A large body of people, sufficient to make a nation, have come to the conclusion that they will have a government of a certain form. Who denies them the right? Standing with the principles of ’76 behind us, who can deny them the right? … I maintain on the principles of ’76 that Abraham Lincoln has no right to a soldier in Fort Sumter. … You can never make such a war popular. … The North never will endorse such a war.
