Each, in the true spirit of our institutions, should concede
something to the other.
Our gallant forces in the Mexican war, by whose patriotism and
unparalleled deeds of arms we obtained these possessions as an indemnity
for our just demands against Mexico, were composed of citizens who
belonged to no one State or section of our Union. They were men from
slave-holding and nonslaveholding States, from the North and the South,
from the East and the West. They were all companions in arms and
fellow-citizens of the same common country, engaged in the same common
cause. When prosecuting that war they were brethren and friends, and
shared alike with each other common toils, dangers, and sufferings. Now,
when their work is ended, when peace is restored, and they return again
to their homes, put off the habiliments of war, take their places in
society, and resume their pursuits in civil life, surely a spirit of
harmony and concession and of equal regard for the rights of all and of
all sections of the Union ought to prevail in providing governments for
the acquired territories--the fruits of their common service.
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