[I]f the policy of the Government, upon vital questions affecting, the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made, in ordinary litigation between parties in personal actions, the people will have ceased, to be their own rulers, having, to that extent, practically resigned their Government, into the hands of that eminent tribunal.

War, at the best, is terrible, and this war of ours, in its magnitude and in its duration, is one of the most terrible.

I am very glad indeed to see you to-night, and yet I will not say I thank you for this call, but I do most sincerely thank Almighty God for the occasion on which you have called.

Freedom is the last, best hope of earth.

As to the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece of silly affectation if I were to begin it now?

I confess I hate to see the poor creatures hunted down but I bite my lip and keep quiet.

I was losing interest in politics, when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again. What I have done since then is pretty well known.