against a great wrong, and to take measures, as well as we now can, to
make that wrong right; to place the nation, as far as it may be possible
now, as it was before the repeal of the Missouri Compromise; and the
plain way to do this is to restore the Compromise, and to demand and
determine that _Kansas shall be free!_ [Immense applause.] While we
affirm, and reaffirm, if necessary, our devotion to the principles of
the Declaration of Independence, let our practical work here be limited
to the above. We know that there is not a perfect agreement of sentiment
here on the public questions which might be rightfully considered in
this convention, and that the indignation which we all must feel cannot
be helped; but all of us must give up something for the good of the
cause. There is one desire which is uppermost in the mind, one wish
common to us all--to which no dissent will be made; and I counsel you
earnestly to bury all resentment, to sink all personal feeling, make all
things work to a common purpose in which we are united and agreed about,
and which all present will agree is absolutely necessary--which _must_
be done by any rightful mode if there be such: _Slavery must be kept out
of Kansas_! [Applause.] The test--the pinch--is right there. If we lose
Kansas to freedom, an example will be set which will prove fatal to
freedom in the end. We, therefore, in the language of the _Bible_, must
"lay the axe to the root of the tree." Temporizing will not do longer;
now is the time for decision--for firm, persistent, resolute action.
[Applause.]

The Nebraska bill, or rather Nebraska law, is not one of wholesome
legislation, but was and is an act of legislative usurpation, whose
result, if not indeed intention, is to make slavery national; and unless
headed off in some effective way, we are in a fair way to see this land
of boasted freedom converted into a land of slavery in fact.
[Sensation.] Just open your two eyes, and see if this be not so. I need