"Ignore Lecompton, ignore Topeka; treat both those party
movements as irregular and void; pass a fair bill--the one
that we framed ourselves when we were acting as a unit; have
a fair election--and you will have peace in the Democratic
party, and peace throughout the country, in ninety days. The
people want a fair vote. They never will be satisfied
without it. They never should be satisfied without a fair
vote on their Constitution....

"Frame any other bill that secures a fair, honest vote, to
men of all parties, and carries out the pledge that the
people shall be left free to decide on their domestic
institutions for themselves, and I will go with you with
pleasure, and with all the energy I may possess. But if this
Constitution is to be forced down our throats, in violation
of the fundamental principle of free government, under a
mode of submission that is a mockery and insult, I will
resist it to the last. I have no fear of any party
associations being severed. I should regret any social or
political estrangement, even temporarily; but if it must be,
if I can not act with you and preserve my faith and my
honor, I will stand on the great principle of popular
sovereignty, which declares the right of all people to be
left perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic
institutions in their own way. I will follow that principle
wherever its logical consequences may take me, and I will
endeavor to defend it against assault from any and all
quarters. No mortal man shall be responsible for my action
but myself. By my action I will compromit no man."[637]