d know something of the Rock of
Plymouth too! [Laughter and cheers.]

But, gentlemen, I am trespassing too long on your time. [Cries of "No,
no! Go on!"] I am taking too much of what belongs to others. My voice is
neither a new voice, nor is it the voice of a young man. It has been
heard before in this place, and the most that I have thought or felt
concerning New England history and New England principles, has been
before, in the course of my life, said here or elsewhere.

Your sentiment, Mr. President, which called me up before this meeting,
is of a larger and more comprehensive nature. It speaks of the
Constitution under which we live; of the Union, which for sixty years
has been over us, and made us associates, fellow-citizens of those who
settled at Yorktown and the mouth of the Mississippi and their
descendants, and now, at last, of those who have come from all corners
of the earth and assembled in California. I confess I have had my doubts
whether the republican system under which we live could be so vastly
extended without danger of dissolution. Thus far, I willingly admit, my
apprehensions have not been realized. The distance is immense; the
intervening country is vast. But the principle on which our Government
is established, the representative system, seems to be indefinitely
expansive; and wherever it does extend, it seems to create a strong
attachment to the Union and the Constitution that protects it. I believe
California and New Mexico have had new life inspired into all their
people. They consider themselves subjects of a new being, a new
creation, a new existence. They are not the men they thought themselves
to be, now that they find they are members of this great Government, and
hailed as citizens of the United States of America. I hope, in the
providence of God, as this system of States and representative
governments shall extend, that it will be strengthened. In some respects
the tendency is to strengthen it. Local agitations will disturb it less.
If there has been on the Atlantic coast, somewhere south of the
Potomac--and I will not define further where it is--if there has been
dissatisfaction, that dissatisfaction has not been felt in California;
it has not been felt that side the Rocky Mountains. It is a localism,
and I am one of those who believe that our system of government is not
to be destroyed by localisms, North or South! [Cheers.] No; we have our
private opinions, State prejudices, local