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WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1850
Do not the American people love this Union? Are they not de- voted to it? Is not every reminiscence of the past associated with its glories, and are they not calculated to inspire prayers for its prosperity and perpetuity? If this were not the case you might think lightly of our noble Confederacy; but so it is-it stands connected with every fibre of the national heart, and is interwoven with every glorious recollection of the past, which affection or reverence can inspire in the minds of the American people. It is not, Mr. President, that twenty-three millions of souls alone are involved in the perpetuity of this Union; it is not that every consideration of happiness connected with country appertains to it; but it is because it is the great moral, social and political lever that has moved, is moving, and will continue to move the world. Look abroad at foreign nations, and behold the influence of our example upon them-not ours, for I feel a sense of humiliation when I contrast the efforts of any man now living with the illus- trious achievements of the departed sages and heroes who per- formed this mighty work. The most beautiful description that I have ever heard, or that my eye has ever lit upon, with reference to the greatness and sublimity of our noble Union, I extracted from a poem which recently appeared in Wheeling, within the limits of the Old Dominion-so preeminently distinguished for her statesmen and warriors. From this it would appear that true patriots are not yet extinct, even in her remotest borders. He says, when speaking of those wh.o would favor disunion, "Can such prove worthless of their great bequest,
and smile upon Disunion's Gorgon crest? Who will surrender up his joint estate In the rich memory of our country's great? And who his blood-bought share consent to yield In Saratoga's or Yorktown's field?"
He has aptly connected associations not sectional in their character, but peculiarly fraternal. Saratoga in the North, and Yorktown in the South. It shows that by the joint efforts of both sections of this nation, the liberties of the country were achieYed and the union consummated.
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