ction? The treasures of the continent would be opened.
Nations would unlock the caskets of their crown jewels to secure it.
England would double her national debt to have it; so would France; so
would Russia. And yet we stand here higgling over these little
differences which alone have caused our separation. Is it not better
that we should rise to the level of the occasion, and meet the
requisition of the times, instead of expending precious hours in the
discussion of these miserable abstractions?

We talk about the events of the Revolution and their consequences.
Have we forgotten our revolutionary history? Have we forgotten the
MARIONS, the SUMTERS, the PICKENS, of those times? Has the spirit of
sacrifice which, animated those men wholly departed from their
descendants? God forbid!

Our body politic is not free from disease. The disease should be
treated properly and judiciously. Whenever disease shows itself we
should apply a suitable remedy--one that is suggested by the pharmacy
of mutual brotherhood, and yet powerful enough to reach every nerve in
our political system.

It is to accomplish this purpose that we have come together. It is to
secure this desirable result that I urge the adoption of this
amendment. I press it because I feel that it will give peace to all
sections. Adopt it, and from that moment you may date the beginning of
the return of the seceded States into the fold of the Union. How
heartily would we welcome their return! Do we not all desire it? Has
not Virginia a heart large enough to give them their old place in the
Union? Has not Rhode Island and New Jersey?

I say my proposition will accomplish this, and a single reason will
disclose the ground of my faith. It preserves the equilibrium, the
balance of power, between the sections. It enables each section to
appoint its own officers, to protect its own interests, to regulate
its own concerns. It is fair and equal in its operations. With it, no
section can have any excuse for dissatisfaction. I pledge the united
support of the South to the Union, if it is adopted.

The latter branch of the amendment looks to the annual distribution of
the net proceeds of the sales of the public lands among the several
States. This was one of the favorite ideas of HENRY CLAY. His argument
upon this subject, to my mind, was always conclusive. Will the party
which has adopted his principles repudiate this, or will its members
put their feet down firmly and giv