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1 An Appeal to the People of the North (2nd ed.) 1 (1861)

handle is hein.slavery/appnor0001 and id is 1 raw text is: SECOND EDITION. AN APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE OF THE NORTH. Fellow Coutrymen:-We appeal to you as Christians and Patriots, to lend your influence in staying the storm that is sweeping to ruin both our social fabric and our political existence. Already the finan- cial and industrial interests of the whole country have been prostrated by the shock that foretells the fury of the growing storm, and solely, in sympathetic dread of a future, so pregnant with evil, men's hearts have failed them from fear, work-shops are closed, spinning-wheels are silent, hammers no longer ring out a merry chime to Industry's jubilee, strong arms and willing hands have no employment, a hun- dred thousand working men and women are idle, and five times a hundred thousand human beings are reduced to the verge of starva- tion, in the midst of plenty and of peace! The sturdy oak of Union, with scattered leaves and broken limbs, bends its solid trunk before the blast, tearing the ground as root after root breaks loose, and sways to and fro with sweeps lower and lower to the earth, from whose bosom its riven and prostrate form, when once fallen, can never rise again. Notwithstanding the dread of the future thus hanging like a funereal pall over every community, and wrenching from agonized hearts the cry why should these things be? notwithstanding prophetic warnings, soul-stirring appeals and earnest entreaties, notwithstanding the glori- ous hittory of the past, the prosperity and happiness of the present, and the certain prospect of dismal ruin and overwhelming desolation in the future, reckless politicians are still busy, even at this perilous moment, in aggravating the discord and loosening the bonds which have heretofore held us together as one people, living in unity and concord, under one government, with one country and one name. It is too late now for discussion! The nation is in the throes of a mighty convulsion. Already several States have seceded and others are on' the eve of severing their connection with the Federal Govern- ment. The sacred tie once broken, the remaining States will fall apart as so many shattered fragments. In this wreck of the Union all the slave-holding States will be forced in self-defense and for mutual pro- tection to confederate under a common government, and if they adopt the present U. S. Constitution, they would present to the world a rich and powerful people, cemented together by equality of rights, by unity of interests and unanimity of sentiment. Severally dependent upon each other for mutual protection, how much stronger will be the com- pact, sustained as it will be, by ties of kindred, by pecuniary interest, by similarity in education, by mutual confidence, by natural affinity, and by a common welfare.

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