of our purest statesmen are compelled to do so; and thus slavery secures actual support from those who detest it at heart.  Yet Henry Clay perfected and forced through the Compromise which secured to slavery a great State as well as a political advantage.  Not that he hated slavery less, but that he loved the whole Union more.  As long as slavery profited by his great Compromise, the hosts of pro-slavery could not sufficiently cover him with praise; but now that this Compromise stands in their way—­

“...they never mention him, His name is never heard:  Their lips are now forbid to speak That once familiar word.”

They have slaughtered one of his most cherished measures, and his ghost would arise to rebuke them. [Great applause.]

Now, let us harmonize, my friends, and appeal to the moderation and patriotism of the people:  to the sober second thought; to the awakened public conscience.  The repeal of the sacred Missouri Compromise has installed the weapons of violence:  the bludgeon, the incendiary torch, the death-dealing rifle, the bristling cannon—­the weapons of kingcraft, of the inquisition, of ignorance, of barbarism, of oppression.  We see its fruits in the dying bed of the heroic Sumner; in the ruins of the “Free State” hotel; in the smoking embers of the Herald of Freedom; in the free-State Governor of Kansas chained to a stake on freedom’s soil like a horse-thief, for the crime of freedom. [Applause.] We see it in Christian statesmen, and Christian newspapers, and Christian pulpits, applauding the cowardly act of a low bully, WHO CRAWLED UPON HIS VICTIM BEHIND HIS BACK AND DEALT THE DEADLY BLOW. [Sensation and applause.] We note our political demoralization in the catch-words that are coming into such common use; on the one hand, “freedom-shriekers,” and sometimes “freedom-screechers” [Laughter]; and, on the other hand, “border ruffians,” and that fully deserved.  And the significance of catch-words cannot pass unheeded, for they constitute a sign of the times.  Everything in this world “jibes” in with everything else, and all the fruits of this Nebraska bill are like the poisoned source from which they come.  I will not say that we may not sooner or later be compelled to meet force by force; but the time has not yet come, and if we are true to ourselves, may never come.  Do not mistake that the ballot is stronger than the bullet.  Therefore let the legions of slavery use bullets; but let us wait patiently till November, and fire ballots at them in return; and by that peaceful policy, I believe we shall ultimately win. [Applause.]