We Protest Solemnly In The Face Of

African Slavery, As It Exists In The United States, Is A Moral, A Social, And A Political Blessing.

The Time For Compromise Has Now Passed, And The South Is Determined To Maintain Her Position, And Make All Who Oppose Her Smell Southern Powder And Feel Southern Steel.

Sir, It Is True That Republics Have Often Been Cradled In War, But More Often They Have Met With A Grave In That Cradle. Peace Is The Interest, The Policy, The Nature Of A Popular Government. War May Bring Benefits To A Few, But Privation And Loss Are The Lot Of The Many. An Appeal To Arms Should Be The Last Resort, And Only By National Rights Or National Honor Can It Be Justified.

Pray Excuse Me. I Cannot Take It.

Nothing Fills Me With Deeper Sadness Than To See A Southern Man Apologizing For The Defense We Made Of Our Inheritance. Our Cause Was So Just, So Sacred, That Had I Known All That Has Come To Pass, Had I Known What Was To Be Inflicted Upon Me, All That My Country Was To Suffer, All That Our Posterity Was To Endure, I Would Do It All Over Again.