The States are nations.
Let us thank God that we live in an age when something has influence besides the bayonet.
No man not inspired can make a good speech without preparation.
The hand that destroys the Constitution rends our Union asunder forever.
America has furnished to the world the character of Washington. And if our American institutions had done nothing else, that alone would have entitled them to the respect of mankind.
Mr. President, I wish to speak today, not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an American. I speak for the preservation of the Union. Hear me for my cause.