Address on the annexation of Texas, and the aspect of slavery in the United States, in connection therewith: delivered in Boston November 14 and 18, 1845 Page: 22 of 56
View a full description of this book.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
22
ourselves citizens, what virtue will there be in the forms to
which we have been accustomed, and what other choice can
the people of the Free States have, but to identify themselves
with slavery, or to extricate themselves from it ?
I have indulged in gloomy and disheartening apprehensions;
and I have reached a conclusion from which I would
instantly recede, were it not that my irrepressible convictions
compel me to adhere to it, and a strong sense of duty adimonishes
me to avow it. I can see no honor, no peace, no
safety for the Free States in a continued union with the Slavec
holding States, upon the conditions involved in the annexation
of Texas, namely,-the overthrow of the Constitution, the
extension and perpetuation of slavery, and the transformation
of the federal government in all its operations and influences
into a scarcely disguised instrument of the slave power.
That these conditions will be realized others may not permit
themselves to believe ; and, blinded by their wishes and
their hopes, they may remain in ignorance of the danger,
which can never be warded off or prepared for, unless it is
foreseen. But for myself, unwilling and unable to avoid the
responsibilities of this occasion, I choose to derive what instruction
I may from past and passing events, and to extend
my view to the inevitable future ; and I can learn nothing
which inspires the slightest confidence, I can see nowhere
any ground of hope, that, with the annexation of Texas, in the
2mode and for the object proposed, there can be an escape from
the consequences which I have portrayed. That you may
realize, however, that despair should be only conditional, let
me add that all these consequences may be prevented, that
the danfer which is so imminent may be averted, that the
extension of slavery may be arrested, that the Constitution
may be kept inviolate, that the Union may be preserved, that
the country can yet be saved, if the people of the Free States
shall not prove themselves too unconcerned or too irresolute,
too worldly-minded or too abstractly religious, too indifferent
to political duty or too much of partisans,- too much of
Democrats, or even too much of Whigs,- to be willing to
unite in a general effort to make the state of public opinion
in the Free States such that at least one hundred and thirteen
out of one hundred and thirty-five of their Representatives
in Congress shall be inspired with the moral courage, or
shall be made to yield to a moral compulsion, to give their
votes against the annexation of Texas.
I am aware, that, upon the subject of slavery, in its connection
with the Texas question, and in many of its relations,
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This book can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Book.
Phillips, Stephen C. Address on the annexation of Texas, and the aspect of slavery in the United States, in connection therewith: delivered in Boston November 14 and 18, 1845, book, January 1, 1845; Boston. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth2361/m1/22/?rotate=90: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.