The tone of the Republican press, too, while more dignified, was
thoroughly conciliatory. The Albany Evening Journal,--[November 30,
1860]--the organ of Governor Seward, recognizing that the South, blinded
by passion, was in dead earnest, but also recognizing the existence of
"a Union sentiment there, worth cherishing," suggested "a Convention of
the People, consisting of delegates appointed by the States, in which it
would not be found unprofitable for the North and South, bringing their
respective griefs, claims, and proposed reforms, to a common
arbitrament, to meet, discuss, and determine upon a future"--before a
final appeal to arms. So, too, Horace Greeley, in the New York
Tribune,--[November 9, 1860.]--after weakly conceding, on his own part,
the right of peaceable Secession, said: "But while we thus uphold the
practical liberty, if not the abstract right, of Secession, we must
insist that the step be taken, if it ever shall be, with the
deliberation and gravity befitting so momentous an issue. Let ample
time be given for reflection; let the subject be fully canvassed before
the People; and let a popular vote be taken in every case, before
Secession is decreed." Other leading papers of the Northern press, took
similar ground for free discussion and conciliatory action.
In the Senate, as well as the House of Representatives--as also was
shown by the appointment, heretofore mentioned, of Select Committees to
consider the gravity of the situation, and suggest a remedy--the same
spirit of Conciliation and Concession, and desire for free and frank
discussion, was apparent among most of the Northern and Border-State
members of those Bodies.
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