Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 23.djvu/13

 '/ ,n ,-nl C. A. Ecans' Address. 7

which contributed to the greatness of our republic. They are: i. The extent and richness of its eminent domain. 2. The martial spirit ready on sea and land for the country's sure defence. 3. A people enlightened, industrious, progressive and religious, poss- ing qualities which fit them for citizenship. 4. The jealous main- tenance of all the first principles of human right against all power at home or abroad arrayed to destroy them. 5. Last and not least, the integrity of the Constitutional Union, whose dissolution is to be unthinkable until the martial spirit become extinct, the people lose their virtues, and the principles of liberty are dead; and then may

"The stars be old, and the sun grow cold, And the leaves of the judgment book unfold."

I. CONTRIBUTION TO TERRITORIAL GREATNESS.

Our countrymen feel a proper pride in this broad land, covered by forty-four contiguous sovereign States, every State a nation, shorelining the two greatest oceans of the globe, capped by lakes that have the magnitude of seas, and pedestled on a gulf that dupli- cates the Mediterranean of the old world. We say to our sister Nations, behold the land where popular government is sacredly templed and its principles are bravely guarded. See the landed estate of a free American people which provides home and happiness for its seventy millions, with room to spare for four-fold more! Now. in view of the political truth that in the century at hand no nation, however free, can be truly great without having jurisdiction Over expansive and expanding territory, it is pertinent for all Americans to enquire into the history of a policy which within a century gave a growth to our country from thirteen States to nearly fifty, and from a fringe of settlements to the present vast enlargements of eminent domain. Will not a fraternal acknowledgement be won from our countrymen of every section when their memory is refreshed con- cerning the contributions to this territorial greatness made by that South which sought once to divide the estate and now in honor and contentment remains integral, harmonious and happy in the unsev- ered possession of the entire magnificent area? I trust it will. I believe that even while they pronounce our attempt at secession a mistake, they will frankly say to the South, "Your policy of terri- torial aggrandizement on this continent was right."

Let us see in a sheer summary how much this country is indebted