Grateful for this cordial welcome, I must consider it offered, not to
myself, but to the cause, whose humble representative I am. It is the
cause, the good old cause of Freedom, so familiar to early echoes of
this hall, which justly awakens your regards, irrespective of men. We
are nothing; the cause is everything.
And why, in this nineteenth century, are we assembled here in Faneuil
Hall, to vow ourselves to Freedom? Because Freedom is now in danger.
The principles of our fathers, of Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson,
nay, the self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence, are
assailed. Our Constitution, which was the work of Freedom-loving men,
which was watched by Freedom's champions, which, like the Ark of the
Covenant, was upborne by the early patriarchs of our Israel, is now
prostituted to the uses of Slavery. A body of men, whose principle of
union was unknown to the authors of the Constitution, have seized the
government, and caused it to be administered, not in the spirit of
Freedom, but in the spirit of Slavery. This combination is known as the
Slave Power.
The usurpation has obtained sway in both the great political factions.
I say _factions_; for what are factions, but combinations whose
sole cement is selfish desire for place and power, in disregard of
principles? Whatever may be said of individuals belonging to these
opposing combinations, it would be difficult to say whether Whigs
or Democrats, in their recent conduct as national parties, had most
succumbed to this malign influence. The late Conventions held at
Baltimore and Philadelphia were controlled by it. At Baltimore the
delegation of the most important State in the Union, known to be in
favor of the Wilmot Proviso, was refused admission to the Convention.
At Philadelphia the Wilmot Proviso itself was stifled, amidst cries of
"Kick it out!" General Cass was nominated at Baltimore, pledged against
its whole principle. At Philadelphia, General Taylor, without any
pledge on this all-important question, was forced upon the Convention
by the Slave Power; nor were principles of any kind declared by this
body of professing Whigs. These two candidates, apparently representing
opposite parties, both concur in being representatives of Slavery.
They are but leaders of the two contending factions into which the
Slave Power is divided. And this was fully proved by the action of the
Conventions at Baltimore and Philadelphia.
In marked contrast was the recent Convention at Buffalo, where were
represented the good men of all the parties,--Whigs, Democrats, and
Liberty men,--forgetting alike all former differences, and uniting in
common opposition to the Slave Power. There, by their delegates, was
the formidable and unsubdued Democracy of New York; there also was the
devoted, inflexible Liberty party of the country; there, too, were the
true-hearted Whigs and Democrats of all the Free States, who in this
great cause of Freedom are, among the faithless, faithful found; there
likewise were welcome delegates from the Slave States, from Maryland
and Virginia, anxious to join in this new and holy alliance. In
uncounted multitude, mighty in numbers, mightier still in the harmony
and unity of their proceedings, this Convention consummated the object
for which it was called. It has presented to the country a platform of
principles, and _candidates who are the exponents of these principles_.
The representatives of the parties there assembled, Whigs, Democrats,
and Liberty men, all united. In the strength and completeness of
this union I am reminded of the Mississippi, Father of Rivers, where
the commingling waters of the Missouri and Ohio are lost in a broad,
united, irresistible current, descending in one channel to the sea.
The principles which caused this union are already widely received,
and will be proclaimed by this vast assembly. Look at them. They are
frankly and explicitly expressed. They were solemnly and deliberately
considered by a large committee, and enthusiastically adopted in the
Convention. They propose not only to guard the Territories against
Slavery, but to relieve the National Government from all responsibility
therefor everywhere within the sphere of its constitutional powers.
On the subject of Slavery they adopt substantially the prayer of
Franklin, who by formal petition called upon the first Congress under
the Constitution to "step to the very verge of the power vested in
them _for discouraging_ every species of traffic in the persons of our
fellow-men."[272] They propose to bring back the government to the
truths of the Declaration of Independence and to the principles of the
fathers, so that it shall be administered no longer in the spirit of
Slavery, but in the spirit of Freedom.
[272] Annals of Congress, 1st Cong. 2d Sess., 1198.
Other important subjects received attention: cheap postage for the
people; retrenchment of the national patronage; the abolition of
unnecessary offices; the election of civil officers by the people in
all practicable cases; improvement of rivers and harbors; free grant
to actual settlers of the public lands; and, lastly, payment of the
national debt by means of a tariff. But these matters are all treated
as subordinate to the primal principle of opposition to Slavery and
the Slave Power. No longer will banks and tariffs occupy the foremost
place, and, sounding always with the chink of dollars and cents, give
their tone to the policy of the country. Henceforward PROTECTION TO
MAN will be the true AMERICAN SYSTEM.
The candidates selected as exponents of these principles have claims
upon your support, in forgetfulness of all former differences of
opinion. They were brought forward, not because of _the Past_, but
_the Present_; I may add, they were sustained by many persons in the
Convention _notwithstanding_ the Past: Martin Van Buren, the New York
Democrat, and Charles Francis Adams, the Massachusetts Whig. But these
designations can no longer denote different principles. Those to whom
they are applied, whether Democrat or Whig, concur in making opposition
to Slavery and the Slave Power the paramount principle of political
action. The designations may now be interchanged: Mr. Adams may be
hailed as a New York Democrat, and Mr. Van Buren as a Massachusetts
Whig.
Many here, once connected with the Whig party, like myself, have
voted on former occasions against Mr. Van Buren, and regard some
portions of his career with anything but satisfaction. Mr. Adams is a
younger man; but there are some, doubtless, once connected with the
Democratic party, who have voted against him. These differences, and
the prejudices they have engendered, are all forgotten, absorbed, and
lost in entire sympathy with their present position. Time changes,
and we change with it. He has lived to little purpose, whose mind and
character continue, through the lapse of years, untouched by these
mutations. It is not for the Van Buren of 1838 that we are to vote,
but for the Van Buren of _to-day_,--the veteran statesman, sagacious,
determined, experienced, who, at an age when most men are rejoicing
to put off their armor, girds himself anew, and enters the lists as
champion of Freedom. Putting trust in the sincerity and earnestness of
his devotion to the cause, and in his ability to maintain it, I call
upon you, as you love Freedom, and value the fair fame of your country,
now dishonored, to render him your earnest and enthusiastic support.
Of Mr. Adams I need say nothing in this place, where his honorable
and efficient public service and his private life are so familiar.
Standing, as I now do, beneath the images of his father and
grandfather, it will be sufficient, if I say that he is heir not only
to their name, but to the virtues, the abilities, and the indomitable
spirit that rendered that name so illustrious.
Such are our principles, and such our candidates. We present them
fearlessly. Upon the people depends whether their certain triumph
shall be immediate or postponed: for triumph they must. The old and
ill-compacted party organizations are broken, and from their ruins is
now formed a new party, _The Party of Freedom_. There were good men who
longed for this, and died without the sight. John Quincy Adams longed
for it. William Ellery Channing longed for it. Their spirits hover over
us, and urge us to persevere. Let us be true to the moral grandeur of
our cause. Have faith in Truth, and in God, who giveth the victory.
Fellow-citizens, seeing the spirit which animates your faces, I am
tempted to exclaim, that the work is already done to-night,--that the
victory is achieved. But I would not lull you to the repose which
springs from too great confidence. Rather would I arouse you to renewed
and incessant exertion. A great cause is staked upon your constancy:
for, except you, where among us would Freedom find defenders?
The sentiment of opposition to the Slave Power, to the extension of
Slavery, and to its longer continuance, wherever under the Constitution
the National Government is responsible for it, though recognized by
individuals, and adopted by a small and faithful party, is now for the
first time the leading principle of a broad, resolute, and national
organization. It is, indeed, as Mr. Webster lately said, no new idea;
it is old as the Declaration of Independence. But it is an idea now for
the first time proclaimed by a great political party: for, if the old
parties had been true to it, there would have been no occasion for our
organization. It is said, our idea is sectional. How is this? Because
the slaveholders live at the South? As well might we say that the
tariff is sectional, because the manufacturers live at the North.
It is said that we have but one idea. This I deny. But admitting that
it is so, are we not, with our one idea, better than a party with no
ideas at all? And what is our one idea? It is the idea which combined
our fathers on the heights of Bunker Hill,--which carried Washington
through a seven years' war,--which inspired Lafayette,--which with
coals of fire touched the lips of Adams, Otis, and Patrick Henry. Ours
is an idea at least noble and elevating; it is an idea which draws in
its train virtue, goodness, and all the charities of life, all that
makes earth a home of improvement and happiness.
"Her track, where'er the goddess roves,
Glory pursue, and generous Shame,
The unconquerable Mind, and Freedom's holy flame."
We found now a new party. Its corner-stone is Freedom. Its broad,
all-sustaining arches are Truth, Justice, and Humanity. Like the
ancient Roman Capitol, at once Temple and Citadel, it shall be the fit
shrine for the genius of American institutions.