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WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1855
four hundred years in Egypt ere they were redeemed, and then it was by miraculous and infinite power. Was this all chance? Was it the result of national mutation, or of policy of man, or of Moses, uninstructed by Deity? No, for he was raised up by wonderful power to teach them that the God of Israel could re- deem the nation from bondage, and overwhelm their oppressors. Here was an act of emancipation. And how do we know by what means, at some future day, if we use our influence to excite humanity towards these beings, and endeavor to get rid of them little by little, imbuing them with the light of christianity, they may become nations as numerous as the sands of the sea, and that from the point where they may establish themselves they may radiate science and religion throughout the continent of Africa? These are things which we cannot foresee, for we cannot tell what is in the womb of futurity, nor in the mind of the Almighty. My devotion and the sincerity of it to the Union, my desire for its perpetuation, my love of harmony, my anxiety for the future of my country, all have made me contribute during my whole life, to its general welfare, to its harmony and to its advancement. I would advocate in the abstract nothing. Nor is it a subject that I am going to discuss. Men have a diversity of opinion. I accord to them the rights of opinion. I accord to them every- thing they claim, and in doing so, I only claim the equal privilege of enjoying the same liberty that they enjoy. I know that all cannot think alike. All do not think alike, and while they ab- stain from overt acts, which trench upon no rights, I would not interfere with their opinions. I would not trench upon one single iota that pertains to the North, nor would I take it well to see the North trench upon the South. But whatever the South does, as a community, she is responsible for. She, on the other hand, only asks what the North demands-Let us alone. And if pesti- lent men exist in the South or in the North, it is no reason that discord should exist, between the two sections of the country. The two sections cannot be separated. How would you sepa- rate them? Would Mason and Dixon's line be the line of separa- tion? Would not fortresses and cannon be placed on either side of that line--an ideal or a true one--or, if you please, a river, would not they oppose each other? Would not standing armies grow up to protect this frontier? Would not a military power grow up to defend this boundary? Would not taxation and op- pression be the consequence of it, and would not despotism follow
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