The Union, why and how it must and will be preserved, together with the plan to close the rebellion and unite the states in six months, which we offered the public for $500, March 9, 1863
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S^-XSi-iim^TN^ nP"<^2^'^ v7y\>\jrZyJ--'-^ <^v_ylc5^S^^ THE UNION AVHY AND HOW IT MUST AND ¥ILL BE PRESEEVED, TOGETHER WITH THE PLAN TO CLOSE THE REBELLION AND UNITE THE STATES IN SIX MONTHS, WHICH WE OFFERED THE PUBLIC FOR $500, MARCH 9tH, 1863. BY MRS. JANE P. THURSTON. y^t PORTLAND: PRINTED FOR THE PUBLISHER. 1863. PREFACE. The Author of this treatise, sustaining the theory that the Divine Govern- ment, the Family Government, and the National Government, are based upon the same principle of Unity, by Covenant, and that tampering with the Cove- nant in either case, will destroy the Government, as it destroys tlie basis on which the Government rests. If the understanding of the peojile is so dark- ened that they cannot comprehend it. North and South, the Scripture injunc- tion will be the most appropriate. The end of all things is at hand, be jq therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. The Apocrypha teaches us tha t four wise^men were brought before the king, and were to be rewarded by him with the rank of second in the kingdom, for the wisest saying. The flrst said, with regard to the question — What is the strongest thing on earth ? — the Kiyig, and gave his reasons ; the 2d said Wiiie, and gave his reasons ; the 3d said Woman, and gave his reasons ; the 4th said Truth, and gave his reasons, and he was accepted and rewarded by the King as second in his kingdom, and all the people shouted and said, " Great is Truth, and mighty above all things." — 1st Edras, 4th Chap. THE UNION. Faith is the secret of all power. "Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established. Thus saith the Lord unto you, be not afraid, nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's. To-morrow go ye down against them. Behold I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of Thy possession, which Thou hast given us to inherit. O, our God! wilt Thou not judge them? for we have no mig-ht against this great company that cometh against us ; neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon Thee. And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones; their wives and their children. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, 0 Judah and Jerusalem : fear not, nor be dismayed ; to-morrow go ye out against them, for the Lord will be with you. Praise the Lord, for his mercy endureth forever. " Li May, 1859, after bowing with our little ones before the Lord, and groaning in spirit said, behold a great company cometh against us, Lord, and we know not what to do, we rose up and opened the sacred page at the eleventh verse of 2d Chronicles, 20th chapter, and the burden was instantly removed, as though a crushing weight had fallen from our shoulders. " The peace of God, which passeth knowledge," took possession of the mind, our burden was cast upon the Lord, and we have ever had since that time, fall fixith that it is God's 6 work, and he will establish it, to all that believe in him, and bring it to pass. I saw that icorks must attend faith, and went accord- ing to the Word taught, "To-morrow go ye down against them," and on the morrow I went to the ablest counsellor, the Solomon of the United States, and told him how they, the owners, rewarded us for all our labors to save the ship, on her passage from Europe to New York, in winter of 1859. And how, with my little ones, we picked the oakum to fill the seams of the deck, which opened by the stress of weather; and gave cotton pillows to fill the vacuum in the only useful pumps, and our tubs to cooper over the tarred canvass which covered the cotton that filled the vacuum in the pump, and which kept the leaky ship afloat 'till we arrived safely at New York in forty-eight days, told him of God's providential hand, so wonderfully and miracu- lously displayed in all our passage, and safe arrival home ; told also of the prayer of faith ofiered as the bark lay on her beam ends with all her sails set, in a heavy squall of wind and rain ; told him of the prayer of faith offered np each morning and evening by the little ones, to the God of Heaven, for a speedy and a safe return to New York ; after many days with a head wind, and a sick parent, (their father who was captain of the ship,) who was paralyzed, and apparently about to enter the eter- nal world ; the prayer of faith constantly ascended ; told him of the answer to prayer and the speedy convalescence of the captain, — of our officers. The chief officer just out of his minority on the passage, the second mate intemperate, the cook a mulatto, who took advantage of the captain's illness, and but for his severe, providential illness, in the early part of the passage, or in case of the death of the captain, would have struggled, doubtless, to have taken the ship ; as it was, he nearly killed the second mate in a fight at Marseilles. The second mate was a kind, true- hearted, Sweedish sailor, and dealt the medicines and attended to the cook, which could hardly have been expected of one less kind hearted; but mark the result. AVhen we arrived at New York, the second mate was laid wait for by the cook, or his hired gang, and nearly killed in a fight, and then brought before the court and made to pay every dollar of his hard earnings. Hard earn- ings ! I say, and well I may say that. What hardships have the Slaves of the South to endure, com- pared with it ? "In every life upon this earth there is effort, failure, and success; asjDiration, despondency, and victory; hope, despair, and triumph." In other words, life, death, and resurrection. Despair not, Christian pilgrim, though the sky be utterly over- cast, and thou can'st see " no light in earth or Heaven," no sweet hope, no fair possibility of life. Despair not, thou art only pass- ing through the valley of shadows, and by the very blackness of the shadows on thy forward path, judge the brightness of the light beyond, that casts it. Thou must pass through the shadow to arrive at the light. Be good, be wise, be strong; keep truth though hope itself should fail, and thou shall ascend into life and light. So it was with our Savior ; so it is with the lowliest dis- ciple that takes up the cross to follow Him, so it may be with us, " for one event happeneth to all." To be the medium of animat- ing, sustaining, or redeeming life to all within our sphere, we must exercise the power of faith ! Faith will remove mountains, or give them the appearance of mole hills. Like the boy, who was commanded by his father to carry under shelter a load of wood, which had been deposited outside of the wood shed ; we must not stand in despair, viewing the whole load, but take the Fathers viezv, that it is composed of sticks and one stick can easily be taken at a time, until the whole load is sheltered. People often say to me : " Why, you have a large load to carry, if you expect to remove old prejudices, and customs of nearly a century." You may as well think of reuioving mountains ! My faith has not reached that standard yet ! If your faith has, God speed you in the right ! God speed you in the right ! How much is involved in the meaning of the word right ! or truth ! What is truth ? was asked by Pilate. Is it definable ? Is it solid ? We answer, it is definable, as we will presently show. It is solid as the Eock of ages, its author ; nothing- can be done against it; it will rise again if crushed to the earth. Therefore, despair not, for the mighty power of God's truth must ultimately triumph and prevail. In my first attempt at writing, on the " Preservation of the Union," which was nearly a year after the experience alluded to in one reference to the opening of the Scriptures, which gave so graphical a view of God's Omnipo- tence, Omniscence, and Omnipresence, or His Sovereignty in earth, as in Heaven. The cry of the news boy in the street, *' South Carolina seceded," struck mournfully, like a death knell, upon my ear, and the thought, what would my father say, had he lived to hear that sound. I thought of his cherished, patriotic words, which I had treasured up, on reading or writing for him ; and I felt constrained, as though a fire were consuming me, to write something that he would dictate if living. I commenced writing my first pamphlet entitled " The Union of the States, and how they may be preserved," Saturday, July 12, 1861. On the 9th page a vivid description is given, related in the following prophetic words : " Hark ! from whence cometh that cry to the Almighty for deliverance from the oppressor. Listen as you hear the sup- plication of that stricken widow, as she bows with her little ones in prayer, for blessing on her persecutors, that the Lord will turn their hearts and open to her the door of deliverance — "and will not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He deal long with them ; I tell you He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man com- eth shall He find faith on the earth." See, the door is already opening. She rises from her attitude of prayer, and opens and reads to her astonishment and comfort, the promises of her Heavenly Father, from 2d Chron. 20. 11 to 17 verses. The promises enter her soul, and behold the troubled waters of her soul become calm. The Lord enlightens her understand- ing, and shows her the open door of deliverance. Bless the 9 Lord, Oh my soul and forget not all his benefits. Hear His injunction : This is the way, walk ye in it. Show the path of deliverance to the nation, viz : Let them as a nation, one and all, " perform upon the Lord their vows," and the Union of the States is saved. That the Personal Liberty Law conflicts with their Oatli^ and therefore it should be taken from the Statute Books, and not a trace of it left to disgrace their faith in God, who has said that " He swear by Himself because He could swear by no greater." The personal liberty laws are void, inasmuch as they conflict with the Constitution, which was founded on the oaths and com- promises of our Fathers, and thus became the Law of our fair heritage. It is a maxim or truth, in law, that all contracts for the per- formance of unlawful acts are void, and that when one party refuses to fulfil an executory contract, the other is entitled to an equivalent in damages for the direct gains which he would have realized from the performance of the same. Any child of ten years can understand by reading the above sentence, that the North will be holden to pay an equivalent for the Slave that they withhold from the South, or else they would annul the contract. The oath of allegiance to the Constitution which binds the States together into Union, and thereby draw upon themselves the punishment of imprisonment for violating their oath, What King going to war, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost ? Let us estimate the cost of a civil war. A war among the brethren of the same family. A war for what ? Can't tell exactly, say you ? Don't brethren, partake so much of the nature of your own little son, who wages war with his sister, because perchance, he thinks her share from the paternal loaf is larger than his own, when with a strong microscope you could not discover the difference, and continue to wage the war until the parent comes forth, and gives to each a severe whipping. Better take the suggestion of that sainted sire, who was wil- ling to be taxed with his fellow citizens of the North, to purchase the froedom of the Slaves. That will cost less than prosecuting 10 a war, besides the blessing that attends a noble action, and save imbruing your hands in your brother's blood ; and the Lord's inquiring at your hand, where is thy brother ? for his blood calleth to me from the ground." I retired late at night, for I wrote till near midnight, and dur- ing all my slumber, if slumber it could be called, for I seemed to be revolving in the broad light of day, and to hear a voice saying, the Union must be preserved by performing unto the Lord your vows. What vows. Lord, I answered. The response was im- mediate : "Let all adhere to, and keep invaluable, the oath of allegiance to their covenants, and constitution, entered into by our fathers when they framed the constitution, or Union of the States. Faith Cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Faith works by love, purifies the heart, and overcomes the world. Let us, therefore, read some portions of God's word, and it shall be such portions as I opened to for the occasion, after supplica- ting divine guidance. The first was Ezra, 8th chap., 21st verse ; second, Book of Nehemiah ; third, Malachi, 20th chap., 14tli to 17th verses; fourth, Exodus, 3d chap., 9th verse. From the 21st verse of 8th chap, of Ezra, and 9th and 10th chapters of the same, and the 13 chapters of Nehemiah, and the 3d chapter of Exodus, and 2d chapter of Malachi, is recommended to the prayerful attention and reading of all the people, particularly to Legislators, Judges, and Priests. The Books of Ezra and JSfe- hemiah is the key to unlock the ministry of God's judgments in our land, and the manner of our deliverance. Your most prayer- ful and prompt reading, and practicing its precepts, is most earnestly prayed for. I repeat, the 8th, 9th, and 10th cliapters of Ezra, and the Book of Nehemiah, 13 chapters, contain the key that unlocks the door through which this nation can pass and be saved. There were opposers to Nehemiah's building the walls of Jerusalem, but the people had a mind to work, and the people now, even the children, have a mind to work, and they will work, and the walls of Jerusalemi will be finished, and the Union will be preserved without further blood shed. 11 This is an age of reason, and it must bo apparent that a new era has dawned upon us. If my memory serves me correctly, there was once one pohtical party in this country, called the Democratic Republican party, and I would recommend the union of the names into one party, embracing all that are in favor of the Union of the States, and to become tmited in the great work of the Preservation of the Union. " Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall inherit the Kingdom of God." Let us not fall out by the way. If all your views as to methods adopted do not agree, recollect Nehemiah's plan, to leave to judges of law their work, and to priests their work, but recollect you must all have a mind to work. " From Maine's stern mountains capped with snow, Down to tlie waves of Mexico, Tlie nation weeps in bitter woe, Because her sons lie low and cold, — Even as Rachel wept of old. With grief that would not be consoled. Well maj' the nation mourn her sons, Her truest and her bravest ones ; — Than theirs no nobier life-blood runs. Oh, let us leave our dance and song, And through this trial, fierce and strong, Strive and not faint. Oh, Lord, how long ? Yet let us not all hopeless be, Nor sit and cry despairinglj^, ' Alas, when shall the ending be '? ' The darkness comes and goes again — The sunshine brightens after rain — So solace follows bitter pain, ;: So shall Columbia rise in might And lift her forehead to the light, Strong in the power of truth and Right, — And out of all this grief and dearth Become, in new and glorious birth, The pride and pattern of the earth ! 12 "We oan do nothing against truth. The judges again must now, as in Nehemiah's day, decide what is hiwful. The priest must decide against sinfulness, and the people must gather them- selves together and by prayer and fasting, and listen to the read- ing of the law, as recorded in the eighth chap, of Nehemiah, and obey the law, when it shall be expounded by the judges. What- ever action may be taken by Government officers to suppress the rebellion that may be unconstitutional after the suppression of the rebellion, will be void, if it be the truth that the Consti- tution of the United States is the supreme law of the land. One thing the people all know, which is, that the Union of the States must be preserved. The reason why and how the Union must and will be preserved in the shortest time, is worthy of the consideration and prayerful effort of all classes. The first rea- son why it must and will be preserved is, because it is the law of God, and no human sanction or power can be good, or prevail against it. The States wave wedded together by the oath of our patriotic fathers. They took each other with a clear understand- ing of what they took, for better or worse for life. Dissolve that Union, and the dissolution of families will follow. North and South. The covenant of our fathers, therefore, must bo kept by their sons, to preserve the union of the States and of the fami- lies. Any act or law against the covenant or constitution falls powerless, being void ; for every public officer has taken the oath to support the constitution. The constitution, like the marriage covenant, is a divine ordinance, and a civil coiUract. If one party break the civil contract, the party that break it must pay the damages. But you cannot break the divine ordinance, "What God hath joined together let not man put asunder." If you break the civil contract of the constitution by emancipation, the party that break it must pay the damages, as in the break- ing of any civil contract. The laiv still remains unchanged. The law to abolish slave nj still remains as unclLanged ':iii truth remains tmchanged and unchangeable, whichever way we wind about. Or else the constitution and the marriage covenant would go to the winds. For the civil contract has been broken alike in both 13 cases. The breaking of the civil contract lays the breaker of the contract liable to the punishment of a fine, or imprisonment, which the law inflicts. The breaking of the divine law or cove- nant brings the vengeance of Jehovah, as we experience in this war. And w^e cannot expect Jehovah's vengeance to be stayed or the war to cease until the people learn to keep the covenant or constitution which our fathers made. I recollect twenty-five or thirty years ago a lady, the first Mrs. Nathan Winslow, called at my father's with a petition to Congress to emancipate slavery in the district of Columbia, and requested me to sign the peti- tion. My father was present, and he expounded to her the law. That the constitution was a'covenant of all the States, and Con- gress had no power to break the covenant^ which would be the case by abolishing slavery. That the people of the North might purchase the slaves ; and he should be willing to be taxed to purchase the slaves, if it could be done in good faith with the consent of the owners. But he should be unwilling for his daugh- ters to sign a petition to Congress, for that would infringe on the rights secured in the constitution, to the southern portion of the country, 1st. We have given as the reason why the Union must and will be preserved that it is the laio of God and must be kept by His creatui'es, and that it will be kept, or G-od will enter into judgment, as is now the case in our distracted country, and those judgments will not be removed until the covenant is kept. 2d. How the Union must and will be preserved, let us consider. It must be preserved by keeping the covenant or constitution in GWQvy point. Otherwise marriages also are all made void, through- out the nation. And he must be a bold person, in the eye of divine and civil law, to boldly stand up and advocate rebellion to the law of God and of the nation. Particularly if he be a mar- ried man, and by the law has held his own wife, as no less a slave than the Southern States have held their black slaves, and that, too, in violation of the divine ordinance or covenant of marriage. It may well startle the learned men of this countiy to learn that legislators have gone on unmolested, till they have legislated 14 themselves and every man in the country, out of lawful claim to their wives, according to State law, for all contracts must bo based on a consideration. But the supreme law of the United States and the law of God interposes and makes void the State law, and thus secures to them their wives. Thus is it also with the emancipation proclamation. It violates the covenant or con- stitution, and we have no legal statute claim on the South, there- fore all must consider and obey the constitution of the United States as supreme law that desire to Vqq^ family and national government. If the emancipation act violates or destroys the civil contract of our fathers, why should we fight the South more than the husband should fight with his wife to preserve the family union ? "Why, wives have not yet seceded ; No ! and they will not secede, for they believe marriage to be a divine or- dinance, and that the covenant must be kept. Let the men take the same view and pass a law prohibiting under a severe penalty the discussion in Congress or legislature of any unconstitutional laws, and pass an act to indemnify the sufferers of any breach of the covenant^ and amnesty for all words and acts to this day. No other plan can be devised to save the ship of state. She is drifting on to the breakers, freighted with riches in abundance, and with a gallant crew, without a mutineer at the North, for all arc for imion now and forever. In the pulpit the sound of union must be started, and the sound of emancipation must cease, if God's law is regarded, or the law of man, or they desire not to emancipate all the wives in the country. We must all do faithfully our duty, and adhere strictly to the coyistitution, to save the ship of state. Remember the ladies and children are on board, and must be lost if the ship Constitution is lost. "The anchor stock is broken, the rud- der is loose, the wind is blowing on to the breakers, the gale is severe, the weather is thick and blinding with the falling snow ; take up the little girls and prepare them for the worst, for in less than an hour, if the wind does not change, wo shall go to pieces on the breakers ;" were the words of my husband to me at mid- night in February 1857, as we approached N. Y. from Matan- 15 zas. The same words apply to the ship of state at the present time. The answer is also applicable. "I will do as you sa^'', but our only safety lies in the preservation of the ship ; if she is lost, all is lost ; for we should 'all perish with cold, if we could obtain a foothold on the rocks." What an anxious night to all on board ! What a watch was kept up by the gallant officers and crew ! The pilot and the captain — not a moment's rest for the night had they, or thought of self and suffering during the piti- less storm, but the thought of dear ones at home kept the first officer aloft straining his eyes, as I overheard him and the pilot saying they were making a desperate struggle for life, as they each thought of wife and dear little ones at home, I had no fear, as my husband was at the htlm^ and my Heav- enly Father held the winds obedient to His command. To Him I committed all, without a murmur, or an exclamation of alarm ! The wind changed, and morning dawned and found us safe. Webster says America has furnished to Europe proof of the fact that popular institutions founded on equality, and the prin- ciples of representation are capable of maintaining governments, able to secure the rights of person, property, and reputation. To him who denies, or doubts whether our fervid liberty can be combined with law, with order, with the security of property, and advancement of happiness; to him who denies that our insti- tutions are capable of producing an exaltation of soul, and the passion of true glory ; to him who denies that we have con- tributed anything to the stock of great lessons, and great exam- ples ; to all these I reply, by pointing to Washington. First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen. Washington is all our own. Washington says : " How favorable are right words. The same authority which can force a citizen to contribute three pence, only, of his property to the support of any one establishment, (religious,) may force him to conform to any other establishment, in all cases whatever." So said the venerable chief and father of his country, M'ho led America to lier glorious independence in regard to religious liberty. If I could have entertained the slightest apprehension that the 16 Constitution framed in tlie Convention where I had the honor to preside, might possibly endanger the rehgious rights of any ecclesiastical society, certainly I would never have placed my signature to it. And if I could now conceive that the general government might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny and every species of religious persecution. Let every patriot, not in name only, but in deed and in truth, yea, let every son of the immortal Washington, hear, consider, and cease to cry, slavery, and blush to vote against a bill of compromise and concession, which may yet restore peace to our distracted country, and bread to the hungry inhabitants thereof. " Although, sirs, he has gone to reap the fruit of his extensive labors, his language at this moment of time cries aloud to our highly favored country, be free, be happy." Let not the cry of (Washington) the Father of his Country, be in vain to either section of his country ; let the North and the South heed his voice, " be free, be happy." Mr. Rawle, a distinguished Commentator on the Constitution of the United States, has given us the following remarkable passage : " It is not necessary that a Constitution should be in writing ; but the superior advantages of one reduced to writing, over those resulting on traditionary information, or which are to be collected from rare acts and proceedings of the government itself, are great and manifest. A dependence on the latter, is indeed de- structive of our main object of a Constitution, which is to cJteck and restrain Governors. If the people can only refer to the acts and proceedings of the government to ascertain their own rights, it is obvious, that as every such act may introduce a new prin- ciple, there can be no stability in the government. The order of things is inverted ; what ought to be the inferior, is placed above that which should be superior, and the legislature is able to alter the Constitution at its pleasure." Raivle, on the Constitii- tion, p. 16. 17 Locke says : " The legislature, being only a judiciary power, to act for certain ends, there remains still in the people a superior jjoioer to renew or alter the legislative when they find the legis- lative act contrary to the trust reposed in them." What heart is not stirred at the recital of our suffering, gal- lant soldiers, and who does not feel ready, heart and hand, to relieve their sufferings ? And who has not felt, when he reads of an ensuing battle, as he would if he knew it was nearly time for an approaching train, which is freighted with human lives, whose destruction must be certain, if the removal of an ob- struction is not instantly made, and which he alone has not the power to make ? What can be done ? we cry, and instantly run for assistance, while another stands ready to give warning, or to aid the suffering, if the casualty must take place, before suffi- cient assistance can be brought to remove the obstruction, and prevent the casualty. War, with all its horrors, is upon us. The spirit of war is in the nation. What can be done, we cry ? and echo answers, what ? Let us take a view of the case, and that will help us to answer the question. Suppose a father to have three sons, and a very extensive farm, or territory of land, and he enters into covenant with those sons, and they with him. The writings, or Constitution is drawn up, which gives to each its relative privileges and duties. For instance, the father is to perform the duties of the Federal Department; the sons, that of the States, and each have guaranteed to them by the Federal Department, certain privileges, as for instance, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The sons have families, and colored servants. Their sons, when out of their minority, can also have the same rights, in their domestic spheres, as their fathers. The wife, by her marriage covenant, becomes one with her husband, and has no desire, though she may have right, to trouble about the government of the farm ; and the single daughters, or the widowed daughters, covet not, although they should have the privilege of managing the State, or farm. The servants were to have no voice in the management of the farm, being of a different race; different in color. Neither were the aboriginees, of 9 18 whom the farm was purchashecl, expected to have a voice in the management of the farm. Two of the brothers soon sell their servants to the third brother, who is an agriculturist, and needs more help, and they have different pursuits, for which they have no occasion for colored help. They enlarge their borders, go into uncultivated territories with their sons, and on the sea coast, and draw largely on the Federal Government for fortifications, and protection to their property on coast and sea. The agricultm-al brother thinks now, he will take his servants and children, and enlarge his borders, by going into uncultivated territories. But no ! says one brother, keep your servants where they are, and do not spread the colored race over the whole land, it is a sin for you to keep them working for nothing but food and raiment for themselves and families. They ought to be free, and have a voice in the management of the farm ; the male portion of the slaves. The brother replies, you know they w^ere never expected to have a voice, or management of the farm, they never signed the cove- nant or Constitution that we took oath to support, and they were not heirs to the inheritance ; I see how it is, you are afraid my children will become richer than yours; but you need not fear; the Federal Government has already expended a vast amount of money for your interest, on the coast fortifications, and shipping interests, while as yet I have received compara- tively nothing. But the brother keeps up a constant din before the Federal Government about the sin of slavery and its extension, until the brother has another talk with him and tells him, why do you trouble yourself about my domestic affairs ? why do you not liberate your minor children ? it would be equall}'- as little for the interest of your child of 14 years to be liberated as for my servants to be liberated. They are incompetent to provide for their wives and little ones, and we should have them to provide for, and increase their cares, suffering, and sorrow ; and as to a voice in the management of the government of the farm, what do they know compared to your boy of 14 years, or your wid- owed daughter, and your worse than widowed daughter, whose 19 husband has forsaken her and his httlc ones, and thrown upon you to support ? Your widowed daughter, with taxable prop- erty', has no representation in the government, and yet does not a complaint come from you, and your single daughters that are of age have no representation, and they labor for you for their food and raiment. Yet you do not complain for them, and if you died to-morrow your son of 21 would inherit equally with the daughters that had labored for you without wages till 31, and that, too, when by your covenant the property belongs to their mother. Yet you do not complain of that injustice. Why trouble yourself about my servants ? I know it is in violation of our oath to keep the covenant or constitution, but have you not passed laws of liberty bills and emancipation acts that impair and destroy the civil contract ? I know you are equally guilty of breaking your covenant vows at the marriage altar, and the wives will have the same right to secede if right it may be called. Now you keep your covenants or I will secede and take the consequences. But the brother will not hearken. He says he shall not secede, and we' must prepare for battle. He shall not try to pacify him by keeping the constitution, and by allow- ing him to enter the territories with his slaves, and so the war begins. The Federal Government and the 2d brother try to keep the peace, but in vain. The Federal Government tries one method and then another, and finally adopts the method of the parents who had each a boy that was determined to fight. They found it in vain to keep peace between them, and they agreed to keep their own counsels, and let the boys fight it out. They did fight, and af- terw\ards became fast friends. The President should have with- drawn the sons of the 2d brother, and placed the sons of the 1st brother, if fighting must be done. It is not unlike the case on ship board which occurred in 1859, the trial of which took place in Portland. The captain of the ship ordered one of his crew to perform a certain duty, which ho failed to perforin, or gave him a short answer, when the captain ordered him to be se- 20 verely punished by the crew. The crew, supposing the captain to be sane, obeyed his orders in the absence of the 1st mate, who was sick below ; the consequence was he died. We trust the crew that manage the ship of state are all sane^ and will see that the country is not killed, by giving light blovrs, if any. The Union must be preserved or anarchy e?isiies, and family union and government ends ; and then will not the end of all things follow ? But the Union must be preserved, by keeping the covenant or co7istitntion. There must be reason enough in the men of the 19th century to know as much as a boy of ten years would know, if you made a contract with him to shovel the snow from your dwelling. That you would pay him 25 cts. as soon as he had performed the service of removing the snow, be there more or less each time for the winter. He calls for his pay of 25 cts. after removing a light body of snow. You refuse to pay him, and tell him he has signed an obligation to remove the snow for the ivinter, and you will kill him if he does not do it. Yes ! but, says the boy, I will do it if you pay me the 25 cts. as you agreed to in the written contract ; otherwise I will not, if you do kill me. "Who would justify the man in killing the boy rather than \i\& fulfilling his contract and paying the 25 cents ? Let the men or the women take up Nehemiah's plan, and call a convention of all the men and women, and see if they are not in favor of keeping their covenants, and thereby preserving the Union and the lives of their gallant sons. Our country ! "What is our country with the loss of all our children, slain in battles, or famishing and starving on the battle field and in the hospital ? Keep your covenants with each other, and with the South, and indemnify them wherein we may have wronged them, for the Lord's sake and for humanity's sake ! All that a man hath will he give for his life. What is a man profited if he gain the whole world and lose his own life and soul ? Or let the legislature say, shall the Union be pi-eserved by keeping the covenants .? Let the press speak, and the pulpit speak and say. Shall your covenant before God be kept ? and thus the war cease. Let the women say, the covenants must be kept, or we shall sacrifice all our sons and husbands in vain ! 21 God's law must bo obeyed ! If the clergy will defy the law of God by preaching slavery, which is rebellion also to the govern- ment or covenant and constitution, let the people tell them at once that they will never again listen to such preaching. The sermon that was preached on fast day, April 1851, by Eev. Mr. Frothing- ham at Park St. church, had sufficient abolition fire to disunite and destroy any nation ; I could hardly keep my seat, or keep from speaking aloud. I was amazed to see the people calmly listen to him. On the following day we heard of the bombard- ment of Fort Sumter. Next to the preservation of liberty, is the preservation of the Union, and this, in a territory so vast, can only bo effected by an interchange of feelings, by inter-communications, by forming friends and making visits all over our wide domain. "We must know and understand each other, in order to love each other. The Covenant has been made, by our patriotic fathers, which unites North and South into one nation, and in the words of Kuth to Naomi, her mother-in-law, wo must say from the heart to each other : " Thy people shall be my people, and thy God, my God." "We must study the things that make for peace ; we must cherish the words of the departed. The words of a ship- master, who had frequent opportunities, of a business nature, with the South, who has repeatedly testified of the honor and fidelity of the men of the South, in all their business transactions, cannot be obliterated by time, from my memory. The care they took of their slaves, in loading the ship, remarking to the Cap- tain, " if the rain holds off the slaves can work, but if it rains they must quit ;" and their putting their word into execution, as soon as the rain fell, while the crew still continued to work, regardless of the rain. "We must see with our own ej^es, what a glorious heritage our fathers have bequeathed to us, before we can ap- preciate its value. Dangers threaten us, above all other people, and such dangers as only high patriotism and pure affection can overcome. We have not achieved our independence yet. "Wash- ington and his compatriots gave us freedom ; our own industry has liberated us from a servile dependence upon foreign skill and 22 foreign arti/ans, and now we want a literary freedom ; the inde- pendence to think, write, and criticize for ourselves, not driving our scliolars abroad to acquire reputation at home, and others reflecting at home, the light of foreign glow worms from abroad. 