A body of men, whose principle of union was unknown to the authors of the Constitution, have seized the government, and caused it to be administered, not in the spirit of Freedom, but in the spirit of Slavery.

I say factions; for what are factions, but combinations whose sole cement is selfish desire for place and power, in disregard of principles?

Whatever may be said of individuals belonging to these opposing combinations, it would be difficult to say whether Whigs or Democrats, in their recent conduct as national parties, had most succumbed to this malign influence.

At Philadelphia, General Taylor, without any pledge on this all-important question, was forced upon the Convention by the Slave Power; nor were principles of any kind declared by this body of professing Whigs.

These two candidates, apparently representing opposite parties, both concur in being representatives of Slavery.

In marked contrast was the recent Convention at Buffalo, where were represented the good men of all the parties,--Whigs, Democrats, and Liberty men,--forgetting alike all former differences, and uniting in common opposition to the Slave…

It has presented to the country a platform of principles, and candidates who are the exponents of these principles.

In the strength and completeness of this union I am reminded of the Mississippi, Father of Rivers, where the commingling waters of the Missouri and Ohio are lost in a broad, united, irresistible current, descending in one channel to the…

The principles which caused this union are already widely received, and will be proclaimed by this vast assembly.

They propose not only to guard the Territories against Slavery, but to relieve the National Government from all responsibility therefor everywhere within the sphere of its constitutional powers.

But these matters are all treated as subordinate to the primal principle of opposition to Slavery and the Slave Power.

No longer will banks and tariffs occupy the foremost place, and, sounding always with the chink of dollars and cents, give their tone to the policy of the country.

Henceforward PROTECTION TO MAN will be the true AMERICAN SYSTEM.

Those to whom they are applied, whether Democrat or Whig, concur in making opposition to Slavery and the Slave Power the paramount principle of political action.

He has lived to little purpose, whose mind and character continue, through the lapse of years, untouched by these mutations.

It is not for the Van Buren of 1838 that we are to vote, but for the Van Buren of to-day,--the veteran statesman, sagacious, determined, experienced, who, at an age when most men are rejoicing to put off their armor, girds himself anew…

Putting trust in the sincerity and earnestness of his devotion to the cause, and in his ability to maintain it, I call upon you, as you love Freedom, and value the fair fame of your country, now dishonored, to render him your earnest and…

Upon the people depends whether their certain triumph shall be immediate or postponed: for triumph they must.

The old and ill-compacted party organizations are broken, and from their ruins is now formed a new party, The Party of Freedom.

Let us be true to the moral grandeur of our cause.

Have faith in Truth, and in God, who giveth the victory.

Fellow-citizens, seeing the spirit which animates your faces, I am tempted to exclaim, that the work is already done to-night,--that the victory is achieved.

A great cause is staked upon your constancy: for, except you, where among us would Freedom find defenders?

But it is an idea now for the first time proclaimed by a great political party: for, if the old parties had been true to it, there would have been no occasion for our organization.

Let us at all hazards prevent the extension of Slavery and the increase of the Slave Power.