Let us listen
again to the eloquence of the elder Adams, animating his associates in
Congress to independence: let us hang anew upon the sententious wisdom
of Franklin; let us be enkindled, as were the men of other days, by the
fervid devotion to Freedom, which flamed from the heart of Jefferson.
Deriving instruction from our enemies, let us also be taught by the
Slave Power. The two hundred thousand slaveholders are always united in
purpose. Hence their strength. Like arrows in a quiver, they cannot be
broken. The friends of Freedom have thus far been divided. _Union_,
then, must be our watchword,--union, among men of all parties. By such a
union we shall consolidate an opposition which must prevail.
* * * * *
From a Speech, September 16, 1863.
=_98._= OUR FOREIGN RELATIONS.
It only remains that the Republic should lift itself to the height of
its great duties. War is hard to bear,--with its waste, its pains, its
wounds, its funerals. But in this war we have not been choosers. We have
been challenged to the defence of our country, and in this sacred cause,
to crush Slavery. There is no alternative. Slavery began the combat,
staking its life, and determined to rule or die. That we may continue
freemen there must be no slaves; so that our own security is linked with
the redemption of a race.
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