The Disunion conspiracy had reached a point where it must go forward with boldness, or retreat before the displayed power and the uplifted flag of the Nation.

The administration could adopt no policy so dangerous as to permit the enemies of the Union to proceed in their conspiracy, and the hostile movement to gain perilous headway.

At that juncture Mr.Buchanan confronted a graver responsibility than had ever before been imposed on a President of the United States.
It devolved on him to arrest the mad outbreak of the South by judicious firmness, or by irresolution and timidity to plunge the Nation into dangers and horrors, the extent of which was mercifully veiled from the vision of those who were to witness and share them.
PENNSYLVANIA AND THE UNION.
There could be no doubt in the mind of any one that the destruction of the Union would be deplored by Mr.Buchanan as profoundly as by any living man.

His birth and rearing as a Pennsylvanian leave no other presumption possible.

In the original Union, Pennsylvania was appropriated denominated the Keystone of the arch, supported by, and in turn supporting, the strength of all.