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: 3 of 56
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A D D E S S.
A VAST question, vitally affecting the national character,
and involving the most serious political consequences, and
which must be determined in conformity with, or in disregard
of, the highest obligations of duty, demands our consideration.
Let
us deliberate. I differ, perhaps, from some who hear
me, in thinking that deliberation, as preparatory to action,
rather than action without deliberation, is the duty of the
present moment. There are those, as we know, who, with
their devotion for years to the contemplation of the subject,
and the absorption of their feelings in the fervor which it
excites, have become so familiar with all its relations and
exigencies, and have pledged themselves before the world to
so unalterable a purpose, that no event finds them unprepared
to meet it. They even keep themselves ahead of the
rapid progress of events, and, living in the future, are all the
while devising measures which can become practicable only
when others shall have actually reached the position which
they in imagination already occupy, and when, perhaps, from
the effect of increased intelligence and reflection, the prevalence
of more enlightened views of interest and duty, all
such measures may be unnecessary. Whatever commendation,
therefore, they deserve for forecast, intense ardor,
and resolute determination, they must be content to await the
slower action of other minds, and to abide the result, so distant
from their goal, which is now attainable. They must
consider, what we all should consider, that it is no less true
than lamentable, that a large portion of our fellow-citizens
are not even yet prepared to express their opinions upon the
present state of this momentous question ; that information
is still to be diffused, that facts are yet to be learned, and
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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/m1/3/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.