It is audaciously declared, that, under the existing Constitution, each State, in the exercise of its own discretion, may withdraw from the Union; and this asserted right of secession is invoked as cover for Rebellion begun in conspiracy.
Sumner argues against the legitimacy of secession, linking it to the conspiracy of rebellion.
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Far above any flickering light or battle-lantern of party is the everlasting sun of Truth, in whose beams are the duties of men.
Nay, more,--if it would be criminal in these several clusters of States to reëstablish the Institution of War as Arbiter of Justice, then is it criminal in the Commonwealth of Nations to continue it.
Again I repeat, so long as the War System prevails under the sanction of International Law, these painful incongruities will be apparent.
Tendencies of nations, as revealed in history, teach that our aims are in harmony with prevailing laws, which God, in his benevolence, has ordained for mankind.
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