ove the Union, my dear sister, my heart aches at the thought of its
division--"

He turned sharply to Blair.

"But is not the South to-day in taking her stand for the rights of the
State asserting a principle as vital as the Union itself? All the great
minds of the North have recognized that these rights are fundamental
to our life. Bancroft declares that the State is the guardian of the
security and happiness of the individual. Hamilton declares that, if
the States shall lose their powers, the people will be robbed of their
liberties. George Clinton says that the States are our _only_ security
for the liberties of the people against a centralized tyranny. These
rights once surrendered, and I solemnly warn you, my friend, that your
children and mine may live to see in Washington a centralized power that
will dare to say what you shall eat, what you shall drink, and what you
shall wear!"

Blair laughed incredulously.

"Surely it's a far cry to that, Colonel--"

"I'm not so sure, Mr. Blair. And the cry from Virginia rings through my
heart. I see her in mortal peril. My father was three times Governor
of the Commonwealth. Virginia gave America the immortal words of the
Declaration of Independence. She gave us something greater. She gave us
George Washington, a Southern slaveholder, whose iron will alone carried
our despairing people through ten years of hopeless revolution and won
at last our right to live. Madison wrote the Constitution. John Marshall
of Virginia, as Chief Judge of the Supreme Court, established its power
on the foundations of Justice and Law. Jefferson doubled our area in the
Louisiana Territory. Scott and Taylor extended it to the Pacific Ocean
from Oregon to the Gulf of California. Virginia in the generosity of her
great heart gave the Northwest to the Union and forbade the extension of
slavery within it--"

Blair leaped to make a point.

"Surely these proud recollections, of her gifts to the Union should form
bonds too strong to be broken!"

"So say I, sir! Surely they should place the people of all sections
under obligations too deep to permit the invasion of her sacred soil!
Can I stand by as her loyal son and see this invasion begun? I regret
that Virginia has withdrawn. But the deed is done. Her people through
their Governor and their Legislature call me--command me to come to her
defense. They may be wrong. They may be blinded by passion. They are
still my people, my neighbors, my frien