them where they had to meet. Then the question arose, which of the two currents should determine the character of the future development of the American Republic?—and this question, meanwhile expanded to gigantic dimensions, is the one we have been so warmly discussing these forty or fifty years, and which we are now about to decide. [Applause.]
Pardon me for having commenced my speech with the Pilgrim Fathers and the first settlers of Virginia. I desired to show that William Lloyd Garrison and Gerrit Smith are not altogether responsible for the great rebellion, And if you give me leave I will proceed to show that the Republican party is not altogether responsible for that event either. [Applause.] I may then arrive at some conclusions having a direct bearing upon the burning questions we have at present to solve.
The struggle against Great Britain commenced, and the two great elements, the democratic and aristocratic, went harmoniously together. They had one great common problem to solve—that was the problem of the first historical period of the American people, the achievement of political independence, the foundation of the new American nationality, and the defence of that incipient nationality against its enemies abroad. While struggling together for that common object, they had every conceivable inducement for going hand-in-hand, The natural antagonism had as yet but imperfectly disclosed itself, And, indeed, at that time, there was another possibility of permanently harmonizing the conflicting elements.
The spirit of the leaders, as well as the instincts of the masses, had risen above the range of ordinary feelings. The philosophy of the eighteenth century had made the statesmen of the Revolution anti-slavery men on principle. The elevation of mind and the generous emotions
