It was into this mass of public opinion, after the announcement of his senatorial candidacy, that he hammered a new and a hard truth.

He was the first responsible politician to draw the logical inference from the policy of the Republican party.

The Constitution was inadequate to cure the ills it generated.

By its authorization of slavery it established an institution whose legality did not prevent it from being anti-national.

That institution must either be gradually reduced to insignificance, or else it must transform and take possession of the American national idea.