In a preceding speech he had pronounced slavery "an evil regretted by every man in the country."[28] He now said: "A large majority of the people in the Southern states do not ...

believe it immoral to hold human flesh in bondage.

Many deprecate slavery as an evil; as a political evil; but not as a crime.

Reflecting men apprehend, at some future day, evils, incalculable evils, from it; but it is a fact that few, very few, consider it as a crime.

It is best to be candid on this subject....