On the record
No threat of its destruction ever came from her councils, and no stress of circumstances could ever seduce her into a calculation of its value, or drive her to the contemplation of its end.
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gutenberg.orgJames Blaine: “No threat of its destruction ever came from her councils, and no stress of circumstances could ever seduce her into a…”
Editor's note · Context
Blaine asserts that Pennsylvania never threatened the Union's existence and remained steadfast in its support.
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More from James Blaine
Is any portion of the people bound to contribute their money or their blood to carry on a contest like that?
The right of the General Government to preserve itself in its whole constitutional vigor by repelling a direct and positive aggression upon its property or its officers cannot be denied.
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.
Without the exercise of those functions which belong exclusively to the civil service, the laws cannot be executed in any event, no matter what may be the physical strength which the Government has at its command.
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