On the record
Besides this deepening sentiment of personal devotion and confidence, there was a wide conviction that, in his own expressive phrase, "it is not wise to swap horses while crossing the stream.
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gutenberg.orgJames Blaine: “Besides this deepening sentiment of personal devotion and confidence, there was a wide conviction that, in his own…”
Editor's note · Context
Blaine reflects on the wisdom of maintaining stability during uncertain times, using a metaphor about crossing a stream.
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But this is a totally different thing from an offensive war to punish the people for the political misdeeds of their State Government, or to enforce an acknowledgment that the Government of the United States is supreme.
If it be true that war cannot be declared, nor a system of general hostilities carried on by the Central Government against a State, then it seems to follow that an attempt to do so would be ipso facto an expulsion of such State from the…
You can use force only to repel an assault on the public property and aid the Courts in the performance of their duty.
All these provisions are made to protect the States, not to authorize an attack by one part of the country upon another; to preserve the peace, and not to plunge them into civil war.
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