All the compromising and trading elements that had drifted into the movement in 1848 had now gravitated back to the old parties, leaving a residuum of permanent adherents of the cause, who were perfectly ready to brave the frowns of public opinion and the proscription and wrath of the old parties.
Julian describes the steadfast supporters of the anti-slavery cause as resilient against public opinion.
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The feeling against him became perfectly relentless, as I distinctly remember it, and shared in it myself; but on referring to the message now, I am astonished at the comparative moderation of its tone, and the strength of its positions.
It was a confession of Congressional incompetence to deal with a problem which Congress alone had the right to solve.
The movement of 1840 was necessarily transient and provisional, while underneath its clatter and nonsense was a real issue.
It may thus happen that a system of laws initiated by itinerant miners solely for the protection of their transient posessory interests, and carried through Congress at their behest by parliamentary roguery, may be permanently engrafted…
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