of the honest yeomanry
of the country entertain such thoughts? I hope he does not. If
thoughts of this kind exist, they are to be found in the hearts of
aspirants to office, and their adherents, and none others. Who, sir,
is making this question a political affair? Not the petitioners. It
was the slaveholding power which first made this move. I have noticed
for some time past that many of the public prints in this city, as
well as elsewhere, have been filled with essays against abolitionists
for exercising the rights of freemen.

Both political parties, however, have courted them in private and
denounced them in public, and both have equally deceived them. And who
shall dare say that an abolitionist has no right to carry his
principles to the _ballot box? Who fears the ballot box?_ The honest
in heart, the lover of our country and its institutions? No, sir! It
is feared by the tyrant; he who usurps power, and seizes upon the
liberty of others; he, for one, fears the ballot box. Where is the
slave to party in this country who is so lost to his own dignity, or
so corrupted by interest or power, that he does not, or will not,
carry his principles and his judgment into the ballot box? Such an one
ought to have the mark of Cain in his forehead, and sent to labor
among the negro slaves of the South. The honorable Senator seems
anxious to take under his care the ballot box, as he has the slave
system of the country, and direct who shall or who shall not use it
for the redress of what they deem a political grievance. Suppose the
power of the Executive chair should take under its care the right of
voting, and who should proscribe any portion of our citizens who
should carry with them to the polls of election their own opinions,
creeds, and doctrines. This would at once be a deathblow to our
liberties, and the remedy could only be found in revolution. There can
be no excuse or pretext for revolution while the ballot box is free.
Our Government is not one of force, but of principle; its foundation
rests on public opinion, and its hope is in the morality of the
nation. The moral power of that of the ballot box is sufficient to
correct all abuses. Let me, then, proclaim here, from this high arena,
to the citizens not only of my own State, but to the country, to all
sects and parties who are entitled to the right of suffrage, To THE
BALLOT BOX! carry with you honestly your own sentiments respecting the
welfare of your country, and m