Excerpt from The Indissoluble Nature of the American Union, Considered in Connection With the Assumed Right of Secession: A Letter to Hon. Peter Cooper, New York Dear Sir: I received your esteemed favor, and unite with you in heartfelt sorrow to find our country involved in an unnatural and disgraceful conflict-a conflict between brethren bound together as we are by every consideration of interest and duty to preserve the integrity of a Union intended never to be broken. This Union has given us peace and prosperity at home, with honor and respect throughout the world. This Union is worth preserving at any and every cost of life and treasure, not only for the benefits it is calculated to bring to the people of the North, but also for the greater benefits it has secured, and will continue to secure, to our brethren of the South. It is a most lamentable sight to see such a treasure-such a pearl of great price-cast on the uncertain chances of a demoralizing and desolating war; a war that has grown entirely out of false notions of interest, and the long-continued misrepresentations by which our Southern neighbours have been persuaded to believe that we of the North were determined to make war upon an institution, that, in their opinion, we did not understand, and could not appreciate. A more fatal error never controlled a great community. So far from any considerable number of the people of the North desiring to interfere with the institutions of the South, they are, as a body, now, and ever have been, determined to secure to them every right which they can claim either legally or equitably under the Constitution of the United States. When this fact shall come to be brought home to their understandings, they will see at once that there is no cause for quarrel between us. As a nation our interests are mutual. One member cannot suffer without an injury to the whole body to which it belongs. With our nation united, we shall remain strong and respected; with it torn and dissevered, we make a necessity for standing armies, which will eat out our strength, and tempt the world to take advantage of our weakness and folly as a nation. I sincerely hope that you will give to our distracted country the benefit of your long and arduous study in the science and philosophy of our government. It is the only government calculated to secure the reward of labor to the hand that earns it. 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.