nation--one under the circumstances in which the South
separated from the North would be placed--must be at the mercy of every
free people having neither power to vindicate a right nor avenge
a wrong.[A]

[Footnote A: Governor Hayne, of South Carolina, spoke in high terms, a
few years ago, of the ability that the South would possess, in a
military point of view, because her great wealth would enable her, at
all times, to command the services of mercenary troops. Without stopping
to dispute with him, as to her comparative wealth, I would remark, that
he seemed entirely to have overlooked this truth--that whenever a
government is under the necessity of calling in foreign troops, to keep
in subjection one half of the people, the power of the government has
already passed into the hands of the _Protectors_. They can and will, of
course, act with whichever party will best subserve their purpose.]

A sixth reason why the South will not dissolve the Union, is found in
the difficulty of bringing about an _actual_ separation. Preparatory to
such a movement, it would seem indispensable, that _Union_ among the
seceding states themselves should be secured. A General Convention would
be necessary to adjust its terms. This would, of course, be preceded by
_particular_ conventions in the several states. To this procedure the
same objection applies, that has been made, for the last two or three
years, to holding an anti-abolition convention in the South:--It would
give to the _question_ such notoriety, that the object of holding the
convention could not be concealed from the slaves. The more sagacious in
the South have been opposed to a convention; nor have they been
influenced solely by the consideration just mentioned--which, in my
view, is but of little moment--but by the apprehension, that the
diversity of sentiment which exists among the slave states, themselves,
in relation to the _system_, would be disclosed to the country; and that
the slaveholding interest would be found deficient in that harmony
which, from its perfectness heretofore, has made the slaveholders so
successful in their action on the North.

The slaveholding region may be divided into the _farming_ and the
_planting_--or the slave-_selling_ and the slave-_buying_ districts.
Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri and East Tennessee constitute the
first. West Tennessee is somewhat equivocal. All the states south of
Tennessee belong to the slave-_buying_ district.