Prevent ... our friends from demoralizing themselves, and our cause, by entertaining propositions for compromise of any sort, on 'slavery extention.' ... On that point hold firm, as with a chain of steel.

Whether we will or not, the question of Slavery is THE question, the all absorbing topic of the day.

Free labor has the inspiration of hope; pure slavery has no hope.

Many poor whites, however, were the derivative victims of slavery. As long as labor was cheapened by the involuntary servitude of the black man, the freedom of white labor, especially in the South, was little more than a myth.

I have always hated slavery, I think as much as any Abolitionist.

It has so happened in all ages of the world, that some have labored, and others have, without labor, enjoyed a large proportion of the fruits.