It is our duty to keep Massachusetts in her present commanding position,--true to herself in all respects,--true to that Spirit of Liberty in which she had her origin,--true to the “just and equal laws” promised in the Mayflower,--true to her early and long-continued efforts against Slavery,--true to the declaration in her own Bill of Rights by which Slavery was abolished within her borders,--true to the examples of her illustrious representatives, Rufus King, Nathan Dane, and John Quincy Adams,--and, lastly, true to that moral and intellectual character which has made her the home of generous charities, the nurse of true learning, and the land of churches. This is our duty. And permit me to say, that this can be done now only by earnest, steadfast effort to arrest the power of Slavery, overshadowing the whole country, and menacing boundless regions with its malign influence. And this is the very purpose of the Republican party. * * * * * Against the Republican party are arrayed three factions, differing in name, differing superficially in professions, but all concurring in hostility to the Prohibition of Slavery in the Territories, and therefore all three Proslavery. As the Republican party represents the Mayflower, so do these three factions, whether fused or apart, represent the original Slave-Ship,--and you, fellow-citizens, are here to choose between them. In this contest we appeal to all good citizens. We appeal alike to the Conservative and to the Reformer; for our reasonable and most moderate purpose commends itself alike to both. To the Conservative it says, “Join us to preserve the work of our fathers, and to maintain the time-honored policy of Massachusetts.” To the Reformer it says, “Join us to improve the human family, to support free labor, and to save the Territories from that deplorable condition where ‘one man ruleth over another to his own hurt,’ and human character suffers as much from the arrogance of the master as from the abasement of the slave,--a condition which is founded on nothing else but force,-- ‘the simple plan, That they should take who have the power, And they should keep who can.’”[16]