Excerpt from Proceedings of the Constitutional Meeting at Faneuil Hall, November 26th, 1850 It is not without reluctance that I appear before this great assembly to take part in the political proceedings of my fellow countrymen. Having from an early period of life devoted myself to professional duties, I have not entered actively into the politics of the day; but I have never ceased to feel the deepest interest in the security and prosperity of our common country, and have ever considered, that, when these were in danger, it was my duty, as well as that of every good citizen, to devote mind and body to their protection and preservation. Such a crisis seems now to have arrived. The Union and, consequently, the existence of this nation, are menaced, and, unless there is a great and general effort in their support, we may soon behold the mighty fabric of our government trembling over our heads, and threatening by its fall to crush the prosperity which we have so long and happily enjoyed. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.