If a minority in such case will secede rather than acquiesce, they make a precedent which in turn will divide and ruin them; for a minority of their own will secede from them whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such minority.
In his first inaugural, Lincoln warned that secession by a minority would set a precedent that would ultimately lead to further division and ruin for the seceding group.
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Grant that he desires the elective franchise, will he not attain it sooner by saving the already advanced steps towards it, than by running backward over them?
I am considering, and shall not fail to act when satisfied that action will be proper.
The question is, will it be wiser to take it as it is and help to improve it, or to reject and disperse it?
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