Take such a man as the Hon. Charles
Anderson. When he went home and stood up for the Union, what did
the slave aristocracy do for him? They drove him from the State,
and his wife and little ones were obliged to take shelter in the
bush. And so with multitudes of Union men in Texas at the present
day. But all of them wish to get back and establish a Free State in
Texas; because, they say, no other than a Free State can ever
protect them from the enemies of human freedom, and, I was going to
say, of human nature. Again, in Florida there were many who were
driven away who are now anxious to return. Is there a man here who
wants these noble, generous Union men of the South _to go back to
be trampled under foot by restored rebels_! Let them go back, but
let them go back under the aegis of the American Union, and the
protection of the Government pledged to them, and then they will
take care to settle this question of slavery. They will amend the
Constitution so as to put the slavery question where it ought to
be. When that is done, who is going to talk about the Proclamation?
You have here, my fellow citizens, an intelligent statement, as it
seems to me, of the manner in which this thing can be settled:
simply by standing by the unconditional Union men--who almost all
of them have embraced the doctrine of emancipation in the Border
States--and standing by the Union men in the rebellious States, and
letting them protect themselves against the institution of
slavery.
Pages:
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174