The Second Clause Says That All Men Are Born Equally
Free And Independent.
In Philadelphia I for the first time came across live
secessionists - secessionists who pronounced themselves to be such.
I
Will not say that I had met in other cities men who falsely
declared themselves true to the Union; but I had fancied, in regard
to some, that their words were a little stronger than their
feelings. When a man's bread - and, much more, when the bread of
his wife and children - depends on his professing a certain line of
political conviction, it is very hard for him to deny his assent to
the truth of the argument. One feels that a man, under such
circumstances, is bound to be convinced, unless he be in a position
which may make a stanch adherence to opposite politics a matter of
grave public importance. In the North I had fancied that I could
sometimes read a secessionist tendency under a cloud of Unionist
protestations. But in Philadelphia men did not seem to think it
necessary to have recourse to such a cloud. I generally found, in
mixed society, that even there the discussion of secession was not
permitted; but in society that was not mixed I heard very strong
opinions expressed on each side. With the Unionists nothing was so
strong as the necessity of keeping of Slidell and Mason; when I
suggested that the English government would probably require their
surrender, I was talked down and ridiculed. "Never that - come what
may." Then, within half an hour, I would be told by a secessionist
that England must demand reparation if she meant to retain any
place among the great nations of the world; but he also would
declare that the men would not be surrendered.
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