Government of this Country shall protect Slavery in any Territory now
ours, or hereafter to be acquired. It is, in my opinion, a great
principle of Free Government, not, to be surrendered.

"It is in my judgment, the object of the great battle which we have
fought, and which we have won. It is, in my poor opinion, the point
upon which there is concord and agreement between the great masses of
the North, who may agree in no other political opinion whatever. Be he
Republican, or Democrat, or Douglas man, or Lincoln man; be he from the
North, or the West, from Oregon, or from Maine, in my judgment
nine-tenths of the entire population of the North and West are devoted,
in the very depths of their hearts, to the great Constitutional idea
that Freedom is the rule, that Slavery is the exception, that it ought
not to be extended by virtue of the powers of the Government of the
United States; and, come weal, come woe, it never shall be.

"But, sir, I add one other thing. When you talk to me about Compromise
or Concession, I am not sure that I always understand you. Do you mean
that I am to give up my convictions of right? Armies cannot compel that
in the breast of a Free People. Do you mean that I am to concede the
benefits of the political struggle through which we have passed,
considered politically, only? You are too just and too generous to ask
that. Do you mean that we are to deny the great principle upon which
our political action has been based? You know we cannot. But if you
mean by Compromise and Concession to ask us to see whether we have not
been hasty, angry, passionate, excited, and in many respects violated
your feelings, your character, your right of property, we will look;
and, as I said yesterday, if we have, we will undo it. Allow me to say
again, if there be any lawyer or any Court that will advise us that our
laws are unconstitutional, we will repeal them.