accumulation of all -declare that you will never take the field unless the starspangled banner of your country shall float over you— that you will not be stigmatized when dead, and dishonored and scorned while you live, as the authors of the first attack on the constitution of your country!-its destroyers you cannot be. You may disturb its peace—you may interrupt the

course of its prosperity-you may cloud its reputation for stability—but its tranquillity will be restored, its prosperity will return, and the stain upon its national character will be transferred and remain an eternal blot on the memory of those who caused the disorder.

6. Fellow-citizens! the momentous case is before you. On your undivided support of your government depends the decision of the great question it involves, whether your sacred union shall be preserved, and the blessings it secures to us as one people shall be perpetuated. No one can doubt that the unanimity with which that decision will be expressed will be such as to inspire new confidence in republican institutions, and that the prudence, the wisdom, and the courage which it will bring to their defense, will transmit them unimpaired and invigorated to our children.

7. May the Great Ruler of nations grant that the signal blessings with which he has favored ours may not, by the madness of party or by personal ambition, be disregarded and lost; and may His wise providence bring those who have produced this crisis to see the folly, before they feel the misery, of civil strife, and inspire a returning veneration for that Union which, if we may dare to penetrate His designs, He has chosen as the only means of attaining the high destinies to which we may reasonably aspire.

XLII.-LAST INAUGURAL OF LINCOLN.

1. FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN: At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office, there is less occasion for extended address than there was at first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now at the expiration of four years

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