The excitement which always accompanied the discussion of the slavery question was greatly increased by the hope, on the one hand, of extending slavery into a region from which it had been excluded by law; and, on the other, by a sense of…

Had it been observed, a just and fair election would have reflected the will of the people of Kansas.

Their enactments were, by every principle of law and right, null and void.

It was the result of an organized invasion from the State of Missouri, a lawless seizure of the conduct of the election, and the open voting by thousands of persons who neither resided in nor pretended to be residents of Kansas.

Not content with voting they made false returns of votes never cast, and excluded legal voters because they were "Abolitionists.

A more wanton and shameless overthrow of popular rights cannot be found in history.

Thus, when we arrived in Kansas, two rival governments were in existence, one the result of fraud and force, the other confessedly incomplete, being without executive power or recognition.

The contrast of this region between then and now is a marked evidence of the wonderful change that has been made within a single generation.

In the name of southern rights, crimes have been committed, and are being committed, which I know you cannot and do not approve.

You are in a minority and, from the nature of your institutions, your relative power is yearly decreasing.

In excusing this invasion from Missouri--in attempting to hold on to an advantage obtained by force and fraud--you are setting an example which, in its ultimate consequences, may trample your rights under foot.

Until these wrongs are righted, you must expect northern men to unite to redress them.

It may not be this year, but, as sure as there is a God in heaven, such a union will be effected; and you will gain nothing by sustaining northern agitators in violating the compromise of your fathers.

It strengthened the Free State sentiment in Kansas, it aroused public sentiment in the north, and drove the south to adopt new and strange theories which led to divisions in the Democratic party and its disruption and overthrow in 1860.

In reviewing the past it is apparent that the election of Buchanan was necessary to convince the people of the north that no successful opposition to the extension of slavery could be made except by a party distinctly pledged to that…

His defeat was the postponement of the irrepressible conflict until it became apparent to all that our country must be all free or all slave territory.

He asserted that the purpose was not only to exclude slavery from Kansas, but also from places where it then existed.

I showed this to be inaccurate by the express denial of such purpose in every platform of the Republican party.

I am opposed to any interference by the northern people with slavery in the slave states; I act with the Republican party, with hundreds of thousands of others, simply because the Republican party resists the extension, but does not seek…

The only regret I feel is that the tone and temper of my remarks were not such as should be addressed to the President of the United States by a Member of Congress.

A more careful study of the motives and conduct of public men during this period has changed my opinion of many of them, and, especially, of President Pierce.

Fortunately a more numerous, courageous and intelligent population reversed all this, and led, not only to the exclusion of slavery in Kansas, but also to its abolition in the United States.

I had all the feeling of natural indignation against those great powers who sought to draw the United States into their controversies, and practice upon us enormities and outrages that we would not submit to for a moment in our day.

In other words, our claims were repudiated by France, their payment being refused, and, as we could not force their payment, we simply abandoned them.

I worked hard that winter, for hard work, I thought, was the way to fortune.