Nevertheless, small, and contemptible as the party
then was, both of the great parties of the North dreaded them. They
felt, that though small, they were organized in reference to a subject
which had a great and commanding influence over the northern mind.
Each party, on that account, feared to oppose their petitions, lest
the opposite party should take advantage of the one who might do so, by
favoring them. The effect was, that both united in insisting that the
petitions should be received, and that Congress should take jurisdiction
over the subject. To justify their course, they took the extraordinary
ground, that Congress was bound to receive petitions on every subject,
however objectionable they might be, and whether they had, or had not,
jurisdiction over the subject. Those views prevailed in the House
of Representatives, and partially in the Senate; and thus the party
succeeded in their first movements, in gaining what they proposed--a
position in Congress, from which agitation could be extended over the
whole Union. This was the commencement of the agitation, which has ever
since continued, and which, as is now acknowledged, has endangered the
Union itself.

As for myself, I believed at that early period, if the party who got up
the petitions should succeed in getting Congress to take jurisdiction,
that agitation would follow, and that it would in the end, if not
arrested, destroy the Union. I then so expressed myself in debate, and
called upon both parties to take grounds against assuming jurisdiction;
but in vain. Had my voice been heeded, and had Congress refused to take
jurisdiction, by the united votes of all parties, the agitation which
followed would have been prevented, and the fanatical zeal that gave
impulse to the agitation, and which has brought us to our present
perilous condition, would have become extinguished, from the want of
fuel to feed the flame. That was the time for the North to have shown
her devotion to the Union; but, unfortunately, both of the great
parties of that section were so intent on obtaining or retaining party
ascendency, that all other considerations were overlooked or forgotten.

What has since followed are but natural consequences. With the success
of their first movement, this small fanatical party began to acquire
strength; and with that, to become an object of courtship to both the
great parties. The necessary consequence was, a further increase of
power, and a gradual ta