They watched Slavery with an anxious eye.
There was their only chance. In that they saw the apple of discord which
might destroy our Union. They observed with exultation the increasing
influence of those who warred upon slavery in the North, and the
increasing insolence of those who would nationalize it in the South. On
this ground State and Federal authority must, they thought, come in
conflict. And as far as foresight could avail them, they had some reason
to be encouraged. That question has always been, without doubt, our
greatest, almost our only danger.
There is reason to believe, then, that, when the Rebellion broke out,
the theorists of Europe deemed the test to have come, and that the final
success or failure of the Federal Constitution was staked on the result.
The people of the United States have been willing to accept that issue.
We have been ready to test the doctrines of Democracy by the
practicability of maintaining the Union, and to demonstrate, that, if
need be, the General Government may receive at the hands of the people
greater strength without endangering either their liberties or the order
of law.
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