8663. UNION (The Federal), Dissolution of.—[continued].
I have been among the
most sanguine in believing that our Union
would be of long duration. I now doubt it
much, and see the event at no great distance,
and the direct consequence of this question;
[Missouri] not by the line which has been
so confidently counted on,—the laws of nature
control this,—but by the Potomac, Ohio
and Missouri, or, more probably, the Mississippi
upwards to our northern boundary. My
only comfort and confidence is, that I shall
not live to see this; and I envy not the present
generation the glory of throwing away the
fruits of their fathers' sacrifices of life and
fortune, and of rendering desperate the experiment
which was to decide ultimately
whether man is capable of self-government.
This treason against human hope will signalize
their epoch in future history as the
counterpart of the medal of their predecessors.—
To William Short. Washington ed. vii, 158.
(M.
1820)
