To  preserve  the  Union  in  the  spirit  and  for  the  purposes  for
which  it  was  established,  an  equilibrium  between  the  States,  as
grouped  in  sections,  was  essential.  When  the  Territory  of  Mis-
souri constitutionally  applied  for  admission  as  a  State  into  the


1861]  CONTEST  WHICH  SHOOK  THE   UNION.  4H

Union,  the  struggle  between  State  rights  and  that  sectional
aggrandizement  which  was  seeking  to  destroy  the  existing
equilibrium  gave  rise  to  the  contest  which  shook  the  Union  to
its  foundation,  and  sowed  the  seeds  of  geographical  divisions,
which  have  borne  the  most  noxious  weeds  that  have  choked
our  political  vineyard.  Again,  in  1861,  Missouri  appealed  to
the  Constitution  for  the  vindication  of  her  rights,  and  again
did  usurpation  and  the  blind  rage  of  a  sectional  party  disregard
the  appeal,  and  assume  powers,  not  only  undelegated,  but  in
direct  violation  of  the  fourth  section  of  the  fourth  article  of
the  Constitution,  which  every  Federal  officer  had  sworn  to
maintain,  and  which  secured  to  every  State  a  republican  gov-
ernment, and  protection  against  invasion.
