WRITINGS OF 5Al"1 HOUSTON, 1860.
193
times, will ask some more weighty reason for overthrowing the Government, than rash enthusiasts yet have given; and that while others are carried away by the impulse of the moment, the men of experience will be calm and decided. I had hoped that an opportunity would have been afforded me to rejoice in the triumph of some one of the conservative candi- dates for the Presidency. Had the candidates for whom the voice of Texas was declared, been elected, I should have had an addi- tional cause of gratification; but such is not the case. On the con- trary, I must regret and deplore the election of men whose only claims to the confidence and support of the whole country, must be the official character with which the Constitution invests them. In remembering the many evidences which a portion of the Northern people have presented of their willingness to disregard their constitutional obligations and infringe upon the rights of their Southern brethren, I am not in the least surprised at the indignant responses now uttered by Southern men. It shows that if the time should come when we can no longer trust to the Con- stitution for our rights, the people will not hesitate to maintain them. It will be well if those States, which have yielded to a fanatical sentiment, so far as to interpose between the Federal authority and the Constitutional rights of a whole section of the Union, will now, inspired by a spirit of patriotism and nationality, retrace that step. Upon a citizen of their own section and one of their own party, they have now placed a responsibility which he cannot avoid. As the Chief Executive of the nation, he will be sworn to support the Constitution and execute the Laws. His oath will bring him in conflict with the unconstitutional statutes, created by his party in many of the States. Elected by that party, it is but natural that the conservatism of the nation will watch his course with jealous care, and demand at his hands a rigid enforcement of the Federal laws. Should he meet the same resist- ance, which other Executives have met, it will be his duty to call to his aid the conservative masses of the country, and they will respond to the .call.-Should he falter or fail, and by allowing the laws to be subverted, aid in oppressing the people of the South, he must be hurled from power. From the moment of his inauguration, there will commence an "irrepressible conflict" different from that which the party of Mr. Lincoln is based upon. It will be an "irrespresible conflict" between The Constitution, which he has sworn to support, and the unconstitutional enact- ments and aims of the party which has placed him in power. He had declared that the Fugitive Slave Law is Constitutional.
1
Powered by FlippingBook