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THE   RECORD 


OP 


HON.  C.  L.  VALLANDIGHAM 


ON 


ABOLITION,  THE  UNION,  AND  THE 
CIVIL  WAR. 


"  Do   RIGHT  ;    AND  TRUST  TO  GOD,  AND  TRUTH,  ASD   THE  PEOPLE.      PeBTSH  OFriCB,  PERISH  H0K0B8, 
PERISH  I.IFF.  ITSELF,  BUT  DO  THE  THING  THAT  IS  EIGHT,  AND  DO  IT  LIKE  A  MAN.     ...     I  APPEALED 

to  Time,  and  bight  nobly  hath  the  Avenger  answered  mk." — Speech  of  January  14,  1863. 


h  CINCINNATI: 

PUBLISHED    BY    J.   WALTER   &   CO. 

FOR  SALE  BY  ALL  BOOKSELLERS. 

1863. 


Z^V  Oov/ 


TlLDENFOUNO^^TlONS 

1901 


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Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1863,  by 

J.  WALTER  &  CO., 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Southera 
District  of  Ohio. 


The  Record  of  Hon.  r.  L.  Vallandigimm 
on  Abolition,  th«  Union  and  the 
Civil  War. 

This  is  tho  title  of  a  book  of  248  pages,  just 
publighod  bj  J.  Walter  <t  Co.,  Cincinnati.  It 
contains:  1.  History  of  tli«  Abolition  movement. 
2.  There  is  a  West;  For  tho  Union  Forever,  Out- 
side of  the  Union  for  Herself.  3.  How  Shall  the 
Union  be  Preserved?  4.  Executive  Usurpation 
5.  Chargeeof  Disloyalty  Triumphantly  Repelled. 
6  Speech  before  the  Democratic  Convention,  at 
Columbus,  July  4th,  1862.  7.  State  of  the  Coun- 
try. 8.  Political  Campaign  of  1862.  9.  Demo- 
.oratio  Jubilees  in  tho  Fall  of  1862.  in.  The 
Great  Civil  War  in  America.  11.  The 
ConsoripUon  Bill,  el<;  ,  etc.,  etc  This  book, 
which  is  embellished  with  a  fine  portroit  of 
Mr.  Vallandigham,  embraces  all  the  speeches 
made  by  him  since  the  commencement  of  the  war 
together  with  several  previously  delivered  in  Con- 
gress and  elsewhere.  It  form^  a  valuable  "Re- 
cerd'for  every  politician,  and  will  prove  most  in- 
teresting to  all  olasses  of  readers.  Price  60  cents, 
in  paper  binding;  $1  in  cloth.  It  is  for  sale  at  the 
oflBce  of  the  Philadelphu  Evening  JonRNAt,  by 
CHARLES  N.  PINE, 
Philadelphia  Agent  for  the  Publisherv 


\ 


PUBLISHERS^  NOTICE. 


This  work  offers,  in  a  convenient  form,  the  principal  speeches  of  Hon. 
C.  L.  Vallandigham,  on  the  Constitution,  the  Union,  and  the  Civil  War, 
Extracts  from  other  speeches  are  added;  also,  a  variety  of  facts  and  inci- 
dents. The  object  is  to  furnish  the  means  of  forming  a  correct  judgment 
in  relation  to  a  man  who,  through  the  malignant  assaults  of  his  enemies, 
and  the  esteem  of  his  friends,  has  become  one  of  the  most  generally 
talked-of  men  of  these  times. 

This  Record  shows  why  Mr.  Vallandigham  has  so  many  enemies,  and 
all  of  one  class — why  negrophilistic  fanaticism  includes,  as  one  of  its  essen- 
tial qualities,  an  intense  hatred  of  Vallandigham.  This  fact  is  explained 
by  showing  that,  not  only  his  six  years  in  Congress,  but  his  whole  public 
life,  has  been  a  clear,  uniform,  and  unequivocal  expression  of  a  deep  and 
true  love  of  his  country,  the  Union,  and  that  he  has  ever  been  among  the 
foremost  to  stand  by  and  defend  its  institutions  and  laws. 

In  the  darkest  and  most  trying  hours  of  the  great  national  conflict, 
still  pending,  Mr.  Vallandigham  has  never  deviated  a  moment  from  the 
old  and  true  principles  of  Democracy,  whereby  the  Union  was  formed 
and  preserved,  and  by  which  alone  it  can  be  saved  from  destruction, 
restored,  and  perpetuated.  If  his  words  and  acts  have  been  treason,  then 
was  the  Government  itself,  through  the  whole  period  of  its  history,  down 
to  the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  one  continued  act  of  treason.  In 
common  with  all  democratic  and  conservative  statesmen,  he  had,  before  the 
commencement  of  the  war,  and  formerly,  maintained  that  the  principles 
around  which  the  Abolition  party  was  organized,  were  hostile  to  the 
Union,  and  would  endanger  its  peace  and  perpetuity,  if  permitted  to  get 
control.  Those  warnings  were  not  heeded,  and  the  fatal  mistake  was  com- 
mitted of  placing  in  power  men  whose  cherished  principles  were  enemies 
of  the  Union.  A  deadly  national  conflict  ensued;  and  then  Mr.  Vallan- 
digham did  differ  from  many  in  whom  the  people  had  reposed  full  faith 
and  confidence.     He  stood  by  his  principles,  held  his  position  unmoved, 

^3) 


4  PUBLISHERS     NOTICE. 

•while  the  strong  current  of  a  raving  fanaticism,  that  swept  by  and  around 
him,  bore  off  many  of  his  old  companions,  knocked  from  their  feet. 

Of  the  war,  its  causes  and  attending  circumstances,  many  have  said 
more  than  Mr.  Vallandigham  ;  but  few,  if  any,  have  said  so  much  that 
comes  square  up  to  the  record  of  events,  as  history  unfolds  them.  The 
doctrines  announced  by  him,  and  the  few  who  have  stood  with  him,  arc 
rapidly  forming  themselves  into  the  public  sentiment  of  the  country. 
The  conviction  that  those  men  have  been  right  thus  far,  gives  value  to 
their  opinions  in  relation  to  the  probable  course  of  coming  events. 

Those  who  have  been  accustomed  to  denounce  Mr.  Vallandigham  as  a 
traitor  and  disunionist,  will  not  take  a  favorable  interest  in  this  Record, 
for  they  will  find  their  slanderous  accusations  nailed  to  the  wall,  and 
hung  up  to  the  gaze  of  the  public.  This  work  will,  however,  be  gladly 
■welcomed  by  a  large  number  of  honest  men,  who  have  hitherto  been  de- 
ceived by  false  reports,  continuously  and  persistently  circulated.  They 
will  discover  a  pure,  able,  consistent  patriot,  a  devoted  friend  and  de- 
fender of  the  Union,  in  one,  whom,  through  slander  and  misrepresenta- 
tion, they  had  been  led  to  regard  as  a  traitor,  to  whom  permission  to 
Kve  was  an  extra  and  unmerited  allowance.  To  that  immense  circle  of 
fiends  who,  with  inflexible  firmness,  have  adhered  to  Mr.  Vallandigham, 
amidst  all  the  malignant  and  deadly  assaults  of  his  enemies,  this  Record 
will  be  a  sure  testimony  that  their  confidence  has  not  been  misplaced. 
And  they  will  here  be  furnished  with  the  means,  not  only  to  correct  the 
misjudgments  of  those  who  have  been  honestly  deceived,  but  to  silence 
the  slanders  of  those  who  delight  in  falsehood  and  injustice. 

The  above  remarks  tell  why  this  Record  has  been  prepared,  and  is  now 

offered  to  the  public. 

J.  W.  &  CO. 

Cincinnati,  April  13,  1863. 


RECORD 

OF 

HON.  C.  L.  YALLANDIGHAM 

ON 

ABOLITION,  THE  UNION,  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR. 


NUMBER  ONE. 
HISTORY  OF  THE  ABOLITION  MOVEMENT. 

SPEECH  DELIVERED  AT    A   DEMOCRATIC   MEETING   HELD    IN   DAYTON,   OHIO, 
OCTOBER  29,  1855. 


We  open  this  Record  with  a  copy  of  the  speech  delivered  by  Mr. 
Vallandigham,  at  a  Democratic  meeting  held  in  Dayton,  on  the 
evening  of  the  29th  of  October,  1855,  a  few  days  after  the  election 
which  resulted  in  the  choice  of  Salmon  P.  Chase  as  Governor  of 
Ohio.  Three  hundred  and  one  thousand  votes  had  been  east  at  that 
election,  of  which  Mr.  Chase,  the  "  Free  Soil "  candidate,  received 
one  hundred  and  forty -six  thousand,  being  less  than  half,  but  enough 
to  elect  him.  The  Democratic  candidate  received  one  hundred  and 
thirty-one  thousand,  and  the  remaining  twenty  thousand  were»given  to 
Mr.  Trimble,  whom  the  old-line  Whigs  supported.  The  Democratic 
party  being  thus  temporarily  defeated,  and  thrown  out  of  power,  an 
excellent  opportunity  was  offered  for  giving  the  history  of  the  causes 
which  led  to  the  defeat,  and  for  indicating,  also,  the  means  which 
would  "  restore  it  to  sound  doctrine  and  discipline,  and,  therefore,  to 
power  and  usefulness.'^  This  task  was  performed  by  Mr.  Vallan- 
digham, on  the  occasion  referred  to,  in  a  speech  characterized  by 
extraordinary  logical  accuracy  and  clearness  of  statement,  as  well  as 
extensive  and  thorough  historical  research.    The  general  purpose  for 

(5) 


6  HISTORY   OF   THE   ABOLITION   MOVEMENT. 

which  the    meeting  had   convened  was  to  consider   "The  PRESENT 

STATE  OF   TUE   DeMOCUATIC   PARTY   IN   OuiO,  AND   ITS  DUTY." 

After  some  preliminary  remarks,  explanatory  of  the  object  of  the 
meetinjr.  and  the  reasons  why  it  was  proper  and  expedient  thus  early 
to  discuss  before  the  people  the  great  question  which  must  make  up 
the  chief  issue  in  the  campaign  of  1856,  and  to  organize  preparatory 
thereto,  Mr.  Vallandiguam  said  that  he  proposed  as  the  text  or 
'•rubric  "  of  what  he  had  to  say  to-night,  the  following  inquiries: 

Wht  has  the  Democratic  Party  suffered  defeat  in  Ohio? 
Why  is  it  so  greatly  disorganized?    What  will  restore 

IT    TO    SOUND    doctrine    AND    DISCIPLINE,    AND,    THEREFORE,    TO 
POWER  AND   USEFULNESS? 

These,  Mr.  President,  are  grave  questions.  I  propose  to  answer 
them  plainly — boldly — not  as  a  partisan,  but  as  a  patriot ;  and  for 
the  opinions  which  I  shall  this  night  avow,  I  alone  am  responsible. 
I  speak  not  to  please,  but  to  instruct,  to  warn,  to  arouse,  and,  if  it 
be  not  presumption,  to  save,  while  to  be  saved  is  yet  possible.  The 
time  for  plain  Anglo-Saxon  out-speaking  is  come.  Let  us  hear  no 
more  the  lullaby  of  peace,  when  there  is  no  peace;  but  rather  the 
sharp  clang  of  the  trumpet  stirring  to  battle  ;  at  least,  the  alarm 
bell  in  the  night,  when  the  house  is  on  fire  over  our  heads.  Or, 
better  still,  give  us  warning  while  the  incendiary  is  yet  stealing, 
"  with  whispering  and  most  guilty  diligence,"  and  flaming  torch, 
toward  our  dwelling,  that  we  may  be  ready  and  armed  against  his 
approach. 

First,  then  :  The  Democratic  party  of  Ohio  suffered  defeat  because 
it  became  disorganized;  and  it  was  disorganized  because  it  held  not, 
in  all  things,  to  sound  doctrine,  vigorous  discipline,  and  to  true  and 
good  men.  It  began  to  tamper  with  heresy  and  with  unsound  men — 
to  look  after  policy,  falsely  so  called,  and  forget  sometimes  the  true 
and  honest;  not  mindful,  with  Jackson,  that  the  right  is  always 
expedient — at  least,  that  the  wrong  never  is  ;  and  that  an  invigorating 
defeat  is  ever  better  than  a  triumph  which  leaves  the  victor  weaker 
than  the  conquered.  This  is  a  law  of  nature,  gentlemen,  and  we 
may  claim  no  immunity  from  punishment  for  its  inlVaction.  I  speak 
of  the  Democratic  party  of  Ohio,  because  we  are  our  own  masters, 
and  have  a  work  of  our  own  to  perform.  But  the  evil,  in  part,  lies 
outside  the  State.  It  infects  the  whole  party  of  the  Union,  as  such. 
It  ascends  into  high  places,  and  sits  down  hard  by  the  throne.  But 
I  affect  the  wise  caution  of  Sallust,  remembering  that  concerning  Car- 
thage it  is  better  to  be  silent,  than  speak  too  little.  Yet  we,  as  mem- 
bers, must  partake  of  the  weakness  and  enervation  of  other  parts  of 
the  system  ;  and  atrophy  is  quite  as  fatal,  though  it  may  not  be  so 
speedy,  as  corruption  and  gangrene. 

The  inquiries,  gentlemen,  which  I  have  proposed,  assume  the 
truth  of  the  facts  which  they  imply.     Are  they  not  true  ?     That  we 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ABOLITION  MOVEMENT.  7 

have  been  defeated,  is  now  become  history.  But  defeat  did  not 
disorganize  us.  Had  not  discipline  first  been  lost,  we  could  not 
have  been  overpowered.  I  know,  indeed,  that  some  have  affirmed 
that  we,  too,  are  an  effete  party,  ready  to  be  dissolved  and  pass  away. 
It  is  not  so.  Dissolution  and  disorganization  are  wholly  different 
things.  The  Democratic  party  is  not  a  thing  of  shreds  and  patches, 
organized  for  a  transient  purpose,  and  thrown  hap-hazard  together,  in 
undistinguishable  mass,  without  form,  consistency,  or  proportion,  by 
some  sudden  and  temporary  pressure,  and  passing  away  with  the 
occasion  which  gave  it  being ;  or  catching,  for  a  renewed,  but  yet 
more  ephemeral  existence,  at  each  flitting  exigency,  as  it  arises  in 
the  State ;  molding  itself  to  the  form  of  every  popular  humor,  and 
seeking  to  fill  its  sails  with  every  new  wind  of  doctrine,  as  it  passes, 
either  in  zephyr  or  tempest,  over  the  waves  of  public  caprice — born 
and  dying  with  the  breath  which  made  it.  No,  sir.  The  Demo- 
cratic party  is  founded  upon  principles  which  never  die  :  hence  it 
is  itself  immortal.  It  may  alter  its  forms ;  it  must  change  its  meas- 
ures— for,  as  in  principle  it  is  essentially  conservative,  so  in  policy  it 
is  the  party  of  true  'jyrogress — its  individual  members  and  its  leading 
spirits,  its  representative  men,  can  not  remain  the  same.  But 
wherever  there  is  a  people  wholly  or  partially  free,  there  will  be  a 
Democratic  party  more  or  less  developed  and  organized.  But  no 
party,  gentlemen,  is  at  all  times  equally  pure  and  true  to  principle 
and  its  mission.  And  whenever  the  Democratic  party  forgets  these, 
it  loses  its  cementing  and  power-bestowing  element ;  it  waxes  weak, 
is  disorganized,  is  defeated — till,  purging  itself  of  its  impurities,  and 
falling  back  and  rallying  within  its  impregnable  intrenchments  of 
original  and  eternal  principles,  it  returns,  like  "  eagle  lately  bathed," 
with  irresistible  might  and  majesty,  to  the  conflict,  full  of  hope,  and 
confident  in  victory.  Sir,  it  is  this  recuperative  power — this  vis 
medicatriv — which  distingui.shes  the  Democratic  party  from  every 
other ;  and  it  owes  this  wholly  to  its  conservative  element,  FIXED 
POLITICAL  PRINCIPLES.  I  say  political  principles — principles  dealing 
peculiarly  with  government — because  it  is  a  political  party,  and 
must  be  judged  according  to  its  nature  and  constitution.  Kecog- 
nizing,  in  their  fullest  extent,  the  imperative  obligations  of  personal 
religion  and  morality  upon  its  members,  and  also  that,  in  its  aggre- 
gate being,  it  dare  not  violate  the  principles  of  either,  it  is  yet 
neither  a  Church  nor  a  lyceum.  It  is  no  part  of  its  mission  to  set 
itself  up  as  an  expounder  of  ethical  or  divine  truth.  Still  less  is 
it  a  mere  philanthropic  or  eleemosynary  institution.  All  these  are 
great  and  noble,  each  within  its  peculiar  province,  but  they  form  no 
part  of  the  immediate  business  and  end  of  the  Democratic  party. 
And  it  is  because  that  party  sometimes  will  forget  that  it  is  the  first 
and  highest  duty  of  its  mission  to  be  the  depositary  of  immutable 
political  principles,  and  steps  aside  after  the  dreams  and  visions  of 
a  false  and  fanatical  progress — sometimes  political,  commonly  phil- 
anthropic or  moral — that  it  ceases  to  be  powerful  and  victorious ; 
for  God  has  ordained  that  truth  shall  ever,  in  the  end,  be  vindicated, 
and  error  chastised. 


8  HISTORY    OF   THE    ABOLITION    MOVEMENT. 

Forjrettini;  the  true  province  of  a  political  party,  the  Democracy 
of  France  and  Germany  has  always  failed,  and  ever  must  fail.  It 
aims  at  too  much.  It  invokes  government  to  regenerate  man,  and 
set  him  free  from  the  taint  and  the  evils  of  sin  and  suffering  ;  it 
seeks  to  control  the  domestic,  social,  individual,  moral,  and  spiritual 
relations  of  man  ;  it  iijjnores  or  usurps  the  place  of  the  fireside,  the 
Church,  and  the  lyceum  :  and,  emulating  the  folly  of  Icarus,  and 
spreading  its  wings  for  too  lofty  a  flight  into  upper  air,  it  has 
melted  like  wax  before  the  sun.  Jndirccdi/,  indeed,  government  will 
always,  sir,  affect  more  or  less  all  these  relations  for  good  or  evil. 
But  departing  from  its  appointed  orbit,  confusion,  not  less  surely  or 
disastrously,  must  follow,  than  from  a  like  departure  by  the  heavenly 
bodies  from  their  fixed  laws  of  motion.  And,  indeed,  the  greater, 
and  by  far  the  gravest  part  of  the  errors  of  Democracy  everywhere, 
are  to  be  traced  directly  to  neglect  or  infraction  of  the  fundamental 
principle  of  its  constitution — that  man  is  to  be  considered  and  dealt 
with  by  government  strictly  in  reference  to  his  relations  as  a  polit- 
ical being. 

These  reflections,  Mr.  President,  naturally  lead  me  to  the  first 
inquiry. 

Personal  dissension :  a  turning  aside  after  mere  temporary  and 
miscalled  expediency ;  a  faith  in  and  following  after  weak,  or  uncer- 
tain, or  selfish,  or  heretical  men  ;  neglect  of  party  tone  and  disci- 
pline as  essential  to  the  moiuilc,  and  hence  the  success  of  a  party, 
as  of  an  army,  and  just  as  legitimate ;  these,  and  the  like  minor 
causes  of  disorganization  and  defeat,  I  pass  over.  They  are  inci- 
dent to  all  parties,  and  although  never  to  be  too  lightly  estimated, 
yet  rarely  occasion  lasting  or  very  serious  detriment.  Commonly, 
indeed,  sir,  they  are  but  the  diagnostic,  or  visible  development  of 
an  evil  which  lies  deeper — ^just  as  boils  and  blotches  upon  the  sur- 
face of  the  body  show  that  the  system  is  tainted  and  distempered 
within.  Neither  do  I  pause,  gentlemen,  to  consider  how  far  the  final 
inauguration  of  the  grand  scheme  of  domestic  policy,  which  the  Dem- 
ocratic party  so  many  years  struggled  for,  and  the  consequent  pros- 
tration and  dissolution  of  the  "Whig  party,  have  contributed  to  the 
loss  of  vigilance  and  discipline;  since  an  organization  healthy  in  all 
other  things  must  soon  recover  its  wonted  tone  and  soundness.  Sir, 
the  Democratic  party  has  principle  to  fall  back  upon;  and  it  has,  too, 
a  trust  to  execute  not  less  sacred,  and  almost  as  difficult,  as  its  first 
work.  It  is  its  business  to  preserve  and  keep  pure  and  incorrupt 
that  which  it  has  established.  And  this,  along  with  the  new  polit- 
ical questions  which,  in  the  world's  progress,  fi-om  day  to  day  spring 
up,  will  give  us  labor  enough,  and  sweat  enough,  without  a  wild 
foray  into  the  province  of  the  benevolent  association,  the  lyceum, 
or  the  Church ;  to  return  thence  laden,  not  with  the  precious  thihgs, 
the  incense,  and  the  vessels  of  silver  and  gold  from  ofl"  the  altar,  but 
the  rubbish  and  the  offal — the  bigotries,  the  intolerance,  the  hypoc- 
risies, the  persecuting  spirit,  and  whatever  else  of  unmixed  evil  has 
crept,  through  corruption,  into  the  outer  or  the  inner  courts  of  the 
sanctuary. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ABOLITION   MOVEMENT.  9 

I  know,  indeed,  gentlemen,  that  every  political  party  is  more  or 
less  directly  affected,  as  by  a  sort  of  magnetism,  by  all  great  public 
movements  upon  any  subject;  and  it  is  one  of  the  peculiar  evils  of 
a  democracy,  that  every  question  of  absorbing,  though  never  so 
transient  interest — moral,  social,  religious,  scientific,  no  matter 
what — assumes,  sooner  or  later,  a  political  shape  and  hue,  and 
enters  into  the  election  contests  and  legislation  of  the  country. 
For  many  years,  nevertheless,  sir,  questions  not  strictly  political 
exerted  but  small  influence  upon  parties  in  the  United  States.  The 
memorable  controversies  which  preceded  the  American  Revolution, 
and  which  developed  and  disciplined  the  great  abilities  of  the  giants 
of  those  days — founded,  indeed,  as  all  must  be,  upon  abstract  prin- 
ciples drawn  from  the  nature  of  man  considered  in  his  relation  to 
government — were  yet  strictly  legal  and  political.  The  men  of  that 
day  were  not  cold  metaphysicians,  nor  wicked  or  mischievous  enthu- 
siasts—  else  we  had  been  subjects  of  Great  Britain  to  this  day. 
Practical  men,  they  dealt  with  the  subject  as  a  practical  question; 
and  deducing  the  right  of  revolution^  the  right  to  institute,  alter, 
or  abolish  government^  from  the  "  inalienable  rights  of  man,"  the 
American  Congress  summed  up  a  long  catalogue  of  injuries  and 
usurpations  wholly  political,  as  impelling  to  the  separation,  and 
struck  out  of  the  original  draught  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence the  eloquent,  but  then  mistimed,  declamation  of  Jefferson 
against  the  African  slave-trade.  Sir,  it  did  not  occur  to  even  the 
Hancocks  and  the  Adamses  of  the  New  England  of  that  day,  that 
the  national  sins  and  immoralities  of  Great  Britain  could  form  the 
appropriate  theme  of  a  great  state  paper,  and  supply  to  a  legisla- 
tive assembly  the  most  potent  arguments  wherewith  to  justify  and 
defend  before  the  world  a  momentous  political  revolution.  Discov- 
eries such  as  these  are,  belong  to  the  patriots  and  wise  men — the 
Sewards,  the  Sumners,  the  Hales,  and  the  Chases — of  a  later  and 
more  enlightened  age. 

Our  ancestors  went  to  war,  indeed,  about  a  preamble  and  a  prin- 
ciple :  but  these  were  political — the  right  of  the  British  Parliament 
to  tax  America.  And  they  did  not  si*op  to  inquire  whether  war 
was  humane  and  consistent  with  man's  notion  of  the  Gospel  of 
Peace.  Their  political  rights  were  invaded,  and  they  took  up  arms 
to  repel  the  aggression.  Nor  did  they,  sir,  in  the  temper  and  spirit 
of  the  pharisaic  rabbins  and  sophisters  of  '55,  ask  of  each  other 
■whether,  morally  or  piously,  the  citizens  of  the  several  Colonies 
were  worthy  of  fellowship.  They  were  resolved  to  form  a  polit- 
ical UNION,  so  as  to  establish  justice  and  to  secure  domestic  tran- 
quillit}^  the  common  defense,  the  general  welfare,  and  the  blessings 
of  liberty  to  themselves  and  posterity.  And  the  Catholic  of  Mary- 
land and  Huguenot  of  Carolina,  the  Puritan  Eoundhead  of  New 
England  and  the  Cavalier  of  Virginia — the  slavery-hating,  though 
sometimes  slave-trading,  saint  of  Boston  and  the  slave-holding  sin- 
ner of  Savannah — Washington  and  Adams,  Rutledge  and  Sherman, 
Madison  and  Franklin,  Pinckney  and  Ellsworth,  all  joined  hands 
in  holy  brotherhood  to  ordain  a   Constitution  which,  silent  about 


10  HISTORY    OF   TUE  ABOLITION  MOVEMENT. 

temperance,  forbade  nJlyious  tests  and  cstahlishments,  and  provid-^Ji 
for  tin',  extradition   of  fugitive  slaves.^ 

Tlie  questions  whit-h  engaged  the  great  minds  of  Washington  and 
the  luen  who  coni])osed  his  cabinets  were,  also,  purely  political. 
"  )rA(".«i/,-y,"  indeed,  sir,  played  once  an  important  part  in  the  drama, 
threatening  even  civil  war  ;  but  it  was  as  the  creature  of  the  tax- 
gatherer,  not  the  theme  of  the  philanthropist  or  the  ecclesiastic. 
Even  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laics  of  the  succeeding  administra- 
tion—  renascent  now  by  a  sort  of  Pythagorean  metcinpsi/cJiosis,  in 
the  form  of  a  secret,  oath-bound  conspiracy — were  del'ended  then 
solely  on  political  grounds.  "The  principles  of  '98,"  which,  at  that 
time,  convulsed  the  country  in  the  struggle  for  their  predominance, 
were,  indeed,  aljstractions,  though  of  infinite  practical  value — but 
they  were  constitutional  and  political  abstractions.  Equally  is  it 
true  that  all  the  capital  measures,  in  every  administration,  from  '98 
to  1828  were  of  a  kindred  character,  except  only  the  Missouri 
Question,  that  "fire-bell  in  the  night"  which  filled  Jefferson  with 
alarm  and  despair.  But  this  was  transient  in  itself;  though  it  left  its 
slumbering  and  treacherous  ashes  to  kindle  a  flame,  not  many  years 
later,  which  threatens  to  consume  this  Union  with  fire  unquenchable. 

But  within  no  period  of  our  history,  gentlemen,  were  so  many 
and  such  grave  political  questions  the  subject  of  vehement,  and 
sometimes  exasperated,  discussion,  as  during  the  administrations  of 
Jackson  and  his  successor,  continuing  down,  many  of  them,  to 
1847.  Among  these  I  name  Internal  Improvements,  the  Protective 
System,  the  Public  Lands,  Nullification,  the  llcmoval  of  the  Indians, 
the  United  States  Bank,  the  Eemoval  of  the  Deposits,  liemovals 
from  Office,  the  French  Indemnity,  the  Expunging  Resolutions,  the 
Specie  Circular,  Executive  Patronage,  the  Independent  Treasury, 
Distribution,  the  Veto  Power,  and  their  cognate  subjects.  Never 
were  greater  cjuestions  presented.  Never  was  greater  intellect  or 
more  abundant  learning  and  ingenuity  brought  into  the  discussion 
of  any  subjects.  And  never,  be  it  remembered,  was  the  Democratic 
party  so  powerful.  It  was  the  power  and  majesty  of  principle  and 
truth,  working  out  their  development  through  machinery  obedient 
to  its  constitution  and  nature.  True,  Andrew  Jackson  was  then  at 
the  head  of  the  party,  and  his  name  and  his  will,  moving  all  things 
with  a  nod,  were  a  tower  of  strength.  But  an  hundred  Jacksons 
could  not  have  upheld  a  party  one  day  which  had  been  false  to  its 
mission. 

Within  this  period,  indeed.  Anti-masonry  rose,  flourished,  and 
died ;  the  first,  in  the  United  States,  of  a  long  line  of  third  parties — 
the  ttrtium  quid  of  political  sophisters — based  upon  but  one  tenet, 
and  devoted  to  a  single  purpose.  But  even  in  this,  the  professed 
principle  was  solely  political. 

Following  the  groat  (juestions  of  the  Jackson  era,  came  the  Annex- 
ation of  Texas,  tiie  Oregon  question,  and  the  Mexican  War ;  during, 

*B(>th  those  provisions  wore  carried  unanimously,  without  debiito  and 
without  vote.— 3  Mad.  Pap.,  1366,  1447,  1456,  1468. 


HISTORY   OF    THE    ABOLITION   MOVEMENT.  11 

or  succeeding  which,  that  pestilent  and  execrable  sectional  contro- 
versy, JResjJiiblicce,  portentum  ac  poejic  funus,  was  developed  and 
nurtured   to   its   present  perilous  magnitude. 

Here,  gentlemen,  a  new  epoch  begins  in  our  political  history.  A 
new  order  of  issues,  and  new  party  mechanism  are  introduced.  At 
this  point,  therefore,  let  us  turn  back  and  trace  briefly  the  origin  and 
history  of  those  grievous  departures  from  the  ancient  landmarks, 
which,  filling  the  whole  country  with  confusion  and  perplexity,  have 
impaired,  more  or  less  seriously,  the  strength  and  discipline  of  the 
Democratic  party. 

In  the  State  of  Massachusetts — not  barren  of  inventions — in  the 
year  1811,  at  a  meeting  of  an  ecclesiastical  council,  a  committee  was 
appointed,  whereof  a  reverend  doctor,  of  Salem,  was  chairman, 
to  draught  a  constitution  for  the  first  "  Temperance  Society  "  in  the 
United  States.  The  committee  reported  in  1813,  and  the  society  was 
established.  It  languished  till  1826  ;  and,  "  languishing  did  live." 
Nathan  Dane  was  among  its  first  presidents.  In  that  year  of  grace, 
sir,  at  Boston,  died  this  association,  and  from  its  ashes  sprang  the 
"American  Society  for  the  promotion  of  Temperance  " — the  parent 
of  a  numerous  offspring.  This  association  was,  in  its  turn,  supplanted 
by  the  Washingtonian  Societies  of  1841,  and  they,  again,  by  the 
Sons  of  Temperance.  The  eldest  of  these  organizations  taught  only 
temperance  in  the  use  of  ardent  spirits ;  their  successors  forbade, 
wholly,  all  spirituous,  but  allowed  vinous  and  fermented  liquors. 
The  Washingtonians  enjoined  total  abstinence  from  every  beverage 
which,  by  possibility,  might  intoxicate,  and  so,  also,  did  the  Sons  of 
Temperance.  But  all  these  organizations,  gentlemen — in  the  out- 
set, at  least — professed  reliance  solely  upon  "moral  suasion,"  and 
denied  all  political  purpose  or  design  in  their  action.  They  were 
voluntary  associations,  formed  to  persuade  men  to  be  temperate.  This 
was  right,'  was  reasonable ;  was  great,  and  noble ;  and  immense  re- 
sults for  good  rewarded  their  labors.  The  public  was  interested, 
everywhere.  The  cause  became  popular — became  powerful.  De- 
signing men,  not  honest,  were  not  slow  to  discover  that  it  might  be 
turned  into  a  potent  political  engine  for  the  advancement  of  personal 
or  party  interests.  Weak  men,  very  honest,  were  dazzled  and 
deluded  by  the  bright  dream  of  intemperance  expelled,  and  man 
restored  to  his  original  purity,  by  the  power  of  human  legislation. 
And  lo,  in  1855,  in  this,  the  freest  country  upon  the  globe,  fourteen 
States,  by  statute — bristling  all  over  with  fines,  the  jail,  and  the  peni- 
tentiary— have  prescribed  that  neither  strong  drink  nor  the  fruit  of 
the  vine  shall  be  the  subject  of  contract,  traflic,  or  use  within  their 
limits.  Temperance,  which  Paul  preached,  and  the  Bible  teaches  as 
a  religious  duty,  and  leaves  to  the  Church,  or  the  voluntary  associa- 
lion,  is  now  become  a  controlling  element  at  the  polls  and  in  legis- 
lation. Political  parties  are  perverted  into  great  temperance  societies  ; 
and  the  fitness  of  the  citizen  for  ofiice  gauged  now  by  his  capacity 
to  remain  dry.  His  palm  may  itch ;  his  whole  head  may  be  weak, 
and  his  whole  heart  corrupt;  but  if  his  tongue  be  but  parched,  he  is 
competent. 


12  HISTORY   OF   THE   ABOLITION   MOVEMENT. 

And  now,  sir,  along  with  good,  came  evil ;  and  when  the  good 
turned  to  evil,  the  plague  abounded  exceedingly.  I  pass  by  that 
numerous  host  of  lesser  isms  of  the  day,  full — all  of  them — of  folly, 
or  i'anaticism,  and  fit  only  to  "uproar  the  universal  peace,  confound 
all  unity  on  earth,"  which,  nevertheless,  have  excited  much  public 
interest,  numbered  many  followers,  and,  flowing  speedily  into  the 
stream  of  party  politics,  aided  largely  to  pollute  its  already  turbid 
and  frothy  waters.  I  come  to  that  most  recent  fungus  development 
of  those  departures  from  original  and  wholesome  political  principle, 
Know-Notiiingism — as  barbarous  in  name,  as,  in  my  judgment,  it  is 
dangerous  in  essence. 

The  extraordinary  success,  gentlemen,  which  had  attended  political 
temperance  and  abolition,  revealed  a  mine  of  wealth,  richer  than 
California  ^/acer,  to  the  office-hunting  demagogue.  Ordinary  politi- 
cal topics  were  become  stale — certainly  unprofitable.  But  he,  it 
now  appeared,  who  could  call  in  the  aid  of  moral  or  religious  truths, 
touched  an  answering  chord  in  the  heart  of  this  very  pious  and 
upright  people — a  people  so  keenly  sensitive,  too,  each  one,  to  the 
moral  or  religious  status  of  his  neighbor. 

Not  ignorant,  sir,  of  the  corroding  bitterness  of  religious  strife, 
and  mindful  of  the  desolating  persecutions,  for  conscience'  sake,  of 
which  governments,  in  times  past,  had  been  the  willing  instruments, 
the  founders  of  our  Federal  Constitution  forbade,  in  clear  and  positive 
language,  all  religious  tests  and  establishments  :  and  every  State,  in 
terms  more  or  less  emphatic,  has  ordained  a  similar  prohibition.  The 
Constitution  of  Ohio,  declaring  that  all  men  have  a  natural  and 
indefeasible  right  to  Avorship  Almighty  God  according  to  the  dictates 
of  their  own  conscience,  provides  that  "no  preference  shall  be  given, 
by  law,  to  any  religious  society,  nor  shall  a)iy  interference  with  the 
rights  of  conscience  be  permitted ;  and  no  religious  test  shall  be 
required  as  a  qualification  for  ofiice." 

By  prohibitions,  positive  and  stringent  as  these  are,  gentlemen, 
our  fathers,  in  their  weakness,  thought  to  stay  the  flood  of  religious 
intolerance.  Vain  hope  !  The  high  road  to  honor  and  emolument  lay 
through  the  "  higher  law  "  reforms  of  the  day.  Moral  and  religious 
issues  alone  were  found  available.  The  roll  of  the  "  drum  ecclesi- 
astic "  could  stir  a  fever  in  the  public  blood,  when  the  thunders  of 
the  rostrum  fell  dull  and  droning  upon  the  ears  of  the  people.  It 
needed  but  small  sagacity,  therefore,  to  foresee  that  the  prejudices  of 
race  and  sect  must  prove  a  still  more  powerful  and  wieldy  engine. 
The  Pope  of  Pilgrims  Progress  grinned  still  at  the  mouth  of  the 
cave  full  of  dead  men's  bones;  and  Fox's  Book  of  Martyrs  lay  shud- 
dering yet,  with  its  hideous  engravings,  under  every  Protestant  roof. 
How  easy,  then,  to  revive,  or,  rather,  to  fan  into  a  flame,  this  secret 
but  worse  than  goblin  dread  of  Papacy  and  the  Inquisition.  Add  to 
this,  that  a  majority  of  Catholics  are  foreigners — obnoxious,  there- 
fore, to  the  bigotry  of  race  and  birth  also  ;  add,  further,  that  silence, 
secrecy,  and  circumspection  are  weapons  potent  in  any  hands  :  add, 
still,  that  to  be  over-curious  is  a  controlling  element  in  the  American 
character.     Compound,  now,  all  these  with  a  travesty  upon  the  signs, 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  ABOLITION  MOVEMENT.  13 

grips,  and  machinery  of  already  existing  organizations,  and  you  have 
the  elements  and  mechanism  of  a  great  and  powerful,  but  assuredly 
not  enduring  party. 

In  the  month  of  January,  1854,  the  telegraph,  on  lightning  wing, 
speeds  through  its  magic  meshes  the  astounding  intelligence  that, 
at  the  municipal  election  of  the  town  of  Salem,  (not  unknown  in 
history,)  in  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  men  not  known  to 
be  candidates  were,  by  an  invisible  and  unknown  agency,  said  to  be  a 
secret,  oath-bound  society,  without  even  so  much  as  a  name,  elected  by 
heavy  majorities  over  candidates  openly  proclaimed.  In  March,  and 
in  April,  similar  announcements  appear  from  other  quarters.  The 
mystery  is  perplexing — the  country  is  on  fire — and  lo,  in  October, 
nine  months  after  this  Salem  epiphany,  from  Maine  to  California,  the 
mythic  "  Sam  "  has  established  his  secret  conclaves  in  every  city, 
village,  county,  and  State  in  the  Union. 

And  here,  again,  sir,  the  Protestant  clergy,  forgetting,  many  of  them, 
their  divine  warrant  and  holy  mission — I  speak  it  with  profoundest 
sorrow  and  humiliation — have  run  headlong  into  this  dangerous  and 
demoralizing  organization.  They  have  even  sought,  in  many  places, 
to  control  it,  and  through  it,  the  political  affairs  of  the  country  :  and, 
sad  spectacle  !  are  found  but  too  often  foremost  and  loudest  and  most 
clamorous  among  political  brawlers  and  hunters  of  place.  I  rejoice, 
sir,  that  there  are  many  noble  and  holy  exceptions — ministers  mindful 
of  their  true  province,  and  preaching  only  the  pure  precepts  and  doc- 
trines of  that  Sacred  Volume,  without  which  there  is  no  religion,  and 
no  stability  or  virtue  worth  the  name,  in  either  Church  or  State. 
Nevertheless,  covertly  or  openly,  the  Protestant  clergy  and  Church 
have  but  too  much  lent  countenance  and  encouragement  to  the  order. 
And  the  truth  must  and  shall  be  spoken  both  of  Church  and  of  Party. 

In  seizing  upon  the  Temperance  and  other  moral  and  religious 
movements,  party  invaded  the  territory  of  the  Church.  The  Church 
has  now  avenged  the  aggression,  and  gone  into  party — not  with  the 
might  and  majesty  of  holiness — not  to  purify  and  elevate — but  with 
distorted  feature,  breath  polluted,  and  wing  dripping  and  drolling  in 
mire  and  stench  and  rottenness,  to  destroy  and  pollute,  in  the  foul 
embrace,  whatever  of  purity  remained  yet  to  either  Church  or  the 
hustings.  The  Church  has  disorganized  and  perverted  party ;  and,  ia 
its  turn,  party  has  become  to  the  Church  as  "dead  flies  in  the  oint- 
ment of  the  apothecary."  Church  and  State,  each  abandoning  its 
peculiar  province,  and  meeting  upon  the  common  ground  of  fanaticism 
and  proscription,  have  joined  hands  in  polluting  and  incestuous  wed- 
lock. The  Constitution  remains,  indeed,  unchanged  in  letter ;  but 
this  unholy  union  has  rendered  nugatory  one  among  its  wisest  and 
most  salutary  enactments. 

But,  gentlemen,  all  these  are,  in  their  nature  and  from  circum- 
stances, essentially  ephemeral.  No  powerful  and  controlling  interests 
exist  to  cement  and  harden  them  into  strength  and  durability.  They 
are  among  the  epidemic  diseases  which  for  a  season  infect  every  body 
politic  —  leaving  it,  if  sound  in  constitution  and  not  distempered 
otherwise,  puriiied  and  strengthened.     In  all  these,  too,  the  Democ- 


14  HISTORY  OF  TUE  ABOLITION  MOVEMENT. 

racy,  as  a  party,  has  stood  firm  and  uncoutamluate;  although,  indeed, 
iudividual  nieuibers  have,  iu  every  State  and  county,  been  beguiled 
and  led  astray,  and  thereby  the  aggregate  power  and  influence  of  the 
party  greatly  impaired. 

Especially,  sir,  is  the  present  order  of  "  Kuow-Nothings  "  evanes- 
cent. Even  now  it  totters  to  the  earth.  In  the  beginning,  indeed, 
it  was,  perhaps,  the  purpose  of  its  founders  to  hold  it  aloof  from  the 
great  sei-tioual  controversy  between  the  North  and  the  South,  and 
to  mold  it  into  a  permanent  national  party.  But  circumstances  are 
stronger  tiian  men — and  already  throughout  the  North  it  has  become 
thoroughly  abolitionized.  Hence,  it  must  speedily  dissolve  and  pas3 
away,  or  remain  but  a  yet  more  hateful  adjunct  of  that  one  stronger 
and  more  durable  organization,  in  which  every  element  of  opposition 
to  the  Democratic  party  must,  sooner  or  later,  inevitably  terminate — • 
THE  Abolition  iiordk  of  tiik  North;  for,  however  tortuous  may 
be  its  channel,  or  remote  its  fountain,  into  this  turbid  and  devour- 
ing flood  will  every  brook  and  rivulet  find  its  way  at  last. 

The  consideration  of  this  great  question,  3Ir.  President,  I  have 
naturally  and  appropriately  reserved  to  the  last.  It  is  the  gravest 
and  most  momentous,  full  of  embarrassment  and  of  danger  to  the 
country ;  and,  in  cowering  before,  or  tampering  with  it,  the  Demo- 
cratic party  of  Ohio  has  given  itself  a  disabling,  though  I  trust  not 
yet  mortal,  wound. 

I  propose,  then,  sir,  to  trace  fully  the  origin,  development,  and 
progress  of  this  movement,  and  to  explore,  and  lay  open  at  length, 
its  relations,  present  and  prospective,  to  the  Democratic  party  and 
to  the  Union. 

Slaverv,  gentlemen — older  in  other  countries  also  than  the  rec- 
ords of  human  society — existed  in  America  at  the  date  of  its  dis- 
covery. The  first  slaves  of  the  European  were  natives  of  the  soil ; 
and  a  Puritan  governor  of  Massachusetts — founder  of  the  family  of 
Winthrop — bequeathed  his  soul  to  God,  and  his  Indian  slaves  to 
the  lawful  heirs  of  his  body.  Negro  slavery  was  introduced  into 
Hispaniola  in  1501,  more  than  a  century  before  the  colonization  of 
America  by  the  English.  Massachusetts,  by  express  enactment,  in 
1641,  punishing  "man-stealing"  with  death — and  it  is  so  punished 
to  this  day  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States — legalized  yet  the 
enslaving  of  captives  taken  in  war,  and  of  such  "  strangers,"  for- 
eigncrs,  as  should  be  acquired  by  purchase ;  while  confederate  New 
England,  two  years  later,  providing  for  the  equitable  division  of 
lands,  goods,  and  ^'2^^''^ons,"  as  equally  a  part  of  the  "spoils"  of 
war,  enacted  also  the  first  fugitive  slave  law  in  America.*     White 

*Slavkry  in  MASSACiitrsETTS. — "There  shall  never  be  anj'  bond  slavery, 
villeinnge,  or  captivity  among  us,  unless  it  be  lawful  captivos  taken  in  just 
•wars,  and  such  sii-angers  as  willingly  sell  themselves,  or  are  sold  to  us.' — Mas- 
aachwittts  Body  oj  Liberties,  1G41:    g  91. 

"It  is,  also,  l)y  these  confederates  agreed,  that,  etc and  that  accord- 
ing to  the  difTerent  charge  of  each  jurisdiction  and  plantation,  the  whole 
advantage  of  the  war,  (if  it  please  God  so  to  bless  their  endeavors,)  whether 
it  be  in  lands,  goods,  or  persons^  shall  be  proportionably  divided  among  said 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ABOLITION   MOVEMENT.  15 

slaves — convicts  and  paupers  some  of  them ;  others,  at  a  later  day, 
prisoners  taken  at  the  battles  of  Dunbar,  and  Worcester,  and  of 
Sedgemoor — were,  at  the  first,  employed  in  Virginia  and  the  British 
West  Indies.  Bought  in  England  by  English  dealers,  among  whom 
was  the  queen  of  James  II,  with  many  of  his  nobles  and  courtiers — ■ 
some  of  them,  perhaps,  of  the  house  of  Sutherland — they  were  im- 
ported and  sold  at  auction  to  the  highest  bidder.  In  1620,  a  Dutch 
man-of-war  first  landed  a  cargo  of  slaves  upon  the  banks  of  James 
river.  But  the  earliest  slave-ship  belonging  to  the  English  colo- 
nists was  fitted  out,  in  1645,  by  a  member  of  the  Puritan  Church, 
of  Boston.  Fostered  still  by  English  princes  and  nobles,  confirmed 
and  cherished  by  British  legislation  and  judicial  decisions,  even 
against  the  wishes,  and  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances,  of  the  Colo- 
nies, the  traffic  increased ;  slaves  multiplied,  and,  on  the  Fourth  of 
July,  1776,  every  Colony  was  now  become  a  slave  State;  and  the 
sun  went  down  that  day  upon  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  of 
those  who,  in  the  cant  of  eighty  years  later,  are  styled  "  human 
chattels,"  but  who  were  not,  by  the  act  of  that  day,  emancipated. 

Eleven  years  afterward,  delegates,  assembling  at  Philadelphia,  from 
every  State  except  Rhode  Island,  ignoring  the  question  of  the  sin- 
fulness and  immorality  of  slavery  as  a  subject  with  which  they,  as 
the  representatives  of  separate  and  independent  States,  had  no  con- 
cern, founded  a  Union  and  framed  a  Constitution,  which,  leaving 
with  each  State  the  exclusive  control  and  regulation  of  its  own 
domestic  institutions,  and  providing  for  the  taxation  and  represent- 
ation of  slaves,  gave  no  right  to  Congress  to  debate  or  to  legislate 
concerning  slavery  in  the  States  or  Territories,  except  for  the  inter- 
diction of  the  slave-trade  and  the  extradition  of  fugitive  slaves. 
The  Plan  of  Union  proposed  by  Franklin,  in  1754,  had  contained 
no  allusion,  even,  to  slavery ;  and  the  Articles  of  Confederation  of 
1778,  but  a  simple  recognition  of  its  existence — so  wholly  was  it 
regarded  then  a  domestic  and  local  concern.  In  1787,  every  State, 
except,  perhaps,  Massachusetts,  tolerated  slavery  either  absolutely 
or  conditionally.  But  the  number  of  slaves  north  of  Maryland, 
never  great,  was  even  yet  comparatively  small — not  exceeding  forty 
thousand  in  a  total  slave  population  of  six  hundred  thousand.  In 
the  North,  chief  carrier  of  slaves  to  others,  even  as  late  as  1807, 
slavery   never   took   firm  root.^     Nature  warred  against  it  in   that 

confederates." — Articles  of  Confederation,  etc.,  May  19,  1643;  g  4;  aiid  Ban- 
croft's United  States,  vol.  1,  p.  168. 

The  New  England  Fugitive  Slave  Law. — "It  is  also  agreed  that  if 
any  servant  run  away  from  his  master  into  any  of  these  confederate  juris- 
dictions, that,  in  such  case,  upofi  certificate  of  one  magistrate  in  the  jurisdic- 
tion out  of  which  the  said  servant  fled,  or  upon  due  proof,  the  said  servant 
shall  be  delivered  up  either  to  his  master  or  any  other  that  pursues  and  brings 
such  certificate  or  proof." — Ibid,  §  8. 

*"The  North  and  the  Slave  Trade. — The  number  of  African  slaves 
imported  into  the  port  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  alone,  in  the  years  1804,  1805, 
1806,  and  1807— the  last  year  of  the  slave-trade— was  39,075.  These  were 
consigned  to  niyiety-one  British  subjects,  eighty-eight  citizens  of  New  England, 
ten  French  subjects,  and  only  thirteen  citizens  of  Charleston. —  Compend.  of 
U.  S.  Census,  p.  83. 


16  HISTORY   OF   THE   ABOLITION   MOVEMENT. 

latitude ;  otherwise  every  State  in  the  Union  vrould  have  been  a 
slaveholilint;  State  to  this  day.  It  was  not  profitable  there,  and  it 
died  out — linperina,  indeed,  in  New  York,  till  July,  1827.  It  died 
out ;  but  not  so  much  by  the  manumission  of  slaves  as  by  their 
transportation  and  sale  in  the  South.  And  thus  New  En<;laud,  sir, 
turned  an  honest  penny  with  her  left  hand,  and  with  her  right 
modestly  wrote  herself  down  in  history  as  both  generous  and  just. 
In  the  South,  gentlemen,  all  this  was  precisely  reversed.  The 
earliest  and  most  resolute  enemies  to  slavery  were  Southern  men. 
But  climate  had  fastened  the  institution  upon  them  ;  and  they  found 
no  way  to  strike  it  down.  From  the  beginning,  indeed,  the  Southern 
colonies  especially  had  resisted  the  introduction  of  African  slaves ; 
and,  at  the  very  outset  of  the  revolution,  Virginia  and  North  Caro- 
lina interdicted  the  slave-trade.  The  Continental  Congress  soon 
after,  on  the  tJth  of  April,  1776,  three  months  earlier  than  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence,  resolved  that  no  more  slaves  ought  to  be 
imported  into  the  Thirteen  Colonies.  Jefferson,  in  his  draught  of 
the  Declaration,  had  denounced  the  king  of  England  alike  for  en- 
couraging the  slave-trade,  and  for  fomenting  servile  insurrection  in 
the  provinces.  Ten  years  later,  he  boldly  attacked  slavery,  in  his 
"Notes  on  Virginia;"  and  in  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation, 
prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  icith  its  solemn  compacts  and 
compromises  upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  proposed  to  exclude  it  from 
the  territory  north-west  of  the  river  Ohio.  Col.  Mason,  of  Virginia, 
vehemently  condemned  it,  in  the  Convention  of  1787.  Neverthe- 
less, it  had  already  become  manifest  that  slavery  must  soon  die  away 
in  the  North,  but  in  the  South  continue  and  harden  into,  perhaps,  a 
permanent,  uneradicable  system.  Hostile  interests  and  jealousies 
sprang  up,  therefore,  in  bitterness,  even  in  the  Convention.  But  the 
blood  of  the  patriot  brothers  of  Carolina  and  Massachusetts  smoked 
yet  upon  the  battle-fields  of  the  Revolution.  The  recollection  of 
their  kindred  language  and  common  dangers  and  sufferings,  burned 
Btill  fre.sh  in  their  hearts.  Patriotism  proved  more  powerful  than 
jealousy,  and  good  sense  stronger  than  fanaticism.  There  were  no 
Sewards,  no  Hales,  no  Sumners,  no  Greeleys,  no  Parkers,  no  Chase, 
in  that  Convention.  Theire  was  a  Wilson,  but  he  rejoiced  not  in  the 
name  of  llcnry ;  and  he  was  a  Scotchman.  There  was  a  clergy- 
man— no,  not  in  the  Convention  of  '87,  but  in  the  Congress  of  '76  ; 
but  it  was  the  devout,  the  learned,  the  pious,  the  patriotic  Wither- 
spoon  ;  of  foreign  birth,  also — a  native  of  Scotland,  too.  The  men 
of  that  day  and  generation,  sir,  were  content  to  leave  the  question 
of  slavery  just  where  it  belonged.  It  did  not  occur  to  them,  that 
each  one  among  them  w^as  accountable  for  "  the  sin  of  slaveholding  " 
in  his  fellow;  and  that  to  ease  his  tender  conscience  of  the  burden, 
all  the  fruits  of  revolutionary  privation,  and  blood,  and  treasure — 
all  the  recollections  of  the  past,  all  the  hopes  of  the  future — nay, 
the  Union,  and  with  it,  domestic  tranquillity  and  national  indepen- 
dence— ought  to  be  offered  up  as  a  sacrifice.  They  were  content  to 
deal  with  political  questions,  and  to  leave  eases  of  conscience  to  the 
Church  and  the  schools,  or  to  the  individual  man.      And,  accord- 


HISTORY    OF   THE   ABOLITION   MOVEMENT.  17 

ingly,  to  this  Union  and  Constitution,  based  upon  these  compro- 
mises— execrated  now  as  "  covenants  with  death  and  leagues  with 
hell  " — every  State  acceded  ;  and  upon  these  foundations,  thus  broad 
and  deep  and  stable,  a  political  superstructure  has,  as  if  by  magic, 
arisen,  which,  in  symmetry  and  proportion,  and,  if  we  would  but  be 
true  to  our  trust,  in  strength  and  durability,  finds  no  parallel  in  the 
world's  history. 

Patriotic  sentiments,  sir,  such  as  mai-ked  the  era  of  '89,  continued 
to  guide  the  statesmen  and  people  of  the  country,  for  more  than 
thirty  years,  full  of  prosperity;  till,  in  a  dead  political  calm,  conse- 
quent upon  temporary  extinguishment  of  the  ancient  party  lines  and 
issues,  the  Missouri  Question,  resounding  through  the  land  with 
the  hollow  moan  of  the  earthquake,  shook  the  pillars  of  the  Republic 
even  to  their  deep  foundations. 

Within  these  thirty  years,  gentlemen,  slavery,  as  a  system,  had  been 
abolished  by  law  or  disuse,  quietly  and  without  agitation,  in  every 
State  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line — in  many  of  them  lingering, 
indeed,  in  individual  cases,  so  late  as  the  census  of  1840.  But,  ex- 
cept in  half  a  score  of  instances,  the  question  had  not  been  obtruded 
upon  Congress.  The  Fugitive  Slave  Act  of  1793  had  been  passed  with- 
out opposition,  and  without  a  division,  in  the  Senate ;  and  by  a  vote 
of  forty-eight  to  seven  in  the  House.  The  slave-trade  had  been 
declared  piracy,  punishable  with  death.  Respectful  petitions  from  the 
Quakers  of  Pennsylvania,  and  others,  upon  the  slavery  question,  were 
referred  to  a  committee,  and  a  report  made  thereon,  which  laid  the 
matter  at  rest.  Other  petitions,  afterward,  were  quietly  rejected,  and, 
in  one  instance,  returned  to  the  petitioner.  Louisiana  and  Florida, 
both  slaveholding  countries,  had,  without  agitation,  been  added  to  our 
territory.  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  Ala- 
bama, slave  States  each  one  of  them,  had  been  admitted  into  the 
Union,  without  a  murmur.  No  Missouri  Restriction,  no  Wilmot 
Proviso,  had  as  yet  reared  its  discordant  front  to  terrify  and  con- 
found. Non-intervention  was  then  both  the  practice  and  the 
doctrine  of  the  statesmen  and  people  of  that  period ;  though,  as  yet, 
no  hollow  platform  enunciated  it  as  an  article  of  faith,  from  which, 
nevertheless,  obedience  might  be  withheld,  and  the  platform  "  spit 
upon,"  provided  the  tender  conscience  of  the  recusant  did  not  forbid 
him  to  support  the  candidate,  and  help  to  secure  the  "  spoils." 

Once  only,  sir,  was  there  a  deliberate  purpose  shown,  by  a  formal 
assault  upon  the  compromises  of  the  Constitution,  to  array  the 
prejudices  of  geographical  sections  upon  the  question  of  slavery. 
But,  originating  within  the  secret  counsels  of  the  Hartford  Conven- 
tion, it  partook  of  the  odium  which  touched  every  thing  connected 
with  that  treasonable  assembly,*  till,  set  on  fire  by  a  live  coal  from 

*"The  Haktford  Convention-. — "liesolved,  That  it  is  expedient  to  recom- 
mend to  the  several  State  legislatures  cerlain  amendments  to  the  Constitution, 
viz.: 

"  That  the  power  to  declare  or  make  war,  by  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  be  restricted.  That  it  is  expedient  to  attempt  to  make  provision  for 
restraininff  Congress  in  the  exercise  of  an  unlimited  power  to  make  7iew  States, 
2 


18  HISTORY   OF   THE   ABOLITION   MOVEMENT. 

the  altar  of  jealousy  and  fanaticism,  it  burst  into  a  conflacrration,  six 
years  later.     And  now,  sir,  for  the  first  time  in  our  history  under  the 
Constitution,  a  strenuous   and   most   embittered    struggle  ensued,  on 
the  part  of  the  North — the  Frdcra/ists  of  the  North — to  prevent  the 
admission  of  a  State  into  the  Union  ;  really,  because  the  North — the 
Federalists  of  the  North — strove  for  the  mastery,  and  to  secure  the 
balance  of  power  in  her  own  hands ;    but  ostensibly  because  slave- 
holding,  which  the  Missouri  Constitution  sanctioned,  was  affirmed  to 
be  immoral  and  irreligious.     In  this  first  fearful  strife,  this  earliest 
departure  from  the  Constitution  and  the  ancient  sound  policy  of  the 
country,  the  North — for  the    truth  of  history  shall  be  vindicated — 
TUE  North  was  the  aggressor;  and  that,  too,  without  the  slightest 
provocation.     Vermont,  in  New  J^ngland,  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois, 
out  of  territory  once  the  property  of  slaveholding  Virginia,  had  been 
admitted  into  the  Union  ;  and  Michigan  organized  into  a  territorial 
government,  without  one  hostile  vote  from  the  South  given  upon  the 
ground  that  slavery  was  interdicted  within  their  limits.     Even  Maine 
had  been  permitted,  by  vote  of  Congress,  to  slough  off  from  Massachu- 
setts, and  become  a  separate  State.     But  now  Missouri  knocked  for 
admission,  with  a  constitution  not  introducing,  but  continuing  slavery, 
which  had  existed  in  her  midst  from  the  beginning ;  and  four  several 
times,  at  the  first,  she  was  rejected  by  the  North.      The  South  re- 
sisted, and  the  storm  raged.     Jefferson,  professing  to  hate  slavery, 
but  living  and  dying  himself  a  slaveholder,  or,  in  the  delicate  slang 
of   to-day,  a  "slave-breeder,"    loving   yet  his   country  with  all   the 
fervid  patriotism  of  his  early  manhood  five  and  forty  years  before, 
heard  in  it  "  the  knell  of  the  Union,"  and  mourned  that  he  must 
"  die  now  in  the  belief  that  the  useless  sacrifice  of  themselves  by  the 
generation  of  1776,  to  acquire  self-government  and  happiness  to  their 
country,  was  to  be  thrown  away  by  the  unwise  and  unworthy  passions 
of  their  sons ;  "  consoling  himself — the  only  solace  of  the  patriot  of 
fourscore  years — that  he  should  not  live  to  weep  over  the  blessings 
thrown   thus   recklessly  away  for  "  an  abstract    principle ; "   and  the 
folly  and  madness  of  this  "  act  of  suicide  and  of  treason  against  the 
hopes  of  the  world."* 

and  admit  them  info  the  Union.     That  an  amendment  he  proposed  respecting 

SLAVE  KKPKK.SENTATION   AND  SLAVE  TAXATION."  —  The  third  resolution  of  the 

Hartford  Convention,  reported  Dec.  24,  1814,  and  subsequently  adopted. 

It  was  also  resolved  "that  the  capacity  of  naturalized  citizeiis  to  hold  offices 
of  trust,  honor,  or  profit,  ought  to  bo  restricted. 

*The  Missouri  Question  a  Federal  Movement — the  North  the 
Aggressor. — "The  slavery  agitation  took  its  rise  during  this  time  (1819-'20), 
in  the  form  of  iittempted  restriction  on  the  State  of  Missouri — a  prohibition  to 
hold  slaves  to  be  placed  upon  her  as  a  condition  of  hor  admission  into  the 
Union,  and  to  be  binding  upon  her  afterward.  This  agitation  came  from  the 
North,  and  under  a  Federal  lead,  and  soon  swept  both  parties  into  its  vortex. 
....  The  real  stru(jgle  was  political,  and  for  the  balance  of  power,  as  frankly 
declared  by  Mr.  Kufus  King,  who  disdained  dissimuliition The  resist- 
ance made  to  the  admission  of  the  State,  on  account  of  the  clause  in  relation 

to  free  people  of  color,  was  07ily  a  mask  to  the  real  cause  of  opposition 

For  a  while  this  formidable  Missouri  qucstio7i  threatened  the  total  overthroui 


HISTORY   OF   THE  ABOLITION   MOVEMENT.  19 

But  the  incantations  of  hate  and  fanaticism  had  evoked  the  hideous 
specter,  and  it  ought  to  have  been  quelled,  never  to  re-appear.  The 
appalling  question  was  now  stirred ;  and  it  should  have  been  met 
and  re-settled  forever,  by  the  men  of  that  day,  on  the  original  basis 
of  the  Constitution — not  left,  as  a  legacy  of  discord,  a  Pandora's  box 
full  of  all  evil,  of  mischief  and  pestilence,  to  the  next  generation. 
They  were  not  true  to  themselves ;  they  were  not  true  to  us.  They 
cowered  before  the  goblin,  and  laid  before  it  peace-offerings  and  a 
wave-offering,  and  sent  us,  their  children,  to  pass  through  the  fire  ia 
the  valley  of  Ilinnoni.  Setting  aside  the  compromises  of  the  Con- 
stitution, and  usurping  power  not  granted  to  Congress,  they  under- 
took to  compromise  about  that  which  had  already  been  definitely  and 
permanently  settled  by  that  instrument.  This  was  the  beginning, 
sir,  of  that  line  of  paltry  and  halting  compromises ;  of  fat-brained, 
mole-eyed,  unmanlike  expedients,  which  put  the  evil  day  off  only  to 
return  laden  with  aggravated  mischief.  They  hushed  the  terrible 
question  for  a  moment ;  and  the  election  machinery  moved  on,  and 
the  spoils  of  the  Presidency  were  divided  as  before.  But  it  was  "  a 
reprieve  only,  not  a.  final  sentence.^''  The  "geographical  line"  thus 
once  conceived  for  the  first  time,  and  held  up  to  the  angry  passions 
of  men,  was,  as  Jefferson  had  foretold,  never  obliterated,  but  rather, 
by  every  irritation,  marked  deeper  and  deeper.  And,  after  fifteen 
years'  truce,  it  re-appeared  in  a  new  and  far  more  dangerous  form; 
and,  enduring  already  for  more  than  half  the  average  life-time  of 
man,  has  attained  a  position  and  magnitude  which  neither  demands 
nor  will  hearken  to  any  further  compromise.  Nevertheless,  sir,  but 
for  the  insolent  intermeddling  of  the  British  government  and  British 
emissaries — continued  to  this  day,  with  the  superaddition  now  of 
Napoleon  the  Third — it  might  have  slumbered  for  many  years 
longer. 

In  England,  gentlemen,  the  form  of  personal  bondage  disappeared 
even  to  its  last  traces  from  her  own  soil,  about  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century ;  its  legal  existence  continued  till  16G1 ;  its 
worst  realities  remain  to  this  day ;  for  although,  in  that  very  humane 
and  most  enlightened  Island,  there  be  no  involuntary,  servitude 
except  as  a  punishment  for  crime,  yet  in  England,  poverty  is  a  crime, 

of  all  political  parties  upon  principle,  and  the  substitution  of  geographical  par- 
ties, distinguished  by  the  slave  line,  and,  of  course,  destroying  the  just  and 
proper  action  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  leading  eventually  to  a  separa- 
tion of  the  States.  It  was  a  Federal  7novement,  accruing  to  the  benefit  of  that 
party,  and,  at  first,  was  overwhelming,  sweeping  all  the  Northern  Democracy 
into  its  current,  and  giving  the  supremacy  to  their  adversaries.  When  this 
effect  was  perceived,  the  Northern  Democracy  became  alarmed,  and  only 
wanted  a  turn  or  abatement  iii  popular  feeling  at  home,  to  take  the  first  oppor- 
tunity to  get  rid  of  the  question,  by  admitting  the  State,  and  re-establishing  party 

lines  upon  the  basis  of  political  principles It  was  a  political  movement 

for  the  balance  of  power,  balked  by  the  Northern  Democracy,  who  saw  their 
own  overthrow,  and  the  eventual  separation  of  the  States,  in  the  establishment 

of  geographical  parties  divided  by  a  slavery  and  anti-slavery  line 

In  the  Missouri  controversy,  the  North  was  the  undisputed  aggressor."— 
Benton's  Thirty  Fears,  pp.  5,  10,  aiid  136,  of  volume  first. 


20  HISTORY    OF    THE    ABOLITION   MOVEMENT.' 

punishable  with  the  worst  form  of  slavery,  or  by  starvation  and 
death.  Three  hundred  years  ago,  she  began  to  traffic  in  negro  slaves. 
Queen  Elizabeth  was  a  sharer  in  its  gains.  A  hundred  and  fifty 
years  later,  at  the  peace  of  Utrecht,  England  undertook,  by  compact 
with  Spain,  to  import  into  the  West  Indies,  within  the  space  of 
thirty  years,  one  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand  negroes,  demand- 
ing, and  with  exactest  care  securing,  a  monopoly  of  the  traffic. 
Queen  Anne  reserved  one-quarter  of  the  stock  of  the  slave-trading 
company  to  herself,  and  one  half  to  her  subjects;  to  the  king  of 
Spain,  the  other  quarter  being  conceded.  Even  so  late  as  1750, 
Parliament  busied  itself  in  devising  plans  to  make  the  slave-trade 
still  more  eflFectual,  while  in  1775,  the  very  year  of  the  Revolution, 
a  noble  earl  wrote  to  a  colonial  agent  these  memorable  words  :  "  We 
can  not  allow  the  Colonies  to  check  or  discourage,  in  any  degree,  a 
traffic  so  beneficial  to  the  nation."  Between  that  date,  and  the 
period  of  first  importation,  England  had  stolen  from  the  coast  of 
Africa,  and  imported  into  the  new  world,  or  buried  in  the  sea  on 
the  passage  thither,  not  less  than  three  and  a  quarter  millions  of 
negroes — more,  by  half  a  million,  than  the  entire  population  of  the 
Colonies.  In  April,  177G,  the  American  Congress  resolved  against 
the  importation  of  any  more  slaves.  But  England  continued  the 
traffic,  with  all  its  accumulated  horrors,  till  1808  ;  for  so  deeply  had 
it  struck  its  roots  into  the  commercial  interests  of  that  country,  that 
not  all  the  effijrts  of  an  organized  and  powerful  society,  not  the 
influence  of  her  ministers,  not  the  eloquence  of  all  her  most  renowned 
orators,  availed  to  strike  it  down  for  more  than  forty  years  after 
this,  its  earliest  interdiction  in  any  country,  by  a  rebel  congress. 
Nevertheless,  sir,  slavery  in  the  English  West  Indies  continued 
twenty-seven  years  longer.  But  the  loss  of  her  American  Colonies, 
and  the  prohibition  of  the  slave-trade,  had  left  small  interest  to  Great 
Britain  in  negro  slavery.  Her  philanthropy  found  room  now  to 
develop  and  expand  in  all  its  wonderful  proportions.  And  accord- 
ingly, in  1834,  England — England,  drunk  with  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs,  stoning  the  prophets,  and  rejecting  the  apostles  of  political 
liberty,  in  her  own  midst — robbed,  by  act  of  Parliament,  one  hundred 
millions  of  dollars  from  the  wronged  and  beggared  peasantry  of  Ire- 
land, from  the  enslaved  and  oppressed  millions  of  India,  from  the 
starving,  overwrought,  mendicant  carcasses  of  the  white  slaves  of  her 
own  soil,  to  pay  to  her  impoverished  colonists,  plundered  without 
voice  and  without  vote  in  her  legislature,  the  stipulated  price  of 
human  rights;  and  with  these,  the  wages  of  iniquity,  in  the  outraged 
name  of  God  and  humanity,  mocked  the  handful  of  her  black  bonds- 
men in  the  West  Indies  with  the  false  and  deluding  shadow  of 
liberty.  Exeter  Hall  resounded  with  acclamation ;  bonfires  and 
illuminations  proclaimed  the  exultant  joy  of  an  aristocracy  fat  with 
the  pride  and  lust  of  domination.  But  in  that  self-same  hour — in 
that  self-same  hour,  from  the  furnaces  of  Sheffield  and  the  manu- 
factories of  Birmingham ;  from  the  wretched  hovels  of  Ireland,  full 
of  famishing  and  pestilence ;  from  ten  thousand  work-houses  crowded 
with  leprous  and  perishing  paupers,  the  abodes  of  abominable  cruel- 


HISTORY  OF  THE   ABOLITION  MOVEMENT.  21 

ties,  which  not  even  the  pen  of  a  Dickens  has  availed  to  portray  in 
the  full  measure  of  their  enormity,  and  from  the  mouths  of  a  thou- 
sand pits  and  mines,  deep  under  earth,  horrid  in  darkness,  and  reek- 
ing with  noisome  vapor,  the  stupendous  charnel-houses  of  the  living 
dead  men  of  England,  there  went  up,  and  ascends  yet  up  to  heaven, 
the  piercing  wail  of  desolation  and  despair. 

But  p]ngland  became  now  the  great  apostle  of  African  liberty. 
Ignoring,  sir,  or  putting  under,  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  the  poli- 
tical rights  of  millions  of  her  own  white  subjects,  she  yet  prepared 
to  convict  the  world  of  the  sinfulness  of  negro  slavery.  Exeter  Hall 
sent  out  its  emissaries,  full  of  zeal,  and  greedy  for  martyrdom.  The 
British  government  took  up  the  crusade — not  from  motives  of  reli- 
gion or  philanthropy.  Let  no  man  be  deceived.  No,  sir.  Since 
the  days  of  Peter  the  Hermit  and  Richard  the  Lion-hearted,  England, 
forgetting  the  Holy  Sepulcher,  had  learned  many  lessons :  and  none 
know  better  now  their  true  province  and  mission,  than  English 
statesmen.  But  the  American  experiment  of  free  government  had  not 
failed.  America  had  grown  great — had  grown  populous  and  powerful. 
Her  proud  example,  towering  up  every  day  higher,  and  illuminating 
every  land,  was  penetrating  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  threaten- 
ing to  shake  the  thrones  of  every  monarchy  in  Europe.  Force 
against  such  a  nation  would  be  the  wildest  of  follies.  But  to  be 
odious  is  to  be  weak,  and  internal  dissension  had  wasted  Greece,  and 
opened  even  Thermopylae  to  the  Barbarian  of  Macedon.  The 
Missouri  Question  had  revealed  the  weak  point  of  the  American 
Confederacy.  Achilles  was  found  vulnerable  in  the  heel.  In  sjpem 
ventum  erat,  intestina  discordia  dissolvi  rem  Romanam  posse. 

The  machinery  which  had  effected  emancipation  in  the  British 
West  India  Islands,  of  use  no  longer  in  England,  was  transferred  to 
America.  Aided  by  British  gold,  encouraged  by  British  sympathy, 
the  agitation  began  here,  in  1835  ;  and  so  complete  was  it  in  all  its 
appointments,  so  thorough  the  organization  and  discipline,  so  perfect 
the  electric  current,  that,  within  six  months,  the  whole  Union  was 
convulsed.  Afl51iated  societies  were  established  in  every  northern 
State,  and  in  almost  every  county;  lecturers  were  paid,  and  sent 
forth  into  every  city  and  village ;  a  powerful  and  well  supported 
press,  fed  from  the  treasuries,  and  working  up  the  cast-off  rags  of 
the  British  societies,  poured  forth  a  multitude  of  incendiary  prints 
and  publications,  which  were  distributed  by  mail  throughout  the 
Union,  but  chiefly  in  the  southern  States,  and  among  the  slaves. 
Fierce  excitement  in  the  South  followed.  And  so  great  became  the 
public  feeling  and  intei-est,  that  President  Jackson,  so  early  as  the 
annual  message  of  1835,  pressed  earnestly  upon  Congress  the  duty 
of  prohibiting  the  use  of  the  mail  for  transmitting  incendiai-y  pub- 
lications to  the  South.  But,  prior  to  the  sitting  of  Congress,  the 
Abolition  societies,  treading  again  in  the  footsteps  of  the  emancipa- 
tionists in  England,  had  prepared,  and  now  poured  in  a  flood  of 
petitions,  praying  Congress  to  take  action  upon  the  subject  of  slavery. 
The  purpose  was  to  obtain  a  foothold,  a  fulcrum,  in  the  capital ;  for 
without  this,  the  South  could  not  be  effectually  embroiled,  and  little 


22  UISTORY    OF   THE    ABOLITION   MOVEMENT. 

could  be  accomplished,  even  in  the  North.  But  no  appliances  were 
left  untried.  Au'itutur.s,  their  breath  was  agitation  ;  quiescence  would 
have  been  a  sentence  of"  obscurity  and  dissolution.  And  acoordinirly, 
in  May,  18!}5.  the  American  Anti-slavery  Society  was  established  in 
New  York,  its  object  being  the  immediate  and  unconditional  aboli- 
tion of  negro  slavery  in  the  United  States.  It  was  a  permanent 
organization,  to  be  dissolved  only  upon  the  consummation  of  its  pur- 
pose. The  object  of  attack  was  the  South,  the  seat  of  war  the  North. 
Public  sentiment  was  to  be  stirred  up  here  against  slavery,  because 
it  was  a  moral  evil,  and  a  sin  in  the  sight  of  the  Most  High,  for  the 
continuance  of  which,  one  day,  the  men  of  the  North  were  account- 
able before  heaven.  Slaveholders  were  to  be  made  odious  in  the  eyes 
of  Northern  men  and  foreign  nations,  as  cruel  tyrants  and  task-mas- 
ters, as  kidnappers,  murderers,  and  pirates,  whose  existence  was  a 
reproach  to  the  North,  and  whom  it  were  just  to  hunt  down  and 
exterminate,  as  so  many  beasts  of  prey,  to  whom  even  the  laws  of 
the  chase  extended  no  indulgence.  To  hold  fellowship  and  union 
with  slaveholders,  was  to  partake  of  all  their  sins  and  enormities; 
it  was  to  be  "  in  league  with  death,  and  covenant  with  hell."  The 
Constitution  and  Union  were  themselves  sinful,  and,  as  such,  they 
ought  forthwith  to  be  abrogated  and  dissolved.  And  thus,  sir,  the 
earlier  Abolitionists,  who  were  zealots,  began  just  where  their  succes- 
sors of  to-day,  who  are  traitors,  have  ended. 

A  separate  political  organization  was  not,  at  the  first,  proposed, 
and  each  man  was  left  to  his  ancient  party  allegiance.  The  revolu- 
tion was  to  be  a  moral  and  religious  revolution,  and  its  principles, 
propagated  by  petitions,  lectures,  societies,  and  the  press,  in  the 
North,  were,  through  these  instrumentalities,  to  penetrate  Congress 
and  the  legislatures  of  the  South,  and  if  not  hearkened  to  there, 
then  to  efl'ect  a  dismemberment  of  the  Union  by  secession  of  the 
North,  or  secession  forced  upon  the  South. 

Slavery,  gentlemen,  had,  before  this,  been  the  subject  of  earnest  and 
sometimes  angry  controversy  in  Congress,  and  elsewhere.  But  a 
powerful  and  permanent  organization,  founded  for  such  a  purpose, 
and  working  by  such  appliances,  had  never  yet  existed.  Coming 
thus  in  such  a  questionable  shape,  even  the  North  started  back  aghast, 
as  at  "a  goblin  damned;"  and  it  was  denounced  as  treason  and 
madness  from  the  first.  Its  presses  were  destroyed,  its  assemblies 
broken  up,  its  publications  burned,  and  its  lecturers  mobbed  every- 
where, and  more  than  one  among  them  murdered  in  the  midst  of 
popular  tumult  and  indignation.  The  churches,  the  school-houses, 
the  court-houses,  and  the  public  halls  were  alike  closed  against  them. 
Misguided  men,  fanatics,  emissaries  of  England,  traitors — these  were 
among  the  mildest  of  epithets  which,  in  every  place,  and  almost  from 
every  tongue,  saluted  their  ears.  The  very  name  of  "Abolitionist" 
became  a  by-word  and  a  hissing.  Not  an  advocate,  and  scarce  even 
an  apologist,  for  the  men,  or  their  course,  was  found  in  either  hall  of 
Congress.  Members  presented  their  petitions  with  great  reluct- 
ance ;  and,  as  late  as  the  twenty-eighth  of  December,  1837,  Mr.  Calhoun 
rejoiced  that  "every  senator,  without  exception,"  had  confessed  him- 


HISTORY   OF   THE    ABOLITION   MOVEMENT.  23 

self  opposed  to  the  agitation.  A  bill  to  punish,  by  severe  penalties, 
any  post-master  who  should  knowingly  put  into  the  mail  any  incen- 
diary publication  directed  to  the  South,  had,  by  the  casting  vote  of 
Vice-President  Van  Buren,  been  ordered  to  a  third  reading.  The 
Senate  declined  to  refer,  or  in  any  way  act  upon,  the  numerous  peti- 
tions presented,  while  the  Plouse.  refusing  to  read,  print,  or  refer,  laid 
them  forthwith  upon  the  table.  In  January,  1838,  the  Senate,  by  a 
majority  of  four  to  one,  adopted  a  series  of  resolutions  denouncing 
the  Abolition  movement  "  on  whatever  ground  or  pretext  urged  for- 
ward, political,  moral,  or  religious,"  as  insulting  to  the  South,  and 
dangerous  to  her  domestic  peace  and  tranquillity ;  and  further,  con- 
demning all  efforts  toward  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  and  the  Territories  as  a  breach  of  good  faith,  a  just  cause 
of  serious  alarm  to  the  States  in  which  slavery  exists,  and  of  most 
mischievous  tendency.  At  the  following  session,  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, by  a  majority  of  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty, 
passed  resolutions,  stronger,  if  possible,  than  these,  and,  some  time 
later,  censured,  and  almost  expelled,  John  Quincy  Adams,  for  pre- 
senting an  abolition  petition  looking  to  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union. 

Outside  of  Congress,  also,  sir,  Abolition  received,  up  to  this  period, 
just  as  little  countenance  or  support.  By  both  of  the  great  political 
parties  it  was  utterly  and  indignantly  repudiated ;  while  from  none 
of  the  political,  and  scarce  any  of  even  the  religious  journals  and 
periodicals  of  the  day,  did  it  find  either  aid  or  comfort.  Especially, 
sir,  was  the  Democratic  party  then  sound  on  this  question.  General 
Jackson  had  already  denounced,  in  strong  language,  officially,  the 
"wicked  and  unconstitutional  attempts  of  the  misguided  men,  and 
especially  the  emissaries  from  foreign  parts,"  who  had  originated  the 
Abolition  movement.  President  Van  Buren,  in  his  inaugural  address, 
had  volunteered  a  pledge  to  veto  any  bill  looking  to  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  Benton,  Buchanan,  Wright, 
Allen,  all  concurred ;  and  voted,  also,  for  the  resolutions  which 
passed  the  Senate.  In  Ohio,  the  Democratic  State  Convention  of 
January  8,  IS-IO,  planted  itself  firmly  upon  the  rock  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  taking  high  and  patriotic  ground,  condemned  the  efi"orts 
then  being  made  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  "  by  organizing  societies  in  the  free  States,  as  hostile  to 
the  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  and  destructive  to  the  harmony  of  the 
Union:''  and  resolving  that,  "We,  as  citizens  of  a  free  State,  had  no 
right  to  interfere"  with  slavery  elsewhere,  denounced  the  Abolition 
movement  and  Abolition  societies,  declaring,  that  while  they  "  ought 
to  be  discountenanced  by  every  lover  of  peace  and  concord,  no  sound 
Democrat  would  have  any  part  or  lot  with  them."  It  was,  also, 
further  resolved,  as  if  in  the  very  spirit  of  prophecy,  that  "  political 
Abolitionism  was  but  ancient  Federalism,,  under  a  new  guise,  and 
only  a  new  device  for  the  overthrow  of  Democracy." 

These  resolutions,  sir,  were  adopted  with  but  three  dissenting 
voices,  in  a  more  numerous  assemblage  of  delegates  than  bad  ever 
before  met  in  the  State. 


24  HISTORY   OF   THE   ABOLITION    MOVEMENT. 

[George  W.  Ells,  Esq.,  one  of  the  old  Liberty  (Abolition)  Gunrd,  hero 
interruptinE:,  said,  that  historical  statements  oui^lit  to  be  correct;  that  he  had 
been  a  member,  from  Licking  county,  of  the  convention  referred  to,  and  that 
he  knew  that  the  resolutions  quoted  had  never  passed,  but  were  smus^irlcd 
into  the  proceedings,  in  order  to  be  circulated  through  the  South,  to  aid  Mr. 
Van  Buren.] 

Mr.  VALLANODlGnAM.  Sir,  T  have  before  me  the  ojjUcial  record 
of  the  proceedings  of  that  convention,  sifrncd  by  the  late  lamented 
Thomas  L.  Ifamcr,  president  of  the  convention,  a  man  too  candid,  too 
brave,  and  too  true  to  lend  himself  to  so  base  and  detestable  a  fraud 
for  any  such  purpose.  You  libel  the  gallant  dead  ;  and  it  is  quite 
too  late  in  the  day,  after  the  lapse  of  fifteen  years,  for  you,  sir,  by 
your  own  parol  testimony,  to  seek  to  impeach  the  absolute  verity  of 
the  record.  And  I  repeat  now  again,  and  desire  you  to  hoar  and 
understand  it,  that  these  resolutions  did  pass  that  convention,  and 
pass,  too,  with  but  three  dissenting  voice%,  in  that,  the  largest  State 
convention  ever  before  assembled  in  Ohio.  And  if  you,  sir,  hap- 
pened to  be  one  of  the  three  who  voted  against  these  resolutions,  I 
can  only  say  that  you  had  the  misfortune  to  find  yourself  in  a  very 
small  and  most  inglorious  minority.  I  assert  further,  that  three 
weeks  after  that  convention,  Benjamin  Tappan,  then  a  senator  in 
Congress  from  Ohio,  quoting  these  same  resolutions,  and  affirming 
the  statement  which  I  have  just  made,  concluded  a  speech  of  remark- 
able precision  and  clearness,  by  declining  even  to  present  a  petition 
from  citizens  of  the  State,  praying  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia.* 

A  few  months  later — mark  you,  Mr.  President,  Ohio  then  took  the 
lead  in  denouncing  the  treason  and  fanaticisms  of  Abolition — the 
Democracy  of  the  Union,  assembled  in  general  convention  at  Balti- 
more, passed,  without  a  dissenting  vote,  that  memorable  resolution, 
penned  by  that  pure  and  incorruptible  patriot,  Silas  Wright;  and 
which  penetrated  then  the  heart  also,  and  not  the  ear  only,  of  every 
Democrat,  to  the  full  and  utmost  significancy  of  every  word  and 
letter,  repudiating  "  incipient  steps,"  even  by  Congress,  in  relation  to 
"questions  of  slavery,"  of  every  sort,  as  calculated  to  lead  to  the 

*  Thk  Ohio  Resolutions. — "  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  conven- 
tion, Congress  ought  not,  without  the  consent  of  the  people  of  the  District, 
and  of  the  States  of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  to  abolish  .slavery  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia;  and  that  the  efforts  now  making,  for  that  purpose,  by 
organized  societies  in  the  free  States,  are  hostile  to  the  spirit  of  the  Consti- 
tution, and  destructive  to  the  harmony  of  the  Union. 

^^  Resolved,  That  slavery  being  a  domestic  institution,  recognized  by  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  we,  as  citizens  of  a  free  State,  have  no 
right  to  interfere  with  it;  and  that  the  organizing  of  societies  and  a.ssocia- 
tions  in  free  States,  in  opposition  to  the  institutions  of  sister  States,  while 
productive  of  no  good,  may  be  the  cause  of  much  mischief;  and  while  such 
associations,  for  political  purposes,  ought  to  be  discountenanced  by  every 
lover  of  peace  and  concord,  no  sound  Democrat  will  have  part  or  lot  witli 
them. 

"Resolved,  That  political  Abolitionism  is  but  ancient  Federalism,  under  a 
new  guise,  and  that  the  political  action  of  anti-slavery  societies  is  only  a 
device  for  the  overthrow  of  Democracy." 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ABOLITION  MOVEMENT.  25 

most  alarming  and  dangerous  consequences,  and  sucli  as  ougtt  not  to 
be  countenanced  by  any  friend  of  our  political  institutions. 

Such,  Mr.  President,  was  Abolition  in  the  North,  fifteen  years  ago 
• — such  it  is  not  now.  To  the  philosophic  historian,  who,  in  a  future 
age,  shall  sit  amid  the  ruins  of  my  country,  to  write  her  decline  and 
fall,  I  leave  the  sad  but  instructive  office  of  tracing  its  progress,  and 
exploring  the  causes,  which,  step  by  step,  have  lead  to  its  present 
portentous  development.     I  propose  but  a  brief  and  hasty  summary. 

Slowly  emerging  from  obscurity  and  odium,  abolition  began  to  fix 
attention,  not  as  hitherto,  by  its  sound  and  fury,  but,  losing  none  of 
these,  rather  now  by  its  increasing  numbers  and  influences.  Design- 
ing men  soon  foresaw  that,  of  all  the  movements  of  the  day,  none 
promised  so  abundant  and  perhaps  durable -a  harvest  to  him  who 
should  organize  and  discipline  its  wild  crusading  forces  into  a  regular 
political  party.  Fanaticism,  and  a  false,  religious  zeal,  conjoined  with 
that  pestilent,  but  ever-potent,  spirit,  which  is  so  sorely  off'ended  at 
the  mote  that  is  in  our  brother's  eye,  and  which  makes  each  man 
jealous  over  his  neighbor's  conscience,  could  easily  be  arrayed  under 
the  banner  of  sectional  hate  and  bigotry,  and  thus  a  distinct  political 
faction  be  compounded  out  of  these  elements.  Such  a  party,  sir, 
united  by  these,  the  strongest,  though  not  most  durable  ties,  was 
soon  shuffled  together,  and  not  long  after,  supplanted  the  system  of 
affiliated  societies.  It  formed  separate  tickets,  and,  in  1844,  supported 
a  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  But,  prior  to  1848,  it  attained,  as  a 
party,  comparatively  small  weight  in  elections.  The  vehement  con- 
tests and  grave  political  questions  which  convulsed  the  two  great 
parties  of  the  country,  overshadowed  all  interest  in  the  feeble,  but 
still  earnest  and  active  abolition  band  ;  but  that  band,  meantime,  was 
steadily  increasing,  by  accessions,  now  and  then  from  the  Democrats, 
but  chiefly  from  the  Whigs ;  some  honest  men,  and  the  discontented 
and  rejected  spirits  of  each,  naturally  dropping  off",  and  falling  into 
its  ranks.  Abolitionists — many  of  them  styling  themselves,  at  this 
period  in  their  history,  the  "Liberty  Party,"  gained  now,  in  some 
counties,  the  balance  of  power ;  and  hence  became  there  an  object 
of  courtship  to  the  other  parties  ;  in  New  England  yet  earlier,  but 
all  over  the  North,  in  1844,  the  Whig  party  began  to  trim  and  falter 
upon  the  question.  The  defeat  of  Clay,  and  the  annexation  of  Texas, 
gave  a  new  impetus  to  abolition,  and  many  more,  upon  these  pretexts, 
fell  into  its  ranks.  Meantime,  the  steady,  persistent,  never-wearying 
labors  of  its  orators  and  press,  full  of  grossly  false  and  exaggerated 
portraitures  of  slavery,  and  libels  upon  Southern  society,  working  by 
day  and  by  night,  in  the  Church,  the  schools,  and  the  lecture-room, 
at  the  public  meeting,  the  fireside,  and  the  sick  bed,  fomenting  thus 
hate  and  jealousy  of  the  South  everywhere,  and  that,  too,  for  the 
most  part,  without  counteracting  influence  from  any  quarter,  had 
poured  the  leprous  distillment  deep  into  every  vein  and  artery  of 
the  Northern  body  politic. 

Just  at  this  point,  sir,  in  the  history  of  the  Abolition  movement, 
came  the  Oregon  controversy,  and  after  that  the  Mexican  war,  em- 
broiled by  the  now  terrible  question  of  the  acquisition  of  a  very  large 


26  HISTORY   OF    THE    ABOLITION    MOVEMENT. 

tract  of  Mexican  territory.  Pride  or  vanity,  wounded  by  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Oregon  boundary  at  forty-nine,  ambition,  disappointed 
of  office,  the  nomination  of  Generals  Casa  and  Taylor  in  184S,  and 
the  manifestly  approaching  dissolution  of  the  Whig  party,  all  con- 
tributed to  throw  a  large  portion  of  that  party  in  the  North,  and  not 
a  few  from  the  Democratic  host,  into  the  ranks  of  the  Abolitionists ; 
who,  swelled  now  by  such  great  accessions,  threw  ofl'  wholly  the 
odious  name  of  Abolition,  and,  organizing  into  one  body,  under  a  new- 
title,  at  Buffalo,  announced  Martin  Van  IBuren  as  their  candidate  for 
the  Presidency.  In  the  midst  of  all  this  chaos  in  the  political  ele- 
ment?, arose  that  pernicious  bubble,  the  "  Wilmot  Proviso,"  which, 
convulsing  the  country  for  more  than  four  years,  in  its  various  forms, 
had  well  nigh  precipitfted  us  headlong  into  the  bottomless  gulf  of 
disunion. 

Assuming  now  the  specious  name  of  "  Free  Soil,"  and  disguising  ita 
odious  principles  and  its  true  purposes,  under  the  false  pretence  of  No 
Extension  of  Shivery,  the  Abolition  party  addressed  itself  to  minds 
full  now  of  hate  toward  the  South  and  her  institutions,  and  ready  alike 
to  forget  the  true  mission  of  a  political  party,  and  the  limitations  of 
the  Constitution.  But  the  united  patriotism,  talent,  and  worth  of  the 
North  and  South  rallied  to  the  rescue  of  this  the  last  grand  experi- 
ment of  free  government,  from  the  thick  darkness  of  failure  and  of 
ruin  by  the  parricidal  hands  of  its  own  children.  The  Compromise 
of  1850  followed :  intended  and  believed  to  be  a  final  adjustment  of 
this  appalling  controversy.  It  was  designed  to  be  a  covenant  of  peace 
forever — sealed  and  attested  by  the  self-sacrifice  of  Webster,  Clay, 
and  Calhoun,  the  most  illustrious  triumvirate  of  great  men  and  pa- 
triots, in  any  age  or  any  country.  But  to  no  purpose  :  the  yawning 
gulf  did  not  close  over  them.  The  origin  of  the  evil  lay  deeper,  and 
it  was  not  reached.  No  great  question  of  a  like  nature  and  magnitude 
was  ever  adjusted  by  a  legislative  compromise,  in  a  popular  govern- 
ment. The  evil  lay  in  that  great  and  most  pernicious  error  which 
pervaded  and  penetrated  so  large  a  portion  of  the  Northern  mind,  that 
the  men  of  the  North,  if  not  under  the  Constitution,  yet,  by  some 
•'higher  law"  of  conscience,  had  a  right,  and,  as  they  would  escape 
that  fire  which  is  not  quenched,  were  bound  to  intermeddle,  and,  in 
some  way,  to  legislate  for  the  abolition  of  the  "accursed  system."  No 
act  of  Congress,  no  number  of  acts,  could  heal  a  malady  like  this,  rooted 
in  presumptuous  self-righteousness,  and  aggravated  by  the  corroding 
poison  of  sectional  jealousy  and  hate.  For  such,  sir,  there  is  no  sweet 
oblivious  antidote  in  legislation.  Set  on  fire  by  these  passions,  applied 
now  to  that  case  which,  coming  nighest  home,  appealed  most  plausibly 
and  most  strongly  to  their  impulses  and  their  prejudices,  a  large  part 
of  the  North  resolved  to  render  nugatory  the  chief  slavery  compro- 
mise of  the  Constitution,  by  trampling  under  foot  and  resisting  or 
obstructing  the  execution  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act  of  1850.  And 
three  years  later,  re-enforced  now  by  many  recruits  from  the  Demo- 
cratic ranks,  and  by  almost  the  entire  Whig  force  of  the  North, 
disbanded  finally  by  the  overthrow  of  1852,  but  re-organized  in  part 
under  the  banuer  of  Kaow-Nothingism;   the   Abulitioa  handful  of 


HISTORY   OF   THE  ABOLITION   MOVEMENT.  27 

1835,  swelled  now  to  a  mighty  host,  rallied  in  defense  of  the  Missouri 
Restriction,  and  shook  the  whole  land  with  a  rocking  tempest  of 
popular  commotion,  more  dangerous  than  even  the  storm  of  1850. 

Here,  then,  gentlemen,  let  mc  pause  to  survey  the  true  nature  and 
full  extent  of  the  perils  which  thus  encompass  us,  and  to  inquire: 
What  remains  to  be  done,  that  they  may  be  averted? 

In  January,  1838,  Mr.  Calhoun  spoke,  with  alarm — then  derided  as 
visionary — of  the  danger  which,  to  him,  seemed  already  as  certain  as  it 
would  be  disastrous,  from  the  continued,  persevering,  uncounteracted 
efforts  of  the  Abolitionists,  imbuing  the  rising  generation  at  the  North 
■with  the  belief  that  the  institutions  of  the  South  were  sinful  and 
immoral,  and  that  it  would  be  doing  God  service  to  abolish  them, 
even  should  it  involve  the  destruction  of  half  her  inhabitants,  aa 
murderers  and  pirates  at  best.  Sir,  what  was  then  prophecy,  is  now 
history.  More  than  half  the  present  generation  in  the  North  have 
ceased  to  look  upon  Southern  men  as  brethren.  Taught  to  hate,  first, 
the  institutions  of  the  South,  they  have,  very  many  of  them,  by  easy 
gradations,  transferred  that  hatred  to  her  citizens.  Learning  to  abhor 
what  they  are  told  is  murder,  they  have  found  no  principle  either 
in  nature  or  in  morals,  which  impels  them  to  love  the  murderer  with 
fraternal  affection.  Organized  bands  exist  in  every  northern  State, 
with  branches  in  Canada,  which  make  slave-stealing  a  business  and  a 
boast :  and  that  outrage  which,  if  any  foreign  state,  or  any  State  of 
this  Union  even,  in  any  thing  else,  were  to  encourage  or  permit  in 
any  of  her  citizens,  would,  by  the  whole  country,  with  one  voice,  be 
regarded  as  a  just  cause  of  instant  war  or  reprisals,  is  every  day 
consummated  without  rebuke,  or  by  connivance,  or  the  direct  sanc- 
tion of  many  of  the  members  of  this  Confederacy;  by  school-books, 
and  in  school-houses ;  in  the  academies,  colleges,  and  universities ;  in 
the  schools  of  divinity,  medicine,  and  law — these  same  sad  lessons 
of  hate  and  jealousy  are  every  day  inculcated.  Even  the  name  and 
the  fame  of  a  slaveholding  Washington  have  ceased  to  cause  a  throb 
in  many  a  Northern  heart.  The  entire  press  of  the  North,  in  jour- 
nals, newspapers,  periodicals,  prints,  and  books,  with  not  many  manly 
and  patriotic  exceptions,  has  either  been  silent  or  lent  countenance 
and  support,  knowingly  or  carelessly,  to  the  systematic  and  treasonable 
efforts  of  those  who  are  resolved  to  pull  down  the  fabric  of  this  Union. 
Literature  and  the  arts  are  put  under  conscription,  for  the  same 
wicked  purpose.  Not  a  Northern  poet,  from  Longfellow  and  Bryant, 
down  to  Lowell,  but  has  sought  inspiration  from  the  black  Helicon  of 
Abolition :  and  the  poison  from  a  hundred  thousand  copies  of  false 
and  canting  libels,  in  the  form  of  works  of  fiction,  is  licked  up  from 
every  hearthstone,  while  the  "  Tribune  "  of  Greeley — one  among  ten 
thousand  "  sold  to  do  evil,"  at  once  the  tool  and  the  compeer  of 
Seward  in  his  traitorous  purpose  to  make  himself  a  name  in  history 
— the  antithesis  of  Washington — by  the  subversion  of  this  Republic — 
gathering  up,  with  persevering  and  most  devilish  diligence,  every 
murder,  every  crime,  every  outrage,  every  act  of  cruelty,  rapine,  or 
lust,  upon  white  or  upon  black,  real  or  forged,  throughout  the  South, 
Beads  it  forth  winged  with  venom  and  malice,  as  a  faithful  witness  of 


28  HISTORY   OF   THE    ABOLITION   MOVEMENT. 

the  true  and  general  state  of  Southern  society,  and  the  legitimate 
fruit  of  slavehoiding.  In  the  public  lecture,  and  anniversary  address  ; 
at  the  concert  hall,  and  upon  the  boards  of  the  theater ;  nay,  even  at 
the  festivals  of  our  ancient  charitable  orders,  this  same  dark  spirit  of 
mischief  is  ever  present,  dropping  pestilence  from  his  wings.  Even 
history  is  corrupted,  and  figures  marshalled  into  a  huge  lie,  to 
compass  the  same  treacherous  end. 

Here,  again,  too,  the  clergy,  and  the  Church,  gentlemen,  mindful 
less  than  ever  of  their  true  province  and  vocation,  have,  one  by  one, 
joined  in  the  crusade,  till  nineteen-twenticths  of  Northern  pulpits 
resound  every  Sabbath,  in  ?crmon  or  prayer,  with  imprecation  upon 
slaveholders.  Already  has  di.'^union  and  consequent  strife  ensued  in 
all  the  chief  religious  sects,  three  only  excepted.  Outside  of  these 
— and  sometimes  within  them,  too — the  religion  of  the  Bible  is  but 
too  often  superseded  by  the  gospel  of  Abolition,  and  the  way  of 
salvation  taught  to  lie  through  sympathy  with  that  distant  portion 
of  the  African  race  which  is  held  in  bondage  south  of  Ma.--oa  and 
Dixon's  line.  Thus  the  spirit  of  persecution  is  superadded  to  the 
jealousies  of  sectional  position,  and  the  furnace  of  hate  heated  seven 
times  hotter  than  is  wont. 

They  who  would  not  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the  express  requirements 
of  the  Constitution,  are  beguiled  and  drawn  astray  by  the  hollow 
pretense  of  Opposition  to  the  Extension  of  Slavery — a  pretense  alike 
false  and  unmanly,  and  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  the  Constitutional 
compact,  and  the  principle  which  forbids  to  intermeddle  with  slavery 
in  the  States. 

Others,  sir,  who  may  care  nothing  for  the  sinfulness  or  immorality 
of  slavehoiding,  are  wrought  to  jealousy  by  the  false  and  impudent 
outcry  against  the  "aggressions  of  the  slave-power,"  "the  grasping 
spirit  of  the  South,"  "Southern  bluster  and  bravado  ;"  and  many  an 
arrant  coward  hires  himself  to  be  written  down  a  hero,  for  his 
wondrous  courage  in  lending  the  eye  a  terrible  aspect  on  his  own 
hustings,  at  the  mention  of  a  "  fire-eater "  from  the  Carolinas,  or 
repelling,  indignantly,  six  weeks  after  the  offense,  on  the  floor  of 
Congress,  the  insolence  of  some  "slave-dealing"  member  from  Vir- 
ginia, who  is,  perhaps,  at  the  moment,  a  hundred  miles  from  the 
capitol.  Thus  the  claim  of  the  South  to  participation  in  the  common 
territory  purchased  by  the  common  blood  and  treasure  of  the  Union 
• — nay,  even  her  demand  that  the  solemn  compact  of  the  Constitution 
be  fulfilled  and  her  fugitives  restored  to  her,  are  denounced  alike  as 
arrogant  "slave-driving  "  assaults  and  aggressions  upon  the  rights  of 
the  North. 

Others,  again,  arc  persuaded  that  the  South  is  weak,  is  unwilling, 
and  dare  not  resist — is  afraid  of  insurrection,  and  dependent  lor  safety 
and  bread  and  existence  upon  the  proverbial  fertility  and  magna- 
nimity of  New  England.  As  if  no  Henry,  no  Lee,  no  Jefferson,  no 
Pinckney,  no  Sumpter,  no  Hayne,  no  Laurens,  no  Carroll,  no  George 
Washington  had  ever  lived — as  if  the  spirit  of  Marion's  men  lingered 
not  yet  upon  the  banks  of  Santee,  and  the  fierce  courage  of  the  Butler 
who  ro&e  pale  and  corpse- like  from  the  bed  of  death,  to  lead  the 


HISTORY   OF   THE   ABOLITION   MOVEMENT.  29 

Palmetto  regiment  to  battle  at  Cherubusco,  foremost  in  the  ranks  and 
"  nearest  the  flashing  of  the  guns,"  was  already  become  extinct. 

The  political  parties,  also,  at  the  North,  gentlemen,  have  faltered, 
and  some  of  them  f^illen,  before  Abolition.  The  Whig  party,  bar- 
gaining with,  courting,  and  seeking  to  absorb  it  into  its  own  ranks, 
has,  itself,  at  last,  been  swallowed  up  and  lost.  Political  Temperance 
and  Know-Nothingism  are  rapidly  drifting  into  the  same  vortex.  The 
spirit  of  Anti-Masonry  transmigrated,  some  years  ago,  into  the  opaque 
body  of  Abolitionism.  Fourierism,  Anti-Rentism,  the  party  devoted 
to  Women's  Rights,  and  all  the  other  isms  of  the  day,  born  of  the 
same  generating  principle,  are  already  fully  assimilated  to  their  com- 
mon parent :  for  all  these  isms,  sir,  like  the  nerves  of  sense,  run  in 
pairs.  Even  the  Democratic  party,  never  losing  its  identity,  never 
ceasing  to  be  national,  and  even  now  the  sole  hope  of  the  country, 
if  it  will  but  return  to  its  ancient  mission  and  discipline — the  only 
organized  body  round  which  all  true  conservatives  and  friends  of  tho 
Constitution  and  Union  may  rally — has,  nevertheless,  in  whole  or  in 
part,  at  some  period  or  another,  in  every  State,  cowered  before  or 
tampered  with  this  dark  specter. 

Just  such,  too,  as  public  feeling  in  the  North  is,  so  is  its  legisla- 
tion. Vermont  has  passed  a  law  repealing,  in  effect,  within  her  limits, 
the  Fugitive  Slave  Act  of  1850,  and  abrogating  so  much  of  the  Con- 
stitution as  requires  the  rendition  of  fugitives  from  service.  Connec- 
ticut, enacting  a  similar  statute,  has  gone  a  step  farther,  and  outraged 
every  dictate  of  justice,  in  the  effort  to  make  it  effectual.  Massa- 
chusetts, the  "model  Commonwealth"  of  the  times,  improving  yet 
upon  the  work  of  her  sister  States,  provides,  also,  that  whatsoever 
member  of  her  bar  shall  dare  appear  in  behalf  of  the  claimant  of  a 
fugitive  slave,  shall  ignominiously  be  stricken  from  her  court  rolls, 
and  forbidden  to  practice  wiihin  her  limits.  Legislation  of  a  kindred 
character  exists,  sir,  in  other  States  also ;  and  New  England  will, 
doubtless,  yet  find  humble  imitators  even  in  the  West.  Already, 
indeed,  the  Supreme  Court  of  Wisconsin  has  deliberately  released 
from  her  penitentiary,  upon  habeas  corpus,  a  prisoner  convicted,  on 
indictment  before  a  United  States  court,  of  resisting  the  laws  and 
officers  of  the  United  States  in  a  slave  case.  Judges,  elsewhere, 
have  held  that  no  citizen  of  the  United  States  living  South  may 
dare  set  his  foot,  with  a  slave,  upon  the  north-west  shore  of  the 
Ohio,  at  low-water  mark  even,  without  by  that  act,  though  but  for  a 
moment,  and  from  necessity,  working  instant  emancipation  of  the 
slave.  Not  many  months  ago,  a  mingled  mob  of  negroes,  white  and 
black,  at  Salem,  in  Ohio,  entered  a  railroad  train,  and  by  violence 
tore  from  the  family  of  a  slaveholder,  passing  through  the  State  from 
necessity,  and  at  forty  miles  an  hour,  the  nurse  of  his  infant  child. 
A  Massachusetts  legislature  has  demanded  of  her  Executive  the 
removal  of  an  able,  meritorious,  and  upright  judge,  for  the  conscien- 
tious discharge,  within  her  limits,  of  the  duties  of  an  office  which 
he  held  under  authority  of  the  United  States  ;  and  a  Massachusetts 
ecclesiastical  conclave,  three  hundred  in  number,  rose  as  one  man  on 
the  announcement  of  the  outrage,  and  shouted  till  the  house  rang 


80  HISTORY    OF   THE   ABOLITION   MOVEMENT. 

again  with  their  plaudits.  And  a  Massachusetts  university  rejected, 
also,  the  same  judjrc,  for  the  same  cause,  when  proposed  for  a  pro- 
fessorship in  the  institution. 

Tiuis.  sir,  within  little  more  than  two  years  from  the  death  of  her 
noblest  son — whose  whole  life,  and  whose  dying  labors  were  ex- 
hausted in  defending  the  Union  and  holding  the  Commonwealth  of 
his  adoption  up  to  the  full  measure  of  her  Kcvolutionary  patriotism 
and  greatness — has  the  star  of  Massachusetts  been  seen  to  fall  from 
heaven  and  begin  to  plunge  into  the  utter  blackness  of  disunion.  In 
vain  now,  sir,  from  the  grave  of  the  Statesman  of  Marshficld  there 
comes  up  the  warning  cry,  "  Let  her  shrink  back  ;  let  her  hold  others 
back,  if  she  can;  at  any  rate,  let  her  keep  herself  back  from  this 
gulf,  full  at  once  of  fire  and  blackness — full,  as  far  as  human  fore- 
sight can  scan,  or  human  imagination  fathom,  of  the  fire  and  the 
blood  of  civil  war,  and  of  the  thick  darkness  of  general  political 
disgrace,  ignominy,  and  ruin."  No;  she  is  fallen.  Sumner  has  sup- 
planted Winthrop ;  and  a  Wilson  crawled  up  into  the  seat  which 
Webster  once  adorned. 

And  add,  now,  to  all  this,  gentlemen,  that,  already,  that  portentous 
and  most  perilous  evil,  against  which  the  Father  of  his  Country  so 
solemnly  and  earnestly  warned  his  countrymen,  a  party  bounded  by 
geographical  lines — a  Northern  party,  standing  upon  a  Northern 
platform,  doing  battle  for  Northern  issues,  and  relying  solely  for 
success  upon  appeals  to  Northern  prejudices  and  Northern  jealousies, 
is  now,  for  the  first  time  in  our  history,  fully  organized  and  consoli- 
dated in  our  midst.  Add  farther,  that,  to  the  Thirty-Fourth  Con- 
gress, fourteen  Senators  and  a  majority  of  Representatives  have  been 
chosen  who,  in  name  or  in  fact,  are  Abolitionists;  Ohio  contributing 
to  this  dark  host  her  entire  delegation  in  House  and  Senate,  one 
only  excepted ;  and  thus,  for  the  first  time,  also,  since  the  organiza- 
tion of  our  Government,  has  the  House  of  Representatives  been 
converted  into  a  vast  Abolition  conventicle,  full  of  men  picked  out 
for  their  hatred  of  the  South,  and  who  can  not  be  true  to  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  Union  without  treachery  to  the  expectations  and 
the  purposes  of  those  who  elected  them.  And  then  reflect  yet  fur- 
ther, that  this  vast  and  terrible  magazine  of  explosive  elements  is 
gathered  together  just  upon  the  eve  of  a  Presidential  election,  with 
all  its  multiplied  and  convulsing  interests ;  and  that  soon  Kansas 
■will  knock  for  admission  into  the  Union,  thus  surely  precipitating 
the  crisis ;  and  who,  tell  me,  I  pray  you,  may  foresee  what  shall  be 
the  history  of  this  Republic  at  the  end  of  two  years  from  to-day? 

All  this,  gentlemen,  the  spirit  of  Abolition  has  accomplished  in 
twenty  years  of  continued  and  exhausting  labors  of  every  sort.  But, 
in  all  that  time,  not  one  convert  has  it  made  in  the  South ;  not  one 
slave  emancipated,  except  by  larceny  and  in  fraud  of  the  solemn 
compacts  of  the  Constitution.  Meantime,  public  opinion  has  wholly, 
radically  changed  in  the  South.  The  South  has  ceased  to  denounce, 
ceased  to  condemn  slavery — ceased  even  to  palliate — and  begun  now, 
almost  as  one  man,  to  defend  it  as  a  great  moral,  social,  and  political 
blessing.     The  bitter  and  proscriptive  warfare  of  twenty  years  has 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ABOLITION  MOVEMENT.  31 

brought  forth  its  natural  and  legitimate  fruit  in  the  South.  Exas- 
peration, hate,  and  revenge  are  every  day  ripening  into  fullest  matur- 
ity and  strength ;  and,  throughout  her  entire  extent,  she  awaits  now 
but  the  action  of  the  North  to  unite  in  solemn  league  and  covenant 
to  resist  aggression  even  unto  blood. 

But  the  South,  sir,  has  forborne  a  little.  I  say,  she  has  forborne 
a  little.  She  has  not  yet  associated  and  formed  political  parties  to 
put  down  Masonry  and  Odd  Fellowship  in  the  free  States  and  in  the 
Territories,  upon  the  pretext  that  these  institutions  are  sinful  and 
immoral.  She  has  not  yet  organized  societies,  and  fostered  and  pro- 
tected them  by  her  legislation,  to  steal  that  which  our  law  recognizes 
as  property,  and  refused  restitution  on  the  pretext  that  by  the 
*'  higher  law  "  of  conscience,  no  right  of  property  exists  in  the  thing 
stolen.  Neither,  sir,  has  any  southern  States,  no,  not  even  "  fire- 
eating "  South  Carolina,  sought  as  yet  to  compensate  herself  for  the 
fugitives  which  we  have  abducted,  by  enacting  laws  to  encourage  the 
slave-trade,  by  punishing  with  fine  and  imprisonment  in  her  peni- 
tentiary for  years  any  one  of  her  citizens  who  should  aid  in  enforc- 
ing the  laws  of  the  United  States  against  the  traffic,  striking  from 
her  court  rolls  any  attorney  within  her  limits,  who  should  appear  in 
behalf  of  the  prosecution,  and  excluding  all  who  hold  the  office  of 
United  States  Commissioner  or  Judge,  from  any  office  or  appoint- 
ment under  her  authority.  How  long  before  all  this  shall  have  been 
done,  is  known  to  Him  only  whose  omniscient  eye  penetrates  and 
illumines  the  clouds  and  thick  darkness  of  the  future. 

Thus,  then,  Mr.  President,  by  little  and  little  at  first,  but  now,  as 
■with  a  flood,  fraternal  afi'ection  is  wasted  away ;  hate  and  jealousy 
and  discord,  nourished  and  educated  into  maturest  developments; 
and,  one  by  one,  the  real  and  strong  cords  which  bind  us  together 
as  a  confederacy  snapped  asunder,  or  stretched  to  their  utmost  ten- 
sion. It  needs  no  spirit  of  prophecy,  not  even  a  human  sagacity 
above  the  ordinary  level,  to  foretell  just  how  long  the  habits,  forms, 
and  paper  parchments  of  a  union  can  last  when  its  life-giving  prin- 
ciple and  nourishing  and  sustaining  virtue  are  wasted  and  gone. 
Sir,  he  is  yet  but  in  the  swaddling  bands  of  infancy,  who  does  not 
already  see  that  there  is  wanting  but  some  strong  convulsion,  or 
even  but  some  sudden  jar  in  the  system,  to  hurl  us  headlong  down 
into  the  abyss  of  disunion. 

I  know,  gentlemen,  that  to  many  all  this  is  as  "  a  twice-told  tale, 
vexing  the  dull  ear  of  a  drowsy  man."  They  hearkened  not  to  the 
voice  of  Webster,  Clay  and  Calhoun,  while  yet  among  the  living; 
neither  would'  they  believe,  though  these  three  men  rose  from  the 
dead.  Being  dead,  they  yet  speak.  The  dead  of  all  ages  speak. 
All  history  lifts  up  its  warning  voice.  Livy  and  Tacitus  are  full  of 
saddest  and  most  instructive  teachings.  But  let  us  not  deceive  our- 
selves. It  is  not  in  their  pages  that  we  are  to  read  the  lessons  of 
that  danger  which  threatens  us  with  destruction.  There  has  been  to 
us  no  slow  and  gradual  progression  of  five  hundred  years  to  the  full 
growth  and  stature  of  a  great  nation ;  neither  is  it  in  reserve  for  us 
to  pass  through  the  mellowing  and  softening  gradations  of  luxury, 


82  HISTORY   OF    THE    ABOLITION    MOVEMENT. 

vice,  corruption,  and  enervation  for  five  hundred  years  more,  to  our 
final  fall  as  an  empire.  No.  The  history  of  Greece  is  the  true  study 
for  the  American  statesman.  There  he  will  find  the  chiefost  lessons 
of  political  wisdom,  adapted  to  our  peculiar  exif^encies.  He  will  learn 
there  how  internal  dissension  and  discord  may  prostrate  a  state  in  the 
full  vi<ror  of  its  manhood  ;  and,  indeed,  that  it  is  only  in  the  man- 
hood of  a  confederacy  that  there  is  strenirth  enough,  and  enersry 
enouch,  in  the  members,  to  rend  each  other  in  pieces,  and  that  in  the 
decadence  of  a  state,  in  decay  and  atony,  it  is  a  Caesar  within,  or  a 
Macedonian  phalanx,  or  Roman  leaions  from  without,  which  over- 
whelm the  state.  In  Thucydides,  he  may  learn  how  a  thirty  years' 
civil  war  exhausted  Greece,  and  prepared  her  first  for  the  haughty 
domination  of  the  conquering  member  of  the  confederacy;  and  finally, 
for  that  yoke  of  foreign  despots  which  galls  and  burns  into  her  neck 
to  this  day. 

Let  us  improve  these  lessons.  It  is  not  yet  too  late  to  be  saved. 
The  current  may  still  be  turned  back,  and  the  Union  restored  to  its 
former  sound  and  healthy  condition,  though  many  a  gaping  scar  shall 
attest  the  wounds  she  has  received  from  the  hands  of  her  owa 
children. 

What  then  remains  to  be  done? — I  answer  this  momentous 
question,  Mr.  President,  by  declaring  first,  what  will  not  heal  the 
sick  man  of  America. 

First,  then,  closing  our  eyes  and  our  ears  to  the  truth,  and  laugh- 
ing all  danger  to  scorn,  will  not  do  it.  The  scoffs  and  derision  of 
the  diluvian  world  did  not  stay  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep,  nor 
seal  up  the  windows  of  heaven. 

Professions  and  resolutions  of  love  for  the  Union  and  Constitution, 
whether  hypocritical  or  sincere,  will  not  do  it,  while,  at  the  same 
moment,  we  strike  the  blow  which  destroys  both.  Nor  will  legislative 
compromises  and  finalities,  nor  yet  national  conventions  and  presi- 
dential elections.     None  of  these. 

Least  of  all,  sir,  will  platforms,  of  themselves,  avail  any  thing. 
Time  was  when  they  had  a  meaning,  and  when  the  partisan  who  re- 
pudiated or  doubted  even  an  abstract  principle,  was  stricken  down  by 
a  surer  and  heavier  blow  of  popular  wrath  than  he  who  "bolted  "  a 
nomination.  But  that  day  is  past.  The  best  of  platforms  is  now  too 
often  but  a  spider's  snare ;  the  weak  and  unsuspecting  house-fly  is 
caught  and  devoured,  the  stout,  blue-bottle,  carrion  insect  breaks 
through  its  meshes.  A  sound  system  of  faith  is,  indeed,  still  pro- 
claimed, but  mental  reservation  is  now  tolerated.  The  thirty-nine 
Articles  are  subscribed,  but  a  wide  margin  and  much  space  between 
the  lines  allowed  for  liberal  interpretation.  Obedience  is  no  longer 
expected  or  required  to  the  platform,  if  the  professor  will  but  sup- 
port the  candidate.  And  thus,  sir,  the  aged  worshiper  who  lingers 
yet  around  the  altar,  and  the  simple-minded  convert  of  yesterday, 
■whose  burning  faith  receives  the  creed  as  an  enunciation  of  eternal 
principles,  the  sacred  canon  of  political  scripture,  are  alike  amazed 
to  learn  from  the  organ  of  the  ecumenical  council,  interpreting  by 
authority,  that  it  is  only  the  gospel  according  to  Judas,  whereby  a 


HISTORY   OP   THE    ABOLITION  MOVEMENT.  33 

general  amnesty  is  proclaimed  to  all  rebels  and  deserters ; — a  cum- 
brous but  convenient  piece  of  machinery,  whereby  apostates  may  be 
restored,  if  not  to  favor,  at  least  to  position  and  office  in  the  party. 
Witness  the  bold  and  impudent  fraud  of  the  platform  promulgated 
by  the  Grand  Council  of  Knovv-Nothings  at  Philadelphia,  which  yet 
a  subordinate  State  Council  of  the  same  Order,  assembled  at  Cleve- 
land, and  bound  by  the  most  stringent  oaths  to  obedience,  had  assumed, 
in  advance,  to  repudiate.  And  need  I  but  allude  to  that  State  De- 
mocratic Convention  of  Ohio,  which,  resolving  to  adhere  to  and  support 
the  Baltimore  platform,  rugged  all  over  as  it  is,  with  denunciations 
of  all  and  every  attempt,  of  whatsoever  shape,  or  color,  or  pretense, 
in  Congress  or  out  of  it,  to  keep  up  the  slavery  agitation,  did  yet, 
with  amiable  and  most  refreshing  consistency,  resolve  that  the  Democ- 
racy of  Ohio  would  use  all  power,  under  the  Constitution,  "  to  prevent 
the  increase,  to  mitigate,  and  finally  to  eradicate — tear  up  by  the 
roots — the  evil  of  slavery." 

Either  away  then  with  platforms,  at  least,  as  a  sanative  process,  and 
until  a  sounder  public  virtue  be  restored,  or  require  a  strict  and 
ready  and  honest  obedience  to  the  principles  which  they  proclaim. 

What  then  remains  to  he  done  f — I  answer,  first,  that  whatever  it 
may  be,  it  is  to  be  done  by  and  through  the  Democratic  party,  and 
the  national  Whigs  and  others  who  may  act  with  it  in  this  crisis  ; 
for  "when  bad  men  combine,  good  men  must  associate."  There  is 
no  hope,  none,  in  any  other  organization.  To  that  party,  therefore, 
and  through  it,  to  all  true  patriots  and  conservatives,  I  address  myself, 
and  answer  further :  We  must  return  to  the  principles,  follow  the 
practice,  imitate  the  good  faith  and  fraternal  aifection,  and  restore  the 
distinctions  with  which  our  ancestors  set  out  at  the  commencement 
of  this  government.  We  must  learn  a  wise  and  wholesome  conserva- 
tism ;  learn  that  all  progress  is  not  reform,  and  that  the  wildest  and 
most  pernicious  and  most  dangerous  of  all  follies  is  to  attempt  to 
square  our  political  institutions  and  our  legislation  by  mere  abstract, 
theoretical,  and  mathematically  exact,  but  impracticable  truths.  We 
must  remember,  also,  our  true  mission  as  a  political  party,  and  re- 
trace our  steps  from  outside  the  territories  of  the  lyceum  and  the 
Church,  and  drive  back  the  clergy  and  the  Church  to  their  own 
domain.  We  must  build  up  again  the  partitions  which  separate  sacred 
things  from  profane,  and  begin  once  more  to  '■'■Render  unto  Ccesar 
the  things  that  are  Ccesar  s,  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God^s.^' 
We  must  set  out  again  to  pronounce  upon  political  questions,  with- 
out essaying  to  try  them  by  the  touchstone  of  our  own  peculiar 
notions  of  moral  or  divine  truth,  and  thus  relegate  temperance  to  the 
voluntary  association,  religion  to  the  Church,  and  slavery  to  the 
judgment  and  conscience  of  those  in  whose  midst  it  exists,  or  is 
sought  to  be  established,  casting  aside  that  false  and  dangerous  and 
most  presumptuous  self-delusion,  that  we  are  to  give  account,  each 
one  as  citizens,  for  the  sins  or  immoralities  of  our  fellow-men.  Slav- 
ery, indeed,  sir,  where  it  exists,  or  to  the  people  among  whom  it  is 
proposed  to  introduce  it,  may  be,  and  it  is  to  them,  a  political  subject 
in  part.  To  us  of  the  North,  it  is  and  can  be  none  other  than  an 
3 


34  niSTORT    OF    THE    ABOLITION    MOVEMENT. 

ethical  or  rolif^ions  question.  For,  diseuipe  and  falsify  it  as  yon 
will  ;  marshal  and  array  your  fitrures  and  your  facts  to  lie  never  so 
grossly,  it  is  the  sinfulness  and  iniinorality  of  slaveholding  as  viewed 
by  the  Northern  mind,  and  this  alone,  which  has  stirred  the  people 
of  the  North  to  such  a  hip;ht  of  folly  and  madness.  And  yet,  if 
immoral,  it  concerns  only  the  people  of  the  States  and  Territories 
where  it  exists  ;  if  sinful,  they  only  are  the  offenders,  and  even  if  a 
political  evil,  it  is  they  alone  who  feel  the  curse.  It  is,  therefore, 
and  can  be  of  no  possible  concern  to  us,  except,  indeed,  upon  the 
principle  of  that  self-sufficient,  self-righteous  and  most  pernicious 
egoism  which  it  is  time  now  to  purge  out  of  the  system. 

But  a  high  and  imperative  constitutional  obligation,  also,  Mr. 
President,  devolves  here  upon  the  Democratic  party. 

The  accidents  and  the  necessities  of  its  settlement  determined  the 
political  character  of  this  continent,  and  divided  it  into  separate 
colonies,  as  perfectly  independent,  one  of  the  other,  as  any  foreign 
states.  A  common  subjection  to  the  crown  of  Great  Britain  gave  the 
first  notion  of  a  common  Federal  Government ;  and  the  aggressions 
of  that  crown,  and  of  Parliament,  compelling  civil  war,  forced  our 
fathers  into  a  union  and  articles  of  confederation.  The  Constitution 
of  '89  extended  the  powers  and  the  efficiency,  but  did  not  alter  the 
nature  of  the  General  Government.  That  instrument,  sir,  was  framed 
by  delegates  appointed  not  by  the  old  Congress,  but  by  the  States, 
as  sovereign  and  independent  communities.  State  conventions  rati- 
fied it ;  and  it  was  binding  only  as  between  those  States  which  ac- 
ceded to  it.  They  consented  to  yield  up  to  a  common  government, 
certain  delegated  powers,  for  the  good  of  the  whole ;  reserving  all 
others,  each  to  itself.  We  are  a  confederacy,  sir,  of  sovereign,  dis- 
tinct, independent  States  ;  in  all  things  not  brought  into  the  common 
fund  of  power,  just  as  thoroughly  foreign  to  each  other  (except  only 
in  a  common  language  and  fraternal  affection),  and  as  subject  to 
the  obligations  and  comities  of  the  law  of  nations,  as  France  and 
England.  With  the  domestic  police  and  institutions  of  Kentucky,  or 
any  other  State,  the  people  of  Ohio  have  no  more  right  to  inter- 
meddle, than  with  the  laws  or  form  of  government  in  Russia.  Slavery 
in  the  South  is  to  them  as  polygamy  in  the  Turkish  Empire  ;  and 
for  the  political  evils,  or  the  sinfulness  and  immorality  of  the  one, 
they  are  in  no  wise  more  responsible  than  for  the  other.  Or — to 
select  the  same  subject-matter — they  have  no  more  right  to  inter- 
fere with,  nor  are  they  in  any  degree  more  accountable  for,  the  con- 
tinuance of  slavery  in  Virginia,  than  for  its  existence  in  Persia. 
Neither,  sir,  have  the  people  of  the  northern  States  any  greater  right, 
under  the  Constitution,  to  deny  admission  into  the  Union  to  a  State, 
because  its  laws  sanction  involuntary  servitude,  or  to  prescribe  that 
slavery  shall  not  be  tolerated  in  a  territory,  than  to  abolish  it  in  a 
State  already  in  the  Union.  The  converse  of  this  proposition  is 
sheer,  rank,  unmixed,  unanointed  Ft'deralism — just  the  Federalism 
of  Alexander  Hamilton,  who,  in  the  convention  of  '87,  would  have 
made  the  States  wholly  subordinate  to  the  General  Government — 
mere  adjuncts — "corporations  for  local  purposes."     The  reasons,  sir, 


HISTORY   OP  THE   ABOLITION  MOVEMENT.  35 

are  obvious,  and  they  are  conclusive.  It  is  a  fundamental  principle 
of  the  Democratic  theory,  and  of  our  institutions,  that  to  the  people 
of  each  particular  State,  county,  township,  city,  and  village,  shall  be 
committed,  as  far  as  possible,  the  exclusive  regulation  of  their  more 
immediate  and  local  affairs.  In  other  words,  that  power,  whenever 
it  is  practicable,  shall  be  diffused  to  the  utmost,  and  never  centralized 
beyond  urgent  necessity.  Again,  the  only  limitation  prescribed  in 
the  Constitution,  for  the  fitness  of  a  State  for  fellowship  with  us,  is 
that  such  State  shall  establish  a  "republican"  or  representative  form 
of  government.  Now,  it  is  too  late  to  allege,  at  this  day,  and  quite 
too  absurd,  that  the  existence  of  the  domestic  institution  of  slavery 
in  a  State  makes  its  form  of  government  anti-republican,  and,  there- 
fore, unconstitutional.  Such  an  argument  is  not  worth  a  serious 
refutation.  Again  :  The  territories  are  the  common  property  of  the 
States  in  their  Federal  capacity,  purchased  by  the  common  blood  and 
treasure  of  all,  and  as  much  the  property  of  South  Carolina  as  of' 
Massachusetts.  They  are  tenants  in  common  of  this  property  ;  and 
for  one  State  to  demand  the  exclusion  of  another  from  participation 
in  their  use  in  common,  in  every  respect,  is  arrogant  and  unfounded 
assumption  of  superiority ;  and  fifty-fold  more  offensive,  when  the 
pharisaic  pretense  is  set  up  that  they  are  more  holy  than  that  other 
State,  whose  inhabitants  are  sinners  before  God  exceedingly,  and  who 
would  pollute  the  territory,  by  the  introduction  of  their  wickedness 
upon  its  soil ;  assuming  thus  to  be  keeper  of  the  conscience  and 
custodian  of  the  morals  of  the  people  of  the  territory,  putting  on 
the  robes,  and  ascending  into  the  judgment-seat  of  the  Almighty. 
Sir,  if  the  inhabitants  of  Cape  Cod  are  not  satisfied  with  the  copar- 
cenary, let  them  seek,  by  partition,  to  hold  in  severalty  ;  and,  obtaining 
thus  the  very  small  and  almost  infinitessimal  portion  which  is  their 
share,  exert  over  it  such  acts  of  ownership  as  to  them  may  seem 
meet ;  but  not  attempt  insolently  to  take  possession  and  control  of 
the  whole. 

Manifestly,  then,  sir,  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  question  finds  no 
warrant  or  countenance,  but  direct  and  emphatic  condemnation,  in  the 
Constitution.  That  part  of  the  instrument  which  apportions  the  rep- 
resentation and  taxation  of  slaves,  for  the  most  part  executes  itself, 
and  admits  only  of  direct  attack  by  amendment  or  nullification.  The 
clause  which  empowers  Congress  to  prohibit  the  slave-trade,  has  long 
since  been  C[uietly  carried  into  effect ;  and  the  South  has  never  sought 
to  disturb  it.  The  sole  remaining  instance  in  which  Congress  may 
legislate  in  reference  to  slavery,  is  for  the  extradition  of  fugitives. 
From  its  very  nature,  sir,  this  presents  a  capital  point  for  assault  by 
Abolitionists.  Long  before  the  act  of  1850,  they  had,  by  state  leg- 
islation, or  public  odium,  rendered  nugatory  the  act  of  1793,  and 
were  laboring  for  its  direct  repeal  by  Congress.  They  openly  repu- 
diated that  part  of  the  Constitution  upon  which  it  was  founded  ;  and, 
as  early  as  1843,  a  general  convention  of  Abolitionists,  assembled  at 
Buffalo,  and  composed  of  the  ablest  and  most  distinguished  members 
of  the  party,  resolved  that  whenever  called  upon  to  swear  to  support 
the  Constitution,  they  would,  by  mental  reservation,  regard  that  clause 


36  HISTORY   OF   THE    ABOLITION    MOVEMENT. 

in  it  as  utterly  null  and  void,  and  forming  no  part  of  the  instrument.* 
Nevertheless,  sir,  in  the  adjustment  of  1B50,  provision  was  made  to 
enforce  this  solemn  compact.  And  hence,  the  popular  tumults,  the 
mobs,  the  forcible  rescues,  and  the  nullifying;  acts  of  the  New  Jln- 
gland  States,  and  other  parts  of  the  North,  which  yet  find  countenance 
and  applause  even  from  a  thousand  presses  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
citizens,  upon  the  pretext  that  the  rendition  of  fugitives  is  distasteful 
and  revoltini:;  to  the  North.  Yes,  Abolitionist,  it  is  the  Constitution 
which  you  attack,  not  the  act  of  1850.  It  is  the  extradition  of 
"  panting  fugitives,"  under  any  circumstancea,  or  by  virtue  of  any 
law,  at  which  you  rebel.  Be  manly,  then,  and  outspoken,  and  honest. 
Act  the  part  of  cowards  and  slave-stealcrs  no  longer.  Assail  the 
Constitution  itself,  and  do  it  openly — it  is  the  Constitution  which 
demands  the  restoration — and  cover  not  up  your  assaults  any  longer, 
under  the  false  and  beggarly  pretense  that  it  is  the  act  of  Congress 
■which  you  condemn  and  abhor. 

I  know,  sir,  that  it  is  easy,  very  easy,  to  denounce  all  this  as  a 
defense  of  slavery  itself.  Be  it  so;  be  it  so.  But  I  have  not  dis- 
cussed the  institution  in  any  respect — moral,  religious,  or  political. 
Hear  me;  I  express  no  opinion  in  regard  to  it;  and,  as  a  citizen  of 
the  North,  I  have  ever  refused,  and  will  steadily  refuse,  to  discuss 
the  system  in  any  of  these  particulars.  It  is  precisely  this  continued 
and  persistent  discussion  and  denunciation  in  the  North,  which  has 
brought  upon  us  this  present  most  perilous  crisis ;  since  to  teach  men 
to  hate,  is  to  prepare  them  to  destroy,  at  every  hazard,  the  object  of 
their  hatred.  Sir,  I  am  resolved  only  to  look  upon  slavery  outside 
of  Ohio,  just  as  the  founders  of  the  Constitution  and  Union  regarded  it. 
It  is  no  concern  of  mine — none,  none — nor  of  yours,  Abolitionist. 
Neither  of  us  will  attain  heaven  by  denunciations  of  slavery  ;  nor 
shall  we,  I  trow,  be  cast  into  hell  for  the  sin  of  others  who  may  hold 
slaves.  I  have  not  so  learned  the  moral  government  of  the  universe ; 
nor  do  I  presumptuously  and  impiously  aspire  to  the  attributes  of 
Godhead,  and  seek  to  bear  upon  my  poor  body  the  iniquities  of  the 
world. 

I  know  well,  indeed,  Mr.  President,  that  in  the  evil  day  which  has 
befallen  us,  all  this,  and  he  who  utters  it,  shall  be  denounced  as 
"pro-slavery;  "  and  already,  from  ribald  throat.s,  there  comes  up  the 
slavering,  driveling,  idiot  epithet  of  "  doughface."  Again  ;  be  it  so. 
These,  Abolitionist,  are  your  only   weapons  of  warfare ;    and  I  hurl 

*  The  Buffalo  Resolution,  1843,  offered  by  a  committee  of  which  Salmon 
P.  Chask,  of  Ohio,  was  a  member. — ^^  Resolved,  That  we  hereby  give  it  to  be 
distinctly  understood,  by  this  nation  and  the  world,  that,  as  Abolitionists,  con- 
sidering that  the  strength  of  our  cause  lies  in  its  righteousness,  and  our  hopes 
for  it  in  our  conformity  to  the  laws  of  God,  and  our  support  for  the  rights  of 
man,  we  owe  to  the  sovereign  Kuler  of  the  Universe,  as  a  proof  of  our  alle- 
giance to  him,  in  all  our  civil  relations  and  otficcs,  whether  as  friends,  citizens, 
or  us  public  functionaries,  sworn  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  to  regard  and  treat  the  third  clause  of  that  instrument,  whenever 
applied  in  the  case  of  a  fugitive  slave,  as  vttkkly  null  and  void,  and, 
consequently,  as  forming  no  part  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
WHKNKVER  WJC  AKJ2  CALLED  UPON  A3  SWORN  TO   BUl'POKT  IT." 


HISTORY  OF   THE   ABOLITION  MOVEMENT.  37 

them  back  defiantly  into  your  teeth.  I  speak  thus  boldly,  because  I 
speak  in  and  to  and  for  the  North.  It  is  time  that  the  truth  should 
be  known  and  heard,  in  this  the  age  of  trimming  and  subterfuge. 
I  speak  this  day,  not  as  a  Northern  man,  nor  a  Southern  man  ;  but, 
God  be  thanked,  still  as  a  United  States  man,  with  United  States 
principles ;  and  though  the  worst  happen  which  can  happen — 
though  all  be  lost,  if  that  shall  be  our  fate,  and  I  walk  through  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  political  death,  I  will  live  by  them,  and  die 
by  them.  If  to  love  my  country  ;  to  cherish  the  Union  ;  to  revere 
the  Constitution  ;  if  to  abhor  the  madness  and  hate  the  treasou 
which  would  lift  up  a  sacrilegious  hand  against  either ;  if  to  read 
that  in  the  past,  to  behold  it  in  the  present,  to  foresee  it  in  the  future 
of  this  land,  which  is  of  more  value  to  us  and  the  world  for  ages  to 
come,  than  all  the  multiplied  millions  who  have  inhabited  Africa 
from  the  creation  to  this  day — if  this  it  is  to  be  pro-slavery,  then,  ia 
every  nerve^  fiber,  vein,  bone,  tendon,  joint,  and  ligament,  from  the 
top-most  hair  of  the  head  to  the  last  extremity  of  the  foot,  I  am  all 
over  and  altogether  a  pro-slavery  man. 

To  that  part  now,  Mr.  President,  of  the  Germans  who  have  been 
betrayed  upon  this  question,  I  address  a  word  of  caution.  Little 
more  than  a  year  ago,  availing  themselves  of  the  Nebraska  question 
as  the  pretext,  mischievous  and  designing  demagogues,  just  at  the 
moment  they  prepared  to  deny  you  the  full  enjoyment  of  your  own 
political  rights  here  in  Ohio,  persuaded  some  of  you  to  trail  in  the 
dust  at  the  heels  of  the  Abolition  rout.  They  told  you,  and  you 
believed  it,  some  of  you,  that,  failing  to  establish  civil  liberty 
against  the  crowned  oppressors  of  your  fatherland,  and  seeking  for 
it  as  exiles  in  America,  you  had  the  right,  nevertheless,  to  inter- 
meddle with  personal  liberty  among  the  inhabitants  of  other  States 
and  Territories,  to  form  political  associations  exclusively  German, 
to  adopt  platforms  of  your  own  as  such,  to  instruct  us  in  the  science 
of  government,  the  nature  of  free  institutions,  and  the  value  of  free- 
dom, to  require  of  us  to  give  away  our  public  lands  to  all  alike, 
naturalized  or  alien,  white  or  black,  to  denounce  the  people  of  the 
South,  because  of  the  "curse  of  slavery,"  to  repeal  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law,  to  abolish  slaveholding  throughout  the  States,  in  conformity  with, 
as  you  alleged,  and  perhaps  by  virtue  of  power  derived  from,  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  finally  to  propose  to  convert  your 
good  old  German  May  festival  into  an  Abolition  mass  meeting,  in 
our  very  midst.  These  things,  they  persuaded  some  of  you  to 
believe  and  to  do.  But  at  this  very  moment,  and  by  the  self-same 
demagogues,  was  ih.e  knife  put  to  your  own  throats,  and  you  were 
quietly  guillotined,  and  your  heads  thrust  into  the  basket,  upon  just 
the  principles  they  had  persuaded  you  that  you  had  the  right  to 
intermeddle  with  the  domestic,  moral,  and  religious  concerns  of  other 
States  and  Territories.  Opening  now  your  eyes  to  the  fraud  thus 
practiced  upon  you,  learning  the  true  character  of  the  men  who 
beguiled  you,  and  remembering  that  the  first  State  which  breasted 
and  turned  back  the  torrent  which  was  sweeping  you,  and  your 
hopes,  and   your  rights    before  it,   was    the   slaveholding  State   of 


38  HISTORY    OF   THE    ABOLITION  MOVEMENT. 

Virginia,  through  the  Domociatic  party  of  Virj^inia,  followed  up  by 
ever}'  southern  State,  Kentucky  alone  excepted,  retrace  your  steps 
now  into  tlie  ranks  of  that  party,  stand  fast  to  your  true  interests 
and  true  position,  concern  yourselves  no  longer  with  the  business  of 
others,  but  quietly  enjoy,  and  calmly  deiend,  your  own  rights, 
remembering  always  those  who  have  ever  sustained  you  in  whatso- 
ever truth  and  liberty  and  justice  demand  for  you. 

Addressing  myself  now,  iinally,  Mr.  President,  to  the  Democratic 
party  of  Ohio,  1  say  :  You  are  a  political  party  ;  hence,  all  your 
principles  must  as  well  take  shape  and  color,  as  reflect  them,  from 
the  fundamental  institutions  of  the  country  ;  and  those  principles 
which  belong  to  Democracy,  universal  and  theoretical,  are  to  be 
modiOed  and  adjudged  by  the  Constitution.  It  has  always  been 
your  boast,  that  you  arc  peculiarly  the  party  of  the  Constitution 
and  of  that  Union  which  results  from,  and  exists  only,  by  the 
Constitution.  And  just  in  proportion  as  you  value  these,  will  you 
mold  and  modify  your  doctrine,  and  your  practice,  to  sustain  and 
preserve  them  in  every  essential  element.  Sure  I  am,  at  least,  that 
you  will  not,  for  the  sake  of  an  abstract  principle,  purely,  or  mainly 
moral,  or  religious,  and  to  us  not  political,  and  urged  now  in  the 
very  spirit  of  treason  and  madness,  and  far  removed  from  every  per- 
sonal concern  of  yours,  sacrifice  or  even  imperil  these  priceless 
legacies  of  a  generation  at  least  as  good  and  as  wise  as  we.  Trust 
not  to  past  success.  Times  have  changed.  For  four  years  you 
filched  inglorious  triumphs  by  fomenting  dissensions  among  your 
enemies,  and  by  exhausting  all  the  little  arts  of  partisan  diplomacy, 
to  keep  the  Whig  and  Abolition  parties  asunder.  You  wasted  your 
time  striving  to  pluck  out  of  the  crucible  of  politics  the  fluxes  which 
they  threw  in,  seeking  thus  vainly  to  prevent  or  impede  a  fusion 
•which  was  inevitable,  and  which,  when  it  came,  overwhelmed  you  as 
with  a  flood  of  lava,  in  disastrous,  if  not  ignominious  defeat.  Was 
this  conduct  befitting  a  great  and  enduring  party — conduct  worthy 
the  prestige  of  your  name?  Learn  wisdom  from  Virginia,  your 
mother  State ;  she  is  ever  invincible,  because  she  is  always  candid 
and  manly  and  true  to  principle.  Look  no  longer  now  to  avail- 
ability; above  all,  be  not  deceived  by  the  false  and  senseless  out- 
cry against  that  most  just,  most  Constitutional,  and  most  necessary 
measure — the  Kansas- A^ehraaka  Act.  The  true  and  only  question 
now  before  you  is:  Whether  you  will  have  a  Union,  with  all  its 
numberless  blessings  in  the  past,  present,  and  future,  or  Disunion 
and  civil  war,  with  all  the  multiplied  crimes,  miseries,  and  atrocities 
•which  human  imagination  never  conceived,  and  human  pen  never 
can  portray? 

I  speak  it  boldly — I  avow  it  publicly — it  is  time  to  speak  thus, 
for  political  cowardice  is  the  bane  of  this,  as  of  all  other  republics. 
To  be  true  to  your  great  mission,  and  to  succeed  in  it,  you  must 
take  open,  manly,  oue-sldcd  ground  upon  the  Abolition  question. 
In  no  other  way  can  you  now  conquer.  Let  us  have,  then,  no  hollow 
compromise,  no  idle  and  mistimed  homilies  upon  the  sin  and  evil  of 
slavery  iu  a  crisis  like  this,  no  double-tongued,  Janus-faced,  delphic 


THERE   IS   A   WEST.  39 

responses  at  your  State  conventions.  No  ;  fling  your  banner  to  the 
breeze,    and    boldly   meet   the    issue.      Patriotism    above    mock 

PHILANTHROPY  ;  THE  CONSTITUTION  BEFORE  ANY  MISCALLED 
HIGHER  LAW  OF  MORALS  OR  RELIGION  ;  AND  THE  UnION  OF  MORE 
VALUE    THAN    MANY    NEGROES. 

If  thus,  sir,  we  are  true  to  the  country,  true  to  the  Union  and 
the  Constitution,  true  to  our  principles,  true  to  our  cause  and  to  the 
grand  mission  which  lies  before  us,  we  shall  turn  back  yet  the  fiery 
torrent  which  is  bearing  us  headlong  down  to  the  abyss  of  disunion 
and  infamy,  deeper  than  plummet  ever  sounded ;  but  if  in  this,  the 
day  of  our  trial,  we  are  found  false  to  all  these,  false  to  our  ances- 
tors, false  to  ourselves,  false  to  those  who  shall  come  after  us,  traitors 
to  our  country  and  to  the  hopes  of  free  government  throughout  the 
globe,  Bancroft  will  yet  write  the  last  sad  chapter  in  the  history  of 
the  American  Republic. 


NUMBER   TWO. 


THERE  IS  A  WEST:   FOR  THE  UNION  FOREVER;   OUT- 
SIDE OF  THE  UNION,  FOR  HERSELF. 

SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  EEPKESENTATIVES,  DECEMBER  15,  1859. 


More  than  four  years  had  intervened  between  the  delivery  of  the 
preceding  speech  and  the  one  that  here  follows.  Meantime  the  evil 
agencies,  there  so  clearly  depicted,  and  against  which  those  earnest 
warnings  were  given,  had  been  steadily  maturing  their  work  of  mis- 
chief. Like  some  vile  insects,  which  consume  and  destroy  the 
foundations  of  houses,  working  silently  and  unseen,  and  permitting 
the  occupants  to  receive  the  first  intimations  of  danger  when  they 
feel  their  dwellings  crumbling  and  falling  around  them,  so  were 
those  industrious  fanatics  consuming  and  destroying  the  founda- 
tions of  the  Union. 

The  John  Brown  raid  into  Virginia  gave  the  first  public  and 
distinct  intimation  of  the  coming  trouble.  Moved  by  the  same 
spirit,  and  aiming  at  the  same  end  as  that  whole  great  army  of  fan- 
atics to  which  he  belonged,  only  having  less  than  an  average  share 
of  prudence  and  sagacity,   he   broke  from  the  ranks,   and  rushed 


40  THERE   IS   A    WEST. 

forward  in  advance  of  the  lines.  It  has  been  said  that  "  coming 
events  cast  their  shadows  before,"  and  it  might  have  been  added, 
that  those  coming  events  sometimes  send  forward  miniature  repre- 
sentations, from  which  may  be  seen,  by  substituting  great  things  for 
small,  what  will  be  the  character  of  those  events  when  they  come. 

To  all  who  hated  that  dear  old  Union  which  God  gave  to  our 
fathers,  John  Brown's  raid  was  a  signal  for  rejoicing,  while  it  sent 
a  thrill  of  horror  to  the  heart  of  every  true  patriot.  The  whole 
country  was  startled,  and,  for  a  brief  period,  deeply  aroused.  Men 
took  sides,  and  showed,  by  their  words  and  deeds,  either  that  they 
were  leagued  in  sympathy  with  those  who  had  resolved  on  the 
destruction  of  the  Union,  or  else  that  the  Union  was  held  in  the 
firm  grasp  of  their  strongest  and  deepest  affections. 
r"  Among  those  who  took  a  prominent  place  in  this  latter  class  was 
Mr.  Vallandighaji,  of  Ohio.  On  many  occasions  he  had  predicted 
the  very  dangers  whose  first  loud  note  of  alarm  was  now  sounding. 
Especially  had  he  predicted  and  portrayed  those  dangers  in  that 
speech  on  the  29th  of  October,  1855.  He  had  described  the  char- 
acter and  form  of  the  coming  trouble,  as  if  seen  with  the  keen  eye 
of  prophecy.  And  now,  as  the  danger  draws  nearer,  we  find  him 
still  at  his  post.  Congress  had  assembled  at  its  first  meeting  after 
that  notable  and  ominous  event;  a  Speaker  was  to  be  elected,  and 
the  question  was,  should  he  be  one  who  had  lent  the  sanction  and 
influence  of  his  name  to  principles  involved  and  illustrated  in  the 
late  raid  of  John  Brown. 

It  was  under  these  circumstances — the  general  question  before  the 
House  being  the  election  of  a  Speaker — that  Mr.  Vallandigham  ob- 
tained the  floor,  but  yielded  it  for  the  purpose  of  a  ballot.  No  choice 
having  been  made,  he  resumed  the  floor,  but  proposed  again  to  yield 
for  another  ballot.  Objection  being  made,  he  proceeded  to  address 
the  House,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  Clerk  :  Desiring  to  speak  at  some  length,  and  with  some 
regard  to  method,  upon  the  more  important  subjects  which  have 
been  iqiroduced  into  this  debate,  I  can  not  consent  to  yield  the  floor 
except  upon  a  point  of  order,  or  for  a  strictly  personal  explanation. 
I  claim  no  right  myself  to  interrupt  others  for  the  purpose  of  inter- 
rogatory or  catechising,  and  in  return  acknowledge  no  right  in  them 
to  subject  me  to  cross-examination  as  a  witness  upon  this  floor.  I 
trust,  along  with  other  reforms,  to  see  the  ancient  decorum  and  pro- 
priety of  legitimate  debate  restored  within  these  walls.  In  nothing, 
therefore,  which  I  propose  to  say,  do  I  mean  to  offend,  by  personal 
reflection  upon  any  member  of  this  House. 

And  now,  in  the  first  place,  Mr.  Clerk,  allow  me  to  say  that  I  do 


THERE  IS   A   WEST.  41 

not  regret  this  discussion.  I  lament,  indeed,  that  it  has  not,  at  all 
times,  been  conducted  in  a  better  temper.  Had  it  been  possible  to 
avoid  it  altogether,  certainly  it  would  have  been  preferable  that  it 
had  never  been  commenced;  but  no  one  familiar  with  the  temper  of 
the  whole  country,  reflected  back  in  the  Representatives  of  the  coun- 
try, and  concentrated  here  into  one  intense  focus,  could  have  expected 
a  week  to  pass  after  organization  without  an  explosion  more  formid- 
able, perhaps,  and  in  a  more  questionable  shape.  This,  in  my  judg- 
ment, is  a  better  time  and  mode  in  which  to  meet  it  than  any  other. 
But,  gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  let  us  conduct  it  at 
all  times  with  the  temper  and  courtesy  which  become  a  legislative 
assembly.  And  yet  the  admonition  is  almost  needless  here.  Although 
within  these  walls  are  assembled  the  two  hundred  and  forty-two  Rep- 
resentatives and  Delegates  from  the  thirty-eight  States  and  Territories 
of  the  Union,  bringing  with  them  every  variety  of  personal  and 
sectional  temper  and  peculiarity;  assembled,  too,  in  the  midst  of  a 
popular  feeling  more  pervading  and  more  deeply  stirred  up  than  at 
any  former  period,  in  one-half  at  least  of  these  States,  and  upon  the 
eve  of  startling,  and,  it  may  be,  disastrous  events,  yet  without  organ- 
ization, without  rules,  without  a  Speaker  to  command,  or  a  Sergeant- 
at-Arms  to  execute — without  gavel  or  mace — the  instinct  of  self-govern- 
ment peculiar  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  and  the  habit  of  self-command 
and  of  obedience  to  but  the  shadow  even  of  law  and  authority,  have, 
for  now  these  ten  days  past,  secured  us  not  only  from  collision  and 
violence,  but,  for  the  most  part,  from  breach  even  of  the  strictest 
decorum  observed  by  our  predecessors  in  this  Hall  at  any  period  of 
our  history.  How  sublime  the  spectacle !  how  grand  this  illustration 
of  the  spirit  of  free  government !  There  is  but  one  other  country 
upon  the  globe  where  a  similar  spectacle  could  be  exhibited. 

I  do  not,  then,  regret  this  debate ;  it  is  fit  and  proper  in  itself;  it  is 
strictly  parliamentary.  You  have  a  right  by  English  precedent ;  you 
have  a  right  by  American  precedent;  by  the  usages  of  this  House,  to 
discuss  the  qualifications  of  your  candidates  for  Speaker.  If  any 
member  of  this  House  has  indorsed  and  recommended  a  book  full  of 
sentiments  insurrectionary  and  hostile  to  the  domestic  peace  and  tran- 
quillity of  this  country — a  book  intended  or  tending  to  stir  up  discord 
or  strife  between  the  difierent  sections  of  this  Union,  or  servile  or  other 
insurrection  in  ^ny  one  or  more  States  of  this  Union,  and  refuses  still 
to  disavow  sympathy  with  the  sentiments  and  purposes  of  such  book, 
he  is  not  fit  to  be  Speaker  or  member  of  this  House.  Whether  any 
one  who  has  recommended  such  a  book  for  wholesale  circulation,  not 
knowing,  or  caring  to  inquire  into  its  character  and  contents — who 
has  indorsed  insurrection  and  violence  in  blank,  and  given  a  cordial 
letter  of  credit  to  whatsoever  the  Abolition  authors  of  the  "  Helper 
book  "  might  choose  to  say  and  to  circulate  throughout  the  South,  is 
competent  for  Speaker,  or  fit  to  be  trusted  in  the  Speakership,  this 
House  must  determine ;  and  the  country,  gentlemen,  must  sit  in 
judgment  upon  the  decision. 

But,  Mr.  Clerk,  this  whole  subject  and  controversy  has  assumed  a 
character  and  magnitude  which  impel  me  to  break  the  silence  which  I 


42  THERE   IS   A   WEST. 

thus  fur  liave  observed.     Sentiments  have  been  avowed  and  statements 
made  upon  this  floor  which  demand  notice  and  reply. 

[At  this  jHiint  Mr.  Yallandigham  gave  way  to  a  motion  to  adjourn,  which 
was  ncirativc'd.  lie  then  said  that  he  sliould  decline  to  pursue  any  farther  that 
ni.c;ht  tiie  line  of  remark  which  he  had  proposed  to  himself;  and,  the  House 
having  again  refused  to  adjourn,  lie  proceeded  to  read  and  refer  to  matters 
which,  forming  no  part  of  what  he  designed  to  say  in  the  first  place,  are 
omitted  here.  (See  Congressional  Globe,  page  150.)  The  House,  after  sev- 
eral other  motions,  having  finally  adjournud,  the  next  morning  he  resumed 
as  follows  :] 

Thoujrh  a  younj;  man  still,  I  have  seen  some  legislative  service. 
One  of  the  earliest  lessons  which  I  taught  myself  as  a  legislator,  and 
which  I  have  souirht  to  exemplify  in  every  department  of  life,  was  so 
to  be  a  politician  as  not  to  forget  that  I  was  a  gentleman.  There  is  a 
member  of  this  House,  now  present,  with  whom,  some  years  ago,  I 
served  in  the  legislature  of  my  State,  and  to  him  I  might  with  perfect 
confidence  appeal  to  verify  the  assertion  that  no  man  ever  was  more 
exact  in  the  observance  of  every  rule  of  courtesy  and  decorum,  not 
only  in  debate,  but  in  private  intercourse  with  his  i'ellows.  1  might 
appeal,  also,  to  the  members  here  present  of  the  last  Congress,  and  to 
every  member  of  this  House  of  llepresentatives,  and  demand  of  them 
whether  I  have  offended  in  any  thing,  in  public  or  private,  in  word  or 
by  deed. 

NoW;  Mr.  Clerk,  that  courtesy  which  I  thus  readily  extend  to  others 
I  am  resolved  to  exact  ibr  myself,  at  all  times  and  at  every  hazard.  I 
had  a  right,  yesterday,  especially  after  yielding  for  a  ballot,  at  a  time 
when  the  Republican  party  with  confidence  anticipated  the  election 
of  their  candidate  for  Speaker,  to  expect  the  usual  courtesy,  scarce 
ever  refused,  of  an  adjournment.  If  any  gentleman,  this  morning, 
after  a  night's  calm  reflection,  sees,  in  any  thing  that  1  have  ever  said 
or  done,  here  or  elsewhere,  any  justification  for  the  extraordinary  yet 
very  discreditable  scenes  of  yesterday,  enacted  by  grown-up  men  and 
llepresentatives,  I  do  not  envy  him  the  mental  or  moral  obliquity 
of  his  vision. 

Mr.  Clerk,  I  heard  it  said,  many  years  ago,  and  my  reading  and 
observations  of  the  proceedings  of  this  House  and  of  the  Senate  have 
taught  me  the  truth  of  the  declaration,  that  there  was  a  marked 
difi'erence  between  the  deportment  of  the  anti-slavery juen  in  Congress 
toward  slaveholders  and  their  own  Democratic  colleagues  from  the  free 
States.  Sir,- 1  want  no  better  evidence  of  that  fact  than  the  occur- 
rences of  yesterday. 

I  said  then,  that  if  any  member  of  this  House  had  indorsed  a  book 
full  of  sentiments  which  were  insurrectionary  and  hostile  to  the  domes- 
tic peace  and  tranquillity  of  this  country — a  book  intended  or  tending 
to  incite  servile  insurrection  in  one  or  more  of  the  States  of  this  Union, 
and  refused  still,  either  by  himself  or  through  another,  to  disavow  all 
sympathy  with  such  sentiments,  he  was  not  fit  to  be  Speaker  or 
member  of  this  House.  That  judgment  I,  this  morning,  deliberately 
reaflirm  in  all  its  length  and  breadth  and  significance.  The  other  day 
the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  (Mr.  Millson,)  a  slaveholder,  distinctly 


THERE  IS  A  WEST.  43 

declared  upon  this  floor,  with  all  the  emphasis  he  could  command,  that 
any  one  who  would  incite  a  servile  insurrection,  or  knowingly  distribute 
books  or  papers  with  that  design,  was  not  only  not  fit  to  be  Speaker, 
but  not  fit  to  live.  There  was  then  upon  that  side  of  this  Chamber  no 
sign,  not  even  a  whisper,  of  indignation  or  resentment.  No,  gentle- 
men, you  sat  in  your  seats,  under  that  just  but  scathing  denunciation, 
as  mute  as  fishes  and  as  gentle  as  lambs.  Even  your  candidate  for 
Speaker  started  to  his  feet,  and,  with  manifest  trepidation,  disavowed 
every  purpose  and  sentiment  of  the  kind.  Now,  gentlemen  of  the 
Republican  party,  once  for  all  and  most  respectfully,  not  in  the  lan- 
guage of  menace,  but  as  sober  truth,  receive  this  message  from  me, 
greeting  :  I  am  your  peer  ;  I  represent  a  constituency  as  brave,  as 
intelligent,  as  noble,  and  as  free  as  the  best  among  you  upon  this  floor 
— and  in  their  name  and  in  my  own  name,  I  tell  you  that  just  whatso- 
ever rights,  privileges,  courtesies,  liberties,  or  any  thing  else,  you — 
whether  from  apprehension  of  personal  danger  or  from  any  other  cause 
— you,  brave  men  at  home  vaunting  arrantly  there  your  rebukes  here 
of  Southern  insolence  and  bravado — you,  who  return  to  your  constitu- 
ents at  the  end  of  every  session  bearing  with  you  the  scalps  of  half  a 
score  of  flre-eaters  from  Alabama,  Mississippi,  or  the  Carolinas — you 
are  accustomed  to  extend  to  slaveholders  and  Southern  men  upon  this 
floor,  I,  as  your  peer,  demand  and  will  have  at  your  hands.  If  you 
think  otherwise,  you  have  much  yet  to  learn  of  the  character  of  the 
man  with  whom  you  have  to  deal.  I  am  as  good  a  Western  fire-eater 
as  the  hottest  salamander  in  this  House.     (Laughter  and  applause.) 

I  have  been  served  with  a  notice  this  morning  that  the  llepublican 
party  here  do  not  intend  to  listen  to  any  further  discussion.  Very 
respectfully,  I  care  not  whether  they  listen  or  not.  Let  me  tell  them 
that  the  country  holds  its  breath  in  suspense  at  the  lightest  word 
uttered  in  this  Hall.  The  people  of  the  United  States  are  listening, 
at  this  moment,  to  catch  every  syllable  which  falls  from  the  lips  of  the 
humblest  member  here.  >^ 

I  propose,  now,  sir.  to  address  myself  to  those  subjects  only  which 
I  designed,  from  the  beginning,  to  discuss. 

I  have  said,  and  repeat,  that  the  sentiments  which  have  been  avowed 
and  the  statements  made  upon  this  floor,  demanding  notice  and  reply, 
impel  me  to  break  the  silence  which  I  have  thus  far  observed.  The 
North  and  the  South  stand  here  arrayed  against  each  other.  Upon 
the  one  side,  I  behold  numerical  power ;  upon  the  other,  the  violent, 
even  fierce,  spirit  of  resistance.  Disunion  has  been  threatened.  Sir, 
in  all  this  controversy,  so  far  as  it  is  sectional,  I  occupy  the  position  of 
ARMED  NEUTRALITY.  I  am  not  a  Northern  man.  I  have  little  sym- 
pathy with  the  North,  no  very  good  feeling  for,  and  am  bound  to  her 
by  no  tie  whatsoever,  other  than  what  once  were  and  ought  always  to 
be  among  the  strongest  of  all  ties — a  common  language  and  common 
country.  Least  of  all,  am  I  that  most  unseemly  and  abject  of  all 
political  spectacles — "  a  Northern  man  with  Southern  principles  ;"  but, 
God  be  thanked,  still  a  United  States  man  with  United  States  princi- 
ples. When  I  emigrate  to  the  South,  take  up  my  abode  there,  identify 
myself  with  her  interests,  holding  slaves  or  holding  none;  then,  and 


44  THERE  IS  A  WEST. 

not  till  then,  will  I  have  a  right,  and  will  it  be  my  duty,  and  no  doubt 
my  pleasure,  to  maintain  and  support  Southern  principles  and  Soutliern 
institutions.  Then,  sir,  I  am  not  a  Southern  man,  either — although, 
in  this  unholy  and  most  unconstitutional  crusade  against  the  South, 
in  the  midst  of  the  invasion,  arson,  insurrection,  and  murder,  to  which 
she  has  been  subject,  and  with  which  she  is  still  threatened — with  the 
torch  of  the  incendiary  and  the  dagger  of  the  assassin  suspended  over 
her — my  most  cordial  sympathies  are  wholly  with  her. 

31  r.  Clerk,  I  have  heard  a  good  deal  said,  here  and  elsewhere,  about 
"  Southern  rights."  Sir,  I  have  no  respect — none — none — for  Southern 
rights  merely  because  they  are  Southern  rights.  They  arc  yours, 
gentlemen — not  mine.  Maintain  them  here,  within  the  Union,  firmly, 
fearlessly,  boldly,  quietly — do  it  like  men.  Defend  them  here  and 
everywhere,  and  with  all  the  means  in  your  power,  as  I  know  you  will 
and  as  I  know  you  can.  Yorktown  and  New  Orleans — the  end  of  the 
Revolution  and  the  end  of  the  War  of  1812 — are  both  yours,  and 
there  is  no  power  on  earth  that  can  subdue  or  conquer  you. 

But,  while  I  have  no  respect  for  Southern  rights  simply  because 
they  are  Southern  rights,  I  have  a  very  tender  and  most  profound  and 
penetrating  regard  for  my  own  obligations.  Your  rights  impose  upon 
me  corresponding  obligations,  which  shall  be  fulfilled  in  their  spirit 
and  to  the  very  letter — three -fifths  rule,  fugitive  slave  law,  equal 
rights  in  the  Territories,  and  whatsoever  else  the  Constitution  gives 
you.  (Applause.)  Our  fathers  made  that  compact,  and  I  will  yield  a 
cordial,  ready,  and  not  grudging,  obedience  to  every  part  of  it. 

I  have  heard  it  sometimes  said — it  was  said  here  two  years  ago,  not 
on  this  floor,  certainly,  but  elsewhere — that  there  is  no  man  from  the  free 
States,  North  or  West,  who  is  "  true  to  the  South."  Well,  gentlemen, 
that  depends  upon  what  you  mean  by  being  true  to  the  South,  If  you 
mean  that  we,  the  llepresentatives  of  the  free  States  of  this  Union, 
North  and  West,  shall  sit  here  within  this  Chamber,  uttering  Southern 
sentiments,  consulting  Southern  interests,  sustaining  Southern  institu- 
tions, and  giving  Southern  votes,  reckless  of  our  own  identity  and  our 
own  self-respect,  then  I  never  was,  am  not  now,  and  never  will,  while 
the  Representative  of  a  free  State,  be  "true  to  the  South;"'  and  I 
thank  God  for  it.  If  that  be  what  is  meant  by  "rottenness,"  in  the 
other  end  of  the  capitol,  commend  me  to  rottenness  all  the  days  of 
my  life. 

But  if  you  mean — and  I  know  that  a  large  majority  of  you  do  mean 
— true  to  the  Constitution,  without  which  there  can  not  be,  and  ought 
not  to  be,  any  Union — true  to  our  own  obligations — ready  and  sedu- 
lous to  fulfill  every  article  of  the  compact  which  our  fathers  made,  to 
the  extremest  inch  of  po.ssibility,  and  yielding,  gracefully  and  willingly, 
as  in  the  earlier  and  better  days  of  the  Republic,  every  thing  which 
comity  and  good  fellowship,  not  only  as  between  foreign  states,  but 
among  brethren,  demands  at  our  hands,  then,  I  tell  you,  and  I  tell  the 
gentleman  from  Tennes.see,  (Mr,  Nelson,)  that  the  great  mass  of  the 
Democratic  party  in  the  free  States,  and  especially  in  the  West,  and 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  others,  not  members  of  that  party, 
are  now,  and,  I  trust,  ever  will  be,  true  to  the  South. 


THERE   IS   A   WEST.  45 

Allow  me  to  illustrate  my  proposition.  There  are  in  this  Hall,  as 
elsewhere,  three  classes  of  men.  The  Republican  or  anti-slavery 
man — and  you,  gentlemen,  have,  or  have  had,  not  a  few  of  that  num- 
ber in  the  South — asks,  whenever  a  measure  is  proposed  here,  Will 
it  tend  to  injure  and  hem  in  the  institution  of  slavery,  or  rather 
will  it  weaken  or  offend  the  South,  because  it  is  the  South  ?  and  he 
subordinates  every  other- consideration  to  the  great  object  of  suppress- 
ing slavery,  and  of  warring  on  the  South.  Upon  the  other  hand,  the 
merely  Southern  man,  and  especially  the  Southern  extremist,  asks,  How 
will  this  measure  advance  the  interests  of  slavery,  or,  rather,  how  will 
it  aggrandize  the  South  as  South  ?  and  his  vote  is  determined  or  in- 
sensibly influenced  by  this  consideration.  There  is  yet  another,  a 
third  class,  who  ask  none  of  these  questions,  and  are  moved  by  none 
of  these  considerations  ;  political  Gallios,  perhaps,  the  gentlemen  from 
Ohio  (Mr.  Corwin)  would  call  them,  who  care  for  none  of  these  things. 
To  that  class,  Mr.  Clerk,  I  am  glad  to  belong.  Outside  of  my  own 
State,  and  of  her  constitution,  I  am  neither  pro-slavery  nor  anti-slav- 
ery; but  maintain,  as  was  said  upon  a  memorable  occasion,  "a  serene 
indifference  "  on  this  subject  between  these  two  sections.  And  here 
I  stand  upon  the  ancient,  safe,  constitutional,  peaceable  ground  of  our 
fathers.  For  many  years  after  the  foundation  of  this  Republic  were 
laid  by  wiser  and  better  men — pardon  me,  gentlemen — than  I  see 
around  me,  no  man  ever  thought  of  testing  any  measure  here  by  its 
effects  upon  the  institution  of  slavery.  Never  till  the  fell  "  Missouri 
question "  reared  its  horrid  front,  begotten  in  New  England,  and 
brought  forth  in  New  York,  was  slavery  made  the  subject  of  partizan 
and  sectional  controversy  within  this  capitol.  And  we  had  peace  in 
the  land  in  those  days,  and  patriotism  and  humanity  and  religion 
and  benevolence ;  faith  and  good  works.  We  neither  had,  nor 
demanded  then,  an  anti-slavery  Constitution,  an  anti-slavery  Bible,  nor 
an  anti-slavery  God  ;  but  the  Constitution  of  the  land,  the  Bible  of 
our  fathers,  and  that  great  and  tremendous  Being,  who,  from  eternity, 
has  ruled  in  the  armies  of  heaven,  and  among  the  children  of  men. 

Then,  sir,  I  am  not  a  Northern  man,  nor  yet  a  Southern  man  ;  but  I 
am  a  Western  man,  by  birth,  in  habit,  by  education  ;  and  although 
still  a  United  States  man  with  United  States  principles,  yet  within, 
and  subordinate  to  the  Constitution,  am  wholly  devoted  to  Western 
interests.  Sir,  this  is  no  new  enunciation  of  mine  here.  I  proclaimed 
it  upon  this  floor  one  year  ago,  and  now  congratulate  myself  and  the 
West  in  having  found  so  able  and  eloquent  a  coadjutor  in  the  person 
of  the  distinguished  gentleman  from  the  seventh  district  of  Ohio 
(Mr.  Corwin).  Sir,  I  am  of  and  from  the  West;  the  great  A^alley  of 
the  Mississippi ;  of  the  free  States  of  that  valley,  seated  in  queenly 
majesty  at  the  head  of  the  basin  of  that  mighty  river;  yet  one  in 
interest,  and  one  by  the  bonds  of  nature,  stronger  than  hooks  of  steel, 
with  every  other  State  in  that  valley,  full  as  it  is,  of  population  and 
riches,  and  exultant  now  in  the  hour  of  her  approaching  dominion. 
Seat  yourself,  denizen  of  the  sterile  and  narrow,  but  beautiful  hills 
and  valleys  of  New  England,  and  you,  too,  of  the  great  cities  of  the 
North,  whose  geography  and  travel  are  circumscribed  by  the  limits  of 


46  THERE   IS   A   WEST. 

a  street  railroad  ;  seat  yourselves  upon  the  summit  of  the  AUcphanies, 
and  behold  spread  out  before  you  a  country  stretchinj;  from  the 
Alleghany  to  the  Kocky  Mountains — from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the 
Canada  frontier — with  limitless  plains,  boundless  forests,  fifteen  States, 
a  hundred  river*,  ten  thousand  cities,  towns,  and  villages,  and  twelve 
millions  of  people.  Such  a  vision  no  man  ever  saw  ;  no,  not  even 
Adam,  when,  in  the  newness  and  grandeur  of  God-made  manhood,  he 
stood  upon  the  topmost  hill  of  Paradise,  and  looked  down  upon  a 
whole  heinisphere  of  the  yet  unpeopled  world.  That,  sir,  is  my 
country  ;  if  I  may  speak  it  without  profanity,  God's  own  country  ; 
yet,  in  this  war  of  sections,  I  am  of  the  free  States  of  that  valley. 

Mr.  Clerk,  when  I  came  to  this  city,  two  years  ago,  I  brought  with 
me  an  intense  nationality  ;  but  I  had  been  here  only  a  little  while 
till  I  learned  that  a  man  without  a  section  to  cling  to,  was  reckoned 
but  as  a  mere  cipher  in  the  account ;  and  from  that  hour,  subordinate 
always  to  the  Constitution,  I  became  and  am  a  WESTERN  sectionalist, 
and  so  shall  continue  to  the  day  of  my  death.  I,  too,  propose,  with 
the  Leather  Stocking  of  the  "  Prairie,"  to  fight  fire  with  fire.  I 
learned  here,  Mr.  Clerk,  that  while  there  was  a  North  and  a  South, 
there  was  no  West.  I  found  her  individuality  sunk  in  the  North. 
I  saw  that  you  of  New  York  and  New  England  entertained  a  profound 
respect  for  the  citizen  of  South  Carolina  or  Georgia,  slaveholder 
though  he  might  be,  because  he  was  east  of  the  Alleghanies;  and 
that  you  of  Georgia  and  South  Carolina  reciprocated  the  good  opinion, 
abolition  aside,  because  the  New  Yorker  and  the  Yankee  lived  very 
near  to  the  rising  of  the  sun  ;  while  the  Western  man  was  held  to  be 
a  sort  of  outside  barbarian,  very  useful  to  count  in  a  trial  of  numer- 
ical strength,  but  of  no  value  for  any  other  purpose.  We  of  the  great 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  are  perpetually  ignored.  Sir,  if  all  this 
were  done  of  studied  purpose,  it  would  at  least  be  tolerable ;  but  not 
so ;  there  is  no  design  in  it.  It  is  a  cool,  silent,  persistent,  unob- 
trusive, but  most  ofiensive  disparagement.  Gentlemen,  you  do  not 
know  us.  It  is  but  a  few  months  ago  that  a  great  paper  in  the  city 
of  New  York  spoke  of  Judge  Douglas  as  attempting — and  it  was  in 
the  very  capital  of  the  State — "  to  impose  his  absurd  theories  upon 
the  honest  foresters  of  Ohio."  And  about  the  same  time  another 
great  paper  in  the  North  referred  to  Governor  Chase  as  a  public  man 
of  merely  "provincial  reputation." 

Let  not  the  gentleman  from  the  Mansfield  district  (Mr.  Sherman) 
flatter  himself  that  he  is  to  be  an  exception.  No,  sir ;  he  sees  the 
parting  rays  of  the  setting  sun  too  late  in  the  day.  A  distinguished 
predecessor  of  his  attained  once  the  same  point  of  greatness,  but  only 
to  be  let  down  gently  in  favor  of  Cape  Cod.  Do  not  deceive  your- 
self. You  were  only  put  forward  to  be  killed  off";  you  were  merely 
detailed  as  a  forlorn  hope,  to  be  shot  down  in  front  of  that  Malakoff 
which  you  never  will  capture.  Oh  no  !  though  two  thousand  miles 
east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  you  are  quite  too  far  West.  Your 
distinguished  colleague  from  the  seventh  district  (Mr.  Corwin)  is  gazing 
now  wistfully  through  a  spy-glass  in  the  direction  whither  your  eyes 
are  turned  ;  but  he,  alas,  any  more  than  you,  will   never  wake  up 


THERE  IS   A   WEST.  47 

from  that  delicious  reverie  in  which   he   now  sits  buried,  to  realize 
that — 

'Tis  distance  lends  enchantment  to  the  views, 
And  robes  the  Speaker's  tribune  in  its  radiant  hue. 

We  did,  indeed,  gentlemen,  once  elect  a  Western  President;  but 
him  you  killed  in  a  month — and  a  South-western  President,  too,  and 
he  survived  you  but  fifteen  months. 

But,  gentlemen  of  the  West,  the  day-spring  of  our  deliverance 
begins  to  dawn.  Let  us  rejoice.  The  long  period  of  our  minority  is 
about  to  terminate.  Within  the  Union,  after  the  next  census,  we  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley  will  hold  in  our  own  hands  the  political  power 
and  the  destinies  of  this  country,  and  we  will  administer  them  for  the 
benefit  of  the  whole  country.  The  day  of  our  political  independence 
is  right  now,  while  I  speak.  If  you  of  the  North  and  South-east 
will  conspire,  as  for  the  last  seventy  years,  to  control  the  power  and 
patronage  of  this  Government  for  your  own  benefit,  we  of  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley  will  combine  to  rescue  them  from  your  hands.  If  you 
of  the  whole  North  will  continue  your  sectional  warfare  upon  the 
whole  South,  know  ye  that  we  of  the  North-west  hold  the  political 
balance  of  power  between  you,  and  that  we  will  use  it  to  crush  out 
and  annihilate  forever  the  fanaticism  and  treason  which  are  threaten- 
ing now  to  overspread  the  whole  North,  and  very  speedily  to  destroy 
this  Republic.  We  will  be  ignored  no  longer.  And  here  let  me  warn 
the  Republican  representatives  from  the  West,  that  they  have  loaned 
themselves  too  long  already  to  this  proud  and  domineering  North. 
You  permit  yourselves  to  be  identified  with  the  North,  and  to  make 
common  cause  with  her  against  slavery.  Cui  bono?  Not  yours;  ah, 
no!  You  help  to  win  the  fight;  you  make  good  soldiers — excellent 
food  for  powder — but  your  Northern  officers  and  Northern  masters 
will  divide  the  spoils.  When  William  H.  Seward  threatens  the  South 
with  the  power  and  domination  of  the  North,  he  means  you ;  but 
when  he  would  distribute  office  and  patronage,  he  will  know  no  West. 
Some  of  you  dream  that  your  Governor  Chase  will  be  the  candidate 
of  the  Republican  party  for  the  next  Presidency.  Miserable  infatua- 
tion !  Cease,  then,  I  beseech  you,  this  unmanly  vassalage  to  the 
North.  If  you  will  not  hearken  to  the  voice  of  patriotism,  listen,  at 
least,  to  the  demands  of  independence  and  self-respect.  If  you  will 
be  sectionalists,  lay  aside  this  pestilent  fanaticism  on  the  subject  of 
slavery,  which  you  borrow  servilely  from  the  clergy,  lecturers,  and 
other  demagogues  of  the  North,  and  which  they  use  for  the  purpose 
of  their  own  aggrandizement — lay  it  aside,  and  be  Western  sectional- 
ists. Talk  not  to  me  about  humanity  and  benevolence.  I  have  as 
profound  and  delicate  an  appreciation  of  them  as  you  can  have,  but  I 
will  not  be  insulted  with  the  miserable  pretense.  Are  there  no 
objects  of  charity  in  your  own  midst — no  poor,  no  sick,  no  lame,  no 
halt,  no  blind,  no  widows  and  orphans — to  whose  necessities  you  may 
administer,  and  thus  find  vent  for  that  abounding  river  of  humanity 
which  wells  up  and  flows  out  from  the  fountain  of  your  hearts  ?  Par- 
don me,  but  I  despise  and  contemn  your  vassalage  to  the  North  as 
much  as  you  can  contemn  and  despise  any  man's  servility  to  the  SoutK 


48  THERE   IS   A   WEST. 

And  now,  one  word  to  the  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania,  (Mr.  Hick- 
man,) wliu  tuck  rci'uixc,  the  other  day,  in  the  "engine-room"  of  the 
left  side  of  this  Chamber,  whence,  through  new  and  rudely-constructed 
port-holes,  to  send  his  missiles  whistling  into  the  camp  which  he  so 
lately  deserted.  I  admire  his  discretion — the  better  part  of  valor. 
Sir,  he  spoke  about  precipitating  eighteen  millions  of  people  upon 
eight  millions.  AVhcnce  docs  he  propose  to  get  his  eighteen  millions? 
Did  he  mean  to  include  us  of  the  North-west?  Does  he  imagine 
that  we  are  militiamen  to  be  drafted,  or  conscripts  to  be  enrolled,  and 
march  forth  at  the  sound  of  his  drum,  or  to  the  notes  of  his  bugle? 
I  tell  him  that,  if  he  means  to  raise  the  black  standard  of  internecine 
war  upon  the  South,  he  must  find  his  recruits  nearer  home. 

Mr.  Florence  (in  his  seat.)  He  will  not  find  them  there.  (Applause  in 
the  galleries.) 

Mr.  Vallandigham.  I  rejoice  to  hear  it.  But  I  tell  the  gentle- 
man further,  that,  if  the  Territories  of  this  Union  are  to  become  the 
subject  of  controversy  after  dissolution,  we  of  the  Mississippi  Valley 
propose  to  keep  them  ourselves,  and  then  to  make  fair  and  honest 
partition  with  each  other. 

I  approach  now,  Mr.  Clerk,  a  painful  and  most  difficult  subject — 
periculosce  ■plenum  ojms  aleoc.  A  word  which,  for  very  many  years 
after  the  organization  of  this  Government,  no  man  ever  dared  to 
breathe  within  this  capitol,  has  now  become  as  familiar  as  the  most 
ordinary  words  of  salutation.  Not  a  day  nor  an  hour  passes,  but  the 
hoarse  croaking  of  this  raven  is  heard,  piercing  the  fearful  hollow  of 
our  ears  with  moaning  and  dirge-like  wail,  the  ''  never  more  "  of  the 
Union  of  these  States.  Sir,  in  this  war  of  sections,  standing  here 
between  the  living  and  the  dead,  we,  the  Democratic  representatives 
of  the  West,  and  I,  as  one  of  that  number,  have  a  duty  to  perform, 
which,  in  all  humbleness,  but  in  all  faithfulness,  shall  be  fulfilled. 
But  too  many  of  you  of  the  North  are  striving  with  might  and  main 
to  force  the  South  out  of  this  Union ;  and  too  many  of  you  of  the 
South  are  most  anxious  to  be  forced  out.  Do  not  deny  it,  either  of 
you.  I  know  it.  Sir,  if  any  member  should  rise  here  and  tell  me 
that  there  are  no  disunionists  in  the  South,  could  I  believe  it  ?  And 
when  the  gentleman  from  New  York,  (jMr.  Clark,)  or  any  one  else, 
would  persuade  the  South  that  there  are  no  Abolitionists,  or  disunionists, 
in  the  North  or  the  West,  he  only  insults  the  intelligence  of  the  men 
upon  whom  he  would  impose.  Sir,  if  any  colleague  of  mine,  or  any 
other  gentleman  from  the  free  States,  upon  this  floor,  will  so  far 
forget  the  solemn  responsibilities  of  his  office,  in  the  midst  of  the 
great  and  most  alarming  dangers  wherewith  we  are  at  this  moment 
encompassed,  and  unintentionally,  of  course,  misrepresent  the  true 
state  of  public  sentiment  and  public  action  in  the  North  and  the 
northern  portions  of  the  West,  I,  at  least,  will  not  consent  to  be 
a  party  to  the  deception.  I  tell  gentlemen  of  the  South  that  the 
doctrines  of  Hale,  Banks,  Seward,  Giddings,  Chase,  Lincoln,  and, 
above  all,  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  are  the  doctrines  of  a  large 
majority  of  the  people  of  the  North,  and  of  a  powerful  and,  for  all 


THERE   IS   A   WEST.  49 

efficient  purposes  of  political  action,  a  controlling  minority,  just  now, 
in  the  AVest.  One  column  of  editorial  in  the  recognized  organs  of 
the  Republican  partj^  of  Ohio,  circulating  every  day  among  the 
niasses  of  the  people,  penetrating  into  the  homos  and  hearts  of  every 
family,  acting  and  reacted  upon  by  the  public  opinion  which  they 
help  to  create,  and  by  which  the  public  men  of  this  country  are  set 
up,  or  pulled  down,  at  the  ballot-box,  is  better  evidence  of  the  true 
Republican  sentiment  of  Ohio  than  a  thousand  speeches  from  the 
distinguished  member  for  the  seventh  District  of  that  State  (Mr. 
Corwin).  Sir,  I  listened  the  other  day,  as  I  always  listen,  with  very 
great  pleasure,  to  the  genial  and  gushing  eloquence  from  the  lips  of 
that  gentleman,  touched,  as  they  are,  as  with  a  live  coal  from  the 
altar  of  oratory.  In  the  sentiments  which  he  uttered  here,  there  is 
much,  very  much,  which  meets  my  hearty  concurrence ;  but  I  regret 
that  truth  and  candor  compel  me  to  say  that  he  does  not  represent 
the  opinions  and  sentiments  of  the  party  to  which  he  belongs.  He 
claims,  indeed,  the  leadership  of  that  party.  Pardon  me — he  is  not 
only  not  a  leader,  but  not  even  a  respectful  follower  of  the  Republican 
party  in  that  State.  (Applause  in  the  galleries.)  Kentuckian  as  he 
is  by  birth,  nobleman  by  nature — patriot  as  he  is,  and  Whig  as  he! 
once  was,  I  know  that  he  never  will  consent  to  "guard  the  baggage  " 
of  that  vandal  host.  Yet  am  I  sorry  to  say  that,  to  him,  more  thani 
to  any  other  man  in  the  State,  the  Republican  party  to-day  are 
indebted  for  their  political  supremacy  in  Ohio.  He  it  was,  whoy. 
■without  power  in  his  own  party,  yet  controlled,  at  the  late  election^ 
the  fifty  thousand  conservative  voters  of  that  State  who  are  not  of 
the  Democratic  party,  and  misled  them  into  the  support  of  an  organ- 
ization and  of  principles  with  which  he  has  no  real  sympathy  at  all. 
He  went  into  the  Republican  party  to  control  it  for  good — but  he 
was  only  as  a  straw  before  the  whirlwind.  He  finds  now  a  barren 
scepter  in  his  gripe ;  and  let  me,  with  great  respect,  remind  him 
that  it  is  not  conservative  speeches  which  are  needed  here  to  save 
us,  but  conservative  votes  at  home.  Certainly,  the  vast  majority  of 
the  people  of  Ohio,  of  all  parties,  are  at  heart  opposed  to  insurrec- 
tion and  disunion ;  but  I  tell  the  gentleman  that,  if  he  would  con- 
quer abolition  and  sectionalism,  he  must  fight  them  at  the  ballot- 
box. 

Mr.  Clerk,  I  do  not  propose  to  follow  the  gentleman  into  a  discussion 
of  the  local  politics  of  Ohio.  I  resolved,  a  good  many  years  ago, 
to  make  no  speech  within  a  legislative  assembly  fit  only  to  be  spoken 
upon  the  "stump;"  and  to  that  resolution  I  propose  steadily  to 
adhere.  But,  inasmuch  as  the  mere  partisan  politics  of  my  State 
have  already  been  drawn  into  debate  here,  a  passing  remark  may  not 
be  inappropriate  from  me  as  a  Representative,  in  part,  from  that 
State — though,  in  truth,  I  can  add  little  to  what  has  been  fitly^ 
strongly,  eloquently  spoken  by  the  gentleman  from  the  twelfth  Dis- 
trict (Mr.  Cox). 

Something  has  been  said — more,  I  understand,  is  to  follow — in 
regard  to  the  soundness  of  the  Democratic  party  in  Ohio,  and  in 
Other  States  of  the  Union.  Sir,  I  will:  spare  gentlemen  all  trouble 
4 


50  THERE    IS    A    WEST. 

upon  that  point.  The  Democratic  party  in  Ohio,  some  years  ago, 
was  not  SdUtid,  as  men  count  soundness  now.  You  need  not  go 
back  to  the  records,  and  reproduce  them  here.  Open  confession  is 
good  fur  the  soul,  and  I  make  it.  I  speak  the  more  freely,  because  I 
think — and  tlicre  are  hostile  witnesses  here  present  to  attest  it — that 
Diy  own  record,  from  the  very  beginning  of  this  whole  controversy 
concerning  slavery  as  a  political  question,  is  as  unimpeachable  as  the 
record  of  any  man  in  the  North  or  the  West,  and,  I  may  add,  the 
South,  too  ;  for  let  me  admonish  gentlemen  from  that  section  that 
many  of  the  people  of  the  free  States  were  for  a  good  while  misled  by 
the  prec-epts,  if  not  the  practice,  of  some  of  the  earlier,  and  the  later 
fathers,  too,  of  the  southern  political  church.  A  little  charity,  I  pray 
you,  upon  this  subject.  The  Democratic  party  of  Ohio,  ver}'  much 
after  the  fashion  described  by  the  gentleman  from  the  seventh  district, 
(Mr.  Corwin,)  adopted,  in  1848,  a  certain  resolution,  in  which  they 
denounced  slavery  in  the  abstract,  and,  with  valorous  earnestness, 
declared  that  the  people  of  Ohio  would  use  all  power  clearly  given 
in  the  constitutional  compact  to  "  eradicate,"  tear  up  slavery  by  the 
roots;  li(f — there  is  much  virtue  in  "but,"  as  well  as  "if" — they 
further  resolved,  with  refreshing  consistency,  protesting  the  highest 
regard  for  the  Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the  rights  of  all  the  States, 
that  the  Democracy  of  Ohio  were  of  opinion  that  no  power  was 
conferred  by  the  constitutional  compact  to  institute  any  process  of 
eradication  at  all.  Sir,  I  am  not  here  to  commend  the  superior 
honesty  of  such  a  platform.  The  gentleman,  (Mr.  Corwin,)  who  is 
well  posted  and  of  mature  years,  has  explained  luminously  how  these 
things  are  done,  even  in  Republican  conventions ;  but  I  will  not 
disingenuously  pretend — of  course,  I  have  no  allusion  to  my  col- 
league— that  these  resolutions  did  not  at  that  time  express  the  sen- 
timents of  the  Democracy  of  my  State.  I  think  that,  so  far  as  they 
were  supposed  to  be  anti-slavery  in  their  character,  they  did  express 
both  the  opinions  and  the  feelings  of  a  very  large  majority  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  State.  Sir,  I  was  a  member  of  that  convention,  and  of 
the  committee  on  resolutions,  and  voted  many  times  in  committee, 
during  a  protracted  session  of  two  days,  against  any  and  every  expres- 
sion of  opinion  upon  the  question  of  slavery  in  any  form.  Like  my 
colleague,  I  was  overpowered ;  like  him,  I  endeavored  to  make  the 
best  of  it,  seeking  consolation  in  the  second  and  sound  part  of  the 
resolution,  and  whiling  away  my  idle  hours  in  the  delicate  task  of 
reconciling  the  two  branches  with  each  other.  My  success  in  this 
somewhat  difficult  work  was  just  about  equal  to  the  success  of  the 
gentleman  (Mr.  Corwin)  who  undertook  a  similar  contract  here,  the 
other  day.  But,  Mr.  Clerk,  at  every  subsequent  convention  I  exerted 
myself  to  the  utmost  to  procure  a  recision  of  these  resolutions; 
and,  finally,  in  January,  1856,  they  were  rescinded,  and  a  sound 
platform  adopted  in  their  stead.  From  that  hour  the  Democratic 
party  has  steadily  gained  strength.  I  pass  by  the  election  of  Mr. 
Chase  to  the  Senate,  in  1848,  the  refusal  by  a  State  Convention  to 
indorse  the  Baltimore  platform,  in  1853,  and  other  unsound  things, 
in  faith  or  in  practice,  whereof  the  Democracy  of  my   State  were 

i 


THERE   IS   A   WEST.  51 

guilty  in  times  past.  "  Let  the  dead  past  bury  its  dead."  Ernst  tst 
das  Lrhen.  Our  business  is  to  grapple  manfully  with  the  living 
realities  of  the  present  moment.  Sir,  in  my  judgment,  the  wisest 
man  that  ever  lived  was  the  author  of  the  statute  of  limitations; 
all  things  adjust  themselves  equitably  in  periods  of  just  about  six 
years.  Politicians,  indeed,  in  later  times,  require,  and,  perhaps,  are 
entitled  to  a  shorter  limitation.  No  man's  record  ought  to  be  revived 
or  called  in  question  after  the  lapse  of  six  months. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  present  state  of  parties  and  of 
public  sentiment  in  the  North  and  West.  Sir,  I  do  not  propose  to 
speak  at  any  length  upon  this  subject.  The  events  are  recent,  and 
no  public  man  anywhere  can  have  fiiiled  to  observe  them.  It  is 
folly  to  deny  that,  all  through  the  North,  and  in  many  portions  of 
the  West,  distinct  and  very  earnest  sympathy  has  been  exhibited  for 
John  Brown  in  his  recent  insurrectionary  and  murderous  invasion 
of  Virginia  ;  and  that,  too,  not  by  the  vulgar  and  low,  but  by  men 
very  high  in  political,  social,  and  religious  positions.  Funeral  pro- 
cessions, halls  draped  in  mourning,  tolling  of  bells,  sermons,  eulogies, 
orations,  public  meetings,  adjournment  of  courts  of  justice,  attempted 
adjournment  of  Senates  and  Houses  of  Representatives,  and  all  the 
other  usual  insignia  of  public  sorrow,  bestowed  only  hitherto  upon 
the  great  and  the  good,  the  patriots,  the  heroes,  and  martyrs  of  the 
world — all  these  tributes,  and  more,  have  been  paid  to  the  memory 
of  a  murderer  and  felon.  Even  in  my  own  native  State,  and  in  a 
part  of  my  own  district,  I  lament  to  say  that  these  sad  evidences  of 
a  corrupted  public  sentiment  have  been  exhibited.  In  Cleveland, 
fertile  in  revolutionary  conventions,  in  Akron,  in  Cincinnati,  and 
elsewhere,  in  public  assemblages,  and  by  other  means  equally  public 
and  significant,  the  sympathy  of  thousands  has  been  expressed. 
Sir,  it  is  vain  to  attempt  to  conceal  what  all  this  means.  There  is 
a  public  sentiment  behind  it  all,  or  it  never  would  be  tolerated. 
Thirty  years  ago,  John  Brown,  hung  like  a  felon,  would  have  been 
buried  like  a  dog. 

Allusion  has  been  made  also  to  the  Union  meetings  held,  or  to  be 
held,  in  the  great  cities  of  the  North.  Sir,  I  would  not  abate  one 
jot  or  tittle  from  the  true  value,  least  of  all,  from  the  patriotism  of 
these  assemblages.  When  public  meetings  run  along  with  public 
sentiment,  they  are  powerful  to  mold  and  to  give  it  efficiency;  but 
when  they  do  not  beat  responsive  to  the  popular  heart,  they  are  of 
no  value.  No ;  one  single  page  of  election  returns  is  worth  more, 
as  an  index  of  real  public  sentiment,  than  all  the  Union  resolves 
which  shall  be  passed  between  this  and  the  4th  of  March,  1861. 
Let  no  man  be  deceived.  If  the  distinguished  gentleman  from 
Tennessee  (Mr.  Nelson)  be  sincere — and  I  know  that  he  is — in 
believing  that  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  the  free  States  are 
opposed  to  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  question  in  any  form,  and 
are  ready  to  strike  hands  with  any  party  which  will  put  it  down 
forever  ;  if  he  really  thinks  that  but  a  very  small  part  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  North  sympathize  with  John  Brown,  or  yield  assent — a 
cordial  and  working  assent — to  the  doctrines  of  William  H.  Seward, 


52  THERE    IS    A    WEST. 

the  "irrepressible  conflict"  included,  full  ns  it  is  of  insurrection, 
treason,  and  murder;  if  he  believes  that,  without  the  strong  arm  of 
the  Federal  dovernnicnt,  powerl'iilly  and  in  good  faith  stretched 
forth,  fugitive  slaves  could  be  recaptured  in  one  half  the  free  Statea 
of  this  Union,  under  any  law  of  Congress,  I  can  only  say,  that  ho 
has  the  mild  virtue  of  an  honest  heart — most  marvelous  credulity. 
Sir,  I  entertain  for  tluat  gentleman  the  very  highest  respect,  but  he 
must  allow  me  to  say  that,  aside  from  that  portion  of  his  remarks 
the  other  day,  which  breathed  so  much  of  earnest,  sincere,  and 
eloquent  eulogy  upon  the  Union — one  such  speech,  blinding  the 
eyes  of  the  people  of  the  free  Statea  to  the  real  public  sentiment  at 
the  South,  does  more  thus  to  keep  alive  the  flames  of  civil  discord 
between  the  South  and  the  North  and  West,  than  a  hundred  speeches, 
vehement  and  impassioned  though  they  may  be,  of  the  gentleman 
from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Keitt).  Sir,  when  a  member  of  this  House,, 
of  fine  personal  appearance,  of  sonorous  voice,  of  classic  education, 
and  approved  rhetorical  excellence,  tells  us,  with  a  magnificence  of 
rhythm  which  regurgitates  through  these  aisles,  peals  along  these 
galleries,  pierces  the  ceiling,  and  loses  itself  amid  the  columns  and 
Bcaflfolding  of  the  unfinished  dome  of  the  capitol,  that  he  will  shatter 
this  llepublic  "from  turret  to  foundation  stone,"  we  are  apt  to 
understand  that  he  is  executing  a  grand  rhetorical  fugue,  and  that 
he  is  not  half  so  much  in  earnest  as  he  would  have  us  imagine. 
But  when  a  gentleman,  mature  in  years,  with  a  cold  logic,  a  calm 
demeanor,  but  a  sincere  heart  and  earnest  purpose,  tells  us,  in  the 
midst  of  invasion  and  murder — the  legitimate  and  inevitable  fruit» 
of  the  "irrepressible  conflict,"  which  has  been  proclaimed  against 
his  own  section — that  he  is  not  alarmed,  and  believes  that  no  mis- 
chief is  intended,  we  only  understand  that  he  invites  aggression. 

Sir,  I  am  this  moment  reminded,  by  the  appearance  of  the  gentle- 
man before  me,  (Mr.  Briggs,)  that  I  need  no  better  illustration  of 
the  melancholy  change  in  public  sentiment,  at  the  North,  within  the 
past  few  years.  Here  he  sits,  upon  the  only  national  side  of  this 
chamber,  sole  exempler  of  the  "lost  politics"  of  the  Whig  party, 
faithful  among  the  faithless,  only  he ;  sole  representative  of  the  flag 
of  our  country,  solitary  and  alone,  E  PLurihus  Unum.  (Laughter.) 
Sir,  does  not  all  this  mean  something? 

But  I  will  pursue  this  subject  no  further.  I  find  no  pleasure  in 
it.  I  have  said,  and  I  think  the  dullest  among  us  can  not  fail  to 
discern  it  now,  that  there  is  danger,  great  and  most  imminent  danger, 
of  a  speedy  disruption  of  the  Union  of  these  States.  Too  many  of 
you  of  the  South  desire  it,  and  but  too  many  of  you  of  the  North 
are  cither  striving  for,  or  reckless  whether  it  comes  or  not. 

Sir,  I  will  not  consent  that  an  honest  and  conscientious  opposition 
to  slavery  forms  any  part  of  the  motives  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Republican  party.  In  the  earlier  stages  of  the  Abolition  agitation, 
it  may  have  been  otherwise,  but  not  so  now.  This  whole  contro- 
versy has  now  become  but  one  of  mere  sectionalism — a  war  for 
Eolitical  domination,  in  which  slavery  performs  but  the  part  of  the 
stter  X   in  an  algebraic  equation,  and  is  used  now,  in  the  political 


THERE  IS   A   WEST.  53 

algebra  of  the  day,  only  to  work  out  the  problem  of  disunion.  It 
was  admitted,  in  1820,  in  the  beginning,  by  Rufus  King,  who  hurled 
the  first  thunderbolt  in  the  Missouri  controversy,  to  be  but  a  question 
of  sectional  power  and  control.  To-day  it  exists,  and  is  fostered  and 
maintained,  because  the  North  has,  or  believes  that  she  has,  the 
power  and  numbers  and  strength  and  wealth,  and  every  other  ele- 
ment which  constitutes  a  State,  superior  to  you  of  the  South. 
Power  has  always  been  arrogant,  domineering,  wrathful,  inexorable, 
fierce,  denying  that  constitutions  and  laws  were  made  for  it.  Power 
now,  and  here,  is  just  what  power  has  been  everywhere,  and  in  every 
age.  But,  gentleman  of  the  North,  you  who  ignorantly  or  wittingly 
are  hurrying  this  Republic  to  its  destruction,  you  who  tell  the  South 
to  go  out  of  the  Union  if  she  dare,  and  you  will  bring  her  back  by 
force,  or  leave  her  to  languish  and  to  perish  under  your  overshadowing 
greatness,  did  it  never  occur  to  you  that  when  this  most  momentous 
but  most  disastrous  of  all  the  events  which  history  shall  ever  to  the 
end  of  time  record,  shall  have  been  brought  about,  the  West,  the  great 
West,  which  you  now  coolly  reckon  yours  as  a  province,  yours  as  a 
fief  of  your  vast  empire,  may  choose,  of  her  own  sovereign  good 
will  and  pleasure,  in  the  exercise  of  a  popular  sovereignty,  which 
will  demand,  and  will  have  non-intervention,  to  set  up  for  herself? 
Did  you  never  dream  of  a  W^estern  Confederacy?  Did  that 
horrid  phantom  never  flit  across  you  in  visions  of  the  night,  when 
deep  sleep  falls  upon  men?  Sir,  we  have  fed  you,  we  have  clothed 
you,  we  have  paid  tribute  to,  and  enriched  you,  for  now  these  sixty 
years ;  we  it  is  who  have  built  up  your  marts  of  commerce ;  we  it 
is  who  have  caused  your  manufacturing  establishments  to  flourish. 
Who  made  Boston?  What  built  up  New  York,  till  now,  like  Tyre 
of  old,  she  sits  queen  of  the  seas,  and  her  merchant-princes  and 
trafiickers  are  among  the  honorable  of  the  earth?  The  cotton  OP 
THE  South,  and  the  produce  op  the  West.  Maintain  this 
Union,  and  you  will  have  them  still.  Dissolve  this  Union,  if  you 
dare ;  send  California  and  Oregon  to  the  Pacific,  compel  the  South 
into  a  southern  confederacy,  force  us  of  the  West  into  a  western 
confederacy,  and  then  tell  me  what  position  would  you  assume 
among  the  powers  of  the  earth  ?  Where  then  would  be  your  pride 
and  arrogance,  your  trade  and  business,  your  commerce  and  your 
dominion?  Look  at  the  map  spread  out  before  you.  Behold  your- 
selves, as  Mr.  Webster  said  of  Austria,  "  a  mere  patch  upon  the 
earth's  surface."  And,  gentlemen  of  New  England,  let  me  ask  you, 
What  if  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  York  should  refuse  to 
go  with  you?  They  may  refuse.  You  are  a  peculiar  people. 
(Laughter.)  I  can  not  say  God's  peculiar  people ;  for  you  have 
dethroned  Jehovah,  and  set  up  a  new  and  anti-slavery  god  of  your 
own ;  and  before  one  year,  you  will  inaugurate  the  statue  of  John 
Brown  in  the  place  where  the  bronzed  image  of  Webster  now  stands. 
(Applause  and  hisses.)  But,  suppose  these  three  States  refuse  your 
fellowship.  Then  would  be  fulfilled  the  prophecy,  uttered  many 
years  ago,  of  the  re-annexation  of  New  England  to  the  British  crown. 
I  know  well,  Mr.  Clerk,  that  within  the  Union,  we  of  the  West 


54  THERE    IS   A    WEST. 

are  now,  and  so  far  as  business  and  trade  are  concerned,  must  ever 
remain,  tributaries  to  the  North.  You  have  made  us  so  by  that 
niatrnificent  net-work  of  railroads  which  stretches  now  from  the 
Atlantic  to  and  beyond  the  Mississippi.  But  be  not  deceived.  That 
"vast  inland  sea"  is  mare  nostrum — it  is  our  Atlantic  ocean.  Once 
cut  off  from  the  powerful  and  controlling  tics  of  a  united  Govern- 
ment, aliens  and  foreigners  to  each  other,  with  police  and  espionage 
and  armed  force  at  every  depot  upon  the  frontiers,  nature,  stronger 
•than  man,  would  rcassume  her  rights  and  her  supremacy.  You  made 
the  railroad  and  the  telegraph,  but  God  Almighty  made  the  Missis- 
sippi and  her  hundred  tributaries. 

Is  it  not,  I  appeal  to  you,  better  then  for  you  of  the  North,  better 
for  yon  of  the  South,  better  for  us  of  the  West,  better  for  all  of  us, 
that  this  Union  shall  endure  forever?  Sir,  I  am  for  the  Union  as 
it  is,  and  the  Constitution  as  it  is.  I  am  against  disunion  now,  and 
forever ;  against  disunion,  whether  for  its  own  sake  or  for  the  sake  of 
any  thing  else,  equal,  independent,  constitutional  liberty  alone  excepted. 
Do  you  ask  me  when  the  hour  for  disunion  will  come  ?  I  tell  you  never, 
never,  while  it  is  possible  to  avert  it ;  never,  while  we  can  have,  within 
the  Union,  the  just  constitutional  rights  which  the  Union  was  first  made 
to  secure;  never  certainly,  till  the  hour  shall  come  wherein  to 
vindicate  the  glorious  right  of  revolution.  I  speak  not  of  the  abstract 
right  of  secession.  Do  you  ask  me  when  that  hour  will  come?  I 
can  not  tell  you.  Of  that  every  State  and  every  people  must  judge 
for  themselves,  before  God  and  the  .great  tribunal  of  history.  Our 
fathers,  in  their  day  and  generation,  judged  of  it  for  themselves  in 
our  great  Revolution.  There,  gentlemen,  is  one  precedent,  at  least, 
hallowed  by  success,  and  canonized  in  the  world's  history.  American 
citizens  dare  not  call  it  in  question.  I  commend  it  to  you.  Study 
it;  ponder  over  it;  profit  by  it.  I  know,  indeed,  that  it  has  been 
sometimes  said  that  our  fathers  went  to  war  about  a  preamble,  and 
fought  seven  lung  years  to  vindicate  a  principle.  But,  gentlemen,  I 
am  not  sure  that  there  is  not,  in  all  this,  somewhat  of  the  flourish 
of  rhetoric  and  the  flash  of  history  ;  a  little  of  the  "glittering  gener- 
alities "  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  I  fear  it  may  not  be 
safe  for  you  to  follow  that  precedent  too  closely. 

Do  you  ask  me  whether  the  election  of  an  anti-slavery,  sectional, 
Republican  president,  upon  a  sectional  platform,  pledged  to  administer 
the  Government  for  sectional  purposes,  would,  per  se,  be  a  justifiable 
cause  of  di.sunion  ?  I  can  not  tell  you.  But  I  do  tell  you,  as 
a  Western  man,  and  I  tell  the  gentleman  from  Tennessee,  (3Ir. 
Nelson,)  that,  when  you  of  the  South  shall  have  attained  the 
numerical  power  and  strength  in  this  Union,  and  shall  then  organize 
a  Southern  party,  on  a  Southern  basis,  and,  under  the  forms  of  the 
Constitution,  shall  elect  a  Southern  President,  for  the  purpose  of 
controlling  all  the  vast  power  and  patronage  and  influence  of  the 
Government,  by  action  or  non-action,  for  the  advancement  of  Southern 
interest,  and  above  all,  for  the  purpose  of  extending  slavery  into 
States  now  free,  with  the  design  of  making  them  all  slave  States,  I 
■will  meet  you  as  the  Irish  patriot  would  have   met  the  invaders  of 


THERE   IS   A   WEST.  55 

Ireland — with  the  sword  in  one  hand,  and  a  torch  in  the  other ; 
dispute  every  inch  of  ground,  burn  every  blade  of  grass,  till  the  last 
intrenchment  of  independence  shall  be  my  grave.  (Applause.)  I 
will  not  wait  for  any  overt  act.  What!  Do  I  not  know  that  fire  will 
burn,  that  frost  will  congeal,  that  steel  and  poison  will  do  their  work 
of  destruction  to  the  human  system,  that  I  shall  await  the  slow 
process  of  experiment  to  ascertain  their  natural  and  inevitable  effects? 
Never — never  !      Experimentum  in  vili  corpore. 

These,  Mr.  Clerk,  are  no  new  doctrines  in  the  country  whence  I 
come.  Stronger  sentiments,  if  possible,  were  uttered  here  upon  this 
floor,  ten  years  ago,  by  a  distinguished  predecessor  of  mine,  the  Hon. 
Robert  C.  Schenck,  of  Dayton,  my  fellow-citizen  still,  and  the  familiar 
friend  of  the  eloquent  gentleman  before  me,  (Mr.  Corwin,)  an  old- 
line  Whig  now,  with  a  slight,  very  slight  varnish  of  Republicanism. 

Allow  me,  sir,  to  read  what  he  said  in  a  similar,  though  not  so 
alarming,  crisis  in  public  affairs,  on  the  27th  of  December,  1849 : 

"  If  wc  of  the  northern  States  " — 

We  had  no  West  then,  sir ;  her  existence  and  geography  have 
been  ascertained,  and  settled  since — 

"  If  we  of  the  northern  States  would  not  vote  for  a  Southern  man,  merely 
because  he  is  a  Southern  man,  and  men  of  the  South  will  not  vote  for  a  Northern 
man,  merely  because  he  is  a  Northern  man;  and  if  that  principle  is  to  be 
carried  out  from  here  into  all  our  national  politics  and  elections,  what  must 
be  the  result?  Disunion.  That  itself  is  disunion.  You  may  disguise  and 
cover  up  as  yow.  please,  but  that  it  will  be.  It  may,  perhaps,  be  regarded  as 
but  the  first  step  in  disunion ;  but  its  consequence  follows  as  inevitable  as  fate. 
One  section — the  North  or  the  South — must  always  have  the  majority.  Dis- 
franchise all  upon  the  other  side,  and  the  Union  could  not  hold  together  a 
day;  it  ought  not  to  hold  tor/ether  upon  such  conditions  a  day.  On  this  floor  we 
now  have  from  the  free  States  one  hundred  and  forty  Representatives,  and 
ninety  from  the  slave  States.  Suppose  the  relative  numbers  were  reversed; 
would  we  submit  to  be  denied  all  participation  in  privileges  here?  Not  for 
AN  hour.  And  should  we  ask  for  such  submission  from  others?  NevebI 
The  Whig  party  say — never.     The  true  people  of  the  North  say — never.'' 

That,  sir,  was  good  Whig  doctrine  ten  years  ago.  It  was  good 
American  doctrine  in  1856  ;  and  I  aver  here,  upon  my  responsibility 
as  a  Representative,  that  it  is  good  sound  Democratic  doctrine  every- 
where, and  all  the  time. 

Then,  sir,  I  am  against  disunion.  I  find  no  more  pleasure  in  a 
Southern  disunionist  than  in  a  Northern  or  Western  disunionist.  Do 
not  tell  me  that  you  of  the  South  have  an  apology  in  the  event  and 
developments  of  the  last  few  months.  I  know  you  have.  War — 
irrepressible  war,  has  been  proclaimed  against  your  institution  of 
slavery;  it  has  been  carried  into  your  own  States;  arson  and  murder 
have  been  committed  upon  your  own  soil ;  peaceful  citizens  have 
been  ruthlessly  shot  down  at  the  threshold  of  their  own  doors.  You 
avenged  the  wrong ;  you  executed  the  murderer  and  the  felon  ;  but 
he  has  risen  from  the  dead  a  hero  and  a  martyr ;  and  now  the 
apostles  of  this  new  Messiah  of  Abolition,  with  scrip  and  purse,  armed 
with  the  sword,  insolent  from  augmenting  numbers,  apostles  rather 


56  THERE   IS   A   WEST. 

of  Mahomet,  disciples  of  Peter  the  Hermit,  are  but  gathering 
strength,  and  awaiting  the  hour  for  a  new  invasion.  Certainly — 
certainly,  in  all  this  you  have  ample  justifieation  for  whatsoever  of 
excitement  and  alarm  and  indignation  pervade  now  the  whole  South, 
from  Watfou  and  Dixon's  line  down  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  But  will 
you  secede  now?  Will  you  break  up  the  union  of  these  States? 
Will  you  bring  down  for  ever,  in  one  promiscuous  ruin,  the  columns 
and  pillars  of  this  magnificent  temple  of  liberty,  which  our  fathers 
reared  at  so  great  cost  of  blood  and  of  treasure  ?  Wait  a  little ! 
Wait  a  little !  Let  us  try  again  the  peaceful,  the  ordinary,  the  con- 
stitutional means  for  the  redress  of  grievances.  Let  us  resort  once 
more  to  the  ballot-box.  Let  us  try  once  again  that  weapon,  surer  set, 
and  hitter  than  the  bayonet . 

Mr.  Clerk,  I  am  not,  perhaps,  so  hopeful  of  the  final  result  as 
pome  other  men  ;  but  I  was  taught  in  my  boyhood  that  noblest  of 
all  Roman  maxims — never  to  despair  of  the  Kepublic.  I  was  taught, 
too,  by  pious  lips,  a  yet  higher  and  holier  doctrine  still — a  firm 
belief  in  a  superintending  Providence,  which  governs  in  the  aflfairs 
of  men.  I  do  believe  that  God,  in  his  infinite  goodness,  has  fore- 
ordained for  this  land  a  higher,  mightier,  nobler  destiny  than  for  any 
other  country  since  the  world  began ;  Times  noblest  empire  is  the  last. 
From  the  Arctic  ocean  to  the  Isthmus  of  Darien ;  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Alleghanies  ;  stretching  far  and  wide  over  the  vast  basin  of 
the  Mississippi,  scaling  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  lost  at  last  in  the 
blue  waters  of  the  Pacific,  I  behold,  in  holy  and  patriotic  vision,  one 
Union,  one  Constitution,  one  Destiny.  (Applause.)  But  this 
grand  and  magnificent  destiny  can  not  be  fulfilled  by  us,  except  as 
a  united  people.  Clouds  and  darkness,  indeed,  rest  now  over  us;  we 
are  in  the  midst  of  perils ;  rocks  and  quicksands  are  before  us  ;  strife 
and  discord  are  all  around  us.  How  then,  sir — mighty  and  momentous 
question,  pregnant  with  the  fate  of  an  empire — shall  we  bring  peace 
to  this  divided  and  distracted  country  ?  Sir,  in  my  deliberate  and 
most  solemn  judgment,  there  is  but  one  way  of  escape  ;  and  that  the 
immediate,  absolute,  unconditional  disbandment  of  this  sectional,  anti- 
slavery,  Republican  party  of  yours.  (Applause  in  the  galleries.)  If 
not,  then  upon  your  heads,  and  upon  the  heads  of  your  children,  be 
the  blood  of  this  Republic.  You  have  organized  a  political  party, 
based  upon  geographical  discriminations,  and  for  the  purpose  of 
administering  this  Government  for  the  benefit  of  a  part.  You  have 
neither  strength,  nor  organization,  nor  existence  even,  in  one  half, 
nearly,  of  the  States  of  this  Union.  Look  around  you.  Behold 
upon  this  side  of  the  House  every  section  represented.  Here  are 
THE  United  States.  What  do  we  see  upon  the  left  side  of  this 
Chamber  ?  Not  one  solitary  Representative  of  your  faith  or  party 
from  fifteen  States  of  this  Union.  What  does  all  this  mean?  It 
never  was  so  before  in  the  history  of  this  Republic.  What  does  it 
all  tend  to  ?  Sir,  there  died,  not  many  years  ago,  in  New  England, 
a  man  whom  you  all  once  idolized  as  approaching  a  little  nearer  in 
intellect  to  our  notions  of  divinity  than  most  men  in  any  age.  Died, 
did  I  say?     No,  he  "still  lives;"  lives  in  history,  lives  iu  the  public 


THERE  IS  A  WEST.  57 

records,  lives  in  his  published  works,  lives  in  his  public  services, 
lives  upon  canvas,  and  in  marble,  and  in  bronze.  Seven  years  ago, 
he  wrote  to  a  citizen  of  his  native  State : 

"  Tliere  are,  in  New  Hampshire,  many  persons  who  call  themselves  Whigs,  who 
are  no  Whigs  at  all;  and  no  better  than  disimionists.  Ajiy  man  who  hesitates 
in  granting  and  securing  to  every  part  of  the  country  its  just  and  Constitutional 
rights,  is  an  enemy  to  the  whole  country." 

I  know,  gentlemen  of  the  Republican  party,  that  you  profess,  many 
of  you,  that  you  would  not  deny  any  Constitutional  right  to  the 
States  of  the  South.  Admit  it.  But  let  me  ask  you  by  what  rule 
of  interpretation  do  you  propose  to  ascertain  these  rights  ?  I  appeal 
to  your  platforms,  to  your  speeches,  to  your  acts.  Like  the  learned 
doctor  of  Padua,  you  confess  the  bond  ;  the  Venetian  law  can  not 
impugn  it ;  but  you  would  give  the  exact  pound  of  flesh,  shedding  no 
blood,  cutting  nor  more  nor  less,  under  penalty  of  death  and  confisca- 
tion, than  the  just  pound,  not  to  be  made  light  or  heavy  in  the 
balance  or  the  division  of  the  twentieth  part  of  one  poor  scruple,  nor 
in  the  estimation  of  a  hair.  You  well  know  that  rights  thus  yielded 
are  rights  withheld ;  and  withheld,  too,  with  every  aggravation  of 
insult  and  wrong.  Is  that  the  spirit  of  the  Constitutional  compact? 
Is  that  the  spirit  which  animated  the  great  man  and  patriot  whose 
ashes  repose  upon  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  or  of  that  other  hero 
and  patriot  who  finds  a  resting-place,  in  his  long  sleep,  amid  the 
shades  of  the  Hermitage  ?  How  long,  think  you,  can  such  a  Union 
last?  and  what,  above  all,  is  it  worth  while  it  does  last? 

I  have  now  finished  what  I  desired  to  say  upon  the  momentous 
subjects  which  have  been  introduced  into  this  discussion.  I  have 
Bpoken  freely  of  disunion.  The  time,  most  unhappily,  has  gone  by 
when  that  melancholy  theme  can  any  longer  be  ignored  or  evaded. 
It  must  be  met — met  promptly,  and  met  not  with  afi"ected  contempt, 
nor  with  real  indifference.  I  have  not  spoken  of  it  with  any  unmanly 
terror,  but  only  with  that  sad  and  solemn  alarm  and  apprehension 
which  every  patriot  ought  to  feel  in  contemplating  the  overthrow  of  a 
Union  so  grand,  a  Constitution  so  admirable,  a  Government  so  vast, 
and  institutions  so  noble,  as  these  under  and  in  the  midst  of  which  we 
are  still  permitted  to  live. 

Sir,  a  Southern  paper,  not  many  miles  from  this  capitol,  has  been 
pleased  to  say  that  there  is  no  southern  State  contemplating  secession, 
in  any  possible  contingency.  No;  they  are  only  "coolly  calculating 
the  effect  of  disunion  threats  upon  the  nerves  of  the  northern  and 
western  States."  I  do  not  believe  it.  Whoever  utters  it,  libels  the 
South  and  the  North  and  the  West.  Idle  threats  and  menaces  will 
no  longer  frighten  any  one.  Mutual  interests  and  mutual  fears  do, 
indeed,  bind  us  together  still ;  but  fraternal  affection  and  good-will 
are  the  only  bands  which  can  keep  us  a  united  people.  They  are  the 
silver  cord  and  the  golden  bowl  which  are  now  so  well-nigh  broken 
at  the  fountain.  If  they  be,  indeed,  snapped  asunder,  then  nor 
threats,  nor  fears,  nor  interests,  nor  any  thing  else  can  keep  us 
together.     My  nerves,  at  least,  are  of  the  hardest  and  the  toughest. 


58  THERE  IS  A  WEST. 

I  am  no  more  io  be  moved  from  my  propriety  by  clamor  and  menace 
from  the  South,  than  by  denunciation  and  fanaticism  from  the  North 
or  the  West.  Standing;  here — I  repeat  it — an  armed  neutral  in  the 
midst  of  this  conflict  of  sections,  I  propose,  in  all  humility,  but  in 
all  justice,  to  hold  even  and  impartial  the  scales  between  them.  I 
have  spoken  freely  and  plainly,  but  have  spoken  justly  and  truly. 
I  have  not  sought  to  conceal  the  evil  which  afflicts  us — still  less  to 
exaggerate  it,  but  only  to  exhibit  it  just  as  it  is  ;  for  be  assured — be 
assured  there  is  no  medicine  nor  surgery  which  can  heal  it  without 
the  utmost  disclosure  and  knowledge  of  the  true  cause  and  character 
and  extent  of  the  disease.  I  have  spoken  briefly  of  the  present  evil 
Btate  of  public  v-sentiment  in  the  North  and  the  West;  in  Ohio,  my 
own  native  State.  Yet,  mother  as  she  is,  I  have  sought  rather  to 
imitate,  not  the  rude  and  obscene  behavior  of  Ham,  but  the  filial 
piety  and  modesty  of  the  elder  sons  of  the  Patriarch  when  mellowed 
with  wine,  and  quietly,  with  averted  eye,  to  cover  her  nakedness  with 
the  mantle  of  silence.  Yet,  as  a  Representative  here  in  this  Chamber, 
I  have  a  dvity  to  perform  for  the  whole  country,  for  the  sake  of  the 
Constitution,  for  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union,  and  as  its  last  hope. 

I  know  well,  indeed,  that  much  that  I  have  said  to-day,  will  here, 
as  elsewhere,  be  denounced  as  pro-s/ai»ery.  Be  it  so.  I  have  heard 
that  too  often,  already,  to  feel  the  slightest  apprehension  or  alarm ; 
but  I  tell  you,  gentlemen,  as  a  thousand  times  I  have  told  those  who 
sent  me  here,  that :  If  to  love  my  country,  to  revere  the  Constitution, 
to  cherish  the  Union  ;  if  to  abhor  the  madness  and  hate  the  treason 
which  would  lift  up  a  sacrilegious  hand  against  either;  if  to  read  that 
in  the  past,  to  behold  it  in  the  present,  to  foresee  it  in  the  future  of 
this  land,  which  is  of  more  value  to  us  and  to  the  world,  for  ages  to 
come,  than  all  the  multiplied  millions  who  have  inhabited  Africa  from 
the  creation  to  this  day — if  this  it  is  to  be  pro-slavery,  then  in  every 
nerve,  fiber,  vein,  bone,  tendon,  joint,  and  ligament,  from  the  topmost 
hair  of  the  head  to  the  last  extremity  of  the  foot,  I  am  all  over  and 
altogether  a  pro-slavkry  man.  (Applause  from  the  Democratic 
benches  and  the  galleries.) 


HOW  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED?  59 


NUMBER     THREE. 


HOW  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED? 

SPEECH  DELIVEKED   IN  THE  HOUSE   OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  FEBRUARY  20,  18G1. 


This  is  that  famous  speech  in  which  Mr.  Vallandigham  is  said 
to  have  proposed  to  divide  the  Union  into  '■'■four  distinct  nationalities^ 
Such  is  the  assertion  repeatedly  and  persistently  made  by  the  Aboli- 
tion press.  The  whole  speech  is  here  given :  also,  the  proposed 
amendments  to  the  Constitution.  It  is  not  easy  to  imagine  a  greater 
perversion  of  the  plain  and  obvious  meaning  of  language  than  has 
been  exhibited  in  this  case.  A  cause  that  requires  the  use  of  such 
means  must  be  a  bad  one.  The  attention  of  the  public  has  been 
repeatedly  called  to  those  misrepresentations ;  but  thus  far  it  has 
been  found  impossible  to  obtain  a  correction  in  the  Abolition  journals. 
So  far  from  this,  the  leading  papers  of  that  class  have  continued  to 
repeat  the  false  statement,  thus  compelling  the  belief,  that  in  making 
and  circulating  this  declaration,  those  papers  have  been  manufacturing 
and  using  a  deliberate  and  intentional  falsehood. 

But  the  people  are  pretty  generally  learning  that  the  reports 
furnished  by  Abolition  papers,  pretending  to  give  the  sentiments  of 
leading  Democratic  statesmen,  are,  almost  invariably,  caricatures  or 
gross  misrepresentations.  They  will  not,  therefore,  be  surprised  to 
find  that  this  speech,  made  in  the  hour  of  most  imminent  peril,  when 
the  greatest  calamity  any  nation  has  ever  endured  was  impending,  so 
far  from  being,  as  has  been  so  often  and  so  falsely  asserted,  a  propo- 
sition to  divide  the  Union  into  "  four  distinct  nationalities,"  was,  in 
fact,  a  most  wise  and  prudent  suggestion,  evincing  the  deepest  political 
sagacity  and  foresight.  If  adopted,  the  country  would  have  been 
saved  that  great  waste  and  slaughter  which  have  already  wearied  and 
sickened  the  heart  of  humanity,  and  of  which  the  end  is  not  yet. 
Even  now,  it  may  not  be  too  late  to  make  good  use  of  some  features 
of  the  plan  here  proposed. 


60  now  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED? 

The  special  order — namely,  the  Report  of  the  Committee  of 
Thirty-Three  —  being  under  consideration  —  Mr.  VallandighaM 
addressed  the  House  as  follows : 

Mr.  Spkakkr:  It  was  my  purpose,  some  three  months  ago,  to 
speak  solely  upon  the  question  of  peace  and  war  between  the  two 
great  sections  of  the  Union,  and  to  defend,  at  length,  the  position 
which,  in  the  very  beginning  of  this  crisis,  and  almost  alone,  I 
assumed  against  the  employment  of  military  force  by  the  Federal 
Government  to  execute  its  laws  and  restore  its  authority  within  the 
States  which  might  secede.  Subsequent  events  have  rendered  this 
unnecessary.  "NVithin  the  three  months,  or  more,  since  the  Presi- 
dential election,  so  rapid  has  been  the  progress  of  events,  and  such 
the  magnitude  which  the  movement  in  the  South  has  attained,  that 
the  country  has  been  forced — as  this  House  and  the  incoming  Ad- 
ministration will  at  last  be  forced,  in  spite  of  their  warlike  purposes 
now — to  regard  it  as  no  longer  a  mere  casual  and  temporary  rebel- 
lion of  discontented  individuals,  but  a  great  and  terrible  revolution, 
which  threatens  now  to  result  in  permanent  dissolution  of  the  Union, 
and  division  into  two  or  more  rival,  if  not  hostile,  confederacies. 
Before  this  dread  reality,  the  atrocious  and  fruitless  policy  of  a  war 
of  coercion  to  preserve  or  to  restore  the  Union  has,  outside,  at  least, 
of  these  walls  and  of  this  capital,  rapidly  dissolved.  The  people 
have  taken  the  subject  up,  and  have  reflected  upon  it,  till,  to-day,  ia 
the  South,  almost  as  one  man,  and  by  a  very  large  majority,  as  I  be- 
lieve, in  the  North,  and  especially  in  the  West,  they  are  resolved, 
that,  whatever  else  of  calamity  may  befall  us,  that  horrible  scourge 
of  CIVIL  WAR  shall  be  averted.  Sir,  I  rejoice  that  the  hard  Anglo- 
Saxon  sense  and  pious  and  humane  impulses  of  the  American  people 
have  rejected  the  specious  disguise  of  words  without  wisdom,  which 
appealed  to  them  to  enforce  the  laws,  collect  the  revenue,  maintain 
the  Union,  and  restore  the  Federal  authority  by  the  perilous  edge 
of  battle,  and  that  thus  early  in  the  revolution  they  are  resolved  to 
compel  us,  their  llepresentatives,  belligerent  as  you  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  here  may  now  be,  to  the  choice  of  peaceable  disunioa 
upon  the  one  hand,  or  Union  through  adjustment  and  conciliation 
upon  the  other.  Born,  sir,  upon  the  soil  of  the  United  States — 
attached  to  my  country  from  earliest  boyhood,  loving  and  revering 
her  with  some  part,  at  least,  of  the  spirit  of  Greek  and  Roman 
patriotism — between  these  two  alternatives,  with  all  my  mind,  with 
all  my  heart,  with  all  my  strength  of  body  and  of  soul,  living  or 
dying,  at  home  or  in  exile,  I  am  for  the  Union  which  made  it  what 
it  is;  and,  therefore,  I  am  also  for  such  terms  of  peace  and  adjust- 
ment as  will  maintain  that  Union  now  and  forever.  This,  then,  is 
the  question  which  to-day  I  propose  to  discuss : 

How    SHALL    THE    UnION    Of    THESE    STATES    BE    RESTORED    AND 

Preserved? 

Sir,  it  is  with  becoming  modesty,  and  with  something  of  awe,  that 
I  approach  the  discussion  of  a  question  which  the  ablest  statesmen 
of  the  country  have  failed  to  solve.     But  the  country  expects  even 


HOW   SHALL   THE    UNION   BE   PRESERVED?  61 

the  humblest  of  her  children  to  serve  her  in  this,  the  hour  of  her 
sore  trial.     This  is  my  apology. 

Devoted  as  I  am  to  the  Union,  I  have  yet  no  eulogies  to  pronounce 
upon  it  to-day.  It  needs  none.  Its  highest  eulogy  is  the  history  of 
this  country  for  the  last  seventy  years.  The  triumphs  of  war,  and 
the  arts  of  peace — science,  civilization,  wealth,  population,  commerce, 
trade,  manufactures,  literature,  education,  justice,  tranquillity,  secur- 
ity to  life,  to  person,  to  property — material  happiness,  common  de- 
fense, national  renown,  all  that  is  implied  in  the  "  blessings  of  lib- 
erty " — these,  and  more,  have  been  its  fruits  from  the  beginning  to 
this  hour.  These  have  enshrined  it  in  the  hearts  of  the  people ; 
and,  before  God,  I  believe  they  will  restore  and  preserve  it.  And,, 
to-day,  they  demand  of  us,  their  embassadors  and  Representatives, 
to  tell  them  how  this  great  work  is  to  be  accomplished. 

Sir,  it  has  well  been  said  that  it  is  not  to  be  done  by  eulogies. 
Eulogy  is  for  times  of  peace.  Neither  is  it  to  be  done  by  lamen- 
tations over  its  decline  and  fiill.  These  are  for  the  poet  and  the 
historian,  or  for  the  exiled  statesman  who  may  chance  to  sit  amid 
the  ruins  of  desolated  cities.  Oars  is  a  practical  work,  and  it  is 
the  business  of  the  wise  and  practical  statesman  to  inquire  first 
what  the  causes  are  of  the  evils  for  which  he  is  required  to  devise 
a  remedy. 

Sir,  the  subjects  of  mere  partisan  controversy  which  have  been  chiefly 
discussed  here  and  in  the  country,  so  far,  are  not  the  causes,  but  only 
the  symptoms  or  developments  of  the  malady  which  is  to  be  healed. 
These  causes  are  to  be  found  in  the  nature  of  man,  and  in  the  pecul- 
iar nature  of  our  system  of  governments.  Thirst  for  power  and 
place,  or  preeminence — in  a  word,  ambition — is  one  of  the  strongest 
and  earliest  developed  passions  of  man.  It  is  as  discernible  in  the 
school-boy  as  in  the  statesman.  It  belongs  alike  to  the  individual  and 
to  the  masses  of  men,  and  is  exhibited  in  every  gradation  of  society, 
from  the  family  up  to  the  highest  development  of  the  State.  In  all 
voluntary  associations  of  any  kind,  and  in  every  ecclesiastical  organ- 
ization, also,  it  is  equally  manifested.  It  is  the  sin  by  which  the 
angels  fell.  No  form  of  government  is  exempt  from  it;  for  even 
the  absolute  monarch  is  obliged  to  execute  his  power  through  the 
instrumentality  of  agents;  and  ambition  here  courts  one  master 
instead  of  many  masters.  As  between  foreign  States,  it  manifests 
itself  in  schemes  of  conquest  and  territorial  aggrandizement.  la 
despotisms  it  is  shown  in  intrigues,  assassinations,  and  revolts.  la 
constitutional  monarchies,  and  in  aristocracies,,  it  exhibits  itself  iu 
contests  among  the  different  orders  of  society,  and  the  several  inter- 
ests of  agriculture,  trade,  commerce,  and  the  professions.  In  democ- 
racies it  is  seen  everywhere,  and  in  its  highest  development;  for  her© 
all  the  avenues  to  political  place  and  preferment,  and  emolument, 
too,  are  open  to  every  citizen  ;  and  all  movements,  and  all  interests 
of  society,  and  every  great  question — moral,  social,  religious,  scien- 
tific, no  matter  what — assumes,  at  some  time  or  other,  a  political 
complexion,  and  forms  a  part  of  the  election  issues  and  legislation 
of  the   day.     Here,  when   combined   with   iaterest,   and   where    thft 


62  HOW    SHALL    THE    UNION    BE    PRESERVED? 

action  of  the  Government  may  be  made  a  source  of  wealth,  then 
honor,  virtue,  patriotism,  religion,  all  perish  before  it.  No  restraints 
and  no  compacts  can  bind  it. 

In  a  federal  republic  all  these  evils  are  found  in  their  amplest 
proportions,  and  take  the  form  also  of  rivalries  between  the  States  ; 
or  more  commonly,  or  finally,  at  least,  especially  where  geographical 
and  climatic  divisions  exist,  or  where  several  contiguous  States  are 
in  the  same  interest,  and  sometimes  where  they  are  similar  in  insti- 
tutions or  modes  of  thought,  or  in  habits  and  customs,  of  sectional 
jealousies  and  controversies,  which  end  always,  sooner  or  later,  in 
either  a  dissolution  of  the  union  between  them,  or  the  destruction  of 
the  federal  character  of  the  government.  But,  however  exhibited — 
whether  in  federative  or  in  consolidated  governments,  or  whatever 
the  development  may  be  —  the  great  primary  cause  is  always  the 
same:  the  feeling  that  might  makes  right;  that  the  strong  ought  to 
govern  the  weak  ;  that  the  will  of  the  mere  and  absolute  majority  of 
numbers  ought  always  to  control ;  that  fifty  men  may  do  what  they 
please  with  forty-nine;  and  that  minorities  have  no  rights,  or  at  least 
that  they  shall  have  no  means  of  enforcing  their  rights,  and  no  rem- 
edy for  the  violation  of  them.  And  thus  it  is  that  the  strong  man 
oppresses  the  weak,  and  strong  communities,  states,  and  sections  ag- 
gress upon  the  rights  of  weaker  states,  communities,  and  sections. 
This  is  the  principle;  but  I  propose  to  speak  of  it,  to-day,  only  in 
its  development  in  the  political,  and  not  in  the  personal  or  domestic 
relations. 

Sir,  it  is  to  repress  this  principle  that  governments,  with  their 
complex  machinery,  are  instituted  among  men;  though  in  their  abuse, 
indeed,  governments  may  themselves  become  the  worst  engines  of 
oppression.  For  this  purpo.ce  treaties  are  entered  into,  and  the  law 
of  nations  acknowledged  between  foreign  States.  Constitutions  and 
municipal  laws  and  compacts  are  ordained,  or  enacted,  or  concluded 
to  secure  the  same  great  end.  Xo  men  understood  this,  the  philos- 
ophy and  aim  of  all  just  government,  better  than  the  framers  of  our 
Federal  Constitution.  No  men  tried  more  faithfully  to  secure  the  Gov- 
ernment which  they  were  instituting  from  this  mischief;  and,  had  the 
country  over  which  it  was  established  been  circumscribed  by  nature 
to  the  limits  which  it  then  had,  their  work  would  have,  perhaps, 
been  perfect,  enduring  for  ages.  But  the  wisest  among  them  did 
not  foresee — who,  indeed,  that  was  less  than  omniscient,  could  have 
foreseen? — the  amazing  rapidity  with  which  new  settlements  and  new 
States  have  sprung  up,  as  if  by  enchantment,  in  the  wilderness;  or 
that  political  necessity,  or  lust  for  territorial  aggrandizement  would, 
in  sixty  years,  have  given  us  new  territories  and  States  equal  in 
extent  to  the  entire  area  of  the  countr}'  for  which  they  were  then 
framing  a  Government?  They  were  not  priests  or  prophets  to  that 
God  of  M.\N1FEST  DESTINY  whom  wc  now  worship,  and  will  continue 
to  worship,  whether  united  into  one  Confederacy  still,  or  divided 
into  many.  And  yet  it  is  this  very  acquisition  of  territory  which 
has  given  strength,  though  not  birth,  to  that  sectionalism  which 
already   has   broken  in    pieces    this,   the  noblest  Government  ever 


HOW   SHALL   THE   UNION   BE   PRESERVED?  63 

devised  by  the  wit  of  man.  Not  foreseeing  the  evil,  or  the  neces- 
sity, they  did  not  guard  against  its  results.  Believing  that  the  great 
danger  to  the  system  which  they  were  about  to  inaugurate  lay  rather 
in  the  jealousy  of  the  State  Grovernments  toward  the  power  and 
authority  delegated  to  the  Federal  Government,  they  defended  dili- 
gently against  that  danger.  Apprehending  that  the  larger  States 
might  aggress  upon  the  rights  of  the  smaller  States,  they  provided 
that  no  State  should,  without  its  consent,  be  deprived  of  its  equal  suf- 
frage in  the  Senate.  Lest  the  legislative  department  might  encroach 
upon  the  executive,  they  gave  to  the  President  the  self-protecting  power 
of  a  qualified  veto;  and,  in  turn,  made  the  President  impeachable  by 
the  two  Houses  of  Congress.  Satisfied  that  the  several  State  Gov- 
ernments were  strong  enough  to  protect  themselves  from  Federal 
aggressions,  if,  indeed,  not  too  strong  for  the  efiiciency  of  the  General 
Government,  they  thus  devised  a  system  of  internal  checks  and  bal- 
ances looking  chiefly  to  the  security  of  the  several  departments  from 
aggression  upon  each  other,  and  to  prevent  the  system  from  being 
used  to  the  oppression  of  individuals.  I  think,  sir,  that  the  debates 
in  the  Federal  Convention,  and  in  the  conventions  of  the  several 
States  called  to  ratify  the  Constitution,  as  well  as  the  cotemporaneous 
letters  and  publications  of  the  time,  will  support  me  in  the  statement 
that  the  friends  of  the  Constitution  wholly  under-estimated  the  power 
and  influence  of  the  Government  which  they  were  establishing.  Cer- 
tainly, sir,  many  of  the  ablest  statesmen  of  that  day  earnestly  desired 
a  stronger  Government ;  and  it  was  the  policy  of  Mr.  Hamilton,  and 
of  the  Federal  party,  which  he  created,  to  strengthen  the  General 
Government ;  and  hence  the  funding  and  protective  systems,  the 
national  bank,  and  other  similar  schemes  of  finance,  along  with  the 
"general-welfare  doctrine,"  and  a  liberal  construction  of  the  Con- 
stitution. 

Sir,  the  framers  of  the  Constitution — and  I  speak  it  reverently,  but 
•with  the  freedom  of  histoi-y — failed  to  foresee  the  strength  and  cen- 
tralizing tendencies  of  the  Federal  Government.  They  mistook 
wholly  the  real  danger  to  the  system.  They  looked  for  it  in  the 
aggressions  of  the  large  States  upon  the  small  States,  without  regard 
to  geographical  position,  and  accordingly  guarded  jealously  in  that 
direction,  giving,  for  this  purpose,  as  I  have  said,  the  power  of  a  self- 
protecting  veto  in  the  Senate  to  the  small  States,  by  means  of  their 
equal  suff"rage  in  that  Chamber,  and  forbidding  even  amendment 
of  the  Constitution,  in  this  particular,  without  the  consent  of  every 
State.  But,  they  seem  wholly  to  have  overlooked  the  danger  of  sec- 
tional COMBINATIONS  as  against  other  sections,  and  to  the  injury  and 
oppression  of  other  sections,  to  secure  possession  of  the  several  depart- 
ments of  the  Federal  Government,  and  of  the  vast  powers  and  influ- 
ence which  belong  to  them.  In  like  manner,  too,  they  seem  to  have 
utterly  under-estimated  slavery  as  a  disturbing  element  in  the 
system,  possibly  because  it  existed  still  in  almost  every  State,  but 
chiefly  because  the  growth  and  manufacture  of  cotton  had  scarce  yet 
been  commenced  in  the  United  States — because  cotton  was  not  yet 
crowned  king.     The  vast  extent  of  the  patronage  of  the  Executive, 


•i  now  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED? 

and  the  immense  power  and  influence  which  it  exerts,  seem  also  to 
hare  been  altogether  under-estimated.  And  independent  of  all  these, 
or  rather,  perhaps,  in  connection  with  them,  there  were  inherent 
defects,  incident  to  the  nature  of  all  governments;  some  of  them 
peculiar  to  our  system,  and  to  the  circumstances  of  the  country,  and 
the  character  of  the  people  over  which  it  was  instituted,  which  no 
human  sagacity  could  have  foreseen,  but  which  have  led  to  evils,  mis- 
chiefs, and  abuses,  which  time  and  experience  alone  have  disclosed. 
The  men  who  made  our  Government  were  human  ;  they  were  vicn,  and 
they  made  it  for  men  of  like  passions  and  infirmities  with  themselves. 

I  propose  now,  sir,  to  inquire  into  the  practical  workings  of  the 
system  ;  the  experiment — as  the  fathers  themselves  called  it — after 
seventy  years  of  trial. 

No  man  will  deny — no  American,  at  least,  and  I  speak  to-day  to, 
and  for  Americans — that  in  its  results  it  has  been  the  most  successful 
of  any  similar  Government  ever  established  ;  and  yet,  in  the  very  midst 
of  its  highest  development  and  its  perfect  success,  in  the  very  hour 
of  its  might,  while  ''towering  in  its  pride  of  place,"  it  has  suddenly 
been  stricken  down  by  a  revolution  which  it  is  powerless  to  control. 
Sir,  if  I  could  believe,  as  the  gentlemen  from  Tennessee,  (Mr.  Ether- 
idge,)  would  seem  to  have  me  believe,  that  for  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury the  South  has  had  all  that  she  ever  asked,  and  more  than  she 
ever  deserved,  and  that  now,  at  last,  a  few  discontented  spirits  have 
been  able  to  precipitate  already  seven  States  into  insurrection  and 
rebellion,  because  they  are  displeased  with  the  results  of  a  presidential 
election  ;  or,  if  I  could  persuade  myself,  with  the  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts,  (Mr.  Adams,)  that  thirteen  States,  or  fifteen  States, 
aod  eleven  or  twelve  millions  people  have  been  already  drawn,  or  may 
soon  be  drawn,  into  a  revolt  against  the  grandest  and  most  beneficent 
Government,  in  form  and  in  practice,  that  ever  existed,  from  no  other 
than  the  trivial  and  most  frivolous  causes  which  he  has  assigned,  then 
I  should,  indeed,  regard  this  revolution,  in  the  midst  of  which  we  are, 
as  the  most  extraordinary  phenomenon  ever  recorded  in  history. 
But  the  muse  of  history  will,  I  venture  to  say,  not  so  write  it  down 
upon  the  scroll  which  she  still  holds  in  her  hand,  in  that  grand  old 
Hall  of  Representatives,  where,  linked  to  time,  solemnly  and  sadly 
she  numbers  out  yet  the  fleeting  hours  of  this  perishing  Republic. 
No;  believe  me.  Representatives,  the  causes  for  these  movements  lie 
deeper,  and  are  of  longer  duration,  than  all  this.  If  not,  then  the 
malady  needs  no  extreme  medicine,  no  healing  remedies,  nothing, 
nothing.  Time,  patience,  forbearance,  quiet — these,  these  alone  will 
restore  the  Union  in  a  few  months.  But,  sir,  I  have  not  so  read  the 
history  of  this  country,  especially  for  the  last  fourteen  years.  The 
causes,  I  repeat,  are  to  be  found  in  the  practical  workings  of  the 
■ystem,  and  are  to  be  removed  only  by  remedies  which  go  down  to 
the  very  root  of  the  evil;  not,  indeed,  by  eradicating  the  passions 
which  give  it  birth  and  strength — for  even  religion  fails  to  accom- 
plish that  impossible  mission — but  by  checking  or  taking  away  the 
power  with  which  these  passions  are  armed  for  their  work  of  evil 
asd  mischief. 


HOW   SHALL    THE   UNION   BE   PRESERVED?  65 

I  find,  then,  sir,  the  first  or  remote  cause  which,  has  led  to  the 
incipient  dismemberment  of  the  Union,  in  the  infinite  honors  and 
emoluments,  the  immense,  and  continually  increasing,  power  and 
patronage  of  the  Federal  Grovernment.  Every  admission  of  new 
States,  every  acquisition  of  new  territory,  every  increase  of  wealth, 
population,  or  resources  of  any  kind;  all  moral,  social  intellectual, 
or  inventive  development ;  the  press,  the  telegraph,  the  railroad, 
and  the  application  of  steam  in  every  form — whatsoever  there  is  of 
greatness  at  home,  or  of  national  honor  and  glory  abroad  —  all, 
all  has  inured  to  the  aggrandizement  of  this  central  Government. 
Part  of  this,  certainly,  is  the  result  of  causes  which  no  constitu- 
tional restriction,  no  party  policy,  and  no  statesmanship  can  control; 
but  much  of  it,  nevertheless,  from  infringements  of  the  Constitution, 
and  from  usurpations,  abuses,  corruptions,  and  mal-administration 
of  the  Grovernment.  In  the  very  beginning,  as  I  have  said,  a  fixed 
policy  of  strengthening  the  General  Government,  in  every  depart- 
ment, was  inaugurated  by  the  Federal  party;  and  this  led  to  the 
bitter  and  vehement  struggle,  in  the  very  first  decade  of  the  system, 
between  the  Democratic-liepublicans  and  the  Federalists ;  between 
the  advocates  of  power,  and  the  friends  of  liberty;  those  who  leaned 
strongly  toward  the  General  Government,  and  those  who  were  for 
State  rights  and  State  sovereignty — the  followers  of  Hamilton  and 
the  disciples  of  Jefferson — which  ended,  in  1801,  in  the  overthrow 
of  the  Federal  party,  and  the  inauguration  of  the  Democratic  policy, 
which  demanded  a  simple  Government,  a  strict  construction  of  the 
Constitution,  no  public  debt,  no  protective  tarifi",  no  system  of  inter- 
nal improvements,  no  national  bank,  hard  money  for  the  public 
dues,  and  economical  expenditures;  and  this  policy,  after  a  long  and 
violent  contest  for  more  than  forty  years — a  contest  marked  with 
various  fortune,  and  occasional  defeat,  and  sometimes  temporary 
departure  by  its  own  friends — at  last  became  the  established  policy 
of  the  Government,  and  so  continued  until  this  pestilent  sectional 
question  of  slavery  obliterated  old  party  divisions,  and  obscured  and 
hid  over  and  covered  up  for  a  time — if,  indeed,  it  has  not  removed 
utterly — some,  at  least,  of  the  ancient  landmarks  of  the  Democratic 
party.  And  yet,  in  spite  of  the  overthrow  of  the  Federal  party,  iu 
spite  of  the  final  defeat  of  its  policy,  looking  especially  and  pur- 
posely to  the  strengthening  of  the  General  Government,  partly  from 
natural  causes,  as  I  have  said,  and  partly  because  the  Democratic 
party  has  sometimes  been  false  to  its  professed  principles  —  above 
all,  to  its  great  doctrine  of  State  rights,  and  its  true  and  wise  j^olicy 
of  economy  in  expenditures,  and  decrease  in  executive  patronage 
and  influence  —  the  Federal  Government  has  gone  on,  steadily 
increasing  in  power  and  strength  and  honor  and  consideration  and 
corruption.,  too,  from  the  hour  of  its  inauguration  to  this  day;  and 
when  I  speak  of  "corruption,"  I  use  the  word  in  the  sense  in  which. 
British  statesmen  use  it — men  who  understand  the  word,  and  who 
have,  for  a  century  and  a  half,  reduced  the  thing  itself  to  a  science 
and  a  system,  and  have  made  it  an  element  of  very  great  strength 
in  the  British  Government. 
5 


66  now  SHALL  THE   UNION  BE  PRESERVED? 

Nor,  sir,  is  this  mischief,  if  mischief  indeed  it  be,  confined  wholly 
to  any  one  department  of  the  General  Government?  The  Federal 
judiciarv — to  begin  with  it — here  and  in  the  States,  dazzles  the  imagin- 
ation and  invites  the  ambition  of  the  lawyers,  that  not  most  numerous 
but  yet  most  powerful  class  of  citizens,  by  its  superior  honors,  its 
great  emoluments,  its  life-tenure,  its  faith  in  precedents,  and  its 
settled  forms  and  ancient  practice,  untouched  by  codes  and  unshaken 
by  crude  and  reckless  and  hasty  legislation.  Here,  in  this  venerable 
forum,  where  States  at  home  and  States  and  empires  from  abroad,  and 
the  Federal  Government  itself,  are  accustomed  to  contend  for  the 
judgment  of  the  court,  whatever  there  yet  remains  of  ancient  and 
black-letter  law  ;  whatever  of  veneration  and  regard  for  the  names 
and  memories,  and  the  volumes  of  Littleton  and  Coke,  and  Croke,  and 
Plowden,  and  the  year  books  ;  or  for  silk  gowns,  and  for  all  else,  too, 
that  is  valuable  in  legal  archrcology,  has  taken  refuge,  and  stands 
intrenched.  All  that  there  was  of  form  and  ceremony  and  dignity 
and  decorum,  in  the  beginning  of  the  Government,  is  still  to  be  found 
here,  and  only  here  ;  all  but  the  bench  and  bar  of  forty  years  ago — 
the  Marshalls,  and  the  Storys,  the  Harpers,  the  Pinckneys,  the  Wirts, 
and  the  Websters  of  an  age  gone  by. 

Still,  the  circle  of  honor  through  the  judiciary  is  a  narrow  one,  and 
it  lies  open  to  but  few ;  and  yet,  in  times  past,  the  judiciary  has  done 
much  to  enlarge  the  powers  and  increase  the  consideration  and  import- 
ance of  the  central  Government. 

But  it  is  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives  which  are  the 
great  objects  of  ambition,  and  the  seats  of  power.  All  the  legislative 
powers  of  this  great  and  mighty  Republic,  whose  name  and  authority 
and  majesty  are  known  and  felt  and  feared,  too,  throughout  the  earth, 
are  vested  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  War,  revenues, 
credit,  disbursement,  commerce,  coinage,  the  postal  system,  the  pun- 
ishment of  crimes  upon  the  high  seas,  and  against  the  law  of  nations, 
the  admission  of  new  States,  the  disposition  of  the  public  lands, 
armies,  navies,  the  militia — all  belong  to  it  to  control,  together  with 
an  unnumbered,  innumerable,  and  most  indefinable  host  of  implied  or 
derivative  powers :  whence  funding  systems,  banks,  protective  tariflfs, 
internal  improvements,  distributions,  surveys,  explorations,  railroads, 
land  grants,  submarine  telegraphs,  postal  steam  navigation  and  post 
roads  upon  the  high  seas,  plunder  schemes,  speculations,  and  pecula- 
tions, pensions,  claims,  the  acquisition  and  government  of  Territories, 
and  a  long  train  of  usurpations  and  abuses,  all  tending — legitimate 
powers  and  illegitimate  assumptions  of  power  alike — to  aggrandize 
the  central  Government,  and  to  make  its  possession  and  control  the 
highest  object  of  a  corrupt,  wicked,  perverted,  and  peculating  ambi- 
tion, in  any  party  or  any  section. 

But  great  and  imposing  as  the  powers,  honors,  and  consideration 
of  Congress  are,  the  executive  department  is  scarce  inferior  in  any 
thing,  and,  in  some  things,  is  far  superior  to  it.  Your  President  stands 
in  the  place  of  a  king.  There  is  a  divinity  that  doth  hedge  him  in ; 
it  is  the  divinity  of  patronage.  He  is  the  god  whose  priests  are  a 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  and  whose  worshipers  a  host  whom  no 


HOW  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED?         67 

man  can  number ;  and  the  sacrifices  of  these  priests  and  worshipers 
are  literally  "a  broken  spirit."  Sir,  your  President  is  commander-in- 
chief  of  your  armies,  your  navies,  and  of  the  militia — four  millions 
of  men.  He  carries  on  war,  concludes  peace,  and  makes  treaties  of 
every  sort.  Through  his  qualified  veto,  he  is  a  participant  in  the 
entire  legislation  of  the  Government,  and  it  behooves  the  whole  army 
of  speculators,  jobbers,  contractors,  and  claimants,  to  propitiate  him 
as  well  as  Senators  and  Representatives.  He  calls  the  Congress 
together  on  extraordinary  occasions,  and  adjourns  them  in  case  of 
disagreement.  He  appoints  and  receives  embassadors  and  all  other 
diplomatic  agents;  appoints  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  of 
other  judicial  tribunals;  cabinet  ministers;  collectors  of  customs, 
and  post-masters,  and  controls  the  appointment  of  a  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  other  officers,  of  every  grade,  from  Secretary  of  State 
down  to  the  humblest  tide-waiter.  All  that  is  implied  in  the  word 
"patronage,"  and  all  that  is  meant  by  that  other  word,  the  "spoils" 
— res  detestahilis  et  cadiica — a  word  and  a  thing  unknown  to  the 
fathers  of  the  Republic,  all  belong  to  him  to  control.  His  power  of 
appointment  and  removal  at  discretion  makes  him  the  master  of  every 
man  who  would  look  to  the  Executive  for  honor  or  emolument;  and 
its  tremendous  influence  is  reflected  back  upon  the  Senate  and  this 
House,  on  every  Senator  or  Representative  who  would  reward  his 
friends  for  their  support  at  home,  or  secure  new  friends  for  a  re-elec- 
tion. The  Constitution  forbids  titles  of  nobility  ;  yet  your  President 
is  the  fountain  of  honor.  Sir,  to  pass  by  the  utter  and  extraordinary 
perversion  of  the  original  purpose  of  the  Constitution  in  the  choice 
of  electors  for  the  President — a  perversion  the  result  of  caucuses, 
national  conventions,  and  other  party  machinery,  and  which  has  led 
to  those  violent  and  debauching  presidential  struggles,  every  four 
years,  for  possession  of  the  immense  spoils  of  the  executive  office — no 
department  has,  in  other  respects  also,  so  utterly  outstripped  the 
estimate  of  the  founders  of  the  Government,  except,  indeed,  of  the 
few  who,  like  Patrick  Henry,  were  derided  as  ghost-seers  and  hypo- 
chondriacs. 

When  the  elder  Adams  was  President,  the  great  east-room  of  the 
White  House — where  now,  or  lately,  on  gala  days,  are  gathered  the 
embassadors  and  ministers  of  a  hundred  courts,  from  Mexico  to 
Japan,  and  the  assembled  wit  and  fashion  and  beauty  and  distinc- 
tion of  the  thirty-three  States  of  the  Union — was  then  used  by  the 
excellent  and  patriotic  wife  of  the  President  as  a  drying-room  for — 
not  the  maids  of  honor — but  the  washerwoman  of  the  palace. 

Sir,  there  is  an  incident  connected  with  the  early  settlement  of  this 
city — still  the  capital  of  the  Republic,  selected  as  the  seat  of  Govern- 
ment, by  Washington,  the  Father  of  the  Republic,  and  bearing  his 
honored  name — an  incident  which  shows  how  much  he  and  the  other 
great  men  who  made  the  Constitution  under-estimated  the  power  and 
importance  of  the  Executive.  This  capitol,  within  which  we  now 
deliberate,  fronts  to  the  east.  There  all  your  Presidents  are  inaugu- 
rated :  and  it  was  the  design  and  the  expectation  of  the  founders  of 
the  city  that  it  should  extend  to  the  eastward.     There,  sir — there,  in 


68  now  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED? 

that  direction — was  to  be  the  future  Komc  of  the  American  continent. 
The  Executive  mansion  was  meant  to  be  in  the  rear,  and  to  be  kept  in 
the  rear  of  the  Chambers  of  the  Legislature.  A  long  vista  through 
the  original  forest  trees — a  sort  of  American  mall — was  to  connect 
them  together  ;  and  the  President  was  expected  to  enter  below  stairs, 
and  at  the  back  door,  into  this  capitol.  But  he  was  to  be  kept  for 
the  most  part  trans  Tibercm — on  the  other  side  of  the  Tiber.  The 
low,  marshy  ground  to  the  westward,  it  was  supposed,  would  forever 
forbid  the  building  up  of  a  city  between  the  seats  of  legislative  and 
executive  magistracy;  and  the  whole — if,  indeed,  ever  laid  out  at  all 
— might  have  become  a  great  national  park.  But  behold  the  strange 
perversity  of  man  !  The  city  has  all  gone  to  the  westward.  The 
rear  of  the  capitol  has  now  become  its  front.  Pennsylvania  Avenue, 
instead  of  a  suburban  drive,  is  now  a  grand  thoroughfare,  the  chief 
artery  which  conveys  the  blood  from  that  which  is  now  the  center  or 
heart  of  the  system — the  President.  The  Executive  mansion — that 
old  castle,  with  bad  fires  and  without  bells,  to  the  sore  discomfort  of 
Mistress  Abigail  Adams — is  now,  and  has  been  for  years,  the  great 
object  of  attraction;  and  whereas,  in  the  beginning,  the  "taverns" — 
for  that  was  the  name  given  them  sixty  years  ago — all  clustered 
around  this  capitol,  I  observe  that  now  the  greatest,  most  flourishing, 
and  best  patronised  "  hotel  "  has  established  itself  within  bow-shot  of 
the  White  House.  Sir,  the  power  of  executive  gravitation  has  proved 
too  strong  for  the  framers  of  the  Government  and  the  founders  of  the 
city.  Westward  the  course  of  architecture  has  taken  its  way ;  and 
certainly,  sir — certainly — it  is  not  because  of  any  especial  attraction 
about  that  most  venerable  of  ancient  marts — old  Georgetown. 

But  to  resume,  sir.  Nothing  adds  so  much  to  the  power  and 
influence  of  the  Executive  as  a  large  revenue  and  heavy  expenditures ; 
and  if  a  public  debt  be  added,  so  much  the  worse.  Every  dollar  more 
borrowed  or  collected,  and  every  dollar  more  spent,  is  just  so  much 
added  to  the  power  and  value  of  the  executive  office.  Nothing  in  the 
political  history  of  the  country  has  been  so  marked  as  the  steady,  but 
enormous,  increase  in  the  taxation  and  disbursement  of  the  Federal 
Government.  Fifteen  years  ago — to  go  back  no  further — ^just  previous 
to  the  Mexican  War,  the  receipts  of  the  Treasury  were  ^29,U00,000, 
and  the  expenditures  827,000,000 ;  while  four  years  ago — only  ten 
years  later — the  receipts  had  run  up  to  §69,000,000,  and  the  expendi- 
tures to  $71,000,000  —  the  latter  being  always,  or  nearly  always,  a 
little  in  advance  of  the  former.  Nature,  it  is  said,  sir,  abhors  a  vacuum  ; 
but  government — our  government,  at  least — would  seem  to  abhor  a 
plethoric  treasury.  There  are  always  surgeons,  volunteers  too,  at 
that,  if  need  be,  of  a  very  famous  school  of  surgery,  who  are  ready 
to  resort,  upon  all  occasions,  to  financial  phlebotomy.  Verily,  sir — 
verily  these  surgeons  of  the  executive  household  have  great  faith 
in  a  low  fiscal  regimen. 

The  collection  and  disbursement  of  880,000,000  a  year,  for  four 
years,  is  a  prize  worth  every  sacrifice.  The  power  of  the  sword,  the 
command  of  armies  and  navies  and  the  militia,  is  itself  a  tremendous 
power ;  and,  from  the  signs  around  us,  from  all  that  everywhere  meets 


HOW  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED?         69 

the  eye  or  falls  upon  the  ear,  at  every  step  throughout  this  capital,  I 
am  afraid  that  now  at  length,  and  before  the  close  of  the  last  quarter 
of  the  first  century  of  the  Republic,  it  is  about  to  assume  a  terrible 
significancy,  and  that  the  reign  of  military  despotism  is  henceforth  to 
be  dated  from  this  year.  But,  great  as  this  power  is,  it  is  nothing — 
nothing  as  yet  in  this  country — compared  with  the  power  of  the 
purse.  He  who  commands  that  unnumbered  host  of  eager  and  hun- 
gry expectants  whose  eyes  are  fixed  upon  the  Treasury,  to  say  nothing 
of  that  other  host  of  seekers  of  office,  is  mightier  far  than  the 
commander  of  military  legions.  The  gentleman  from  Tennessee 
(Mr.  Etheridge)  entertained  us  the  other  day  with  a  glowing  picture 
of  the  exodus  of  the  present  incumbents  about  the  executive  offices 
and  elsewhere.  Sir,  1  should  be  pleased,  when  he  next  addresses  the 
House,  to  have  his  fine  powers  of  "wit  and  eloquence  tested  by  a 
description  of  the  flight  of  the  incoming  locusts  about  the  fourth  of 
March.  Certainly,  sir — certainly — the  departure  of  the  army  of  fat, 
sleek,  contented,  well-fed  and  well-clad  officeholders,  whose  natural 
habitat  is  the  Treasury  building,  or  some  other  of  the  same  sort,  is 
a  picture  melancholy  enough  to  excite  commiseration  in  even  the 
hardest  and  the  stoniest  heart.  But  the  ingress  of  that  other  mighty 
host  of  office-seekers,  fifty  to  one — lean,  lank,  cadaverous,  hungry, 
hollow-eyed,  with  bones  bursting  through  their  garments,  and  long, 
skinny  fingers,  eager  to  clutch  the  spoils ;  and  stung,  too,  with  the 
cestus  of  that  practical  sort  of  patriotism  which  loves  the  country  for 
its  material  benefits,  would  require  some  part,  at  least,  of  the  powers 
of  those  diabolical  old  painters  of  the  Spanish  or  Italian  school.  The 
gentleman  will  pardon  me,  but  I  am  sure  that  even  he  is  not  equal 
to  it. 

Such,  Mr.  Speaker,  is  the  central  Government  of  the  United  States, 
and  such  its  powers  and  honors  and  emoluments  ;  and  every  year  adds 
strength  to  them.  Against  the  centralizing  tendencies  and  influences 
of  such  a  Government,  the  States,  separately,  can  not  contend.  Neither 
ambition  nor  avarice,  the  love  of  honor  or  the  love  of  gain,  find  any 
thing  to  satisfy  their  large  desires  in  the  State  governments.  Sir,  the 
State  executives  have  no  cabinets,  no  veto  for  the  most  part,  no  army, 
no  navy,  no  militia,  except  upon  the  peace  establishment,  and  that 
commonly  despised  ;  no  foreign  appointments,  and  no  diplomatic  inter- 
course ;  no  treaties,  no  post-office,  no  land-office,  no  great  revenues 
to  disburse  ;  small  salaries,  and  no  patronage — in  short,  sir,  nothing 
to  arouse  ambition,  or  to  excite  avarice.  The  Legislature  of  the 
State  have  a  most  valuable,  but  not  the  most  dignified,  field  of  labor. 
They  declare  no  war,  levy  no  imports,  regulate  no  external  commerce, 
coin  no  money,  establish  no  post-routes,  oceanic  or  overland ;  make 
no  land  grants,  emit  no  bills  of  credit  of  their  own,  publish  no  Globe, 
have  no  franking  privilege,  and  their  Senators  and  Representatives 
serve  the  State  for  a  few  hundred  dollars  a  years.  The  State  judi- 
ciaries, however  important  the  litigation  before  them  may  be  to  the 
parties,  attract  commonly  but  small  interest  from  the  public ;  and,  of 
late  years,  no  great  or  splendid  legal  reputation  is  to  be  acquired, 
outside  of  a  few  of  the  larger  cities  at  least,  either  upon  the  bench 


70  now  SHALL  the  union  be  preserved? 

or  at  the  bar  of  the  State  courts.  Whatever,  sir,  the  dignity  or  power 
or  consideration  .of  the  United  States  may  be,  tliat  of  each  State  is 
but  the  one  tliirty-fourth  part  of  it ;  and,  indeed,  for  soiue  years  past, 
the  control  of  the  State  governments  has,  to  a  great  extent,  been 
Bougbt  after  chiefly  as  an  instrumentality  for  securing  control  of 
legislative,  executive,  or  judicial  position  in  the  Federal  Government. 
And  all  this  mischief — for  mischief  certainly  I  must  regard  it — has 
been  steadily  aggravated  by  the  policy  pursued  in  nearly  all  tho 
States,  of  diminishing,  in  every  way,  in  their  constitutions,  and  by 
their  laws,  the  dignity,  power,  and  consideration  of  the  several 
departments  of  their  State  governments.  Short  tenures,  low  salaries, 
biennial  sessions,  crude,  hasty,  and  continually  changing  legislation, 
new  constitutions  every  ten  years,  and  whatever  else  may  be  classed 
under  the  head  of  reform,  falsely  so  called,  have  been  the  bane  of 
State  sovereignty  and  importance.  Indeed,  for  years  past,  State 
constitutions,  laws,  and  institutions  of  every  sort,  seem  to  have  been 
regarded  as  but  so  many  subjects  for  rude  and  wanton  experiments  at 
the  hands  of  reckless  ideologists  or  demagogues.  But,  besides  all 
this,  the  infinite  subdivision  of  political  power  in  the  States,  from 
the  chief  departments  of  State  down  through  counties,  townships, 
school-districts,  cities,  towns,  and  villages,  all  which  certainly  is  very 
necessary  and  proper  in  a  democratic  Government,  tends  very  much 
of  itself  to  decrease  the  dignity  and  importance  of  the  States.  In 
short,  sir,  in  nearly  all  the  States,  and  especially  in  the  new  States, 
the  great  purpose  of  the  politicians  would  seem  to  have  been,  to 
ascertain  just  how  feeble  and  simple  and  insignificant  their  governments 
could  be  made — just  how  near  to  a  pure  and  perfect  democracy  our 
representative  form  of  republicanism  can  be  carried.  All  this,  sir, 
would  have  been  well,  and  consistent  enough,  no  doubt,  if  the  States 
were  totally  disconnected,  or  if  the  Federal  Government  could  have 
been  kept  down  equally  low,  simple,  and  democratic.  Certainly,  this 
is  the  true  idea  of  a  strictly  democratic  form  and  administration  of 
government ;  and  the  nearer  it  is  approached,  the  purer  and  better 
the  system — in  theory,  at  least.  But  the  experiment  having  been 
fairly  tried,  and  the  fact  settled,  that  in  a  country  so  large,  wealthy, 
populous,  and  enterprising  as  ours  is,  it  is  impossible  to  reduce 
down,  or  to  keep  down,  the  central  Government  to  one  of  economy 
and  simplicity,  it  is  the  true  wisdom  and  policy  of  the  States  to  see 
to  it  that  their  own  separate  governments  are  not  rendered  any  more 
insignificant,  at  least,  than  they  are  already. 

Such,  sir,  I  repeat,  then,  is  the  central  Government  of  the  United 
States,  and  such  its  great  and  tremendous  powers  and  honors  and 
emoluments.  With  such  powers,  such  honors,  such  patronage,  and 
such  revenues,  is  it  any  wonder,  I  ask,  that  every  thing,  yes,  even 
virtue,  truth,  justice,  patriotism,  and  the  Constitution  itself,  should 
be  sacrified  to  obtain  possession  of  it?  There  is  no  such  glittering 
prize  to  be  contended  for  every  four  or  two  years  anywhere  through- 
out the  whole  earth  ;  and  accordingly,  from  the  beginning,  and  every 
year  more  and  more,  it  has  been  the  object  of  the  highest  and  low- 
est, the  purest,  and  the  most  corrupt  ambition  known  among  men. 


HOW  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED  ?         71 

Parties  and  combinations  have  existed  from  the  first,  and  have  been 
changed,  and  reorganized,  and  built  up,  and  cast  down,  from  the 
earliest  period  of  our  history  to  this  day,  all  for  the  purpose  of 
controlling  the  powers  and  honors  and  the  moneys  of  the  central 
Government.  For  a  good  many  years  parties  were  organized  upon 
questions  of  finance  or  of  political  economy.  Upon  the  subjects  of 
a  permanent  public  debt,  a  national  bank,  the  public  deposits,  a 
protective  tariff,  internal  improvements,  the  disposition  of  the  public 
lands,  and  other  questions  of  a  similar  character,  all  of  them  looking 
to  the  special  interests  of  the  moneyed  classes,  parties  were,  for  a 
long  while,  divided.  The  different  kinds  of  capitalists  sometimes  also 
disagreed  among  themselves — the  manufacturer  with  the  commercial 
men  of  the  country  ;  and,  in  this  manner,  party  issues  were  occasionally 
made  up.  But  the  great  dividing  line,  at  last,  was  always  between 
capital  and  labor — between  the  few  who  had  money,  and  who  wanted 
to  use  the  Government 'to  increase  and  "protect"  it,  as  the  phrase 
goes,  and  the  many  who  had  little,  but  wanted  to  keep  it,  and  who 
only  asked  Government  to  let  them  alone.  Money,  money,  sir,  was 
at  the  bottom  of  the  political  contests  of  the  times  ;  and  nothing  so 
curiously  demonstrates  the  immense  power  of  money,  as  the  fact,  that 
in  a  country  where  there  is  no  entailment  of  estates,  no  law  of  primo- 
geniture, no  means  of  keeping  up  vast  accumulations  of  wealth  in 
particular  families,  no  exclusive  privileges,  and  where  universal 
suffrage  prevails,  these  contests  should  have  continued,  with  various 
fortune,  for  full  half  a  century.  But,  at  the  last,  the  opponents  of 
Democracy,  known  at  different  periods  of  the  struggle  by  many  dif- 
ferent names,  but  around  whom  the  moneyed  interests  always  rallied, 
were  overborne,  and  utterly  dispersed.  The  Whig  party,  their  last 
refuge,  the  last  and  ablest  of  the  economic  parties,  died  out ;  and  the 
politicians  who  were  not  of  the  Democratic  party,  with  a  good  many 
more,  also,  who  had  been  of  it,  but  who  had  deserted  it,  or  whom  it 
had  deserted,  were  obliged  to  resort  to  some  other  and  new  element  for 
an  organization  which  might  be  made  strong  enough  to  conquer  and  to 
destroy  the  Democracy,  and  thus  obtain  control  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment. And  most  unfortunately  for  the  peace  of  the  country,  and  for 
the  perpetuity,  I  fear,  of  the  Union  itself,  they  found  the  nucleus  of 
such  an  organization  ready  formed  to  their  hands — an  organization 
odious,  indeed,  in  name,  but  founded  upon  two  of  the  most  powerful 
passions  of  the  human  heart:  sectionalism,  which  is  only  a  narrow 
and  localized  patriotism,  and  anti-slavery,  or  love  of  freedom,  which 
commonly  is  powerful  just  in  proportion  as  it  is  very  near  coming 
home  to  one's  own  self,  or  very  far  off,  so  that  either  self-interest,  or 
the  imagination  can  have  full  power  to  act. 

And  here  let  me  remark,  that  it  had  so  happened  that  almost,  if 
not  quite,  from  the  beginning  of  the  Government,  the  South,  or  slave- 
holding  section  of  the  Union — partly  because  the  people  of  the 
South  are  chiefly  an  agricultural  and  producing,  a  non-commercial 
and  non -manufacturing  people,  and  partly  because  there  is  no  con- 
flict, or  little  conflict,  among  them  between  labor  and  capital,  inasmuch 
as  to  a  considerable  extent,  capital  owns  a  large  class  of  their  laborers 


72  now  SHALL  the  union  be  preserved? 

not  of  the  white  race;  and  it  may  be  also,  because,  as  Mr.  Burke 
said,  many  years  ago,  the  holders  of  slaves  are  "  by  far  the  most 
proud  and  jealous  of  their  freedom,"  and  because  the  aristocracy 
of  birth  and  family,  and  of  talent,  is  more  highly  esteemed  among 
them  than  the  aristrocracy  of  wealth — but  no  matter  from  what 
cause,  the  fact  was  that  the  South,  for  fifty  years,  was  nearly  always 
on  the  side  of  the  Democratic  party.  It  was  the  natural  ally  of  the 
Democracy  of  the  North,  and  especially  of  the  West.  Geographical 
partition  and  identity  of  interests  bound  us  together;  and  till  this 
sectional  question  of  slavery  arose,  the  South  and  the  new  States  of 
the  West  were  always  together  ;  and  the  latter,  in  the  beginning,  at 
least,  always  Democratic.  Sir,  there  was  not  a  triumph  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic party  in  half  a  century,  which  was  not  won  by  the  aid  of 
the  statesmen  and  the  people  of  the  South.  I  would  not  be  under- 
stood, however,  as  intimating  that  the  South  was  ever  slow  to  ap- 
propriate her  full  share  of  the  spoils — the  opima  spolia  of  victory, 
or  especially  that  the  politicians  of  that  great  and  noble  old  Com- 
monwealth of  Virginia — God  bless  her — were  ever  remarkable  for  the 
grace  of  self-denial  in  this  regard — not  at  all.  But  it  was  natural, 
sir,  that  they  who  had  been  so  many  times,  and  for  so  many  years, 
bafBed  and  defeated  by  the  aid  of  the  South,  should  entertain  no 
very  kindly  feelings  towards  her.  And  here  I  must  not  omit  to  say, 
that  all  this  time  there  was  a  powerful  minority  in  the  whole  South, 
sometimes  a  majority  in  the  whole  South,  and  always  in  some  of  the 
States  of  the  South,  who  belonged  to  the  several  parties  which,  at 
different  times,  contended  with  the  Democracy  for  the  possession  and 
control  of  the  Federal  Government.  Parties,  in  those  days,  were  not 
sectional,  but  extended  into  every  State,  and  every  part  of  the  Union. 
And,  indeed,  in  the  Convention  of  1787,  the  possibility,  or,  at  least, 
the  probability,  of  sectional  combinations,  seems,  as  I  have  already 
said,  to  have  been  almost  wholly  overlooked.  Washington,  it  is 
true,  in  his  Farewell  Address,  warned  us  against  them,  but  it  was 
rather  as  a  distant  vision  than  as  a  near  reality  ;  and  a  few  years 
later,  Mr.  Jefferson  speaks  of  a  possibility  of  the  people  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley  seceding  from  the  East ;  for  even  then  a  division 
of  the  Union,  North  and  South,  or  by  slave  lines  in  the  Union,  or  out 
of  it,  seems  scarcely  to  have  been  contemplated.  The  letter  of  Mr. 
Jefferson  upon  this  subject,  dated  in  1803,  is  a  curious  one  ;  and  I  com- 
mend it  to  the  attention  of  gentlemen  upon  both  sides  of  the  House. 
So  long,  sir,  as  the  South  maintained  its  equality  in  the  Senate, 
and  something  like  equality  in  population,  strength,  and  material 
resources  in  the  country,  there  was  little  to  invite  aggression,  while 
there  were  the  means,  also,  to  repel  it.  But.  in  the  course  of  time, 
the  South  lost  its  equality  in  the  other  wing  of  the  capitol,  and 
every  year  the  disparity  between  the  two  sections  became  greater  and 
greater.  Meantime,  too,  the  anti-slavery  sentiment,  which  had  lain 
dormant  at  the  North  for  many  years  after  the  inauguration  of  the 
Federal  Government,  began,  just  about  the  time  of  the  emancipation 
in  the  British  West  Indies,  to  develop  itself  in  great  strength,  and 
with  wonderful  rapidity.     It  had  appeared,  indeed,  with  much  vio- 


HOW  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED?         73 

lence'at  tlie  period  of  the  admission  of  Missouri,  and  even  then  shook 
the  Union  to  its  foundation.  And  yet,  how  little  a  sectional  contro- 
versy, based  upon  such  a  question,  had  been  foreseen  by  the  founders 
of  the  Government,  may  be  learned  from  Mr.  Jefferson's  letter  to  Mr. 
Holmes,  in  1820,  where  he  speaks  of  it  falling  upon  his  ear  like  "a 
fire-bell  in  the  night."     Said  he  : 

"I  considered  it,  at  once,  as  the  death-knell  of  the  Union.  It  is  hushed, 
indeed,  for  the  moment;  but  this  is  a  reprieve  only,  not  a  final  sentence. 
A  geographical  line,  coinciding  with  a  marked  principle,  moral  and  politi- 
cal"— 

Sir,  it  is  this  very  coincidence  of  geographical  line  with  the 
marked  principle,  moral  and  political,  of  slavery,  which  I  propose  to 
reach  and  to  obliterate  in  the  only  way  possible  ;  by  running  other 
lines,  coinciding  with  other  and  less  dangerous  principles,  none  of 
them  moral,  and,  above  all,  with  other  and  conflicting  interests — 

"  A  geographical  line,  coinciding  with  a  marked  principle,  moral  and 
political,  once  conceived  and  held  up  to  the  angry  passions  of  men,  will  never 
be  obliterated,  and  every  new  irritation  will  mark  it  deeper  and  deeper."  .  .  . 
...  "I  regret  that  I  ara  now  to  die  in  the  belief  that  the  useless  sacrifice  of 
themselves,  by  the  generations  of  1776,  to  acquire  self-government  and  hap- 
piness to  their  country,  is  to  be  thrown  away  by  the  unwise  and  unworthy 
passions  of  their  sons;  and  that  my  only  consolation  is  to  be  that  I  shall 
not  live  to  weep  over  it." 

Fortunate  man !  He  did  not  live  to  weep  over  it.  To-day  he 
sleeps  quietly  beneath  the  soil  of  his  own  Monticello,  unconscious 
that  the  mighty  fabric  of  government  which  he  helped  to  rear — a 
government  whose  foundations  were  laid  by  the  hands  of  so  many 
patriots  and  sages,  and  cemented  by  the  blood  of  so  many  martyrs 
and  heroes — hastens  now,  day  by  day,  to  its  fall.  What  recks  he, 
or  that  other  great  man,  his  compeer,  fortunate  in  life  and  opportune 
alike  in  death,  whose  dust  they  keep  at  Quincy,  of  those  dreadful 
notes  of  preparation  in  every  State  for  civil  strife  and  fraternal  car- 
nage ;  or  of  that  martial  array  which  already  has  changed  this  once 
peaceful  capital  into  a  beleaguered  city  ?  Fortunate  men  !  They 
died  while  the  Constitution  yet  survived,  while  the  Union  survived, 
while  the  spirit  of  fraternal  affection  still  lived,  and  the  love  of  true 
American  liberty  lingered  yet  in  the  hearts  of  their  descendants. 

Sir,  the  antagonism  of  parties  founded  on  money  or  questions  of 
political  economy  having  died  out,  and  the  balance  of  power  between 
the  North  and  the  South  being  now  lost,  and  the  strength  and  dig- 
nity, and  the  revenues  and  disbursements — the  patronage  and  spoils — 
of  the  Federal  Government  having  grown  to  an  enormous  size,  was 
any  thing  more  natural  than  the  organization,  upon  any  basis  peculiar 
to  the  stronger  section,  of  a  sectional  party,  to  secure  so  splendid  and 
tempting  a  prize?  Or  was  any  thing  more  inevitable  than  that  the 
"  marked  principle,  moral  and  political,"  of  slavery,  coinciding  with 
the  very  geographical  line  tchich  divided  the  two  sections,  and 
appealing  so  strongly  to  Northern  sentiments  and  prejudices,  and 
against  which  it  was  impossible  for  any  man  or  any  party  long  to 
contend,  should  be  revived  ?     Unhappily,  too,  just  about  this  time, 


74         now  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED? 

the  acquisition  of  a  very  lar£;e  territory  from  Mexico,  not  foreseen 
or  provided  for  by  the  Missouri  compromise,  opened  wide  tlie  door 
for  this  very  question  of  slavery,  in  a  form  every  way  the  most 
favorable  to  the  agitators.  The  Wilmot  Proviso,  or  Congressional 
prohibition — now,  indeed,  exploded,  but  which,  nevertheless,  received, 
in  some  form  or  other,  the  indorsement  of  every  fi-ee  State  then  in 
the  Union — it  was  proposed  to  establish  over  the  whole  territory 
thus  acquired,  as  well  south  of  36°  30'  as  north  of  that  latitude. 
The  proposition,  upon  the  other  hand,  to  extend  the  Missouri  com- 
promise line  to  the  Pacific,  was  rejected  by  the  votes  of  almost  the 
entire  Whig  party,  and  of  a  large  majority,  I  believe,  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  of  the  free  States.  That,  sir,  wag  the  fatal  mistake  of 
the  North  ;  and  in  tribulation  and  anguish  will  she  and  the  other 
sections  of  the  Union,  and  our  posterity,  too,  for  ages,  it  may  be, 
weep  tears  of  bloody  repentance  and  regret  over  it. 

This  controversy,  however,  sir,  after  having  again  shaken  the 
Union  to  its  center,  was  at  last,  though  with  great  difficulty,  adjusted 
through  the  compromise  measures  of  1850,  by  the  last  of  the  great 
statesmen  of  the  second  period  of  the  Republic.  But  four  years 
afterward,  upon  the  bill  to  organize  the  territories  of  Kansas  and 
Nebraska,  upon  the  principles  of  the  legislation  of  1850,  the  impris- 
oned winds — Eurus,  Notusque,  creherque  procellis  Africus — were  all 
again  let  loose  with  more  than  the  rage  of  a  tropical  hurricane. 
The  Missouri  restriction,  which  for  years  had  been  denounced  as  a 
wicked  and  atrocious  concession  to  slavery,  and  which,  some  thirty 
years  before,  had  consigned  almost  every  free  State  Senator  or  Rep- 
resentative who  supported  it,  to  political  oblivion,  became  now  a 
most  sacred  compact,  which  it  was  sacrilege  to  touch.  A  distin- 
guished Senator,  late  the  Governor  of  Ohio,  who  had  entitled  his 
great  speech  against  the  adjustment  measures  of  1850,  "  Union  and 
Freedom  without  Compromise^''  now  put  forth  his  elaborate  defense, 
four  years  later,  of  the  Missouri  restriction,  with  the  rubric  or  text, 
in  ambitious  characters,  '■'■Maintain  Plighted  Faith."  But,  right  or 
wrong,  wise  or  unwise,  at  the  time,  as  the  repeal  of  that  restriction 
may  have  seemed,  subsequent  acts  and  events  have  made  it  both  a 
delusion  and  a  snare.  Yes,  sir,  I  confess  it.  I,  who,  as  a  private 
citizen,  was  one  of  its  earliest  defenders,  make  open  confession  of  it 
here  to-day.  It  was  this  which  gave  a  new  and  terrible  vitality  to 
the  languishing  element  of  abolitionism,  and  which  precipitated,  at 
least,  a  crisis  which,  I  fear,  was,  nevertheless,  sooner  or  later,  inevit- 
able. It  is  the  crisis  of  which  the  President  elect  spoke  three 
years  ago.  It  is,  indeed,  reached.  Would  to  God  it  were  passed, 
also,  in  peace. 

But,  sir,  whether  the  leaders  of  the  movement  against  the  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  restriction  were  consistent  or  inconsistent,  honest  or 
dishonest,  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  the  free  States  were  roused, 
for  a  time,  to  the  highest  indignation  by  it;  and,  inasmuch  as  the 
Whig  party  was  just  then  falling  to  pieces,  wicked,  or  reckless,  or 
short-sighted  men  eagerly  seized  upon  this  unsettled  condition  of 
the  public  miud,  to  reorganize  the  Free  Soil  party  of  1818,  under  a 


HOW  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PKESERVED"?         75 

new  and  captivating  name,  but  very  nearly  upon  the  principles  of  the 
Buffalo  platform  of  that  year,  thus  abandoning  the  extreme  abolition 
sentiments  of  the  Liberty  party,  and  bringing  up  the  great  majority 
of  the  Whig  party,  and  not  a  few  of  the  Democratic  party,  also,  to 
the  Free  Soil  and  non-slavery  extension  principle ;  and  by  this  com- 
promise, forming  and  consolidating  that  powerful  party,  which,  for 
the  first  time  in  our  history,  by  a  mere  sectional  plurality — in  a 
minority,  in  fact,  by  a  million  of  votes — has  obtained  possession  of 
the  power  and  patronage  of  the  central  government.  Sir,  if  all  this 
had  happened  solely  by  accident,  and  were  likely  never  to  be  repeated, 
portentous  as  it  might  be  of  present  evil,  it  would  have  caused,  and 
ought  to  have  caused,  none  of  the  disasters  which  have  already  fol- 
lowed. But  the  DREAD  SECRET  once  disclosed,  that  the  immense 
powers  and  revenues  and  honors  and  spoils  of  this  great  and  mighty 
Bepublic  may  be  easily  won,  by  a  mere  sectional  majority,  upon  a 
popular  sectional  issue,  will  never  die ;  and  new  aggressions  and  new 
issues  must  continually  spring  from  it.  This  is  the  philosophy  and 
the  justification  of  the  alarm  and  consternation  which  have  shaken 
the  South  from  the  Potomac  to  the  Gulf.  It  is  the  philosophy,  and 
the  justification,  too,  of  the  amendment  of  the  gentleman  from  Mas- 
sachusetts, (Mr.  Adams,)  and  of  all  the  other  propositions  for  new 
adjustments  and  new  guarantees.  Sir,  the  gentleman  from  New 
York  (Mr.  Sedgwick)  was  right  when  he  said  that  there  never  was 
any  great  event  which  did  not  spring  from  some  adequate  cause. 
The  South  is  afraid  of  your  sectional  majority,  organized  and  con- 
solidated upon  the  abstract  principle  of  hostility  to  slavery  generally, 
and  the  practical  application  of  that  principle  to  the  exclusion  of 
slavery  from  all  the  Territories,  and  its  restriction,  by  the  power  of 
that  sectional  majority,  to  where  it  now  exists.  And  if  this  be  not 
the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  llepublican  party,  I  shall  be  greatly 
obliged  to  some  gentleman  of  that  party  to  tell  me  what  its  funda- 
mental doctrine  is. 

But  unjust  and  oppressive  as  the  South  feel  their  exclusion  from 
the  common  territories  of  the  State  to  be,  they  know  well,  also,  that 
the  propelling  power  of  a  great  moral  and  religious  principle,  as  it 
is  regarded  in  the  North,  added  to  the  still  more  enduring,  persist- 
ent, and  prudent  passion  of  ambition,  of  thirst  for  power  and  place, 
for  the  honors  and  emoluments  of  such  a  Government  as  ours,  with 
its  half  a  million  of  dependents  and  expectants,  and  its  eighty  mil- 
lions of  revenues  and  disbursements,  all,  all  to  be  secured  by  the 
Aladdin's  lamp  of  a  sectional  majority,  can  not  be  arrested  or 
extinguished  by  any  thing  short  of  the  suppression  of  the  power 
■which  makes  it  potent  for  mischief.  And  nothing  less  than  this,  be 
assured,  will  satisfy  any  considerable  number  of  even  the  more  mod- 
erate of  the  people  of  the  border  slave  States,  and  certainly  without 
it  there  is  not  the  slightest  hope  of  the  return  of  the  States  upon 
the  Gulf,  and  thus  of  a  restoration  of  the  Union  as  it  existed  but 
three  months  ago.  The  statesmen  and  the  people  of  all  these  States 
well  know,  also,  that,  by  the  civil  law  of  every  country,  among 
individuals,  and  by  the  law  of  nations,  as  between  sovereign  and 


76         now  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED? 

foreitrn  States,  the  power  to  a<r£;ress,  along  with  the  threat  and  the 
preparation  to  aggress,  is  a  good  cause  why  an  individual  or  a  State 
should  be  required  to  give  some  adequate  assurance  that  the  power 
shall  not  be  used  to  execute  the  threat;  or,  otherwise,  that  the 
power  shall  itself  be  taken  away.  Apply  now,  sir,  these  principles 
to  the  case  in  hand.  The  North  has  the  power;  that  power  is  in 
the  hands  of  the  Republican  party,  and  already  they  have  resolved 
to  use  it  for  the  exclusion  of  the  South  from  all  the  Territories. 
There  shall  be  no  more  extcn.sion  of  slavery.  More  than  this  :  the 
leaders  of  the  party — many  of  them  leaders  and  founders  of  the  old 
Liberty  Guard,  the  original  Abolition  party  of  the  North — the  very 
men  who  brought  the  masses  of  the  Whig  party,  and  many  of  the 
Democratic  party,  from  utter  indifference  and  non-intervention  years 
ago  upon  the  question  of  slavery,  up  to  the  point  of  no  more  slavery 
extension,  and  persuaded  them,  in  spite  of  the  warning  voice  of 
Washington,  in  the  very  face  of  the  appalling  danger  of  disunion,  to 
unite,  for  this  purpose,  in  a  powerful  sectional  party,  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  Government — these  self-same  leaders  pro- 
claim now,  not  indeed  as  present  doctrines  or  purposes  of  the 
Republican  party,  but  as  solemn  abstract  truths,  as  fixed,  existing 
facts,  that  there  is  a  "higher  law"  than  the  Constitution,  and  an 
"irrepressible  conflict"  of  principle  and  interest,  between  the  domi- 
nant and  the  minority  sections  of  the  Union,  and  that  one  or  the  other 
must  conquer  in  the  conflict.  Sir,  in  this  contest  with  ballots,  who 
is  it  that  must  conquer — the  section  of  the  minority,  or  the  section 
of  the  majority  ? 

And  now,  sir,  when  sentiments  like  these  are  held  and  proclaimed 
—  deliberately,  solemnly,  repeatedly  proclaimed  —  by  men,  one  of 
whom  is  now  the  President  elect,  and  the  other  the  Secretary  of  State 
of  the  incoming  Administration,  is  it  at  all  surprising  that  the  States 
of  the  South  should  be  filled  with  excitement  and  alarm,  or  that  they 
should  demand,  as  almost  with  one  voice  they  have  demanded,  ade- 
quate and  complete  guarantees  for  their  rights,  and  security  against 
aggression?  Right  or  wrong,  justifiably  or  without  cause,  they  have 
done  it ;  and  I  lament  to  say,  that  some  of  these  States  have  even 
gone  so  far  as  to  throw  ofi"  wholly  the  authority  of  the  Federal 
Government,  and  withdraw  themselves  from  the  Union.  Sir,  I  will 
not  discuss  the  right  of  secession.  It  is  of  no  possible  avail  now, 
either  to  maintain  or  to  condemn  it;  yet  it  is  vain  to  tell  me  that 
States  can  not  secede.  Seven  States  have  seceded ;  they  now  refuse 
any  longer  to  recognize  the  authority  of  this  Government,  and  already 
have  entered  into  a  new  confederacy,  and  set  up  a  provisional  gov- 
ernment of  their  own.  In  three  months  their  agents  and  commis- 
sioners will  return  from  Europe  with  the  recognition  of  Great  Britain 
and  France,  and  of  the  other  great  powers  of  the  continent.  Other 
States  at  home  are  preparing  to  unite  with  this  new  confederacy,  if 
you  do  not  grant  to  them  their  just  and  equitable  demands.  The 
question  is  no  longer  one  of  mere  preservation  of  the  Union.  That 
was  the  question  when  we  met  in  this  Chamber  some  two  months 
ago.    Unhappily,  that  day  has  passed  by;  and  while  your  "perilous 


now  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED?         77 

Commmittee  of  Thirty-three  "  debated  and  deliberated  to  gain  time — 
yes,  to  gain  time — for  that  was  the  insane  and  most  unstatesmanlike 
cry  in  the  beginning  of  the  session,  star  after  star  shot  madly  from 
our  political  firmament.  The  question  to-day  is  :  How  shall  we  now 
keep  the  States  we  have,  and  restore  those  which  are  lost?  Ay,  sir, 
restore^  till  every  wanderer  shall  have  returned,  and  not  one  be  mis- 
sing from  the  "starry  flock." 

If,  then,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  have  justly  and  truly  stated  the  causes 
which  have  led  to  those  most  disastrous  results,  if,  indeed,  the  con- 
trol of  the  immense  powers,  honors,  and  revenues — the  spoils — of 
the  Federal  Government,  in  a  word,  if  the  possession  of  power,  and 
the  temptation  to  abuse  it,  be  the  primary  cause  of  the  present  dis- 
memberment of  the  United  States,  ought  not  every  remedy  proposed 
to  reach  at  once  the  very  seat  of  the  disease?  And  why,  sir,  may  not 
the  malady  be  healed?  Why  can  not  this  controversy  be  adjusted? 
Has,  indeed,  the  union  of  these  States  received  the  immedicable 
wound?  I  do  not  believe  it.  Never  was  there  a  political  crisis  for 
which  wise,  courageous,  and  disinterested  statesmen  could  more 
speedily  devise  a  remedy.  British  statesmen  would  have  adjusted  it 
in  a  few  weeks.  Twice,  certainly,  if  not  three  times,  in  this  century, 
they  have  healed  troubles  threatening  a  dissolution  of  the  monarchy 
and  civil  war,  and  each  time  healed  them  by  yielding  promptly  to 
the  necessities  which  pressed  upon  them,  giving  up  principles  and 
measures  to  which  they  had  every  way  for  years  been  committed. 
They  have  learned  wisdom  from  the  obstinacy  of  the  king  who  lost 
to  Great  Britain  her  thirteen  colonies;  and  have  been  taught,  by  that 
memorable  lesson,  to  concede  and  to  compromise  in  time,  and  to  do 
it  radically;  and  history  has  pronounced  it  statesmanship,  not  weak- 
ness. In  each  case,  too,  they  yielded  up,  not  doctrines  and  a  policy 
which  they  were  seeking  for  the  first  time  to  establish,  but  the 
ancient  and  settled  principles,  usages,  and  institutions  of  the  realm ; 
and  they  yielded  up  these  to  save  others  yet  more  essential,  and  to 
maintain  the  integrity  of  the  empire.  They  did  save  it,  and  did 
maintain  it ;  and,  to-day,  Great  Britain  is  stronger  and  more  pros- 
perous and  more  secure  than  any  government  on  the  globe. 

Sir,  no  man  had,  for  a  longer  time,  or  with  a  more  inexorable  firm- 
ness, opposed  Catholic  emanciption  than  the  Duke  of  Wellington ; 
yet,  when  the  issue  came,  at  last,  between  emancipation  or  civil  war, 
the  hero  of  a  hundred  battle-fields,  the  conquerer  at  Waterloo,  the 
greatest  military  commander,  except  Napoleon,  of  modern  times,  yes, 
the  IRON  DUKE  lost  not  a  moment,  but  yielded  to  the  storm,  and  him- 
self led  the  party  which  carried  the  great  measure  of  peace  and  com- 
promise through  the  very  citadel  of  conservatism — the  House  of  Lords. 
Sir,  he  sought  no  middle  ground,  no  half-way  measure,  confessing 
weakness,  promising  something,  doing  nothing.  And  in  that  memor- 
able debate  he  spoke  words  of  wisdom,  moderation,  and  true  courage, 
which  I  commend  to  gentlemen  in  this  House — to  our  Wellington 
outside  of  it,  and  to  all  others,  anywhere,  whose  parched  jaws  seem 
ravenous  for  blood.     He  said: 


78         now  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED? 

"  It  has  been  my  fortune  to  have  seen  much  of  war — more  than  most  men. 
I  have  been  constantly  engaged  in  the  active  duties  of  the  military  profession 
from  boyhood  until  1  have  grown  gray.  My  life  has  been  passed  in  famil- 
iarity with  scones  of  death  and  human  suifering.  Circumstances  have  placed 
me  in  countries  where  the  war  was  internal — between  opposite  parties  in  the 
same  nation  ;  and,  rather  than  a  country  I  loved  should  be  visited  with  the 
calamities  which  I  have  seen,  with  the  unutterable  horrors  of  civil  war,  I 
would  run  any  ri.sk — I  tvould  inake  any  sacrifice — /  worild  freely  lay  down  my 
life.  There  is  nothing  which  destroys  property  and  prosperity,  and  demoral- 
izes cliar;icter,  to  the  extent  which  civil  war  does.  By  it,  the  hand  of  man 
is  raised  against  his  neighbor,  against  his  brother,  and  against  his  father;  the 
servant  betrays  his  master,  and  the  master  ruins  his  servant.  Yet  this  is  the 
resource  to  which  we  must  have  looked — t/iese  are  the  means  which  we  mxist  have 
applied,  in  order  to  have  put  ati  end  to  this  state  of  thinps,  if  we  had  not 
embraced  the  option  of  bringing  forward  the  measure  for  which  I  hold  myself 
responsible.'' 

Two  years  later,  sir,  in  a  yet  more  dan!:;crous  crisis  upon  the  Reform 
Bill,  which  the  Commons  had  rejected,  and  when  civil  commotion  and 
discord,  if  not  revolution,  were  again  threatened,  and  it  became  neces- 
sary to  dissolve  the  Parliament,  and,  for  that  purpose,  to  secure  the 
consent  of  a  king  adverse  to  the  dissolution,  the  Lord  Chancellor  of 
England,  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  men  of  the  age — by,  perhaps, 
the  boldest  and  most  hazardous  experiment  ever  tried  upon  royalty — 
surprised  the  King  into  consent,  assuring  him  that  the  further  exist- 
ence of  the  Parliament  was  incompatible  with  the  peace  and  safety 
of  the  kingdom  ;  and  having,  without  the  royal  command,  summoned 
the  great  officers  of  State,  prepared  the  crown,  the  robes,  the  King's 
speech,  and  whatever  else  was  needed,  and,  at  the  risk  of  the  penalties 
of  high  treason,  ordered,  also,  the  attendance  of  the  troops  required 
by  the  usages  of  the  ceremony,  he  hurried  the  King  to  the  Chamber 
of  the  House  of  Lords,  where,  in  the  presence  of  the  Commons,  the 
Parliament  was  dissolved,  while  each  House  was  still  in  high  debate, 
and  without  other  notice  in  advance  than  the  sound  of  the  cannon 
which  announced  his  majesty's  approach.  Yet  all  this  was  done  in 
the  midst  of  threatened  insurrection  and  rebellion  ;  when  the  Duke 
of  Wellington,  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  and  other  noblemen  were 
assaulted  in  the  streets,  and  their  houses  broken  into  and  mobbed ; 
■when  London  itself  was  threatened  -with  capture,  and  the  dying  Sir 
Walter  Scott  was  hooted  and  reviled  by  ruffians  at  the  polls.  It  was 
done  while  the  kingdom  was  one  vast  mob;  while  the  cry  rang  through 
all  England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland,  that  the  Bill  must  be  carried 
through  Parliament  or  over  Parliament — if  possible,  by  peaceable 
means — if  not  possible,  then  by  force ;  and  when  the  Prime  Minister 
declared,  in  the  House  of  Commons  that,  by  reason  of  its  defeat, 
"  much  blood  would  be  shed  in  the  struggle  between  the  contending 
parties,  and  that  he  was  perfectly  convinced  that  the  British  Consti- 
tution would  perish  in  the  conflict."  And,  sir,  when  all  else  failed, 
the  King  himself  at  last  gave  permission,  in  writing,  to  Earl  Grey 
and  the  Lord  Chancellor,  to  create  as  many  new  peers  as  might  be 
necessary  to  secure  a  majority  for  the  Keform  Bill  in  the  House  of 
Lords. 

Such,  sir,  is  British  statesmanship.     They  remember,  but  we  have 


HOW  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED?  79 

forgotten,  tte  lessons  which  our  fathers  taught  them.  Sir,  it  will 
be  the  opprobrium  of  American  statesmanship  forever,  that  this 
controversy  of  ours  shall  be  permitted  to  end  in  final  and  perpetual 
dismemberment  of  the  Union. 

I  propose,  now,  sir,  to  consider,  briefly,  the  several  propositions 
before  the  House  looking  to  the  adjustment  of  our  diificulties  by 
Constitutional  amendment,  in  connection,  also,  with  those  which  I 
have  myself  had  the  honor  to  submit. 

Philosophically  or  logically  considered,  there  are  two  ways  in 
which  the  work  before  us  may  be  effected  :  the  first,  by  removing  the 
temptation  to  aggress ;  the  second,  by  taking  the  power  away.  Now, 
sir,  I  am  free  to  confess  that  I  do  not  see  how  any  amendment  of  the 
Constitution  can  diminish  the  powers,  dignity,  or  patronage  of  the 
Federal  Government,  consistently  with  the  just  distribution  of  power 
between  the  several  departments ;  or  between  the  States  and  the 
General  Government,  consistently  with  its  necessary  strength  and 
efficiency.  The  evil  here,  lies  rather  in  the  administration  than  in 
the  organization  of  the  system ;  and  a  large  part  of  it  is  inherent  in 
the  administration  of  every  government.  The  virtue  and  intelligence 
of  the  people,  and  the  capacity  and  honesty  of  their  representatives, 
in  every  department,  must  be  intrusted  with  the  mitigation  and 
correction  of  the  mischief.  The  less  the  legislation  of  every  kind, 
the  smaller  the  revenues  and  fewer  the  disbursements;  the  less  the 
Government  shall  have  to  do,  every  way,  with  debt,  credit,  moneyed 
influences,  and  jobs,  and  schemes  of  every  sort,  the  longer  peace  can 
be  maintained;  and  the  more  the  number  of  the  employees  and 
dependents  on  Government  can  be  reduced,  the  less  will  be  the 
patronage  and  the  corruption  of  the  system,  and  the  less,  therefore, 
the  motive  to  sacrifice  truth  and  justice,  and  to  overleap  the  Consti- 
tution to  secure  the  control  of  it.  In  other  words,  the  more  you 
diminish  temptation,  the  more  you  will  deliver  us  from  the  evil. 

But  I  pass  this  point  by  without  further  remark,  inasmuch  as  none 
of  the  plans  of  adjustment  proposed — either  here  or  in  the  Senate — 
look  to  any  change  of  the  Constitution  in  this  respect.  They  all 
aim — every  one  of  them — at  checking  the  power  to  aggress ;  and, 
except  the  amendment  of  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  (Mr. 
Adams,)  which  goes  much  further  than  mine  in  giving  a  negative 
upon  one  subject  to  every  slave  State  in  the  Union,  they  propose  to 
effect  their  purpose  by  mere  constitutional  prohibitions.  It  is  not 
my  purpose,  sir,  to  demand  a  vote  upon  the  propositions  which  I 
have  myself  submitted.  I  have  not  the  party  position,  nor  the  power 
behind  me,  nor  with  me,  nor  the  age,  nor  the  experience  which 
would  justify  me  in  assuming  the  lead  in  any  great  measure  of 
peace  and  conciliation  ;  but  I  believe,  and  very  respectfully  I  suggest 
it,  that  something  similar,  at  least,  to  these  propositions  will  form  a 
part  of  any  adequate  and  final  adjustment  which  may  restore  all  the 
States  to  the  Federal  Union.  No,  sir ;  I  am  able  now  only  to  fol- 
low where  others  may  lead. 

I  shall  vote  for  the  amendment  of  the  gentleman  from  Massachu- 
setts (Mr,  Adams) — though  it  does  not  go  far  enough — because  it 


so      now  SHALL  the  union  be  preserved? 

ignores  and  ilenics  the  moral  or  religious  element  of  the  anti-slavery 
agitatit)n,  and  thus  removes,  so  far,  at  least,  its  most  dangerous  sting — 
fanaticism — and,  dealing  with  the  question  as  one  of  mere  policy 
and  economy,  of  pure  politics  alone,  proposes  a  new  and  most  com- 
prehensive guarantee  for  the  peculiar  institution  of  the  States  of  the 
South.  I  shall  vote,  also,  for  the  Crittenden  propositions — as  an 
experiment,  and  only  as  an  experiment — because  they  proceed  upon 
the  same  general  idea  which  marks  the  Adams  amendment  ;  and 
whereas,  for  the  sake  of  peace  and  the  Union,  the  latter  would  give 
a  new  security  to  slavery  in  the  States,  the  former,  for  the  self-samo 
great  and  paramount  object  of  Union  and  peace,  proposes  to  give  a 
new  security  also  to  slavery  in  the  Territories  south  of  the  latitude 
36°  30'.  If  the  Union  is  worth  the  price  which  the  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts  volunteers  to  pay  to  maintain  it,  is  it  not  richly  worth 
the  very  small  additional  price  which  the  Senator  from  Kentucky 
demands  as  the  possible  condition  of  preserving  it?  Sir,  it  is  the 
old  parable  of  the  Roman  Sibyl;  and  to-morrow  she  will  return  with 
fewer  volumes,  and,  it  may  be,  at  a  higher  price. 

I  shall  vote  to  try  the  Crittenden  propositions,  because,  also,  I 
believe  that  they  are  perhaps  the  least  which  even  the  more  moderate 
of  the  slave  States  would,  under  any  circumstances,  be  willing  to 
accept ;  and  because,  North,  South,  and  West,  the  people  seem  to  have 
taken  hold  of  them,  and  to  demand  them  of  us,  as  an  experiment,  at 
least.  I  am  ready  to  try,  also,  if  need  be,  the  propositions  of  the 
Border  State  Committee,  or  of  the  Peace  Congress  ;  or  any  other 
fair,  honorable,  and  reasonable  terms  of  adjustment,  which  may  so 
much  as  promise,  even,  to  heal  our  present  troubles,  and  to  restore 
the  Union  of  these  States.  Sir,  I  am  ready  and  willing  and  anxious 
to  try  all  things  and  to  do  all  things  "  which  may  become  a  man," 
•s^  to  secure  that  great  object  which  is  nearest  to  my  heart. 
^  But,  judging  all  of  these  propositions,  nevertheless,  by  the  lights 
of  philosophy  and  statesmanship,  and  as  I  believe  they  will  be 
regarded  by  the  historian  who  shall  come  after  us,  I  find  in  thera 
all  two  capital  defects,  which  will,  in  the  end,  prove  them  to  be  both 
unsatisfactory  to  large  numbers  alike  of  the  people  of  the  free  and 
the  slave  States,  and  wholly  inadequate  to  the  great  purpose  of  the 
reconstruction  and  future  preservation  of  the  Union.  None  of 
them — except  that  of  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  (Mr. 
Adams,)  and  his  in  one  particular  only — proposes  to  give  to  the 
minority  section  any  veto  or  self-protecting  power  against  those 
aggressions,  the  temptation  to  which,  and  the  danger  from  which, 
are  the  very  cause  or  reason  for  the  demand  for  any  new  guarantees 
at  all.  They  who  complain  of  violated  faith  in  the  past,  are  met 
only  with  new  promises  of  good  faith  for  the  future  ;  they  who  tell 
you  that  you  have  broken  the  Constitution  heretofore,  are  answered 
with  proposed  additions  to  the  Constitution,  so  that  there  may  be 
more  room  for  breaches  hereafter.  The  only  protection  here  offered 
against  the  aggressive  spirit  of  the  majority,  is  the  simple  pledge  of 
power  that  it  will  not  abuse  itself,  nor  aggress,  nor  usurp,  nor 
amplify  itself  to  attain   its  ends.     You  place,  in  the   distance,   the 


HOW   SHALL    THE    UNION   BE    PRESERVED?  81 

highest  honors,  the  largest  emoluments,  the  most  glittering  of  all 
prizes,  and  then  you  propose,  as  it  were,  to  exact  a  promise  from 
the  race-horse  that  he  will  accommodate  his  speed  to  the  slow-moving 
pace  of  the  tortoise.  Sir,  if  I  meant  terms  of  equality,  I  would 
give  the  tortoise  a  good  ways  the  start  in  the  race. 

My  point  of  objection,  therefore,  is  that  you  do  not  allow  to  that 
very  minority  which,  because  it  is  a  minority,  and  because  it  is  afraid 
of  your  aggressions,  is  now  about  to  secede  and  withdraw  itself  from 
your  Government,  and  set  up  a  separate  confederacy  of  its  own,  you 
do  not  allow  to  it  the  power  of  self-protection  within  the  Union. 
If,  Representatives,  you  are  sincere  in  your  protestations  that  you  do 
not  mean  to  aggress  upon  the  rights  of  this  minority,  you  deny  your- 
selves nothing  by  these  new  guarantees.  If  you  do  mean  to  aggress, 
then  this  minority  has  a  right  to  demand  self-protection  and  security. 

But,  sir,  there  remains  yet  another,  and  a  still  stronger  objection  to 
these  several  propositions.  Every  one  of  them  proposes  to  recognize, 
and  to  embody  in  the  Constitution,  that  very  sort  of  sectionalism  which 
is  the  immediate  instrumentality  of  the  present  dismemberment  of 
these  States,  and  the  existence  of  which  is,  in  my  judgment,  utterly 
inconsistent  with  the  peace  and  stability  of  the  Union.  Every  one  of 
them  recognizes  and  perpetuates  the  division  line  between  slave  labor 
and  free  labor,  that  self-same  '■'■  gfoc/raphical  line,  coinciding  loith  the 
marked  principle,  moral  and  political"  of  slavery,  which  so  startled 
the  prophetic  ear  of  Jeiferson,  and  which  he  foretold,  forty  years  ago, 
every  irritation  would  mark  deeper  and  deeper,  till,  at  last,  it  would 
destroy  the  Union  itself.  They,  one  and  all,  recognize  slavery  as  an 
existing  and  paramount  element  in  the  politics  of  the  country,  and 
yet  only  promise  that  the  non-slaveholding  majority  section,  immensely 
in  the  majority,  will  not  aggress  upon  the  rights  or  trespass  upon  the 
interests  of  the  slaveholding  minority  section,  immensely  in  the 
minority.      Adeo  senucrunt  Jupiter  et  Mars? 

Sir,  just  so  long  as  slavery  is  recognized  as  an  element  in  politics 
at  all — just  so  long  as  the  dividing  line  between  the  slave  labor  and 
the  free  labor  States  is  kept  up  as  the  only  line,  with  the  disparity 
between  them  growing  every  day  greater  and  greater — just  so  long  it 
will  be  impossible  to  keep  the  peace,  and  maintain  a  Federal  Union 
between  them.  However  sufficient  any  of  these  plans  of  adjustment 
might  have  been  one  year  ago,  or  even  in  December  last,  when  pro- 
posed, and  prior  to  the  secession  of  any  of  the  States,  I  fear  that 
they  will  be  found  utterly  inadequate  to  restore  the  Union  now.  I 
do  not  believe  that,  alone,  they  will  avail  to  bring  back  the  States 
which  have  seceded,  and,  therefore,  to  withhold  the  other  slave  States 
from  ultimate  secession  ;  for,  surely,  no  man  fit  to  be  a  statesman  can 
fail  to  foresee  that  unless  the  cotton  States  can  be  returned  to  the 
Union,  the  border  States  must  and  will,  sooner  or  later,  follow  them 
out  of  it.  As  between  two  confederacies — the  one  non-slaveholding, 
and  the  other  slaveholding — all  the  States  of  the  South  must  belong 
to  the  latter,  except,  possibly,  Maryland  and  Delaware,  and  they,  of 
course,  could  remain  with  the  former  only  upon  the  understanding 
that,  just  as  soon  as  practicable,  slavery  should  be  abolished  within 
6 


82  HOW  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED? 

their  limits.  If  fiftoon  slave  Ftntes  can  not  protect  themselves,  and 
feel  secure  in  a  Union  with  eighteen  anti-slavery  States,  how  can  ci2;ht 
slave  States  maintain  their  position  and  their  rights  in  a  Union  with 
nineteen,  or  with  thirty  anti-slavery  States?  The  question,  theretbre, 
is  not  merely,  What  will  keep  Virjrinia  in  the  Union,  but  also,  what 
will  brintr  Georgia  back?  And  here  let  me  say,  that  I  do  not  doubt 
that  there  is  a  larire  and  powerful  Union  sentiment  still  surviving  in 
all  the  States  which  have  seceded,  South  Carolina  alone,  perhaps, 
excepted ;  and  that  if  the  people  of  those  States  can  be  assured  that 
that  they  shall  have  the  power  to  protect  themselves  by  their  own 
action  within  the  Union,  they  will  gladly  return  to  it,  very  greatly 
preferring  protection  within  to  security  outside  of  it.  Just  now, 
indeed,  the  fear  of  danger,  and  your  persistent  and  obstinate  refusal 
to  enable  them  to  guard  against  it,  have  delivered  the  people  of  those 
States  over  into  the  hands,  and  under  the  control,  of  the  real  secession- 
ists and  disunionists  among  them  ;  but  give  them  security,  and  the 
means  of  enforcing  it  ;  above  all,  dry  up  this  pestilent  fountain  of 
slavery  agitation,  as  a  political  element,  in  both  sections,  and,  my 
word  for  it,  the  ties  of  a  common  ancestry,  a  common  kindred,  and 
common  language  ;  the  bonds  of  a  common  interest,  common  danger, 
and  common  safety  ;  the  recollections  of  the  past,  and  of  associations 
not  yet  dissolved,  and  the  bright  hopes  of  a  future  to  all  of  us,  more 
glorious  and  resplendent  than  any  other  country  ever  saw ;  ay,  sir, 
and  visions,  too,  of  that  old  flag  of  the  Union,  and  of  the  music  of 
the  Union,  and  precious  memories  of  the  statesmen  and  heroes  of  the 
dark  days  of  the  Revolution,  will  fill  their  souls  yet  again  with  desires 
and  yearnings  intense  for  the  glories,  the  honors,  and  the  material 
benefits,  too,  of  that  Union  which  their  fathers  and  our  fathers  made ; 
and  they  will  return  to  it,  not  as  the  prodigal,  but  with  songs  and 
rejoicing,  as  the  Hebrews  returned  from  the  captivity  to  the  ancient 
city  of  their  kings. 

Proceeding,  sir,  upon  the  principles  which  I  have  already  considered, 
and  applying  them  to  the  causes  which,  step  by  step,  have  led  to  our 
present  troubles,  I  have  ventured,  with  great  deference,  to  submit  the 
propositions  which  are  upon  the  table  of  the  House.  While  not 
inconsistent  with  any  of  the  other  pending  plans  of  adjustment,  they 
are,  in  my  judgment,  and  again  I  speak  it  with  becoming  deference, 
fully  adequate  to  secure  that  protection  from  aggression,  without  which 
there  can  be  no  confidence,  and,  therefore,  no  peace  and  no  restoration 
for  the  Union. 

There  are  two  maxims,  sir,  applicable  to  all  constitutional  reform, 
both  of  which  it  has  been  my  purpose  to  follow.  In  the  first  place, 
not  to  amend  more,  or  further,  than  is  necessary  for  the  mischief  to  be 
remedied  ;  and  next,  to  follow  strictly  the  principles  of  the  Constitution 
which  is  to  be  amended;  and  corollary  to  these,  I  might  add,  that  in 
framing  amendments,  the  words  and  phrases  of  the  Constitution  ought, 
BO  far  as  practicable,  to  be  adopted. 

I  propose,  then,  sir,  to  do  as  all  others  in  the  Senate  and  the  House 
have  done,  so  far — to  recognize  the  existence  of  sections  as  a  fixed 
fact,  which,  lamentable  as  it  is,  can  no  longer  be  denied  or  suppressed; 


HOW  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED?  83 

but,  for  the  reasons  I  have  ah-eady  stated,  I  propose  to  established 
four  instead  of  two  grand  sections  of  the  Union,  all  of  them  well 
known,  or  easily  designated  by  marked,  natural,  or  geographical  lines 
and  boundaries.  I  propose  four  sections  instead  of  two  ;  because,  if 
two  only  are  recognized,  the  natural  and  inevitable  division  will  be 
into  slaveholding  and  non-slaveholding  sections ;  and  it  is  this  very 
division,  either  by  constitutional  enactment,  or  by  common  consent, 
as  hitherto,  wliich,  in  my  deliberate  judgment  and  deepest  convic- 
tion, it  concerns  the  peace  and  stability  of  the  Union,  should  be 
forever  hereafter  ignored.  Till  then,  there  can  not  be,  and  will  not 
be,  perfect  union  and  peace  between  these  United  States ;  because, 
in  tlie  first  place,  the  nature  of  the  question  is  such  that  it  stirs  up, 
necessarily,  as  forty  years  of  strife  conclusively  proves,  the  strongest 
and  the  bitterest  passions  and  antagonism  possible  among  men  ;  and, 
in  the  next  place,  because  the  non-slavcholding  section  has  now,  and 
will  have  to  the  end,  a  steadily  increasing  majority,  and  enormously 
disproportioned  weight  and  influence  in  the  Government ;  thus  com- 
bining that  which  never  can  be  very  long  resisted  in  any  Government 
— the  temptation  and  the  power  to  aggress. 

Sir,  it  was  not  the  mere  geographical  line  which  so  startled  Mr. 
Jefferson,  in  1820  ;  but  the  coincidence  of  that  line  with  the  marked 
principle,  moral  and  political,  of  slavery.  And  now,  sir,  to  remove 
this  very  mischief  which  he  predicted,  and  which  has  already  happened, 
it  is  essential  that  this  coincidence  should  be  obliterated;  and  the 
repeated  failure,  for  years  past,  of  all  other  compromises,  based  upon 
a  recognition  of  this  coincidence,  has  proved,  beyond  doubt,  that  it  can 
not  be  obliterated  unless  it  be  by  other  and  conflicting  lines  of  prin- 
ciple and  interests.  I  propose,  therefore,  to  multiply  the  sections,  and 
thus  efface  the  slave-labor  and  free-labor  division,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  and  in  this  manner,  to  diminish  the  relative  power  of  each 
section.  And  to  prevent  combinations  among  these  difterent  sections, 
I  propose,  also,  to  allow  a  vote  in  the  Senate  by  sections,  upon  demand 
of  one-third  of  the  Senators  of  any  section,  and  to  require  the  con- 
currence of  a  majority  of  the  Senators  of  each  section  in  the  passage 
of  any  measure,  in  which,  by  the  Constitution,  it  is  necessary  that  the 
House,  and  therefore,  also,  the  President,  should  concur.  All  this, 
sir,  is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  principles  of  the  Constitution,  as 
shown  in  the  division  of  the  legislative  department  into  the  two 
Houses  of  Congress  ;  the  veto  power ;  the  two-thirds  vote  of  both 
Houses  necessary  to  pass  a  bill  over  the  veto ;  the  provisions  in 
regard  to  the  ratification  of  treaties,  and  amendments  of  the  Con- 
stitution ;  but  especially  in  the  equal  representation  and  suffrage  of 
each  State  in  the  Senate,  whereby  the  vote  of  Delaware,  with  a 
hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  vetoes  the  vote  of  New  York,  with  her 
population  of  nearly  four  millions.  If  the  protection  of  the  smaller 
States  against  the  possible  aggressions  of  the  larger  States  required, 
in  the  judgment  of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution,  this  peculiar,  and 
apparently  inequitable  provision,  why  shall  not  the  protection,  by  a 
similar  power  of  veto,  of  the  smaller  and  weaker  sections  against  the 
aggressions  of  the  larger  and  stronger  sections,  not  be  now  allowed, 


84       now  SHALL  the  union  be  preserved? 

^hen  time  and  exporionce  have  proved  the  necessity  of  just  snr>h  a 
check  upon  the  nuijorit}'?  Does  any  one  doubt  that,  if"  the  men  ^^•ho 
made  the  Constitution  liad  foreseen  that  the  real  dani;cr  to  the  system 
lay  not  in  aggression  by  the  hirge  upon  the  small  States,  but  in 
geographical  combination.s  of  the  strong  sections  against  the  weak, 
they  would  have  guarded  jealously  against  that  mischief,  just  as  they 
did  against  the  danger  to  which  they  mistakenly  believed  the  (Jov- 
ernment  to  be  exposed  ?  And  if  this  protection,  sir,  be  now  demanded 
by  the  minority  as  the  price  of  the  Union,  so  just  and  reasonable  a 
provision  ought  not  for  a  moment  to  be  denied.  Far  better  tliis  than 
secession  and  disruption.  This  would,  indeed,  enable  the  minority  to 
fight  for  their  rights  in  the  Union,  instead  of  breaking  it  to  pieces  to 
secure  them  outside  of  it. 

Certainly,  sir,  it  is  in  the  nature  of  a  veto  power  to  each  section 
in  tlie  Senate  ;  but  necessity  requires  it,  secession  demands  it,  just  as 
twice  in  the  history  of  the  Koman  Commonwealth  secession  demanded 
and  received  the  power  of  tlie  tribunitian  veto  as  the  price  of  a  res- 
toration of  the  Republic.  The  secession  to  the  Sacred  Mount  secured, 
just  as  a  second  secession,  half  a  century  later,  restored,  the  veto  of 
tribunes  of  the  people,  and  reinvigorated  and  preserved  the  lloman 
constitution  for  three  hundred  years.  Vetoes,  checks,  balances,  con- 
current majorities — these,  sir,  are  the  true  conservators  of  free  Gov- 
ernment. 

But  it  is  not  in  legislation  alone  that  the  danger  or  the  temptation 
to  aggress  is  to  be  found.  Of  the  tremendous  power  and  influence 
of  the  Executive  I  have  already  spoken.  And,  indeed,  the  present 
revolutionary  movements  are  the  result  of  the  apprehension  of  exec- 
utive usurpation  and  encroachments,  to  the  injury  of  the  rights  of 
the  South.  But  for  secession  because  of  this  apprehended  danger, 
the  legislative  department  would  have  remained,  for  the  present  at 
least,  in  other  and  safer  hands.  Hence  the  necessity  for  equal  pro- 
tection and  guarantee  against  sectional  combinations  and  majorities 
to  secure  the  election  of  the  President,  and  to  control  him  when 
elected.  I  propose,  therefore,  that  a  concurrent  majority  of  the 
electors,  or  States,  or  Senators,  as  the  case  may  require,  of  each 
section,  shall  be  necessary  to  the  choice  of  President  and  Vice-Pres- 
ident;  and  lest,  by  reason  of  this  increased  complexity,  there  may 
be  a  failure  of  choice  oftener  than  heretofore,  I  propose  also  a  special 
election  in  such  case,  and  an  extension  of  the  term,  in  all  cases,  to 
six  years.  This  is  the  outline  of  the  plan;  the  details  may  be  learned 
in  full  from  the  joint  resolution  itself;  and  I  will  not  detain  the 
House  by  any  further  explanation  now. 

Sir,  the  natural  and  inevitable  result  of  these  amendments  will  be 
to  preclude  the  pos.sibility  of  sectional  parties  and  combinations  to 
obtain  possession  of  eitlier  the  legislative  or  the  executive  power  and 
patronage  of  the  Federal  Government;  and,  if  not  to  suppress  totally, 
at  least  very  greatly  to  diminish  the  evil  results  of  national  caucuses, 
conventions,  and  other  similar  party  appliances.  It  will  no  longer 
be  possible  to  elect  a  President  by  the  votes  of  a  mere  dominant  and 
majority  section.     Sectional  issues  must  cease,  as   the  basis,  at  least, 


HOW  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED?         85 

of  large  party  organizations.  Ambition,  or  lust  for  power  and  place, 
must  look  no  longer  to  its  own  section,  but  to  the  whole  country ; 
and  he  who  would  be  President,  or  in  any  way  the  foremost  among 
his  countrymen,  must  consult,  henceforth,  the  combined  good,  and  the 
good-will,  too,  of  all  the  sections,  and  in  this  way,  consistently  with 
the  Constitution,  can  the  "general  welfare"  be  best  attained.  Thus, 
indeed,  will  the  result  be,  instead  of  a  narrow,  illiberal,  and  sectional 
policy,  an  enlarged  patriotism  and  extended  public  spirit. 

If  it  be  urged  that  the  plan  is  too  complex,  and,  therefore,  imprac- 
ticable, I  answer  that  that  was  the  objection,  in  the  beginning,  to  the 
whole  Federal  system,  and  to  almost  every  part  of  it.  It  is  the 
argument  of  the  French  Republicans  against  the  division  of  the  legis- 
lative department  into  two  Chambers;  and  it  was  the  argument 
especially  urged  at  first  against  the  entire  plan  or  idea  of  the  electoral 
colleges  for  the  choice  of  a  President.  But,  if  complex,  I  answer 
again,  it  will  prevent  more  evil  than  good.  If  it  suspend  some  legis- 
lation for  a  time,  I  answer,  the  world  is  governed  too  much.  If  it 
cause  delay,  sometimes,  in  both  legislation  and  the  choice  of  Pres- 
ident, I  answer  yet  again,  better,  far  better  this,  than  disunion  and 
the  ten  thousand  complexities,  peaceful  and  belligerent,  which  must 
attend  it.  Better,  infinitely  better  this,  in  the  Union,  than  separate 
confederacies  outside  of  it,  with  either  perpetual  war  or  entangling 
and  complicated  alliances,  ofi'ensive  and  defensive,  from  henceforth 
forever.  To  the  South  I  say :  If  you  are  afraid  of  free  State  ag- 
gressions by  Congress  or  the  Executive,  here  is  abundant  protectioQ 
for  even  the  most  timid.  To  the  Republican  party  of  the  North 
and  West  I  say  :  If  you  really  tremble,  as,  for  years  past,  you  would 
have  had  us  believe,  over  that  terrible,  but  somewhat  mythical  mon- 
ster— the  SLAVE  POWER — here,  too,  is  the  utmost  security  for  you 
against  the  possibility  of  its  aggressions.  And,  from  first  to  last, 
allow  me  to  say  that,  being  wholly  negative  in  its  provisions,  this 
plan  can  only  prevent  evil,  and  not  work  any  positive  evil  itself.  It 
is  a  shield  for  defense,  not  a  sword  for  aggression.  In  one  word, 
let  me  add  that  the  whole  purpose  and  idea  of  this  plan  of  adjust- 
ment which  I  propose,  is  to  give  to  the  several  sections  inside  of  the 
Union  that  power  of  self-protection  which  they  are  resolved,  or  will 
some  day  or  other  be  resolved,  to  secure  for  themselves  outside  of 
the  Union. 

I  propose  further,  sir,  that  neither  Congress  nor  a  Territorial 
Legislature  shall  have  power  to  interfere  with  the  equal  right  of 
migration,  from  all  sections,  into  the  Territories  of  the  United  States ; 
and  that  neither  shall  have  power  to  destroy  or  impair  any  rights  of 
either  person  or  property  in  these  Territories ;  and,  finally,  that  new 
States,  either  when  annexed,  or  when  formed  out  of  any  of  the  Ter- 
ritories, with  the  consent  of  Congress,  shall  be  admitted  into  the 
Union  with  any  constitution,  republican  in  form,  which  the  people 
of  such  States  may  ordain. 

And  now,  gentlemen  of  the  South,  why  can  not  you  accept  it? 
The  Federal  Grovernment  has  never  yet,  in  any  way,  aggressed  upon 
your  rights.     Hitherto,  indeed,  it  has  been  in  your  own,  or  at  least 


86  now  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED? 

in  friendly  hands.  You  only  fear,  beino:  in  the  minority,  that  it  -will 
asrgresp.  because  it  has  now  f:\llen  under  the  control  of  those  who, 
you  believe,  have  the  temptation,  the  will,  and  the  power  to  aggress. 
But  this  plan  of  adjustment  proposes  to  take  away  the  power;  and 
of  what  avail  will  the  temptation  or  the  will  then  be,  without  the 
power  to  execute?     Both  must  soon  perish. 

And  why  can  not  you  of  the  Republican  party  accept  it?  There 
is  not  a  word  about  slavery  in  it,  from  beginning  to  end — I  mean  in 
the  amendments.  It  is  silent  upon  the  question.  South  of  36°  30', 
and  east  of  the  Rio  Grande,  there  is  scarce  any  territory  which  is 
not  now  within  the  limits  of  some  existing  State ;  and  west  of  that 
river  and  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  as  well  as  north  of  36°  30'  and 
east  of  those  mountains,  though  any  new  State  should  establish 
slavery,  still  her  vote  would  be  counted  in  the  Senate  and  in  the 
electoral  colleges  with  the  non-slaveholding  section  to  which  she 
would  belong  ;  just  as  if,  within  the  limits  of  the  South,  any  State 
should  abolish  slavery,  or  any  new  State  not  tolerating  slavery  should 
be  admitted,  the  vote  of  such  State  would  also  be  cast  with  the  sec- 
tion of  the  vSouth.  However  slavery  might  be  extended,  as  a  mere 
form  of  civilization  or  of  labor,  there  could  be  no  extension  of  it  as 
a  mere  aggressive  political  element  in  the  Government.  If  the  South 
only  demand  that  the  Federal  Government  shall  not  be  used  agtrres- 
ively  to  prohibit  the  extension  of  slavery;  if  she  does  not  desire 
to  use  it  herself,  upon  the  other  hand,  positively  to  extend  the  insti- 
tution, then  she  may  well  be  satisfied ;  and  if  you  of  the  Republican 
party  do  not  really  mean  to  aggress  upon  slavery  where  it  now  exists ; 
if  you  are  not,  in  fact,  opposed  to  the  admission  of  any  more  slave 
States  ;  if,  indeed,  you  do  not  any  longer  propose  to  use  the  powers 
of  the  Federal  Government  positively  and  aggressively  to  prohibit 
slavery  in  the  Territories,  but  are  satisfied  to  allow  it  to  take  its 
natui'al  course,  according  to  the  laws  of  interest  or  of  climate,  then 
you,  too,  may  well  be  content  with  this  plan  of  adjustment,  since  it 
does  not  demand  of  you,  openly  and  publicly,  to  deny,  abjure,  and 
renounce,  in  so  many  words,  the  more  moderate  principles  and  doc- 
trines which  you  have  this  session  professed.  And  yet  candor  obliges 
me  to  declare  that  this  plan  of  settlement,  and  every  other  plan, 
whatsoever,  which  is  of  the  slightest  value — even  the  amendment  of 
the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  (Mr.  Adams.)  is  a  virtual  disso- 
lution of  the  Republican  party  as  a  mere  sectional  and  anti-slavery 
organization;  and  this,  too,  will,  in  my  judgment,  be  equally  the 
result,  whether  we  compromise  at  all,  and  the  Union  be  thus  restored, 
or  whether  it  be  finally  and  forever  dissolved.  The  people  of  the 
North  and  the  "West  will  never  trust  the  destroyers — for  destroyers, 
indeed,  you  will  be.  if  you  reject  all  fair  terms  of  adjustment — the 
destroyers  of  our  Government,  and  such  a  Government  as  this,  with 
the  administration  and  control  of  any  other.  You  have  now  the 
executive  department,  as  the  result  of  the  late  election.  Better,  far 
better,  reorganize  and  nationalize  your  party,  and  keep  the  Govern- 
ment for  four  years  in  peace,  and  with  a  Union  of  thirty-four  States, 
than  with  the  shadow  and  mockery  of  a  broken  and  disjointed  Union 


HOW   SHALL    THE   UNION   BE    PEESERVED?  87 

of  sixteen  or  nineteen  States,  ending,  at  last,  in  total  and  hopeless 
dissolution. 

Having  thus,  sir,  guarded  diligently  the  rights  of  the  several 
States  and  sections,  and  given  to  each  section  also  the  power  to  pro- 
tect itself,  inside  of  the  Union,  from  aggression,  I  propose  next  to 
limit  and  to  regulate  the  alleged  right  of  secession,  since  this,  from 
a  dormant  abstraction,  has  now  become  a  practical  question  of  tre- 
mendous import.  As  long,  sir,  as  secession  remained  an  untried  and 
only  menaced  experiment,  that  confidence,  without  which  no  Govern- 
ment can  be  stable  or  eiScient,  was  not  shaken,  because  it  was  believed 
that  actual  secession  would  never  be  tried ;  or,  if  tried,  that  it  must 
speedily  and  ingloriously  fail.  The  popular  faith,  cherished  for 
years,  has  been  that  the  Union  could  not  be  dissolved.  To  that  faith 
the  liepublican  party  was  indebted  for  its  success  in  the  late  election ; 
and  we  who  predicted  its  dissolution  were  smitten  upon  the  cheek, 
and  condemned  to  feed  upon  bread  of  affliction  and  water  of  afflic- 
tion, like  the  prophet  whom  Ahab  hated.  But  partial  dissolution 
has  already  occurred.  Secession  has  been  tried,  and  has  proved  a 
speedy  and  a  terrible  success.  The  practicability  of  doing  it,  and 
the  way  to  do  it,  have  both  been  established.  Sir,  the  experiment 
may  readily  be  repeated — it  will  be  repeated.  And  is  it  not  madness 
and  folly,  then,  to  call  back,  by  adjustment,  the  States  which  have 
seceded,  or  to  hold  back  the  States  which  are  threatening  to  secede, 
■without  providing  some  safeguard  against  the  renewal  of  this  most 
simple  and  disastrous  experiment?  Can  foreign  nations  have  any 
confidence,  hereafter,  in  the  stability  of  a  government  which  may  so 
readily,  speedily,  and  quietly  be  dissolved?  Can  we  have  any  confi- 
dence among  ourselves? 

If  it  be  said  that  it  would  have  availed  nothing  to  check  secession 
in  the  gulf  States,  even  had  there  been  a  Constitutional  prohibition 
of  it,  I  answer,  perhaps  not,  if  it  had  been  total  and  absolute — for 
there  would  have  been  no  alternative  but  submission  or  revolution; 
and,  hence,  I  propose  only  to  define  and  restrain  and  to  regulate 
this  alleged  right.  But  I  deny  that,  if  a  particular  mode  of  seces- 
sion had  been  prescribed  by  the  Constitution,  and  thus  every  other 
mode  prohibited,  it  would  have  been  possible  to  have  secured,  in  any 
of  the  seceding  States — no,  not  even  in  South  Carolina — a  majority 
in  favor  of  separate  State  secession,  or  secession  in  any  other  way 
than  that  provided  in  the  Constitution.  No,  sir;  it  was  the  almost 
universal  belief  in  the  cotton  States  in  the  unlimited  right  of  seces- 
sion— a  doctrine  recognized  by  few  in  the  free  States,  but  held  to  by 
a  great  many,  if  not  very  generally,  all  over  the  slave  States — which 
made  secession  so  easy.  It  is  hard  to  bring  any  considerable  num- 
ber of  the  people  of  the  United  States — suddenly,  at  least — up  to 
the  point  of  a  palpable  violation  of  the  Constitution ;  but  it  is  easy, 
very  easy,  to  draw  them  into  any  act  which  seems  to  be  only  the 
exercise  of  one  right  for  the  purpose  of  securing  and  preserving 
the  higher  rights  of  life,  liberty,  person,  and  property  for  a  whole 
State  or  a  whole  section.  Sir,  it  is  because  of  this  very  idea  or 
notion  among  the  people  of  the  gulf  States,  that  they  were  exer- 


88       now  SHALL  the  union  be  preserved? 

cising  a  rij:;lit  reserved  under  the  Constitution,  that  secession  there, 
and  the  establishment  of  a  new  confederacy  and  provisional  govern- 
ment, have  been  marked  by  so  much  rapidity,  order,  and  method — 
all  through  the  ballot-box,  and  not  with  the  halter,  or  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet,  over  oppressed  minorities — and,  for  the  most  part, 
with  so  few  of  the  excesses  and  irregularities  which  have  character- 
ized the  progress  of  other  revolutions.  I  would  not  prohibit  totally 
the  right  of  secession,  lest  violent  revolutions  should  follow ;  for 
where  laws  and  constitutions  are  to  be  overleaped,  and  they  who  make 
the  revolution  avow  it  to  be  a  revolution,  and  claim  no  right  except 
the  universal  rights  of  man,  such  revolutions  are  commonly  violent 
and  bloody  within  themselves ;  and,  even  if  not,  they  can  not  be 
resisted  by  the  establislied  authorities  except  at  the  cost  of  civil  war ; 
while,  if  submitted  to  in  silence,  they  tend  to  demoralize  all  govern- 
ment. It  is  of  vital  importance,  therefore,  every  way,  in  my  judg- 
ment, that  the  exercise  of  this  certainly  quasi  revolutionary  right 
should  be  defined,  limited,  and  restrained ;  and,  accordingly,  I  pro- 
pose that  no  State  shall  secede  without  the  consent  of  the  legislatures 
of  all  the  States  of  the  section  to  which  the  State  proposing  to  secede 
may  belong.  This  is,  obviously,  a  most  reasonable  restraint;  and 
yet,  of  its  sufficiency  no  man  can  doubt,  when  he  remembers  that,  in 
the  present  crisis  of  the  country,  had  this  provision  existed,  no  State 
could  have  obtained  the  absolute  consent,  at  least,  of  even  one-half 
of  the  States  of  the  South. 

Such,  Mr.  Speaker,  is  the  plan  which,  with  great  deference,  and 
yet  with  great  confidence,  too,  in  its  efficiency,  I  would  propose  for 
the  adjustment  of  our  controversies,  and  for  the  restoration  and 
preservation  of  the  Union  which  our  fathers  made.  Like  all  human 
contrivances,  certainly,  it  is  imperfect,  and  subject  to  objection.  But 
something  searching,  radical,  extreme,  going  to  the  very  foundations 
of  government,  and  reaching  the  seat  of  the  malady,  must  be  done, 
and  that  right  speedily,  while  the  fracture  is  yet  fresh  and  reunion 
is  possible.  Two  months  ago,  when  I  last  addressed  the  House, 
imploring  you  for  immediate  action,  less,  much  less,  would  have 
sufficed ;  but  we  learned  no  wisdom  from  the  lessons  of  the  past — 
and  now,  indeed,  not  poppy,  nor  mandragora,  nor  other  drowsy  syrup 
is  of  any  value  to  arrest  that  revolution,  in  the  midst  of  which  we 
are  to-day  —  a  revolution  the  grandest  and  the  saddest  of  modern 
times. 


The  following  are  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  proposed 
by  Mr.  Vallandigham,  on  the  7th  of  February,  1861,  to  the  sup- 
port of  which  the  foregoing  speech  is  devoted : 

JOINT  EESOLUTION. 

■Whereas  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  a  grant  of  specific  powers 
delegated  to  the  Federal  Cxoveriiment  by  the  people  of  the  several  States,  all 
powers  not  delegated  to  it  nor  prohibited  to  the  States  being  reserved  to  th© 


HOW  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED?  89 

States,  respectively,  or  to  the  people;  and  whereas  it  is  the  tendency  of 
stronger  governments  to  enlarge  their  powers  and  jurisdiction  at  the  expense 
of  weaker  governments,  and  of  majorities  to  usurp  and  abuse  power  and 
oppress  minorities,  to  arrest  and  hold  in  check  which  tendency,  compacts  and 
Constitutions  are  made;  and  whereas  the  only  effectual  constitutional  security 
for  the  rights  of  minorities — whether  as  people  or  as  states — is  the  power 
expressly  reserved  in  constitutions,  of  protecting  those  rights  by  their  own 
action;  and  whereas  this  mode  of  protection,  by  checks  and  guarantees,  is 
recognized  in  the  Federal  Constitution,  as  well  in  the  case  of  the  equality 
of  the  States  in  representation  and  in  suttrage  in  the  Senate,  as  in  the  provision 
for  overruling  the  veto  of  the  President  and  for  amending  the  Constitution, 
not  to  enumerate  other  examples;  and  whereas,  unhappily,  because  of  the  vast 
extent  and  diversified  interests  and  institutions  of  the  several  States  of  the 
Union,  sectional  divisions  can  no  longer  be  suppressed;  and  whereas  it  concerns 
the  peace  and  stabilit}"  of  the  Federal  Union  and  Government,  that  a  division 
of  the  States  into  mere  slaveholding  and  non-slaveholding  sections,  causing, 
hitherto — and  from  the  nature  and  necessity  of  the  case — inflammatory  and 
disastrous  controversies,  upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  ending,  already,  in  present 
disruption  of  the  Union — should  be  forever  hereafter  ignored;  and  whereas 
this  important  end  is  best  to  be  obtained  by  the  recognition  of  other  sections 
without  regard  to  slavery,  neither  of  which  sections  shall  alone  be  strong 
enough  to  oppress  or  control  the  others,  and  each  be  vested  with  the  power  to 
protect  itself  from  aggressions:  Therefore, 

Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of 
Atneriea  in  Congress  assembled,  (two-thirds  of  both  Houses  concurring,)  That 
the  following  articles  be,  and  are  hereby,  proposed  as  ainendments  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  be  valid,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  as  part  of  said  Constitution,  when  ratified  by  conventions  in  three- 
iburths  of  the  several  States: 

Article  XIII. 

Sec.  1.  The  United  States  are  divided  into  four  sections,  as  follows : 

The  States  of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Khode 
Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania,  and  all  new 
States  annexed  and  admitted  into  the  Union,  or  formed  or  erected  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  any  of  said  States,  or  by  the  junction  of  two  or  more  of  the 
same,  or  of  parts  thereof,  or  out  of  territory  acquired  north  of  said  States, 
shall  constitute  one  section,  to  be  known  as  the  North. 

The  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota, 
Iowa,  and  Kansas,  and  all  new  States  annexed  or  admitted  into  the  Union, 
or  erected  within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  of  said  States,  or  by  the  junction  of 
two  or  more  of  the  same,  or  of  parts  thereof,  or  out  of  territory  now  held  or 
hereafter  acquired  north  of  latitude  36°  30',  and  east  of  the  crest  of  the 
Kocky  Mountains,  shall  constitute  another  section,  to  be  known  as  the  West. 

The  States  of  Oregon,  and  California,  and  all  new  States  annexed  and 
admitted  into  the  Union,  or  formed  or  erected  within  the  jurisdiction  of  any 
of  said  States,  or  by  the  junction  of  two  or  more  of  the  same,  or  of  parts 
thereof,  or  out  of  territory  now  held  or  hereafter  acquired  west  of  the  crest 
of  the  Rockj'  Mountains  and  of  the  Kio  Grande,  shall  constitute  another 
section,  to  be  known  as  the  Pacific. 

The  States  of  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas,  Arkansas,  Tennessee, 
Kentucky,  and  Missouri,  and  all  new  States  annexed  and  admitted  into  the 
Union,  or  formed  or  erected  within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  of  said  States,  or  by 
the  junction  of  two  or  more  of  the  same,  or  of  parts  thereof,  or  out  of  territory 
acquired  east  of  the  Eio  Grande,  and  south  of  latitude  36°  30',  shall  constitute 
another  section,  to  be  known  as  the  South. 

Sec.  2.  On  demand  of  one-third  of  the  Senators  of  any  one  of  the  sections 
on  any  bill,  order,  resolution,  or  vote,  to  which  the  concurrence  of  the  House 
of  Kepresentatives  may  be  necessary,  except  on  a  question  of  adjournment,  a 


90  now  SHALL   THE   UNION  BE   PRESERVED? 

vote  eIiuII  1>o  had  hy  sections,  and  a  majority  of  the  Senators  from  each 
section  votini;;.  sluill  I'O  necessary  to  the  passage  of  such  bill,  order,  or  resolu- 
tion, and  t.)  the  validity  of  every  such  vote. 

tJKt'.  3.  Two  of  the  electors  for  President  and  Vice-President  shall  be 
appointed  by  each  iState  in  such  manner  as  the  Lctjislature  thereof  may 
direct,  for  the  State  at  large.  The  other  electors  to  which  each  Stale  may 
be  entitled,  shall  be  chosen  in  the  respective  congressional  districts  into  which 
the  State  may,  at  the  regular  decennial  jieriod,  have  been  divided,  by  the 
electors  of  each  district,  having  the  f|unlilications  requisite  for  electors  of  the 
most  luimerous  branch  of  the  Slate  jA-gislature.  A.  majority  of  all  the 
electors  in  each  of  the  four  sections  in  this  article  established,  shall  bo 
necessary  to  the  choice  of  President  and  Vice-President;  and  the  concurrence 
of  a  majority  of  the  States  of  each  section  shall  be  necessary  to  the  choice  of 
President  by  the  House  of  Kepresentatives,  and  of  the  Senators  from  each 
Bection  ti>  the  choice  of  Vice-President  by  the  Senate,  whenever  the  right  of 
choice  siiall  devolve  upon  them  respectively. 

Skc.  4.  The  President  and  Vice-President  shall  hold  their  office  each  during 
the  term  of  six  years;  and  neither  shall  be  eligible  to  more  than  one  term, 
e.vcept  by  the  votes  of  two-thirds  of  all  the  electors  of  each  section,  or  of  the 
States  of  each  section,  wluniever  the  right  of  choice  of  President  shall  devolve 
upon  the  House  of  llepresentatives,  or  of  Senators  from  each  section  whenever 
the  right  of  choice  of  Vice-President  shall  devolve  upon  the  Senate. 

Sec.  5.  The  Congress  shall,  by  law,  ])rovide  for  the  case  of  failure  b}'  the 
House  of  Representatives  to  choose  a  President,  and  of  the  Senate  to  choose 
a  Vice-President,  whenever  the  right  of  choice  shall  devolve  upon  them 
respectively,  declaring  what  oiliccr  shall  then  act  as  President;  and  such 
officer  shall  act  accordingly  until  a  President  shall  be  elected.  The  Congress 
shall  also  provide  by  law  for  a  special  election  for  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent in  such  case  to  be  held  and  completed  within  six  months  from  the 
expiration  of  the  term  of  office  of  the  last  fjreceding  President,  and  to  be 
conducted  in  all  respects  as  provided  for  in  the  Constitution  for  regular  elec- 
tions of  the  same  officer,  except  that  if  liie  House  of  Ecpresentativcs  shall 
not  choose  a  President,  sliould  tin;  right  of  choice  devolve  upon  them,  within 
twenty  days  from  the  opening  of  the  certificates  and  counling  of  the  electoral 
votes,  then  the  A'ice-President  shall  act  as  President,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
death  or  other  constitutional  disability  of  the  President.  The  term  of  office 
of  the  President  chosen  under  such  special  election  shall  continue  six  years 
from  the  fourth  day  of  ilarch  preceding  such  election. 

Article  XIV. 

No  State  shall  secede  without  the  consent  of  the  Legislatures  of  the  States 
of  the  section  to  which  the  State  proposing  to  secede  belongs.  The  President 
shall  have  power  to  adjust  with  seceding  Slates  all  questions  arising  by  reason 
of  their  secession;  but  the  terms  of  adjustment  shall  be  submitted  to  the 
Congress  for  their  approval  before  the  same  shall  be  valid. 

Article  XV. 

Neither  the  Congress  nor  a  Territorial  Legislature  shall  have  power  to 
interfere  with  the  right  of  the  citizens  of  any  of  the  States  within  either  of 
the  sections  to  migrate  upon  equal  terms  with  the  citizens  of  the  States  within 
cither  ('f  the  other  sections  to  the  Territories  of  the  United  Slates:  nor  shall 
either  the  Congress  or  a  Territorial  Legislature  have  power  to  destroy  or 
impair  any  rights  of  either  person  or  property  in  the  Territories. 

Kcw  States  annexed  for  iidmission  into  the  Union,  or  formed  or  erected 
•within  the  juri.'diction  of  other  States,  or  by  the  junction  of  two  or  more  States, 
or  parts  of  States;  and  States  formed,  with  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  out 
of  any  territory  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  entitled  to  admission  upon 
an  equal  footing  with  the  original  Slates,  under  any  constitution  establishing  a 
govcrnineut  republican  in  furm  which  the  people  thereof  may  ordain,  when- 


HO"W  SHALL   THE   UNION  BE  PRESERVED?  91 

ever  such  States,  if  formed  out  of  any  territory  of  the  United  States,  shall 
contain,  within  an  area  of  not  less  than  sixty  thousand  square  miles,  a  popu- 
lation equal  to  tiie  then  existing  ratio  of  representation  for  one  memher  of 
the  House  of  Kepresentatives. 


A  card,  from  which  the  following  is  extracted,  was  published  by 
Mr.  Vallandigham,  in  the  Cincinnati  Enquirer,  on  the  10th  of 
November,  1860,  a  few  days  after  the  presidential  election  : 

And,  now,  let  me  add  that  I  did  say — not  in  Washington,  not  at 
a  dinner-table,  not  in  the  presence  of  "  fire-eaters,"  but  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  in  a  public  assembly  of  Northern  men,  and  in  a  public 
speech  at  the  Cooper  Institute,  on  the  2d  of  November,  1860 — that, 
*'  if  any  one  or  more  of  the  States  of  this  Union  should,  at  any  time, 
secede — for  reasons  of  the  sufficiency  and  justice  of  which,  before 
God  and  the  great  tribunal  of  history,  they  alone  may  judge — much 
as  I  should  deplore  it,  I  never  tcould,  as  a  Representative  in  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States,  vote  one  dollar  of  money  icherehy  one  drop 
of  American  hlood  should  he  shed  in  a  civil  war."  That  sentiment, 
thus  uttered  in  the  presence  of  thousands  of  the  merchants  and  solid 
men  of  the  free  and  patriotic  city  of  New  York,  was  received  with 
vehement  and  long-continued  applause,  the  entire  vast  assemblage  rising 
as  one  man,  and  cheering  for  some  minutes.  And  I  now  deliberately 
repeat  and  reaffirm  it,  resolved,  though  I  stand  alone,  though  all 
others  yield  and  fall  away,  to  make  it  good  to  the  last  moment  of 
my  public  life.  No  menace,  no  public  clamor,  no  taunts,  nor  sneers, 
nor  foul  detraction,  from  any  quarter,  shall  drive  me  from  my  firm 
purpose.  Ours  is  a  government  of  opinion,  not  of  force — a  Union  of 
free  will,  not  of  arms  ;  and  coercion  is  civil  war — a  war  of  sections, 
a  war  of  States,  waged  by  a  race  compounded  and  made  up  of  all  other 
races,  full  of  intellect,  of  courage,  of  will  unconquerable,  and,  when 
set  on  fire  by  passion,  the  most  belligerent  and  most  ferocious  on  the 
globe — a  civil  war,  full  of  horrors,  which  no  imagination  can  conceive 
and  no  pen  portray.  If  Abraham  Lincoln  is  wise,  looking  truth  and 
danger  full  in  the  face,  he  will  take  counsel  of  the  "  old  men,"  the 
moderates  of  his  party,  and  advise  peace,  negotiation,  concession ; 
but  if,  like  the  foolish  son  of  the  wise  king,  he  reject  these  whole- 
some counsels,  and  hearken  only  to  the  madmen  who  threaten  chas- 
tisement with  scorpions,  let  him  see  to  it,  lest  it  be  recorded  at  last 
that  none  remained  to  serve  him  "save  the  house  of  Judah  only." 
At  least,  if  he  will  forget  the  secession  of  the  Ten  Tribes,  will  he  not 
remember  and  learn  a  lesson  of  wisdom  from  the  secession  of  the 
Thirteen  Colonies  ? 

In  answer  to  a  gross  telegraphic  misrepresentation  of  this  propo- 
sition, Mr.  Vallandigham  explained  and  defended  it,  in  a  card  to  the 
Cincinnati  Enquirer,  dated  February  14,  1861,  as  follows: 


92  now    SHALL   THE   UNION   BE    PRESERVED? 

My  proposition  looks  aoleli/  to  the  restoration  a7id  maintenance  of 
the  lliion  forever,  by  su<rgestiiig  a  mode  of  voting  in  the  United 
States  Senate  and  the  electoral  colleges,  by  which  the  causes  wliich 
have  led  to  our  present  troubles  may,  in  the  future,  be  guarded 
against  tcithont  secession  and  disunion  ;  and,  also,  the  agitation  of  the 
slavery  question,  as  an  element  in  our  national  politics,  he  forever  here- 
after arrested.  jMy  object — the  sole  motive  by  which  I  have  been 
guided  from  the  beginning  of  this  most  fatal  revolution — is  to  main- 
tain THE  I'NION,  and  not  destroy  it.  When  all  possible  hope  is  gone, 
and  the  Union  irretrievably  broken,  then,  but  not  till  then,  I  will  be 
for  a  Western  confederacy. 

One  needs  some  familiarity  with  the  persevering  perversity  of  the 
Abolition  press,  not  to  feel  a  little  surprised  at  finding  the  false 
statement,  contradicted  above,  continually  repeated  and  reaffirmed,  as 
if  made  out  of  some  grains  of  truth,  at  the  first,  and  never  denied. 
And  yet  a  leading  Abolition  paper,  in  Cincinnati,  so  late  as  Decem- 
ber 16,  1862,  says: 

Mr.  Vallandigham,  by  his  propositions  for  a  division  of  the  Republic 
into  four  distinct  nationalities — propositions  as  infamous  in  their 
design  as  ruinous  in  their  consequences — did  as  much  to  rouse  the 
people  to  a  sense  of  their  real  danger,  as  the  first  shots  of  the  insur- 
rectionists at  Charleston. 

Referring  to  this  statement,  in  a  communication  to  the  Cincinnati 
Enquirer,  under  date  of  Washington,  D.  C,  December  18,  1862,  Mr. 
Vallandigham  says : 

Now,  it  is  somewhat  remarkable,  certainly,  that  after  the  introduc- 
tion, in  February,  1861,  of  the  propositions  falsely  thus  described  by 
that  newspaper,  it  not  only  complimented  the  speech  in  which  Mr. 
Vallandigham  defended  them,  but  actually  so  f\ir  failed  to  become 
aroused  to  a  sense  of  danger,  as  to  repeatedly  and  earnestly  advocate 
the  policy  of  letting  the  South  go — a  something  that  Mr.  Vallandig- 
ham has  never  done,  to  this  day.     But  let  that  pass. 

The  deliberate  and  circumstantial  repetition,  at  this  time,  and  in  its 
fullest  form,  of  the  misrepresentation  of  the  nature  of  the  propositions 
which  I  did  introduce,  is  but  another  proof  of  the  desperate  ibrtunes 
of  the  Abolition  party,  and  particularly  of  the  press  which  has  sup- 
ported it.  To  the  personal  assaults  of  that  press,  and  especially  of 
the  paper  quoted  from,  I  reply  not.  Pope  and  Pagan  may  now  very 
calmly  be  allowed  to  sit  at  the  mouth  of  the  Abolition  cave,  and 
gnash  their  toothless  gums  at  Democratic  pilgrims  as  they  pass  by. 
"The  effectual  check  and  waning  proportions"  of  this  Administra- 
tion, and  its  despotic  and  bloody  policy,  enable  us  to  practice  the 
more  cheerfully  now,  a  philosophy  which  hitherto  may  have  been 
somewhat  compulsory.  But  false  statements  of  recorded  or  historic 
facts  do  not  come  within  the  rule. 


EXECUTIVE    USURPATION.  93 

Now,  Mr.  Vallandigham  never  proposed  to  divide  "  tlie  KepuLlic 
into  four  distinct  nationalities."  So  fur  as  any  such  proposition  lias 
been  suggested  at  all,  it  was  by  General  Scott,  who  even  went  so  far 
as  to  name  the  probable  capitals  of  three  of  those  "  nationalities." 
My  proposition,  on  the  contrary,  was  to  maintain  the  existing  Union, 
or  "nationality"  forever,  by  dividing  or  arranging  the  States  into 
sections  loithin  the  Ifnion,  nnder  the  Constitution^  for  the  purpose  of 
voting  in  the  Senate  and  electoral  colleges. 


NUMBER   FOUR. 


EXECUTIVE   USURPATION. 

SPEECH  DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES,  JULY  10,  18C1. 


^^  After  some  time  he  past." 

If  the  sober  and  unerring  review  of  history  should  demonstrate  that 
the  present  Administration  has,  from  the  first,  lent  itself  to  the  devel- 
opment and  execution  of  a  cunningly  devised  plot,  whose  object  was 
to  destroy  the  old  Union,  constituted  by  the  suffrages  of  the  States, 
and  establish  in  its  place  a  government  under  which  civil  rights  would 
be  held  and  enjoyed  only  at  the  pleasure  of  an  absolute,  centralized, 
and  irresponsible  despotism  —  should  history,  when  it  resumes  the 
startling  events  of  these  times,  and  traces  those  events  to  their  now  hid- 
den causes,  convict  the  President,  and  those  with  whom  and  through 
whom  he  has  been  acting,  of  this  great  crime  against  God  and  their 
country,  it  will  then  be  seen  with  what  clear  penetration  that  eminent 
statesman,  to  whose  counsels  we  have  been  listening,  described  the  most 
secret  movings,  the  first  and  most  cautious  unfoldings  of  that  infamous 
plot.  Then,  "  after  some  time  he  past"  the  stern  verdict  of  history  will 
justify  and  vindicate  the  solemn  warnings  he  gave,  and  it  will  be 
recorded  that  all  who  heeded  those  warnings,  and  rallied  to  the  pro- 
tection and  defense  of  the  Temple  of  Liberty,  obeyed  the  dictates  of 
prudence  and  wisdom.  It  has  been  said,  a  nation  may  lose  its  liberties 
in  a  day,  and  not  discover  the  loss  in  a  hundred  years.  Should  this  be 
the  sad  doom  of  our  country,  which  once  gloried  in  calling  itself  the 


94  EXECUTIVE  USURPATION. 

land  where  civil  freedom  was  most  dearly  cherished  and  widely  enjoyed, 
there  would  still  be  a  few  whose  names  the  historian  would  gather, 
and  of  whom  record  that  they  knew  and  noted  the  hour  when  liberty 
withdrew,  heard  the  muffled  dcath-knell,  and  sounded  the  alarm 
through  the  land.  High  on  that  scroll  will  be  written  the  name  of 
Vallandioham. 

The  speech  that  follows  was  delivered  soon  after  the  opening  of  the 
extra  session  of  Congress,  convened  on  the  4th  of  Jul}-,  1861.  No 
speech  was  ever  delivered  in  the  midst  of  greater  personal  danger — 
not  even  Cicero's  defense  of  Milo.  The  galleries  were  filled  with  an 
excited  soldiery  and  infuriated  partisans  threatening  assassination.  A 
leading  Abolition  paper  in  New  York  had,  two  days  before,  declared 
that,  if  an  attempt  was  made  to  speak  for  peace,  "the  aisles  of  the 
Hall  would  run  with  blood."  Arbitrai-y  arrests,  for  opinion  and 
speech,  had  already  been  commenced.  Almost  without  sympathy 
upon  his  own  side  of  the  House,  and  with  a  fierce,  insolent,  and  over- 
whelming majority  upon  the  other  side,  Mr.  Yallandigham,  calm 
and  unawed,  met  every  peril,  and  spoke  as  firmly,  solemnly,  and 
earnestly  as  under  ordinary  circumstances.  The  "motto"  prefixed  to 
the  speech  is  from  Lord  Bacon's  will,  and  is  significant,  interpreted, 
as  it  has  now  been,  by  the  light  of  two  years'  experience.  Some  threo 
hundred  thousand  copies  of  the  speech,  in  various  forms,  were  pub- 
lished and  circulated  in  the  United  States.  It  was  published,  also, 
in  England  and  on  the  Continent. 

The  House  was  in  Committee  of  the  Whole,  the  subject  under  con- 
sideration, The  State  of  the  Union,  when  3Ir.  YALLANDIGnAM,  obtain- 
ing the  floor,  said : 

Mr.  Chairman:  In  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which 
the  other  day  we  swore  to  support,  and  by  the  authority  of  which  we 
are  here  assembled  now,  it  is  written : 

"  All  legislative  powers  herein  granted  shall  be  vested  in  a  Congress  of 
the  United  States." 

It  is  further  written,  also,  that  the  Congress  to  which  all  legislative 
powers  granted,  are  thus  committed — 

"Shall  make  no  law  ahi-idging  the  freedom  of  speech  or  of  the  press." 

And,  it  is  yet  further  written,  in  protection  of  Senators  and  Repre- 
sentatives, in  that  freedom  of  debate  here,  without  which  there  can 
be  no  liberty,  that — 

"  For  any  .speech  or  debate  in  either  House  they  shall  not  be  questioned  in 
any  other  place." 

'  Holding  up  the  shield  of  the  Constitution,  and  standing  here  in  the 
place,  and  with  the  manhood  of  a  Representative  of  the  people,  I 


EXECUTIVE    USURPATION.  95 

propose  to  myself,  to-day,  the  ancient  freedom  of  speecli  used  witliin 
these  walls,  though  with  somewhat  more,  I  trust,  of  decency  and  dis- 
cretion than  have  sometimes  been  exhibited  here.  Sir,  I  do  not 
propose  to  discuss  the  direct  question  of  this  civil  war  in  which  we 
are  engaged.  Its  present  prosecution  is  a  foregone  conclusion  ;  and  a 
wise  man  never  wastes  his  strength  on  a  fruitless  enterprise.  ]\Iy 
position  shall,  at  present,  for  the  most  part,  be  indicated  by  my  votes, 
and  by  the  resolutions  and  motions  which  I  may  submit.  But  there 
are  many  questions  incident  to  the  war  and  to  its  prosecution,  about 
which  I  have  somewhat  to  say  now. 

Mr.  Chairman,  the  President,  in  the  message  before  us,  demands 
the  extraordinary  loan  of  S4;00,000,000 — an  amount  nearly  ten  times 
greater  than  the  entire  public  debt.  State  and  Federal,  at  the  close  of 
the  Revolution,  in  1783,  and  four  times  as  much  as  the  total  expendi- 
tures during  the  three  years'  war  with  Great  Britain,  in  1812. 

Sir,  that  same  Constitution  which  I  again  hold  up,  and  to  which  I 
give  my  whole  heart,  and  my  utmost  loyalty,  commits  to  Congress 
alone  the  power  to  borrow  money,  and  to  fix  the  purposes  to  which  it 
shall  be  applied,  and  expressly  limits  army  appropriations  to  the 
terra  of  two  years.  Each  Senator  and  Representative,  therefore,  must 
judge  for  himself,  upon  his  conscience  and  his  oath,  and  before  God 
and  the  country,  of  the  justice  and  wisdom  and  policy  of  the  Presi- 
dent's demand  ;  and  whenever  this  House  shall  have  become  but  a 
mere  office  wherein  to  register  the  decrees  of  the  Executive,  it  will 
be  high  time  to  abolish  it.  But  I  have  a  right,  I  believe,  sir,  to  say 
that,  however,  gentlemen  upon  this  side  of  the  Chamber  may  differ 
finally  as  to  the  war,  we  are  yet  firmly  and  inexorably  united  in  one 
thing,  at  least,  and  that  is  in  the  determination  that  our  own  rights 
and  dignities  and  privileges,  as  the  Representatives  of  the  people, 
shall  be  maintained  in  their  spirit,  and  to  the  very  letter.  And,  be 
this  as  it  may,  I  do  know  that  there  are  some  here  present  who  are 
resolved  to  assert,  and  to  exercise  these  rights  with  becoming  decency 
and  moderation,  certainly,  but,  at  the  same  time,  fully,  freely,  and  at 
every  hazard. 

Sir,  it  is  an  ancient  and  wise  practice  of  the  English  Commons,  to 
precede  all  votes  of  supplies  by  an  inquiry  into  abuses  and  grievances, 
and  especially  into  any  infractions  of  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  by 
the  Executive.  Let  us  follow  this  safe  practice.  AVe  are  now  in  Com- 
mittee of  the  Whole  on  the  State  of  the  Union;  and  in  the  exercise 
of  my  right  and  my  duty  as  a  Representative,  and  availing  myself  of 
the  latitude  of  debate  allowed  here,  I  propose  to  consider  the  present 
STATE  OF  THE  Union,  and  Supply,  also,  some  few  of  the  many  omis- 
sions of  the  President  in  the  message  before  us.  Sir,  he  has  under- 
taken to  give  us  information  of  the  state  of  the  Union,  as  the 
Constitution  requires  him  to  do  ;  and  it  was  his  duty,  as  an  honest 
Executive,  to  make  that  information  full,  impartial,  and  complete, 
instead  of  spreading  before  us  a  labored  and  lawyerly  vindication  of  his 
own  course  of  policy — a  policy  which  has  precipitated  us  into  a 
terrible  and  bloody  revolution.  He  admits  the  fact;  he  admits  that, 
to-day,  we  are  in  the  midst  of  a  general  civil  WAR;  not  now  a  mere 


96  EXECUTIVE  USURPATION. 

petty  insurrection,  to  be  suppressed  in  twenty  days  by  a  proclamation 
and  a  posse  comilatus  of  three  months'  militia. 

Sir.  it  has  been  the  misfortune  of  the  President,  from  the  beginning, 
that  he  has  totally  and  wholly  under-estimated  the  map:nitude  and 
character  of  the  Kevolution  with  which  he  had  to  deal,  or  surely  he 
never  would  have  ventured  upon  the  wicked  and  hazardous  experiment 
of  callin<;  thirty  millions  of  people  to  arms  among  themselves,  with- 
out the  counsel  and  authority  of  Congress.  But  when,  at  last,  he 
found  himself  hemmed  in  by  the  revolution,  and  this  city  in  danger, 
as  he  declares,  and  waked  up  thus,  as  the  proclamation  of  the  15tli 
of  April  proves  him  to  have  waked  up,  to  the  reality  and  significance 
of  the  movement,  why  did  he  not  forthwith  assemble  Congress,  and 
throw  himself  upon  the  wisdom  and  patriotism  of  the  Representatives 
of  the  States  and  of  the  people,  instead  of  usurping  powers  which  the 
Constitution  has  expressly  conferred  upon  us?  Ay,  sir,  and  powers 
•which  Congress  had  but  a  little  while  before,  repeatedly  and  emphat- 
ically refused  to  exercise,  or  to  permit  him  to  exercise?  But  I  shall 
recur  to  this  point  again. 

Sir,  the  President,  in  this  message,  has  undertaken  also  to  give  us 
a  summary  of  the  causes  which  have  led  to  the  present  revolution. 
He  has  made  out  a  case — he  might,  in  my  judgment,  have  made  out  a 
much  stronger  case — against  the  secessionists  and  disunionists  of  the 
South.  All  this,  sir,  is  very  well,  as  far  as  it  goes.  But  the  President 
does  not  go  back  far  enough,  nor  in  the  right  direction.  He  forgets 
the  still  stronger  case  against  the  abolitionists  and  disunionists  of  the 
North  and  West.  He  omits  to  tell  us  that  secession  and  disunion  had 
a  New  England  origin,  and  began  in  Massachusetts,  in  1804,  at  the 
time  of  the  Louisiana  purchase ;  were  revived  by  the  Hartford  con- 
vention, in  1814,  and  culminated,  during  the  war  with  Great  Britain, 
in  sending  commissioners  to  Washington  to  settle  the  terms  for  a 
peaceable  separation  of  New  England  from  the  other  States  of  tho 
Union.  He  forgets  to  remind  us  and  the  country,  that  this  present 
revolution  began  forty  years  ago,  in  the  vehement,  persistent,  offensive, 
most  irritating  and  unprovoked  agitation  of  the  slavkry  question 
in  the  North  and  West,  from  the  time  of  the  Missouri  controversy, 
■with  some  short  intervals,  down  to  the  present  hour.  Sir,  if  his  state- 
ment of  the  case  be  the  whole  truth,  and  wholly  correct,  then  the 
Democratic  party,  and  every  member  of  it,  and  the  AVhig  party,  too, 
and  its  predecessors,  have  been  guilty,  for  sixty  years,  of  an  unjust, 
unconstitutional,  and  most  wicked  policy  in  administering  the  affairs 
of  the  Government. 

But,  sir,  the  President  ignores  totally  the  violent  and  long-continued 
denunciation  of  slavery  and  slaveholders,  and  especially  since  1835 — 
I  appeal  to  Jackson's  message  for  the  date  and  proof — until  at  last  a 
political  anti-slavery  organization  was  formed  in  the  North  and  West, 
which  continued  to  gain  strength  year  after  year,  till,  at  length,  it 
had  destroyed  and  usurped  the  place  of  the  Whig  party,  and  finally 
obtained  control  of  every  free  State  in  the  Union,  and  elected  himself, 
through  free-State  votes  alone,  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States. 
He  chooses  to  pass  over  the  fact  that  the  party  to  which  he  thus  owes  his 


EXECUTIVE    USURPATION.  97 

place  and  his  present  power  of  mischief,  is  M-holly  and  totally  a  seo- 
tional  organization  ;  and,  as  such,  condemned  by  Washington,  by  Jef- 
ferson, by  Jackson,  Webster,  and  Clay,  and  by  all  the  founders  and 
preservers  of  the  Republic,  and  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  principles, 
or  with  the  peace,  the  stability,  or  the  existence  even,  of  our  Federal 
system.  Sir,  there  never  was  an  hour,  from  the  organization  of  this 
sectional  party,  when  it  was  not  predicted  by  the  wisest  men  and  truest 
patriots,  and  when  it  ought  not  to  have  been  known  by  every  intel- 
ligent man  in  the  country,  that  it  must,  sooner  or  later,  precipitate  a 
revolution,  and  the  dissolution  of  the  Union.  The  President  forgets 
already  that,  on  the  4th  of  March,  he  declared  that  the  platform  of 
that  party  was  "  a  law  unto  him,"  by  which  he  meant  to  be  governed 
in  his  administration;  and  yet  that  platform  announced  that  whereas 
there  were  two  separate  and  distinct  kinds  of  labor  and  forms  of 
civilization  in  the  two  different  sections  of  the  Union,  yet  that  the 
entire  national  domain,  belonging  in  common  to  all  the  States,  should 
be  taken,  possessed,  and  held  by  one  section  alone,  and  consecrated  to 
that  kind  of  labor  and  form  of  civilization  alone  which  prevailed  ia 
that  section  which,  by  mere  numerical  superiority,  had  chosen  the 
President,  and  now  has,  and  for  some  years  past  has  had,  a  majority 
in  the  Senate,  as  from  the  beginning  of  the  Government  it  had  also 
in  the  House.  He  omits,  too,  to  tell  the  country  and  the  world — 
for  he  speaks,  and  we  all  speak  now,  to  the  world,  and  to  posterity- — 
that  he  himself,  and  his  prime  minister,  the  Secretary  of  State, 
declared,  three  years  ago,  and  have  maintained  ever  since,  that  there 
was  an  "  irrepressible  conflict  "  between  the  two.  sections  of  this 
Union  ;  that  the  Union  could  not  endure  part  slave  and  part  free ; 
and  that  the  whole  power  and  influence  of  the  Federal  Goyernment 
must  henceforth  be  exerted  to  circumscribe  and  hem  in  slavery  within 
its  existing  limits. 

And  now,  sir,  how  comes  it  that  the  President  has  forgotten  to 
remind  us,  also,  that  when  the  party  thus  committed  to  the  principle 
of  deadly  hate  and  hostility  to  the  slave  institutions  of  the  South, 
and  the  men  who  had  proclaimed  the  doctrine  of  the  irrepressible 
conflict,  and  who,  in  the  dilemma  or  alternative  of  this  conflict,  were 
resolved  that  "  the  cotton  and  rice  fields  of  South  Carolina,  and  the 
sugar  plantations  of  Louisiana,  should  ultimately  be  tilled  by  free 
labor,"  had  obtained  power  and  place  in  the  common  Government  of 
the  States,  the  South,  except  one  State,  chose  first  to  demand  solemn 
constitutional  guarantees  for  protection  against  the  abuse  of  the  tre- 
mendous power  and  patronage  and  influence  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  great  end  of  the  sectional 
conflict,  before  resorting  to  secession  or  revolution  at  all?  Did  he 
not  know — how  could  he  be  ignorant — that,  at  the  last  session  of 
Congress,  every  substantive  proposition  for  adjustment  and  compro- 
mise, except  that  ofiered  by  the  gentleman  from  Illinois,  (Mr.  Kel- 
logg)— and  we  all  know,  how  it  was  received — came  from  the  South? 
Stop  a  moment,  and  let  us  see. 

The  Committee  of  Thirty-three  was  moved  for  in  this  House  by  a 
gentleman  from  Virginia,  the  second  day  of  the  session,  and  received 
7 


§n 


EXECUTIVE    USURPATION. 


the  vote  of  every  Southern  Representative  present,  except  only  the 
members  from  South  Carolina,  who  declined  to  vote.  In  the  Senate, 
the  committee  of  thirteen  was  proposed  by  a  Senator  from  Kentucky, 
(Mr.  Powell,)  and  received  the  silent  acquiescence  of  every  Southern 
Senator  present.  The  Crittenden  propositions,  too,  were  submitted 
also  by  another  Senator  from  Kentucky,  (Mr.  Crittenden,)  now  a 
member  of  this  House  ;  a  man,  venerable  for  his  years,  loved  for  his 
virtues,  distinguished  for  his  services,  honored  for  his  patriotism;  for 
four  and  forty  years  a  Senator,  or  in  other  public  office ;  devoted  from 
the  first  hour  of  his  manhood  to  the  Union  of  these  States ;  and  who, 
though  he  himself  proved  his  courage  fifty  years  ago,  upon  the  battle- 
field against  the  foreign  enemies  of  his  country,  is  now,  thank  God, 
still  for  compromise  at  home,  to-day.  Fortunate  in  a  long  and  well- 
spent  life  of  public  service  and  private  worth,  he  is  unfortunate  only 
that  he  has  survived  a  Union,  and,  I  fear,  a  Constitution,  younger 
than  himself. 

The  border  State  propositions,  also,  were  projected  by  a  gentleman 
from  Maryland,  not  now  a  member  of  this  House,  and  presented  by 
a  gentleman  from  Tennessee,  (Mr.  Etheridge,)  now  the  Clerk  of  thia 
House.  And  yet  all  these  propositions,  coming  thus  from  the  South, 
were  severally  and  repeatedly  rejected  by  the  almost  united  vote 
of  the  Republican  party  in  the  Senate  and  the  House.  The  Critten- 
den propositions,  with  which  Mr.  Davis,  now  President  of  the  Con- 
federate States,  and  Mr.  Toombs,  his  Secretary  of  State,  both  declared, 
in  the  Senate,  that  they  would  be  satisfied,  and  for  which  every 
Southern  Senator  and  Representative  voted — never,  on  any  occasion, 
received  one  solitary  vote  from  the  Republican  party  in  either  House. 

The  Adams  or  Corwin  amendment,  so-called — reported  from  the 
Committee  of  Thirty-three,  and  the  only  substantive  amendment 
proposed  from  the  Republican  side — was  hut  a  bare  promise  that 
Congress  should  never  be  authorized  to  do  what  no  sane  man  ever 
believed  Congress  would  attempt  to  do — abolish  slavery  in  the  States 
where  it  exists  ;  and  yet,  even  this  proposition,  moderate  as  it  was,  and 
for  which  every  Southern  member  present  voted — except  one — was 
carried  through  this  House  by  but  one  majority,  after  long  and 
tedious  delay,  and  with  the  utmost  difiieulty — sixty-five  Republican 
members,  with  the  resolute  and  determined  gentleman  from  Pennsyl- 
vania (Mr.  Hickman)  at  their  head,  having  voted  against  it  and 
fought  against  it  to  the  very  last. 

And  not  this,  only,  but,  as  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  last  session, 
let  me  remind  you  that  bills  were  introduced  into  this  House,  pro- 
posing to  abolish  and  close  up  certain  Southern  ports  of  entry ; 
to  authorize  the  President  to  blockade  the  Southern  coast,  and  to 
call  out  the  militia,  and  accept  the  services  of  volunteers — not  for 
three  years  merely — but  without  any  limit  as  to  either  numbers  or 
time,  for  the  very  purpose  of  enforcing  the  laws,  collecting  the  revenue, 
and  protecting  the  public  property — and  were  pressed,  vehemently  and 
earnestly,  in  this  House,  prior  to  the  arrival  of  the  President  in  this 
city,  and  were  then — though  seven  States  had  seceded,  and  set  up  a 
government  of  their  own — voted  down,  postponed,  thrust  aside,  or  in 


EXECUTIVE    USURPATION.  99 

some  other  way  disposed  of,  sometimes  by  large  majorities  in  this 
House,  till,  at  last,  Congress  adjourned  without  any  action  at  all. 
Peace,  then,  seemed  to  be  the  policy  of  all  parties. 

Thus,  sir,  the  case  stood,  at  twelve  o'clock  on  the  4th  of  March 
last,  when,  from  the  eastern  portico  of  this  capitol,  and  in  the  presence 
of  twenty  thousand  of  his  countrymen,  but  enveloped  in  a  cloud  of 
soldiery,  which  no  other  American  President  ever  saw,  Abraham 
Lincoln  took  the  oath  of  office  to  support  the  Constitution,  and 
delivered  his  inaugural — a  message,  I  regret  to  say,  not  written  in 
the  direct  and  straightforward  language  which  becomes  an  American 
President  and  an  American  statesman,  and  which  was  expected  from 
the  plain,  blunt,  honest  man  of  the  North-west — but  with  the  forked 
tongue  and  crooked  counsel  of  the  New  York  politician,  leaving 
thirty  millions  of  people  in  doubt  whether  it  meant  peace  or  war. 
But,  whatever  may  have  been  the  secret  purpose  and  meaning  of  the 
inaugural,  practically,  for  six  weeks,  the  policy  of  peace  prevailed  j 
and  they  were  weeks  of  happiness  to  the  patriot,  and  prosperity  to 
the  country.  Business  revived  ;  trade  returned  ;  commerce  flourished. 
Never  was  there  a  fairer  prospect  before  any  people.  Secession  in 
the  past,  languished,  and  was  spiritless,  and  harmless;  secession  in 
the  future,  was  arrested,  and  perished.  By  overwhelming  majorities, 
Virginia,  Kentucky,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Missouri — all 
declared  for  the  old  Union,  and  every  heart  beat  high  with  hope 
that,  in  due  course  of  time,  and  through  faith  and  patience  and  peace, 
and  by  ultimate  and  adequate  compromise,  every  State  would  be 
restored  to  it.  It  is  true,  indeed,  sir,  that  the  Republican  party, 
with  great  unanimity,  and  great  earnestness  and  determination,  had 
resolved  against  all  conciliation  and  compromise.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  whole  Democratic  party,  and  the  whole  Constitutional- 
Union  party,  were  equally  resolved  that  there  should  be  no  civil  war, 
upon  any  pretext :  and  both  sides  prepared  for  an  appeal  to  that 
great  and  final  arbiter  of  all  disputes  in  a  free  country — the  people. 

Sir,  I  do  not  propose  to  inquire,  now,  whether  the  President  and 
his  Cabinet  were  sincere  and  in  earnest,  and  meant,  really,  to  perse- 
vere to  the  end  in  the  policy  of  peace ;  or  whether,  from  the  first, 
they  meant  civil  war,  and  only  waited  to  gain  time  till  they  were  fairly 
seated  in  power,  and  had  disposed,  too,  of  that  prodigious  horde  of 
spoilsmen  and  office-seekers  which  came  down,  at  the  first,  like  an 
avalanche  upon  them.  But  I  do  know  that  the  people  believed 
them  sincere,  and  cordially  ratified  and  approved  of  the  policy  of 
peace — not  as  they  subsequently  responded  to  the  policy  of  war,  in 
a  whirlwind  of  passion  and  madness — but  calmly  and  soberly,  and  aa 
the  result  of  their  deliberate  and  most  solemn  judgment ;  and  believ- 
ing that  civil  war  was  absolute  and  eternal  disunion,  while  secession 
was  but  partial  and  temporary,  they  cordially  indorsed,  also,  the  pro- 
posed evacuation  of  Sumter,  and  the  other  forts  and  public  property 
within  the  seceded  States.  Nor,  sir,  will  I  stop,  now,  to  explore  the 
several  causes  which  either  led  to  a  change  in  the  apparent  policy, 
or  an  early  development  of  the  original  and  real  purposes  of  the 
Administration.     But  there  are  two  which  I  can  not  pass  by.     And 


^   c)  i\ 


100  EXECUTIVE    USURPATION. 

the  first  of  these  was  party  nkcessity,  or  the  clamor  of  politicians, 
and  especially  of  certain  wicked,  reckless,  and  unprincipled  conductors 
of  a  partisan  press.  The  peace  policy  Avas  crushing  out  the  llepub- 
lican  party.  Under  that  policy,  sir,  it  was  melting  away  like  snow 
before  the  sun.  The  general  elections  in  Rhode  Island  and  Connect- 
icut, and  municipal  elections  in  New  York  and  in  the  western  States, 
gave  abundant  evidence  that  the  people  were  resolved  upon  the  most 
ample  and  satisfactory  Constitutional  guarantees  to  the  South,  as  the 
price  of  a  restoration  of  the  Union.  And  then  it  was,  sir,  that  the  long 
and  agonizing  howl  of  defeated  and  disappointed  politicians  came  up 
before  the  Administration.  The  newspaper  press  teemed  with  appeals 
and  threats  to  the  President.  The  mails  groaned  under  the  weight 
of  letters  demanding  a  change  of  policy  ;  while  a  secret  conclave  of 
the  Governors  of  Massachusetts,  New  York,  Ohio,  and  other  States, 
assembled  here,  promised  men  and  mone}'  to  support  the  President 
in  the  irrepressible  conflict  Avhich  they  now  invoked.  And  thus  it 
was,  sir,  that  the  necessities  of  a  party  in  the  pangs  of  dissolution, 
in  the  very  hour  and  article  of  death,  demanding  vigorous  measures, 
which  could  result  in  nothing  but  civil  war,  renewed  secession,  and 
absolute  and  eternal  disunion  were  preferred  and  hearkened  to  before 
the  peace  and  harmony  and  prosperity  of  the  whole  country. 

But  there  was  another  and  yet  stronger  impelling  cause,  without 
which  this  horrid  calamity  of  civil  war  might  have  been  postponed, 
and,  perhaps,  finally  averted.  One  of  the  last  and  worst  acts  of  a 
Congress  which,  born  in  bitterness  and  nurtured  in  convulsion, 
literally  did  those  things  which  it  ought  not  to  have  done,  and  left 
undone  those  things  which  it  ought  to  have  done,  was  the  passage  of 
an  obscure,  ill-considered,  ill-digested,  and  unstatesmanlike  high 
protective  tariff  act,  commonly  known  as  "  the  Morrill  tariff." 
Just  about  the  same  time,  too,  the  Confederate  Congress,  at  Mont- 
gomery, adopted  our  old  tariff  of  1857,  which  we  had  rejected  to 
make  way  for  the  Morrill  act,  fixing  their  rate  of  duties  at  five, 
fifteen,  and  twenty  per  cent,  lower  than  ours.  The  result  was  as 
inevitable  as  the  laws  of  trade  are  inexorable.  Trade  and  commerce 
— and  especially  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the  West — began  to  look 
to  the  South.  Turned  out  of  their  natural  course,  years  ago,  by  the 
canals  and  railroads  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  and  diverted 
eastward  at  a  heavy  cost  to  the  \Vest,  they  threatened  now  to  resume 
their  ancient  and  accustomed  channels — the  water-courses — the  Ohio 
and  the  Mississippi.  And  political  association  and  union,  it  was  well 
known,  must  soon  follow  the  direction  of  trade  and  interest.  The 
city  of  New  York,  the  great  commercial  emporium  of  the  Union, 
and  the  North-west,  the  chief  granary  of  the  Union — began  to  clamor 
now,  loudly,  for  a  repeal  of  the  pernicious  and  ruinous  tariff.  Threat- 
ened thus  with  the  loss  of  both  political  power  and  wealth,  or  the 
repeal  of  the  tariff,  and,  at  last,  of  both,  New  England — and  Penn- 
Bylvania,  too,  the  land  of  Penn,  cradled  in  peace — demanded,  now, 
coercion  and  civil  war,  with  all  its  horrors,  as  the  price  of  preserving 
either  from  destruction.  Ay,  sir,  Pennsylvania,  the  great  key-stone 
of  the  arch  of  the  Union,  was  willing  to  lay  the  whole  weight  of  her 


EXECUTIVB   USURPATION.  101 

iron  upon  that  sacred  arcb,  and  crush  it  beneath  the  load.  The  sub- 
jugation of  the  South — ay,  sir,  the  subjugation  of  the  South  ! — I  am 
not  talking  to  children  or  fools  ;  for  there  is  not  a  man  in  this  House 
fit  to  be  a  Representative  here,  who  does  not  know  that  the  South 
can  not  be  forced  to  yield  obedience  to  your  laws  and  authority 
again,  until  you  have  conquered  and  subjugated  her — the  subjugation 
of  the  South,  and  the  closing  up  of  her  ports — first,  by  force,  in  war, 
and  afterward,  by  tarifi"  laws,  in  peace — was  deliberately  resolved 
upon  by  the  East.  And,  sir,  when  once  this  policy  was  begun,  these 
self-same  motives  of  waning  commerce,  and  threatened  loss  of  trade, 
impelled  the  great  city  of  New  York,  and  her  merchants  and  her 
politicians  and  her  press — with  here  and  there  an  honorable  exception 
— to  place  herself  in  the  very  front  rank  among  the  worshipers  of 
Moloch.  Much,  indeed,  of  that  outburst  and  uprising  in  the  North, 
which  followed  the  proclamation  of  the  15th  of  April,  as  well, 
perhaps,  as  the  proclamation  itself,  was  called  forth,  not  so  much  by 
the  fall  of  Sumter — an  event  long  anticipated — as  by  the  notion 
that  the  "  insurrection,"  as  it  was  called,  might  be  crushed  out  in  a 
few  weeks,  if  not  by  the  display,  certainly,  at  least,  by  the  presence 
of  an  overwhelming  force. 

These,  sir,  were  the  chief  causes  which,  along  with  others,  led  to 
a  change  in  the  policy  of  the  Administration,  and,  instead  of  peace, 
forced  us,  headlong,  into  civil  war,  with  all  its  accumulated  horrors. 

But,  whatever  may  have  been  the  causes  or  the  motives  of  the 
act,  it  is  certain  that  there  was  a  change  in  the  policy  which  the 
Administration  meant  to  adopt,  or  which,  at  least,  they  led  the 
country  to  believe  they  intended  to  pursue.  I  will  not  venture,  now, 
to  assert,  what  may  yet,  some  day,  be  made  to  appear,  that  the 
subsequent  acts  of  the  Administration,  and  its  enormous  and  persist- 
ent infractions  of  the  Constitution,  its  high-handed  usurpations  of 
power,  formed  any  part  of  a  deliberate  conspiracy  to  overthrow  the 
present  form  of  Federal-republican  government,  and  to  establish  a 
strong  centralized  Government  in  its  stead.  No,  sir ;  whatever  their 
purposes  now,  I  rather  think  that,  in  the  beginning,  they  rushed, 
heedlessly  and  headlong  into  the  gulf,  believing  that,  as  the  seat  of 
war  was  then  far  distant  and  difficult  of  access,  the  display  of  vigor  in 
re-enforcing  Sumter  and  Pickens,  and  in  calling  out  seventy-five 
thousand  militia,  upon  the  firing  of  the  first  gun,  and  above  all,  in  that 
exceedingly  happy  and  original  conceit  of  commanding  the  insurgent 
States  to  "  disperse  in  twenty  days,"  would  not,  on  the  one  hand, 
precipitate  a  crisis,  while,  upon  the  other,  it  would  satisfy  its  own 
violent  partisans,  and  thus  revive  and  restore  the  falling  fortunes  of 
the  Republican  party. 

I  can  hardly  conceive,  sir,  that  the  President  and  his  advisers 
could  be  guilty  of  the  exceeding  folly  of  expecting  to  carry  on  a 
general  civil  war  by  a  mere  posse  comitatus  of  three-months  militia. 
It  may  be,  indeed,  that,  with  wicked  and  most  desperate  cunning,  the 
President  meant  all  this  as  a  mere  entering-wedge  to  that  which  was 
to  rive  the  oak  asunder ;  or,  possibly,  as  a  test,  to  learn  the  public 
sentiment  of  the  North  and  West.     But  however  that  may  be,  the 


102  EXECUTIVE  USURPATION'. 

rapid  secession  and  movements  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Arkansas, 
and  Tennessee,  taking  with  them,  as  I  have  said,  elsewhere,  four 
millions  and  a  half  of  people,  immense  wealth,  inexhaustible  resources, 
five  hundred  thousand  fighting  men,  and  (he  graves  of  Washington  and 
Jackson,  and  bringing  up,  too,  in  one  single  day,  the  frontier  from 
the  Gulf  to  the  Ohio  and  the  Potomac,  together  with  the  abandon- 
ment, by  the  one  side,  a^id  the  occupation,  by  the  other,  of  Harper's 
Ferry  and  the  Norfolk  navy -yard  ;  and  the  fierce  gust  and  whirlwind 
of  passion  in  the  North,  compelled  either  a  sudden  waking-up  of  the 
President  and  his  advisers  to  the  frightful  significaney  of  the  act 
■which  they  had  committed,  in  heedlessly  breaking  the  vase  which 
imprisoned  the  slumbering  demon  of  civil  war,  or  else  a  premature 
but  most  rapid  development  of  the  daring  plot  to  foster  and  promote 
secession,  and  then  to  set  up  a  new  and  strong  form  of  government 
in  the  States  which  might  remain  in  the  Union. 

But,  whatever  may  have  been  the  purpose,  I  assert  here,  to-day,  as 
a  Representative,  that  every  principal  act  of  the  Administration  since 
has  been  a  glaring  usurpation  of  power,  and  a  palpable  and  dangerous 
violation  of  that  very  Constitution  which  this  civil  war  is  professedly 
waged  to  support.  Sir,  I  pass  by  the  proclamation  of  the  15th  of 
April,  summoning  the  militia — not  to  defend  this  capital — there  is 
not  a  word  about  the  capital  in  the  proclamation,  and  there  was  then 
no  possible  danger  to  it  from  any  quarter,  but  to  retake  and  occupy 
forts  and  property  a  thousand  miles  off — summoning,  I  say,  the 
militia  to  suppress  the  so-called  insurrection.  I  do  not  believe, 
indeed,  and  no  man  believed  in  February  last,  when  Mr.  Stanton,  of 
Ohio,  introduced  his  bill  to  enlarge  the  act  of  1795,  that  that  act 
ever  contemplated  the  case  of  a  general  revolution,  and  of  resistance 
by  an  organized  government.  But  no  matter.  The  militia  thus 
called  out,  with  a  shadow,  at  least,  of  authority,  and  for  a  period 
extending  one  mouth  beyond  the  assembling  of  Congress,  were  amply 
sufficient  to  protect  the  capital  against  any  force  which  was  then 
likely  to  be  sent  against  it  —  and  the  event  has  proved  it  —  and 
ample  enough,  also,  to  suppress  the  outbreak  in  Maryland.  Every 
Other  principal  act  of  the  Adminstration  might  well  have  been  post- 
poned, and  ought  to  have  been  postponed,  until  the  meeting  of  Con- 
gress ;  or,  if  the  exigencies  of  the  occasion  demanded  it.  Congress 
should  forthwith  have  been  assembled.  What  if  two  or  three  States 
should  not  have  been  represented,  although  even  this  need  not  have 
happened  ;  but  better  this,  a  thousand  times,  than  that  the  Constitu- 
tion should  be  repeatedly  and  flagrantly  violated,  and  public  liberty 
and  private  right  trampled  under  foot.  As  for  Harper's  Foiry  and 
the  Norfolk  navy-yard,  they  rather  needed  protection  against  the 
Administration,  by  whose  orders  millions  of  property  were  wantonly 
destroyed,  which  was  not  in  the  slightest  danger  from  any  quarter,  at 
the  date  of  the  proclamation. 

But,  sir.  Congress  was  not  assembled  at  once,  as  Congress  should 
have  been,  and  the  great  question  of  civil  war  submitted  to  their 
deliberations.  The  Representatives  of  the  States  and  of  the  people 
were  not  allowed  the  slightest  voice  in  this,  the  most  momentous 


EXECUTIVE    USURPATION.  103 

question  ever  presented  to  any  government.  The  entire  responsibility 
of  the  whole  work  was  boldly  assumed  by  the  Executive,  and  all  the 
powers  required  for  the  purposes  in  hand  were  boldly  usurped  from 
either  the  States  or  the  people,  or  from  the  legislative  department; 
while  the  voice  of  the  judiciary,  that  last  refuge  and  hope  of  liberty, 
was  turned  away  from  with  contempt. 

Sir,  the  right  of  blockade — and  I  begin  with  it — is  a  belligerent 
right,  incident  to  a  state  of  war,  and  it  can  not  be  exercised  until  war 
lias  been  declared  or  recognized ;  and  Congress  alone  can  declare  or 
recognize  war.  But  Congress  had  not  declared  or  recognized  war. 
On  the  contrary,  they  had,  but  a  little  while  before,  expressly  refused 
to  declare  it,  or  to  arm  the  President  with  the  power  to  make  it. 
And  thus  the  President,  in  declaring  a  blockade  of  certain  ports  in 
the  States  of  the  South,  and  in  applying  to  it  the  rules  governing 
blockades  as  between  independent  powers,  violated  the  Constitution. 

But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  he  meant  to  deal  with  these  States  as  still 
in  the  Union,  and  subject  to  Federal  authority,  then  he  usurped  a 
power  which  belongs  to  Congress  alone — the  power  to  abolish  and 
close  up  ports  of  entry;  a  power,  too,  which  Congress  had,  also,  but  a 
few  weeks  before,  refused  to  exercise.  And  yet,  without  the  repeal 
or  abolition  of  ports  of  entry,  any  attempt,  by  either  Congress  or  the 
President,  to  blockade  these  ports,  is  a  violation  of  the  spirit,  if  not 
of  the  letter,  of  that  clause  of  the  Constitution  which  declares  that 
*'  no  preference  shall  be  given,  by  any  regulation  of  commerce  or 
revenue,  to  the  ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another." 

Sir,  upon  this  point  I  do  not  speak  without  the  highest  authority. 
In  the  very  midst  of  the  South  Carolina  nullification  controversy,  it 
was  suggested,  that  in  the  recess  of  Congress,  and  without  a  law  to 
govern  him,  the  President,  Andrew  Jackson,  meant  to  send  down  a 
fleet  to  Charleston  and  blockade  the  port.  But  the  bare  suggestion 
called  forth  the  indignant  protest  of  Daniel  Webster,  himself  the  arch 
enemy  of  nullification,  and  whose  brightest  laurels  were  won  in  the 
three  years'  conflict  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  with  its  ablest  champions. 
In  an  address,  in  October,  1832,  at  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  to  a 
National  Ilepublican  convention — it  was  before  the  birth,  or  christen- 
ing, at  least,  of  the  Whig  party — the  great  expounder  of  the  Consti- 
tution, said : 

"We  are  told,  sir,  that  the  President  will  immediately  employ  the  military 
force,  and  at  once  blockade  Charleston.  A  military  remedy — a  remedy  by 
direct  belligerent  operation,  has  thus  been  suggested,  and  nothing  else  has  been 
suggested,  as  the  intended  means  of  preservmg  the  Union,  fciir,  there  is  no 
little  reason  to  think  that  this  suggestion  is  true.  We  can  not  be  altogether 
unmindful  of  the  past,  and,  therefore,  we  can  not  be  altogether  unapprehen- 
cive  for  the  future.  For  one,  sir,  I  raise  my  voice,  beforehand,  against  the 
unauthorized  emploj-ment  of  military  power,  and  against  superseding  the 
authority  of  the  laws,  by  an  armed  force,  under  pretense  of  putting  down  nul- 
Jitication.     The  Praident  has  no  authority  to  blockade  Charleston^' 

Jackson !  Jackson,  sir !  the  great  Jackson !  did  not  dare  to  do  it 
without  authority  of  Congress;  but  our  Jackson  of  to-day,  the  little 
Jackson  at  the  other  end  of  the  avenue,  and  the  mimic  Jacksons 
around  him,  do  blockade,  not  only  Charleston  habor,  but  the  whole 


104  EXECUTIVE  USURPATION. 

Southern  coast,  three  thousand  miles  in  extent,  by  a  single  stroke  of 
the  pen. 

"The  Prosiilcnt  has  no  authority  to  employ  military  force  till  ho  shall  bo 
duly  required" — 

Mark  the  word  : 

"required  so  to  do  by  law  and  the  civil  authorities.     His  duty  is  to  cause  the 
laws  to  be  executed.     His  duty  is  to  support  the  civii  authoriiy" — 

As  in  the  Merryman  case,  forsooth  ;  but  I  shall  recur  to  that  here- 
after: 

"  His  duty  is,  if  the  laws  be  resisted,  to  employ  the  military  force  of  the 
country,  if  necessary,  for  their  support  and  execution;  but  to  do  all  this  in  coin- 
pLiance  only  with  law  mid  with  decisions  of  the  tribimals.  If,  by  any  ingenious 
devices,  those  who  resist  the  laws  escape  from  the  reach  of  judicial  authority, 
as  it  is  now  provided  to  be  exercised,  it  is  entirely  competent  to  Congress  to 
make  such  new  provisions  as  the  exigency  of  the  ease  may  demand." 

Treason,  sir,  rank  treason,  all  this  to-day.  And,  yet,  thirty  years 
ago,  it  was  true  Union  patriotism  and  sound  constitutional  law  !  Sir, 
I  prefer  the  wisdom  and  stern  fidelity  to  principle  of  the  fathers. 

Such  was  the  voice  of  Webster,  and  such  too,  let  me  add,  the  voice, 
in  his  last  great  speech  in  the  Senate,  of  the  Douglas  whose  death 
the  land  now  mourns. 

Next  after  the  blockade,  sir,  in  the  catalogue  of  daring  executive 
usurpations,  comes  the  proclamation  of  the  3d  of  May,  and  the  orders 
of  the  War  and  Navy  Departments  in  pursuance  of  it — a  proclamation 
and  usurpation  which  would  have  cost  any  English  sovereign  his  head 
at  any  time  within  the  last  two  hundred  years.  Sir,  the  Constitution 
not  only  confines  to  Congress  the  right  to  declare  war,  but  expressly 
provides  that  "  Congress  (not  the  President)  shall  have  power  to 
raise  and  support  armies;"  and  to  "provide  and  maintain  a  navy." 
In  pursuance  of  this  authority.  Congress,  years  ago,  had  fixed  the 
number  of  oificers,  and  of  the  regiments,  of  the  different  kinds  of  serv- 
ice; and  also,  the  number  of  ships,  officers,  marines,  and  seamen  which 
should  compose  the  navy.  Not  only  that,  but  Congress  has  repeat- 
edly, within  the  last  five  years,  refused  to  increase  the  regular  army. 
More  than  that  still :  in  Februai'y  and  March  last,  the  House,  upon 
several  test  votes,  repeatedly  and  expressly  refused  to  authorize  the 
President  to  accept  the  service  of  volunteers  for  the  very  purpose  of 
protecting  the  public  property,  enforcing  the  laws,  and  collecting  the 
revenue.  And,  yet,  the  President,  of  his  own  mere  will  and  author- 
ity, and  without  the  shadow  of  right,  has  proceeded  to  increase,  and 
has  increased,  the  standing  army  by  twenty-five  thousand  men  ;  the 
navy  by  eighteen  thousand ;  and  has  called  for,  and  accepted  the  serv- 
ices of,  forty  regiments  of  volunteers  for  three  years,  numbering 
forty-two  thousand  men,  and  making  thus  a  grand  army,  or  military 
force,  raised  by  executive  proclamation  alone,  without  the  sanction  of 
Congress,  without  warrant  of  law,  and  in  direct  violation  of  the  Con- 
stitution, and  of  his  oath  of  of&ce,  of  eighty-five  thousand  soldiers 


EXECUTIVE   USURPATION.  106 

enlisted  for  three  and  five  years,  and  already  in  the  field.  And,  yet, 
the  President  now  asks  us  to  support  the  army  which  he  has  thus 
raised,  to  ratify  his  usurpations  by  a  law  ex  post  facto,' snid  thus  to 
make  ourselves  parties  to  our  own  degradation,  and  to  his  infractions 
of  the  Constitution.  Meanwhile,  however,  he  has  taken  good  care 
not  only  to  enlist  the  men,  organize  the  regiments,  and  muster  them 
into  service,  but  to  provide,  in  advance,  for  a  horde  of  forlorn,  worn-out, 
and  broken-down  politicians  of  his  own  party,  by  appointing,  either 
by  himself,  or  through  the  Governors  of  the  States,  major-generals, 
brigadier-generals,  colonels,  lieutenant-colonels,  majors,  captains, 
lieutenants,  adjutants,  quarter-masters,  and  surgeons,  without  any 
limit  as  to  numbers,  and  without  so  much  as  once  saying  to  Congress, 
"By  your  leave,  gentlemen." 

Beginning  with  this  wide  breach  of  the  Constitution,  this  enormous 
usurpation  of  the  most  dangerous  of  all  powers — the  power  of  the 
sword — other  infractions  and  assumptions  were  easy ;  and  after  public 
liberty,  private  right  soon  fell.  The  privacy  of  the  telegraph  was 
invaded  in  the  search  after  treason  and  traitors ;  although  it  turns 
out,  significantly  enough,  that  the  only  victim,  so  far,  is  one  of  the 
appointees  and  especial  pets  of  the  Administration.  The  telegraphic 
dispatches,  preserved  under  every  pledge  of  secrecy  for  the  protec- 
tion and  safety  of  the  telegraph  companies,  were  seized  and  carried 
away  without  search-warrant,  without  probable  cause,  without  oath, 
and  without  description  of  the  places  to  be  searched,  or  of  the 
things  to  be  seized,  and  in  plain  violation  of  the  right  of  the  people 
to  be  secure  in  their  houses,  persons,  papers,  and  eff"ects,  against 
unreasonable  searches  and  seizures.  One  step  more,  sir,  will  bring 
upon  us  search  and  seizure  of  the  public  mails  ;  and,  finally,  as  in 
the  worst  days  of  English  oppression — as  in  the  times  of  the  Kussells 
and  the  Sydneys  of  English  martyrdom — of  the  drawers  and  secre- 
taries of  the  private  citizen ;  though  even  then  tyrants  had  the  grace 
to  look  to  the  forms  of  the  law,  and  the  execution  was  judicial  mur- 
der, not  military  slaughter.  But  who  shall  say  that  the  future  Ti- 
berius of  America  shall  have  the  modesty  of  his  Roman  predecessor, 
in  extenuation  of  whose  character  it  is  written  by  the  great  historian, 
avertit  occulos,  jussifque  scelera  non  spectavit. 

Sir,  the  rights  of  property  having  been  thus  wantonly  violated,  it 
needed  but  a  little  stretch  of  usurpation  to  invade  the  sanctity  of  the 
person  ;  and  a  victim  was  not  long  wanting.  A  private  citizen  of 
Maryland,  not  subject  to  the  rules  and  articles  of  war — not  in  a  case 
arising  in  the  land  or  naval  forces,  nor  in  the  militia,  when  in  actual 
service — is  seized  in  his  own  house,  in  the  dead  hour  of  night,  not 
by  any  civil  ofiicer,  nor  upon  any  civil  process,  but  by  a  band  of 
armed  soldiers,  under  the  verbal  orders  of  a  military  chief,  and  is 
ruthlessly  torn  from  his  wife  and  his  children,  and  hurried  off"  to  a 
fortress  of  the  United  States — and  that  fortress,  as  if  in  mockery,  the 
very  one  over  whose  ramparts  had  floated  that  star-spangled  banner 
immortalized  in  song  by  the  patriot  prisoner,  who, 

.  "By  the  dawn's  early  light," 


106  EXECUTIVE   USURPATION. 

saw  its  folds  gleaming  amid   the  wreck  of  battle,  and   invoked  the 
blessings  of  heaven  upon  it,  and  prayed  that  it  might  long  wave 

"O'er  the  land  of  the  free,  and  the  home  Df  the  brave." 

And,  sir,  when  the  highest  judicial  officer  of  the  land,  the  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  upon  whose  shoulders,  "  when  the  judi- 
cial ermine  fell,  it  touched  nothing  not  as  spotless  as  itself,"  the  aged, 
the  venerable,  the  gentle,  and  pure-minded  Taney,  who,  but  a  little 
while  before,  had  administered  to  the  President  the  oath  to  support 
the  Constitutiun,  and  to  execute  the  laws,  issued,  as  by  law  it  was 
his  sworn  duty  to  issue,  the  high  prerogative  writ  of  habeas  corpus — 
that  great  writ  of  right,  that  main  bulwark  of  personal  liberty,  com- 
manding the  body  of  the  accused  to  be  brought  before  him,  that 
justice  and  right  might  be  done  by  due  course  of  law,  and  without 
denial  or  delay,  the  gates  of  the  fortress,  its  cannon  turned  towards, 
and  in  plain  sight  of  the  city,  where  the  court  sat,  and  frowning 
from  the  ramparts,  were  closed  against  the  officer  of  the  law,  and  the 
answer  returned  that  the  officer  in  command  has,  by  the  authority  of 
the  President,  suspended  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  And  thus  it  is, 
sir,  that  the  accused  has  ever  since  been  held  a  prisoner  without  due 
process  of  law;  without  bail;  without  presentment  by  a  grand  jury; 
without  speedy,  or  public  trial  by  a  petit  jury,  of  his  own  State  or 
district,  or  any  trial  at  all ;  without  information  of  the  nature  and 
cause  of  the  accusation;  without  being  confronted  Avith  the  witnesses 
against  him  ;  without  compulsory  process  to  obtain  witnesses  in  his 
favor;  and  without  the  assistance  of  counsel  for  his  defense.  And 
this  is  our  boasted  American  liberty  ?  And  thus  it  is,  too,  sir,  that 
here,  here,  in  America,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  the  Republic, 
that  great  writ  and  security  of  personal  freedom,  which  it  cost  the 
patriots  and  freemen  of  Knglaijl  six  hundred  years  of  labor  and  toil 
and  blood  to  extort  and  to  hold  fast  from  venal  judges  and  tyrant 
kings;  written  in  the  great  charter  at  llunnymede  by  the  iron  barons, 
who  made  the  simple  Latin  and  uncouth  words  of  the  times,  nullus 
liber  homo,  in  the  language  of  Chatham,  worth  all  the  classics ; 
recovered  and  confirmed  a  hundred  times  afterward,  as  often  as 
violated  and  stolen  away,  and  finally,  and  firmly  secured  at  last  by 
the  great  act  of  Charles  II,  and  transferred  thence  to  our  own  Con- 
stitution and  laws,  has  been  wantonly  and  ruthlessly  trampled  in  the 
dust.  Ay,  sir,  that  great  writ,  bearing,  by  a  special  command  of 
Parliament,  those  other  uncouth,  but  magic  words,  per  statutum  tri- 
cessimo  prima  Caroli  secundi  regis,  which  no  English  judge,  no 
English  minister,  no  king  or  queen  of  England,  dare  disobey;  that 
writ,  brought  over  by  our  fathers,  and  cherished  by  them,  as  a  price- 
less inheritance  of  liberty,  an  American  President  has  contemptuously 
set  at  defiance.  Nay,  more,  he  has  ordered  his  subordinate  military 
chiefs  to  suspend  it  at  their  discretion  !  And,  yet,  after  all  this,  he 
coolly  comes  before  this  House  and  the  Senate  and  the  country,  and 
pleads  that  he  is  only  preserving  and  protecting  the  Constitution  ; 
and  demands  and  expects  of  this  House  and  of  the  Senate  and  the 
country   their    thanks   for    his   usurpations ;    while,    outside    of  this 


EXECUTIVE   USUEPATION.  107 

capitol,  his  myrmidons  are  clamoring  for  impeacTiment  of  the  Chief 
Justice,  as  engaged  in  a  conspiracy  to  break  down  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment. 

Sir,  however  much  necessity — the  tyrant's  plea — may  be  urged  in 
extenuation  of  the  usurpations  and  infractions  of  the  Pi-esident  in 
regard  to  public  liberty,  there  can  be  no  such  apology  or  defense 
for  his  invasions  of  private  right.  What  overruling  necessity  required 
the  violation  of  the  sanctity  of  private  property  and  private  confi- 
dence? What  great  public  danger  demanded  the  arrest  and  impris- 
onment, without  trial  by  common  law,  of  one  single  private  citizen, 
for  an  act  done  weeks  before,  openly,  and  by  authority  of  his  kState? 
If  guilty  of  treason,  was  not  the  judicial  power  ample  enough  and 
strong  enough  for  his  conviction  and  punishment?  What,  then,  was 
needed  in  his  case,  but  the  precedent  under  which  other  men,  in  other 
places,  might  become  the  victims  of  executive  suspicion  and  dis- 
pleasure ? 

As  to  the  pretense,  sir,  that  the  President  has  the  Constitutional 
right  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  I  will  not  waste  time  in 
arguing  it.  The  case  is  as  plain  as  words  can  make  it.  It  is  a  legis- 
lative power;  it  is  found  only  in  the  legislative  article;  it  belongs 
to  Congress  only  to  do  it.  Subordinate  officers  have  disobeyed  it; 
General  Wilkinson  disobeyed  it,  but  he  sent  his  prisoners  on  for 
judicial  trial ;  General  Jackson  disobeyed  it,  and  was  reprimanded 
by  James  Madison ;  but  no  President,  nobody  but  Congress,  ever 
before  assumed  the  right  to  suspend  it.  And,  sir,  that  other  pre- 
tense of  necessity,  I  repeat,  can  not  be  allowed.  It  had  no  existence 
in  fact.  The  Constitution  can  not  be  preserved  by  violating  it.  It 
is  an  offense  to  the  intelligence  of  this  House,  and  of  the  country, 
to  pretend  that  all  this,  and  the  other  gross  and  multiplied  infrac- 
tions of  the  Constitution  and  usurpations  of  power  were  done  by  the 
President  and  his  advisers  out  of  pure  love  and  devotion  to  the  Con- 
stitutioa.  But  if  so,  sir,  then  they  have  but  one  step  further  to  take, 
and  declare,  in  the  language  of  Sir  Boyle  Roche,  in  the  Irish  House 
of  Commons,  that  such  is  the  depth  of  their  attachment  to  it,  that 
they  are  prepared  to  give  up,  not  merely  a  part,  but  the  whole  of  the 
Constitution,  /o  preserve  the  remainder .  And  yet,  if  indeed  this  pre- 
text of  necessity  be  well  founded,  then  let  me  say,  that  a  cause  which 
demands  the  sacrifice  of  the  Constitution  and  of  the  dearest  securi- 
ties of  property,  liberty,  and  life,  can  not  be  just;  at  least,  it  is  not 
worth  the  sacrifice. 

Sir,  I  am  obliged  to  pass  by,  for  want  of  time,  other  grave  and 
dangerous  infractions  and  usurpations  of  the  President  since  the  4th 
of  March.  I  only  allude  casually  to  the  quartering  of  soldiers  in 
private  houses  without  the  consent  of  the  owners,  and  without  any 
manner  having  been  prescribed  by  law;  to  the  subversion  in  a  part,  at 
least,  of  Maryland  of  her  own  State  Government  and  of  the  authorities 
under  it;  to  the  censorship  over  the  telegraph,  and  the  infringement, 
repeatedly,  in  one  or  more  of  the  States,  of  the  right  of  the  people 
to  keep  and  to  bear  arms  for  their  defense.  But  if  all  these  things, 
I  ask,  have  been  done  in  the  first  two  months  after  the  commence- 


108  EXECUTIVE  USURPATION. 

ment  of  this  war,  and  by  men  not  military  chieftains,  and  unused  to 
arbitrary  power,  what  may  we  not  expect  to  see  in  three  years,  and 
by  the  successful  heroes  of  the  fight?  Sir,  the  power  and  rights  of 
the  States  and  the  people,  and  of  their  Eepresentatives,  have  been 
usurped  ;  the  sanctity  of  the  private  house  and  of  private  property 
has  been  invaded;  and  the  liberty  of  the  person  wantonly  and  wick- 
edly stricken  down;  free  speech,  too,  has  been  repeatedly  denied; 
and  all  this  under  the  plea  of  necessity.  Sir,  the  right  of  petition 
will  follow  next — nay,  it  has  already  been  shaken  ;  the  freedom  of 
the  press  will  soon  fall  after  it ;  and  let  me  whisper  in  your  ear,  that 
there  will  be  few  to  mourn  over  its  loss,  unless,  indeed,  its  ancient 
high  and  honorable  character  shall  be  rescued  and  redeemed  from  its 
present  reckless  mendacity  and  degradation.  Freedom  of  religion 
will  yield  too,  at  last,  amid  the  exultant  shouts  of  millions,  who  have 
seen  its  holy  temples  defiled,  and  its  white  robes  of  a  former  inno- 
cency  trampled  now  under  the  polluting  hoofs  of  an  ambitious  and 
faithless  or  fanatical  clergy.  Meantime  national  banks,  bankrupt 
laws,  a  vast  and  permanent  public  debt,  high  tariffs,  heavy  direct 
taxation,  enormous  expenditure,  gigantic  and  stupendous  peculation, 
anarchy  first,  and  a  strong  government  afterward — no  more  State 
lines,  no  more  State  governments,  and  a  consolidated  monarchy  or 
vast  centralized  military  despotism  must  all  follow  in  the  history  of 
the  future,  as  in  the  history  of  the  past  they  have,  centuries  ago, 
been  written.  Sir,  I  have  said  nothing,  and  have  time  to  say  noth- 
ing now,  of  the  immense  indebtedness  and  the  vast  expenditures 
which  have  already  accrued,  nor  of  the  folly  and  mismanagement  of 
the  war  so  far,  nor  of  the  atrocious  and  shameless  peculations  and 
frauds  which  have  disgraced  it  in  the  State  governments  and  the 
Federal  Government  from  the  beginning.  The  avenging  hour  for  all 
these  will  come  hereafter,  and  I  pass  them  by  now. 

I  have  finished  now,  Mr.  Chairman,  what  I  proposed  to  say  at  this 
time  upon  the  message  of  the.  President.  As  to  my  own  position 
in  regard  to  this  most  unhappy  civil  war,  I  have  only  to  say  that  I 
stand  to-day  just  where  I  stood  upon  the  4th  of  March  last;  where 
the  whole  Democratic  party,  and  the  whole  Constitutional  Union 
party,  and  a  vast  majority,  as  I  believe,  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  stood  too.  I  am  for  peace^  speedy,  immediate,  honorable 
PEACE,  with  all  its  blessings.  Others  may  have  changed  —  I  hav« 
not.  I  question  not  their  motives  nor  quarrel  with  their  course.  It 
is  vain  and  futile  for  them  to  question  or  to  quarrel  with  mine.  My 
duty  shall  be  discharged — calmly,  firmly,  quietly,  and  regardless  of 
consequences.  The  approving  voice  of  a  conscience  void  of  offense, 
and  the  approving  judgment  which  shall  follow  "after  some  time  be 
past,"  these,  God  help  me,  are  my  trust  and  my  support. 

Sir,  I  have  spoken  freely  and  fearlessly  to-day,  as  became  an 
American  Kepresentative  and  an  American  citizen ;  one  firmly 
resolved,  come  what  may,  not  to  lose  his  own  Constitutional  liber- 
ties, nor  to  surrender  his  own  Constitutional  rights  in  the  vain  efi"ort 
to  impose  these  rights  and  liberties  upon  ten  millions  of  unwilling 
people.     I  have  spoken  earnestly,  too,  but  yet  not  as  one  unmindful 


EXECUTIVE   USURPATION.  109 

of  the  solemnity  of  the  scenes  -which  surround  us  upon  every  side 
to-day.  Sir,  when  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  assembled  here 
on  the  3d  of  December,  1860,  just  seven  months  ago,  the  Senate  was 
composed  of  sixty-six  Senators,  representing  the  thirty-three  States 
of  the  Union,  and  this  House  of  two  hundred  and  thirty-seven  mem- 
bers— every  State  being  present.  It  was  a  grand  and  solemn  spec- 
tacle— the  embassadors  of  three  and  thirty  sovereignties  and  thirty- 
one  millions  of  people,  tlie  mightiest  republic  on  earth,  in  general 
Congress  assembled.  In  the  Senate,  too,  and  this  House,  were  some 
of  the  ablest  and  most  distinguished  statesmen  of  the  country ;  men 
whose  names  were  familiar  to  the  whole  country — some  of  them  des- 
tined to  pass  into  history.  The  new  wings  of  the  capitol  had  then 
but  just  recently  been  finished,  in  all  their  gorgeous  magnificence, 
and,  except  a  hundred  marines  at  the  navy-yard,  not  a  soldier  was 
within  forty  miles  of  Washington. 

Sir,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  meets  here  again  to-day; 
but  how  changed  the  scene !  Instead  of  thirty-four  States,  twenty- 
three  only,  one  less  than  the  number  forty  years  ago,  are  here,  or 
in  the  other  wing  of  the  capitol.  Forty-six  Senators  and  a  hund- 
red and  seventy-three  Representatives  constitute  the  Congress  of 
the  now  United  States.  And  of  these,  eight  Senators  and  twenty- 
four  Representatives,  from  four  States  only,  linger  here  yet  as 
deputies  from  that  great  South  which,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
Government,  contributed  so  much  to  mold  its  policy,  to  build  up  its 
greatness,  and  to  control  its  destinies.  All  the  other  States  of  that 
South  are  gone.  Twenty-two  Senators  and  sixty-five  Representatives 
DO  longer  answer  to  their  names.  The  vacant  seats  are,  indeed,  still 
here ;  and  the  escutcheons  of  their  respective  States  look  down  now 
solemnly  and  sadly  from  these  vaulted  ceilings.  But  the  Virginia 
of  Washington  and  Henry  and  Madison,  of  Marshall  and  Jefi"erson, 
of  Randolph  and  Monroe,  the  birthplace  of  Clay,  the  mother  of 
States  and  of  Presidents;  the  Garolinas  of  Pinckney  and  Sumter  and 
Marion,  of  Calhoun  and  Macon;  and  Tennessee,  the  home  and  burial- 
place  of  Jackson;  and  other  States,  too,  once  most  loyal  and  true, 
are  no  longer  here.  The  voices  and  the  footsteps  of  the  great  dead 
of  the  past  two  ages  of  the  Republic  linger  still — it  may  be  in  echo — 
along  the  stately  corridors  of  this  capitol;  but  their  descendants, 
from  nearly  one-half  of  the  States  of  the  Republic,  will  meet  with 
us  no  more  within  these  marble  halls.  But  in  the  parks  and  lawns, 
and  upon  the  broad  avenues  of  this  spacious  city,  seventy  thousand 
soldiers  have  supplied  their  places  ;  and  the  morning  drum-beat  from  a 
score  of  encampments,  within  sight  of  this  beleaguered  capitol,  give 
melancholy  warning  to  the  Representatives  of  the  States  and  of  the 
people,  that  amid  arms  laws  are  silent. 

Sir,  some  years  hence — I  would  fain  hope  some  months  hence,  if 
I  dare — the  present  generation  will  demand  to  know  the  cause  of  all 
this ;  and,  some  ages  hereafter,  the  grand  and  impartial  tribunal  of 
history  will  make  solemn  and  diligent  inquest  of  the  authors  of  this 
terrible  revolution. 


110       CHARGES   OF   DISLOYALTY   TRIUMPHANTLY  REPELLED. 

ADDENDUM. 

In  reply  to  a  question  by  Mr.  Holman,  of  Indiana,  in  regard  to 
supporting  the  Government,  Mr.  Vallandigiiam  said  he  would 
answer  in  the  words  of  the  following  resolution,  which  he  had  pre- 
pared, and  proposed  to  offer  at  a  future  time  : 

Reaolved,  That  the  Federal  Government  is  the  agent  of  the  people 
of  the  several  States  compcsing  the  Union  ;  that  it  consists  of  three 
distinct  departments — the  legislative,  the  executive,  and  the  judicial — 
each  equally  a  part  of  the  Government,  and  equally  entitled  to  the 
confidence  and  support  of  the  States  and  the  people;  and  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  every  patriot  to  sustain  the  several  departments  of  the 
Government  in  the  exercise  of  all  the  Constitutional  powers  of  each 
which  may  be  necessary  and  proper  for  the  preservation  of  the  Gov- 
ernment in  its  principles  and  in  its  vigor  and  integrity,  and  to  stand 
by  and  defend  to  the  utmost  the  flag  which  represents  the  Govern- 
ment, the  Union,  and  the  country. 


NUMBER     FIVE. 


CHARGES  OF  DISLOYALTY  TRIUMPHANTLY  REPELLED. 


It  would  not  be  easy  to  find  a  fair  and  honest  Democrat  who  has 
not  been  denounced  as  a  secessionist  by  the  Abolition  press.  These 
denunciations  have  been  more  bitter  and  malignant,  and  involved  a 
larger  use  of  destructive  epithets,  in  proportion  to  the  power,  influ- 
ence, and  consistency  of  the  men  against  whom  they  have  been 
directed.  In  Mr.  VALLANDiimAM's  case,  the  whole  vocabulary  of 
Abolition  Billingsgate  has  been  brought  into  requisition.  Of  this 
"arch-traitor,"  "Southern  sympathizer,"  "secessionist,"  the  worst 
things  that  could  be  said  by  preachers,  lecturers,  and  presses,  gave 
but  feeble  expression  to  the  intense  and  malignant  hatred  cherished 
against  him.  Those  men  who  have  been  screeching  for  the  Union, 
while  plotting  its  destruction,  have  found  Mr.  Vallandigham  always 
in  their  way.  The  piteous  bowlings  of  the  Abolition  demon  have  not 
been  without  provocation;  for,  in  whatever  direction  that  old  devil 
would  lay  his  course,  be  would  be  sure  to  find  Mr.  Vallandigham 


CHARGES    OF   DISLOYALTY   TRIUMPHANTLY   REPELLED.       Ill 

across  his  path.  And  no  one  has  oftener  dealt  the  old  monster  a 
square  blow  in  the  eye.  But  the  demon  has  a  wide  circle  of  friends, 
among  whom  his  sufferings  have  excited  the  deepest  sympathy  and 
commiseration. 

Upon  Congress  there  has  been  a  strong  outside  pressure  against 
Mr.  Vallandigham,  and,  on  the  part  of  many  members  of  that 
body,  a  great  willingness  to  yield  to  that  pressure.  There  has  even 
been  an  intense  and  watchful  anxiety  to  find  something  that  would 
serve  as  a  plausible  excuse  for  making  a  hostile  descent  upon  the 
special  object  of  Abolition  hatred.  And  yet — here  is  a  most  import- 
ant and  significant  fact — no  successful  attempt  to  impeach,  or  even 
cast  reproach  upon,  his  loyalty,  has  ever  been  made.  The  efforts  in 
that  direction,  made  seven  times  in  Congress,  have  not  even  attained 
to  the  dignity  of  decent  failures,  and  have  only  been  a  mortifying 
and  disgraceful  reproach  to  the  parties  through  whom  they  have  been 
made. 

When,  on  the  7th  of  January,  1862,  Mr.  Vallandigham  de- 
nounced, in  strong  terms,  the  surrender  of  Mason  and  Slidell,  under 
a  threat,  he  was  assailed,  personally,  as  to  his  war  record,  by  John 
HuTCHiNS,  of  Ohio,  the  successor  of  Joshua  R.  Giddings.  In 
reply,  Mr.  Vallandighaai  said: 

I  do  neither  retract  one  sentiment  that  I  have  uttered,  nor  would 
I  obliterate  a  single  vote  which  I  have  given.  I  speak  of  the  record 
as  it  will  appear  hereafter,  and,  indeed,  stnnds  now  upon  the  Journals 
of  this  House  and  in  the  Congressional  Globe.  And  there  is  no 
other  record,  thank  God,  and  no  act  or  word  or  thought  of  mine, 
and  never  has  been  from  the  beginning,  in  public  or  in  private,  of 
which  any  patriot  ought  to  be  ashamed.  Sir,  it  is  the  record  as  I 
made  it,  and  as  it  exists  here  to-da}' — and  not  as  a  mendacious  and 
shameless  press  have  attempted  to  make  it  up  for  me.  Let  us  see 
who  will  grow  tired  of  his  record  first.  Consistency,  firmness,  and 
sanity,  in  the  midst  of  general  madness — these  made  up  my  offense. 
But  "  Time,  the  avenger,"  sets  all  things  even :  and  I  abide  his 
leisure. 

To-day  the  magnitude  and  true  character  of  the  war  stand  con- 
fessed, and  its  real  purposes  begin  to  be  revealed ;  and  I  am  justified, 
or  soon  will  be  justified,  by  thousands,  who,  a  little  while  ago,  con- 
demned me.  But  I  appealed,  in  the  beginning,  as  I  appeal  now, 
alike  to  the  near  and  the  distant  future  ;  and  by  the  judgment  of 
that  impartial  tribunal,  even  in  the  present  generation,  I  will  abide; 
or,  if  my  name  and  memory  shall  fade  away  out  of  the  record  of 
these  times,  then  will  these  calumnies  perish  with  them. 

But,  of  those  attacks,  the  most  important  and  serious  was  that 
made  in  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  19th  of  February, 


112        CHARGES    OF    DISLOYALTY    TRIUMPHANTLY    REPELLED. 

18C2,  by  Mr.  Hickman,  of  Pennsylvania,  who  oflfered  a  resolution 
"Instructing  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary  to  inquire  into  the 
truth  of  certain  charges  of  disloyalty  made  in  the  local  columns  of 
a  Baltimore  newspaper  against  C.  L.  Yallandigiiam,  of  Ohio." 

The  debate  that  ensued  was  racy  and  rare ;  contains  some  capital 
strokes.  We  give  the  full  report,  that  all  may  see  the  extent  and 
magnitude  of  the  charges  of  disloyalty,  as  presented  by  one  of  the 
shrewdest  and  most  cunning  of  the  Abolition  members. 

The  resolution  above  referred  to  having  been  oflfered,  Mr.  Val- 
LANDIGUAM  Said: 

Mr.  Speaker  :  I  was  just  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  House  to  that  statement  myself,  having  received  it 
from  some  unknown  source  a  moment  ago.  I  do  not  know,  of 
course,  what  the  motive  just  now  of  the  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania 
may  be,  nor  do  I  care.  My  purpose  then  was  just  what  it  is  now, 
to  give  a  plain,  direct,  emphatic  contradiction — a  flat  denial  to  the 
infamous  statement  and  insinuation  contained  in  the  newspaper 
paragraph  just  read.  I  never  wrote  a  letter  or  a  line  upon  political 
subjects,  least  of  all,  on  the  question  of  secession,  to  the  Baltimore 
South,  or  to  any  other  paper,  or  to  any  man  south  of  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line,  since  this  revolt  began — never ;  and  I  defy  the  produc- 
tion of  it.  It  is  false,  infamous,  scandalous ;  and,  it  is  beyond 
endurance,  too,  that  a  man's  reputation  shall  be  at  the  mercy  of 
every  scavenger  employed  to  visit  the  haunts  of  vice  in  a  great  city, 
a  mere  local  editor  of  an  irresponsible  newspaper,  who  may  choose 
to  parade  before  the  country  false  and  malicious  libels  like  this.  I 
avail  myself  of  this  opportunity,  to  say  that  I  enter  into  no  defense, 
and  shall  enter  into  none,  until  some  letter  shall  be  produced  here 
which  I  have  written,  or  authorized  to  be  written,  referring  to  "  bleed- 
ing Dixie,"  or  making  any  suggestion  "how  the  Yankees  might  be 
defeated."  If  any  such  are  in  existence,  I  pronounce  them,  here  and 
now,  utter  and  impudent  forgeries.  I  have  said  that  I  enter  upon 
no  defense.  I  deny  that  it  is  the  duty  or  the  right  of  any  member 
to  rise  here  and  call  for  investigation  founded  upon  statements  like 
this;  and  I  only  regret  that  1  did  not  have  the  opportunity  to 
denourtce  this  report  before  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Judiciary  rose,  and.  in  this  formal  manner,  called  the  attention  of  the 
House  to  it — himself  the  accuser  and  the  judge.  Sir,  I  have  been 
for  five  years  a  member  of  this  House,  and  I  never  rose  to  a  per- 
sonal explanation  but  once,  and  that  to  correct  a  report  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  House.  I  have  always  considered  such  mere  per- 
sonal explanations  and  controversies  with  the  press  as  unbecoming 
the  dignity  of  the  House. 

Nevertheless,  I  did  intend  to  make  this  the  first  exception  in  my 
congressional  career,  and  to  say — and  I  wish  my  words  reported,  not 
only  at  the  desk  here  officially,  but  in  the  gallery — that  1  denounce, 
in  advance,  this  foul  and  infamous  statement,  that  I  have  been  in 


CHARGES    OF   DISLOYALTY  TRIUMPHANTLY   REPELLED.       113 

treasonable,  or  even  suspicious  correspondence  ■with  any  one  in  that 
State — loyal  though  it  is  to  the  Union — or  in  any  other  State,  or 
have  ever  uttered  one  sentiment  inconsistent  with  my  duty,  not  only 
as  a  member  of  this  House,  but  as  a  citizen  of  the  United  States — 
one  who  has  taken  a  solemn  oath  to  support  the  Constitution,  and 
who,  thank  God,  has  never  tainted  that  oath  in  thought,  or  word,  or 
deed.  I  have  had  the  right,  and  have  exercised  it,  and  as  God  liveth 
and  my  soul  liveth,  and  as  He  is  my  jvidge,  I  will  exercise  it  still 
in  this  House,  and  out  of  it,  of  vindicating  the  rights  of  the  Ameri- 
can citizen;  and  beyond  that  I  have  never  gone.  My  sentiments 
will  be  found  in  the  records  of  the  House,  except  as  I  have  made 
them  public  otherwise,  and  they  will  be  found  nowhere  else.  There, 
sir,  is  their  sole  repository.  And  foreseeing,  more  than  a  year  ago, 
but  especially  in  the  early  part  of  December,  1860,  the  magnitude 
and  true  character  of  the  revolution  or  rebellion  into  which  this 
country  was  about  to  be  plunged,  I  then  resolved  not  to  write, 
although  your  own  mails  still  carried  the  letters,  nor  have  I  written, 
one  solitary  syllable  or  line — as  to  the  gulf  States  months  even 
before  secession  began — to  any  one  residing  in  a  seceded  State. 
And  yet,  the  gentleman  avails  himself  now  of  this  paragi'aph,  to  give 
dignity  and  importance  to  charges  of  the  falsest  and  most  infamous 
character.  Had  the  letter  been  produced ;  had  the  charge  come  in 
any  tangible  or  authentic  shape ;  had  any  editor  of  any  respectable 
newspaper,  even,  indorsed  the  accusation,  and  made  it  specific,  there 
might  have  been  some  apology;  but  the  gentleman  knows  well  that 
this  base  insinuation  was  placed  in  the  local  columns  of  a  vile  news- 
paper, put  there  by  some  person  who  had  never  seen  any  such  letter. 
Sir,  I  meet  this  first  specific  charge  of  disloyalty,  made  responsibly 
here — I  meet  it  at  the  very  threshold,  as  becomes  a  man  and  a 
Representative — by  an  emphatic  but  contemptuous  denial.  This  is 
•  due  to  the  House;  it  is  due  to  myself. 

Mr.  Richardson.  I  hope  the  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  will 
allow  me  to  make  a  single  remark. 

Mr.  Hickman.     Certainly. 

Mr.  Richardson.  Mr.  Speaker:  I  want  to  hear  nothing  about 
disloyalty  on  this  side  of  the  House  while  there  is  a  class  of  mem- 
bers here  upon  the  other  side  of  the  House  who  have  declared  that 
they  will  vote  for  no  proposition  to  carry  on  the  war,  unless  it  is 
prosecuted  in  a  particular  line,  and  for  the  abolition  of  slavery. 
They  would  subvert  the  Constitution  and  the  Government,  and  I 
denounce  them  as  traitors,  and  they  ought  to  be  brought  to  trial, 
condemnation,  and  execution. 

Mr.  Hickman.  Mr.  Speaker:  The  motives  which  actuated  me  in 
introducing  the  resolution  in  question  ought  not  to  be  doubted. 
The  severe  charge  contained  in  the  article  in  question  is  made 
against  the  gentleman  from  Ohio,  a  member  of  this  House.  Even 
a  suspicion,  a  mere  suspicion,  would  justify  such  an  investigation  as 
this  resolution  contemplates.  But  the  gentleman  from  Ohio,  as  well 
as  other  members  upon  this  floor,  knows  that  the  suspicions  which 
have  existed  against  him — I  do  not  say  whether  justly  or  unjustly-^ 
8 


114       CHARGES   OF   DISLOYALTY   TRIUMPHANTLY   REPELLED. 

have  been  numerous,  and  in  circulaiiou  for  a  long  time  past.  It  is 
the  duty  of  this  House  to  purge  itself  of  unworthy  members.  I  do 
not  assert  whether  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  occupies,  properly  or  im- 
properly, his  seat  upon  this  floor.  By  offering  this  resolution  I  do  not 
prejudge  him.  If  he  were  the  most  intimate  friend  I  had  on  earth, 
accused  as  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  is  in  the  paragraph  in  question,  I 
should  deem  it  my  solemn  duty  to  urge  the  investigation  which  is 
here  suggested.  But,  sir,  this  charge  does  not  come  in  a  very  ques- 
tionable shape.  It  appears  as  an  original  article  in  the  Baltimore 
Clipper,  and  is,  therefore,  presumed  to  be  editorial,  or  at  least  under 
the  supervision  of  the  editor.  It,  to  all  appearances,  emanates  from  a 
responsible  source. 

But,  sir,  I  suggest  further,  that  the  suppression  of  the  newspaper 
in  question,  the  Baltimore  South,  and  the  seizure  of  its  office  of  pub- 
lication, was  made  under  the  direct  authority  of  the  Government,  and 
it  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  effects  of  the  office  are,  at  this  time,  in 
the  custody  of  the  Government,  or  of  the  agents  of  the  Government, 
and,  therefore,  the  information  communicated  in  this  paper  must  have 
come  through  the  Government,  or  tiie  agents  of  the  Government.  It 
is  responsible  in  its  origin,  as  far  as  we  can  judge.  Now,  sir,  I  refer 
the  gentleman  from  Ohio,  as  my  answer  to  the  suggestion  that  I  was 
not  justified  in  offering  this  resolution  under  the  circumstances,  to 
page  69  of  the  last  edition  of  the  Manual.  The  first  paragraph 
of  section  thirteen,  headed  "Examination  of  ^Vitucsses,"  reads  as 
follows : 

"Common  fame  is  a  good  ground  for  the  House  to  proceed  to  inquiry,  and 
even  to  accusation." 

This,  sir,  is  more  than  common  fame.  I  repeat,  that  it  is,  so  far  as 
it  appears,  a  direct  charge  by  the  editor  of  a  responsible  newspaper. 
The  inf(Ti-mation  comes,  we  must  believe,  through  the  Government,  or 
the  agents  of  the  Government,  and  it  is,  therefore,  more  than  common 
fame.     It  is  good  ground,  at  least,  for  instituting  an  inquiry. 

Mr.  Vallandiouam.  I  desire  to  ask  the  gentleman  from  Penn- 
sylvania whether  he  does  not  know  that  this  is  a  mere  local  item,  and 
that  the  author  of  it  does  not  even  pretend  to  have  seen  the  letters. 

Mr.  Hickman.  I  do  not  understand  what  the  gentleman  means 
by  saying  that  the  author  of  the  paragraph  has  not  seen  them. 

Mr.  VALL.A.NDiGnAM.  I  Say  he  does  not  profess  to  have  seen 
them,  and  I  knoio  that  he  never  did,  for  they  never  were  written,  do 
not  now  exist,  and  never  did  exist. 

Mr.  Hickman.     "Who  never  saw  them? 

Mr.  Vallandigiiam.  The  author  of  that  paragraph  in  the  local 
columns  of  this  newspaper. 

Mr.  Hickman.     He  never  saw  the  letters! 

Mr.  Vallandiqham.  He  does  not  profess  even  to  have  seen 
them. 

Mr.  Hickman.  Whether  it  is  a  local  item  or  not,  it  is  an  original 
article  in  a  responsible  newspaper,  and  is,  therefore,  presumed  to  have 
been  inserted  under  the  direct  supervision  of  the  editor,  if  not  written 
by  him. 


CHARGES   OF  DISLOYALTY   TRIUMPHANTLY   REPELLED.        115 

Mr.  Vallandigham.  The  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  has 
alluded  to  suspicions  existing  heretofore.  Now,  I  desire  to  know  of 
him,  whether  he  ef^er  heard  of  any  specific  item  on  which  any  such 
suspicions  ever  rested — any  thing  other  than  words  spoken  in  this 
House  or  made  public  over  my  own  name  ? 

Mr.  Hickman.     Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Vallandigham.     Well,  let  us  have  it. 

Mr.  Hickman.     I  have  heard  a  thousand. 

Mr.  Vallandigham.     Name  a  single  one. 

Mr.  Hickman.  I  do  not  desire  to  do  any  injustice  to  the  gentle- 
man from  Ohio. 

Mr.  Vallandigham,  I  have  asked  the  gentleman,  and  I  demand  a 
direct  answer  to  my  question,  whether  he  can  specify  one  single  item? 

Mr.  Hickman.     I  will  reply  to  it  directly. 

Mr.  Vallandigham.  Or  does  the  gentleman  mean  merely  the 
newspapers  slanders  that  have  been  published  against  me,  and  which 
I  have  denounced  as  false,  over  and  over  again,  in  cards,  and  on  the 
floor  of  this  House  ? 

Mr.  Hickman.  I  know  nothing  about  that,  sir.  I  know  that 
suspicions  may  well  exist,  and  I  know  they  do  exist,  where  denials 
accompany  them. 

Mr.  Vallandigham.  Yes  ;  I  know  that  fact  in  the  gentleman's 
own  case. 

Mr.  Hickman.  I  have  no  controversy  with  the  gentleman  from 
Ohio,  nor  am  I  here  to  defend  myself  in  the  course  which  I  have 
taken.  Let  him  defend  himself,  and  allow  me  to  take  care  of  myself, 
as  I  expect  to  be  able  to  do. 

Mr.  Richardson.  Will  the  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  allow 
me 

Mr.  Hickman.  I  will  not  suffer  any  interruption  except  by  the 
gentleman  from  Ohio.  He  has  a  right  to  interrupt  me,  and  I  am 
glad  he  does  so,  because  I  do  not  want  to  put  the  gentleman  from 
Ohio  in  any  false  position  any  more  than  I  would  desire  to  be  my- 
self placed  in  one ;  and  I  will  not  do  it.  I  do  say,  most  distinctly, 
that  suspicions  have  existed  against  the  loyalty  of  the  gentleman 
from  Ohio ;  and  I  would  not  have  referred  to  them  at  all  if  I  had 
not  been  satisfied  that  he  himself  knew  of  the  existence  of  those 
suspicions  as  well  as  I  did.  Indeed,  the  remarks  which  preceded  my 
rising  on  this  floor  indicated  the  fact,  more  clearly  than  I  myself 
could  indicate  it  by  any  thing  that  I  could  say,  that  he  was  in  pos- 
session of  a  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  those  suspicions,  for  he 
got  up  to  repel  them,  not  merely  such  as  are  contained  in  this  article 
in  question,  but  in  general  terms — general  suspicions  and  imputations 
against  his  character.  That  was  deemed  right  by  him,  sir.  I  have 
nothing  to  say  against  it. 

Now,  the  gentleman  asks  for  specifications.  I  am  called  upon  by 
him  to  refresh  my  memory,  and  to  give  an  instance.  I  will  give 
him  one  or  two.  I  may  not  be  able  to  give  more  at  this  time.  Per- 
haps, if  he  were  to  give  me  time,  I  would  be  able  to  refer  him  to 
many  more  instances. 


116        CHARGES   OF   DISLOYALTY   TRIUMPnANTLY   REPELLED. 
Mr.  Vallanpigham.     Mr.  Speaker- 


Mr.  Hickman.  The  gentleman  must  allow  me  to  answer  his  ques- 
tion, and  then  he  may  interrupt  me.  I  must  reply  to  one  inquiry  ai 
a  time.  I  am  now  on  the  witness-stand — brought  to  it  by  the  gentle- 
man I'rom  Ohio.  I  am  on  cross-examination,  and  he  must  allow  me 
to  answer  one  question  before  he  propounds  to  me  another.  Now, 
sir,  I  refer  to  the  fact  of  the  Brcckenridgc  meeting  in  the  city  of 
Baltimore,  where  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  attended,  and  which  gave 
rise  to  very  many  suspicions,  allow  me  to  say  ;  at  least  I  have  heard 
a  great  many  expressed.  Allow  me  again  to  refer  to  the  fact  of  his 
attending  a  certain  dinner  in  Kentucky,  which  was  given,  I  believe, 
in  his  honor,  or  which  was,  at  least,  published  as  such  in  the  papers. 

Mr.  VALLANDiQHAiNr.     Allow  me,  right  there 

Mr.  Hickman.     Allow  me  first 

Mr.  Vallandiguam.  That  is  a  specific  charge,  vrhlcli  I  wish  to 
answer. 

Mr.  Hickman.     Not  this  moment. 

Mr.  Vallandigham.     I  appeal  to  the  gentleman's  honor. 

Mr.  Hickman.  I  will  treat  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  fairly.  He 
must  receive  all  my  answer  befoi-e  he  asks  me  another  question, 

Mr.  Vallandigham.  Let  him  oblige  me  by  replying  to  me  spe- 
cifically. 

Mr.  Hickman.  I  am  not  done  with  my  answer,  and  I  refuse  to 
yield  the  floor  until  I  finish  my  answer.  1  am  entitled  to  be  treated 
here  properly,  as  well  as  the  gentleman  from  Ohio.  I  will  extend 
to  him  all  the  courtesy  that  can  possibly  be  demanded  by  any  gentle- 
man. That  is  my  habit,  I  trust.  There  are  many  other  items.  There 
was  the  speech  which  the  gentleman  made  at  the  July  session  in  this 
House — a  speech  which  was  understood  to  be  one  of  general  accusa- 
tion and  crimination  against  the  Government  and  against  the  party 
having  the  conduct  of  this  war.  It  gave  rise  to  a  great  many  sus- 
picions; and  the  gentleman  from  Ohio,  with  his  intelligence,  ought 
not  to  be  ignorant  of  all  these  facts.  Well,  sir,  will  not  conversation 
naturally  arise  in  consequence  of  these  facts?  And  I  appeal  to  every 
member  of  this' House  whether  they  have  not  heard  suspicion  upon 
suspicion  against  the  loyalty  of  the  gentleman  from  Ohio.  Is  it  not 
a  common  rumor,  sir,  that  he  is  suspected  ?  I  allege  that  it  is  a 
common  rumor  in  the  northern  States,  and  among  the  loyal  people 
of  the  loyal  States,  that  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  is,  at  least,  open 
to  grave  suspicion,  if  not  to  direct  imputation.  That  is  my  answer. 
Now  I  will  hear  the  gentleman. 

Mr.  Vallandigham.  In  reply  to  the  specification,  and  the  only 
one,  which  the  gentleman  has  been  able  to  point  out,  relating  to  a 
public  dinner  in  Kentucky,  allow  me  to  tell  him  that  my  foot  hae 
not  pressed  the  soil  of  Kentucky  since  the  10th  day  of  July,  1852, 
when,  as  a  member  of  a  committee  appointed  by  the  common  council 
of  the  city  where  I  reside,  I  followed  the  remains  of  that  great  and 
noble  man,  true  patriot  and  Union  man,  Henry  Clay,  to  their  last 
resting-place.  I  have  partaken  of  no  dinners  there,  or  elsewhere,  of 
%  political  character,  uor  did  I  ever  attend  any  Breckenridge  meet- 


CHARGES    OF   DISLOYALTY   TRIUMPHANTLY  REPELLED.        117 

ing  at  Baltimore,  or  elsewhere,  at  any  time.  This  is  my  answer  to 
that,  the  only  specification.  And  yet,  the  gentleman  dares  attempt 
to  support  that  falsehood,  which  I  here  denounce  as  such,  by  alluding 
to  suspicions  which  have  been  created  and  set  afloat  throughout  the 
whole  country,  not  merely  against  me,  but  against  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  others,  in  whose  veins  runs  blood  as  patriotic  and  loyal 
as  ever  flowed  since  the  world  began.  I  tell  the  gentleman  that,  in 
years  past,  I  have  heard  his  loyalty  to  the  Union  questioned.  I  have 
known  of  things  which  would  have  justified  me — had  I  relied  on 
authority  similar  to  that  to  which  he  has  attempted  to  give  dignity 
— in  introducing  similar  resolutions  to  make  inquiry  into  his  purpose 
to  disrupt  this  Union  by  the  doctrines  which  he  has  held,  and  the 
opinions  which  he  has  expressed.  And  yet,  opinions  and  sentiments, 
uttered  here,  are  "  the  head  and  the  front  of  my  ofiending."  It  has 
"  this  extent,  no  more." 

And,  sir,  I  replied,  some  time  ago,  to  two  others,  which,  I  doubt 
not,  the  gentleman  would  have  dragged  now  out  of  the  mire  and  slough 
into  which  they  have  fallen,  but  that  they  were  answered,  when  thrust 
into  debate  by  the  gentleman  before  me  (Mr.  Hutchins).  I  refer  to 
the  charge  that  I  had  once  uttered  the  absurd  declaration  that  the 
soldiery  of  the  North  and  West  should  pass  over  my  dead  body 
before  they  should  invade  the  southern  States.  I  denied  it  then,  and 
will  not  repeat  the  denial  now. 

Nor  need  I  refer  again  to  that  other  charge,  that  I  had  uttered,  in 
debate,  here  or  elsewhere,  the  sentiment  that  I  preferred  peace  to  the 
Union  ;  I  have  heretofore  met  that  charge  with  a  prompt  and  em- 
phatic contradiction,  and  no  evidence  has  been  found  to  sustain  it. 
Keferring  to  that  and  other  charges  and  insinuations,  on  the  7th  of 
January  last,  I  said  to  my  colleague  : 

"  As  to  my  record  here  at  the  extra  session,  or  during  the  present  session, 
it  remains,  and  will  remain." 

And  just  here,  sir,  in  reference  to  the  speech  to  which  the  gentle- 
man alluded,  delivered  on  this  floor,  in  the  exercise  of  my  constitu- 
tional right  as  a  member  of  this  House,  on  the  10th  of  July  last,  I 
defy  him — I  hurl  the  defiance  into  his  teeth — to  point  to  one  single 
disloyal  sentiment  or  sentence  in  it.  I  proceeded  to  say,  further,  oa 
the  7th  of  last  month  : 

"I  do  neither  retract  one  sentiment  that  I  have  uttered,  nor  would  1 
obliterate  a  single  vote  which  I  have  given.  I  speak  of  the  record,  as  it  will 
appear  hereafter,  and,  indeed,  stands  now  upon  the  Journals  of  this  House  and 
in  the  Congressional  Globe.  And  there  is  no  other  record,  thank  God,  and 
no  act  or  word  or  thought  of  mine,  and  never  has  been  from  the  beginning, 
in  public  or  in  private,  of  which  any  patriot  ought  to  be  ashamed.  Sir,  it  is 
the  record,  as  I  made  it,  and  as  it  exists  here  to-day;  and  not  as  a  mendacious 
and  shameless  press  have  attempted  to  make  it  up  for  me.  Let  us  see  who 
will  grow  tired  of  his  record  first.  Consistency,  firmness,  and  sanity,  in  the 
midst  of  general  madness  —  these  made  up  my  offense.  But  'Time,  the 
avenger,'  sets  all  things  even  ;  and  I  abide  his  leisure." 

And  am  I  now  to  be  told,  that  because  of  a  speech  made  upon 
this  floor,  under  the  protection  of  the  Constitution,  in  the  exercise 


118        CHARGES   OF   DISLOYALTY  TRIUMPHANTLY  REPELLED. 

and  discharge  of  my  solemn  right  and  duty,  under  the  oath  wliich  I 
have  taken,  that  I  am  to-day  to  he  arraigned  here,  and  the  accusation 
supported  by  the  addition  of  mere  vague  rumors  and  suspicions,  which 
have  been  bruited  over  and  over  again,  as  I  have  said,  against  not 
myself  only,  but  against  hundreds  and  thousands,  also,  of  other  most 
patriotic  and  loyal  men  ? 

The  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  makes  the  charge  that  I  attended 
a  certain  dinner  in  the  State  of  Kentucky.  Sir,  I  was  invited  to  that 
State,  and  have  been  frequently,  by  as  true  and  loyal  men  as  there 
are  in  that  State  to-day.  I  accepted  no  invitation,  and  never  went 
at  all.  I  have  already  named  the  last  and  only  time  when  I  stood 
upon  the  soil  of  Kentucky.  But  I  know  of  nothing  now — whatever 
there  may  have  been  in  the  past — certainly  nothing  to-day  about 
Kentucky  that  should  prevent  a  loyal  and  patriotic  man  from  visiting 
a  State  which  has  given  birth  or  residence  to  so  many  patriots,  to  so 
many  statesn)an,  and  to  orators  of  such  renown. 

Yet  that  is  all,  the  grand  aggregate  of  the  charges,  except  this  mis- 
erable falsehood  which  some  wretched  scavenger,  prowling  about  the 
streets  and  alleys  and  gutters  of  the  city  of  Baltimore,  has  seen  fit  to  put 
forth  in  the  local  columns  of  a  contemptible  newspaper ;  so  that  the 
member  from  Pennsylvania  may  rise  in  his  place  and  prefer  charges 
against  the  loyalty  and  patriotism  of  a  man  who  has  never  faltered 
in  his  devotion  to  the  flag  of  his  country — to  that  flag  which  hangs 
now  upon  the  wall  over  against  him ;  one  who  has  bowed  down  and 
worshiped  this  holy  emblem  of  the  Constitution  and  of  the  old  Union 
of  these  States,  in  his  heart's  core,  ay,  in  his  very  heart  of  hearts, 
from  the  time  he  first  knew  aught  to  this  hour ;  and  who  now  would 
give  life,  and  all  that  he  is  or  hopes  to  be  in  the  present  or  the  future, 
to  see  that  glorious  banner  of  the  Union — known  and  honored  once 
over  the  whole  earth  and  the  whole  sea — with  no  stripe  erased,  and 
not  one  star  blotted  out,  floating  forever  over  the  free,  united,  har- 
monious old  Union  of  every  State  once  a  part  of  it,  and  a  hundred 
more  yet  unborn.  I  am  that  man  ;  and  yet  he  dares  to  demand 
that  I  shall  be  brought  up  before  the  secret  tribunal  of  the  Judiciary 
Committee — that  committee  of  which  he  is  chairman,  and  thus  both 
judge  and  accuser — to  answer  to  the  charge  of  disloyalty  to  the 
Union  ! 

Sir,  I  hurl  back  the  insinuation.  Bring  forward  the  specific 
charge;  wait  till  you  have  found  something  —  and  you  will  wait 
long  —  something  which  I  have  written,  or  something  I  have  said, 
that  would  indicate  any  thing  in  my  bosom  which  he  who  loves  his 
country  ought  not  to  read  or  hear.  In  every  sentiment  that  I  have 
expressed,  in  every  vote  that  I  have  given,  in  my  whole  public  life, 
outside  this  House,  before  I  was  a  member  of  it,  and  since  it  has 
been  my  fortune  to  sit  here,  I  have  had  but  one  motive,  and  that 
was  the  real,  substantial,  permanent  good  of  my  country.  I  have 
diflFored  with  the  majority  of  the  House,  difi'ered  with  the  party  in 
power,  difi'ered  with  the  Administration,  as,  thank  God,  I  do  and 
have  the  right  to  differ,  as  to  the  best  means  of  preserving  the 
Union,  and   of  maintaining  the  Constitution  and  securinsr  the  true 


CHARGES   OF   DISLOYALTY   TRIUMPHANTLY   REPELLED.       119 

interests  of  my  country;  and  that  is  my  offense,  that  the  crime,  and 
the  only  crime,  of  which  I  have  been  cuilty. 

Mr.  Si^eaker,  if,  in  the  Thirty-fifth  Congress,  I  or  some  other 
member  had  seen  fit  to  seize  upon  the  denunciations,  long-continued, 
bitter,  and  persistent  against  that  member,  (Mr.  Hickman) — for  he, 
too,  has  suffered,  and  he  ought  to  have  had  the  manhood  to  remember, 
in  this,  the  hour  of  sore  persecution,  that  he  himself  has  been  the  victim 
of  slanders  and  detraction,  peradventure — for,  sir,  I  would  do  him 
the  justice  which  he  denies  to  me — what,  I  say,  if  I  had  risen  and 
made  a  vile  paragraph  in  some  paper  published  in  his  own  town,  or 
elsewhere,  the  subject  of  inquiry  and  investigation,  and  had  attempted 
to  cast  yet  f\irther  suspicion  upon  him,  by  reference  to  language 
uttered  here  in  debate,  which  he  had  the  right  to  utter,  or  by  charges 
vague  and  false,  and  without  the  shadow  of  a  foundation  except  the 
malignant  breath  of  partisan  suspicion  and  slander,  what  would  have 
been  his  record,  in  the  volumes  of  your  reports,  and  the  Congressional 
Grlobe,  going  down  to  his  children  after  him?  But,  sir,  it  is  not  in 
the  power  of  the  gentleiuan  to  tarnish  the  honor  of  my  name,  or  to 
blast  the  fair  fame  and  character  for  loyalty  which  I  have  earned — • 
dearly  earned,  with  labor  and  patience  and  faith,  from  the  beginning 
of  my  public  career.  From  my  boyhood,  at  all  times  and  in  every 
place,  I  have  never  looked  to  any  thing  but  the  permanent,  solid,  and 
real  interests  of  my  country. 

Beyond  this,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  deem  it  unnecessary  to  extend  what 
I  have  to  say.  I  would  have  said  not  a  word,  but  that  I  know  this 
Committee  will  find  nothing,  and  that  they  will  be  obliged,  therefore, 
to  report — a  majority  of  them  cheerfully,  I  doubt  not — that  nothing 
exists  to  justify  any  charge  or  suspicion  such  as  the  member  from 
Pennsylvania  has  suggested  here  to-day.  I  avail  myself  of  the 
occasion  thus  forced  on  me,  to  repel  this  foul  and  slanderous  assault 
upon  my  loyalty,  promptly,  earnestly,  indignantly,  yea,  scornfully, 
and  upon  the  very  threshold.  Sir,  I  do  not  choose  to  delay  week 
after  week,  until  your  partisan  press  shall  have  sounded  the  alarm ; 
and  till  an  organization  shall  have  been  effected  for  the  purpose  of 
dragooning  two-thirds  of  this  House  into  an  outrage  upon  the  rights 
of  one  of  the  Representatives  of  the  people,  which  is  without  example 
except  in  the  worst  of  times.  I  meet  it  and  hurl  it  back  defiantly 
here  and  now. 

Why,  sir,  suppose  that  the  course  which  the  member  from  Penn- 
sylvania now  proposes,  had  been  pursued  in  many  cases  which  I 
could  name  in  years  past ;  suppose  that  his  had  been  the  standard  of 
accusation,  and  irresponsible  newspaper  paragraphs  had  been  regarded 
as  evidence  of  disloyalty  or  want  of  attachment  to  the  Constitution 
and  the  Union;  nay,  more,  if  a  yet  severer  test  had  been  applied, 
what  would  have  been  the  fate  of  some  members  of  this  House,  or 
of  certain  Senators  at  the  other  end  of  the  capitol,  some  years  ago? 
What  punishment  might  not  have  been  meted  out  to  the  predecessor 
(Mr.  Giddings)  of  my  colleague  on  the  other  side  of  the  House? 
How  long  would  he  have  occupied  a  seat  here?  Where  would  the 
Senator  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Sumner)  have  been?     Where  the 


120        CHARQES   OF   DISLOYALTY   TRIUMPHANTLY   REPELLED. 

other  Senator  from  Massachusetts  (3Ir.  Wilson)?  Where  the  Sen- 
ator from  New  Hampshire  (Mr.  Hale)?  Where  the  three  Sen- 
ators—  Mr.  Seward,  Mr.  Chase,  and  Mr.  Hale,  two  of  them  now 
in  the  Cabinet,  and  the  other  in  the  Senate  still — who,  in  1850, 
twelve  years  ago,  on  the  11th  of  February,  voted  to  receive,  refer, 
print,  and  consider  a  petition  praying  for  the  dissolution  of  the 
Union  of  these  States?  Yet  I  am  to  be  singled  out  now  by  these 
very  men,  or  their  minions,  for  attack ;  and  they  who  have  waited 
and  watched  and  prayed,  by  day  and  by  night,  with  the  vigilance 
of  the  hawk  and  the  ferocity  of  the  hyena,  from  the  beginning  of 
this  great  revolt,  that  they  might  catch  some  unguarded  remark, 
some  idle  word  spoken,  something  written  carelessly  or  rashly,  some 
secret  thought  graven  yet  upon  the  lineaments  of  my  face,  which 
they  might  torture  into  evidence  of  disloyalty,  seize  now  upon  the 
foul  and  infectious  gleanings  of  an  anonymous  wretch  who  earns  a 
precarious  subsistence  by  feeding  the  local  columns  of  a  pestilent 
newspaper,  and,  while  it  is  yet  wet  from  the  press,  hurry  it,  reeking 
with  ialsehood,  into  this  House,  and  seek  to  dignify  it  with  an 
importance  demanding  the  consideration  of  the  House  and  of  the 
country. 

Sir,  let  the  member  from  Pennsylvania  go  on.  I  challenge  the 
inquiry,  unworthy  of  notice  as  the  charge  is,  but  I  scorn  the  spirit 
which  has  provoked  it.     Let  it  go  on. 

Mr.  Hickman  then  replied  briefly ;  and,  in  the  course  of  his 
remarks,  said:  As  the  gentleman  has  called  upon  me,  I  will  answer 
further.  Does  he  not  know  of  a  camp  in  Kentucky  having  been  called 
by  his  name — that  disloyal  men  there  called  their  camp  Camp  Vallan- 
digham?  That  would  not  indicate  that  in  Kentucky  they  regarded 
him  as  a  man  loyal  to  the  Federal  Union. 

Mr.  Vallandigham.  Is  there  not  a  town  —  and  it  may  be  a 
camp,  too — in  Kentucky  by  the  name  of  Hickman  ?     (Laughter.) 

Mr.  Hickman.  Thank  God !  disloyal  men  have  never  called  one 
of  their  camps  by  my  name.  There  are  a  great  many  Hickmans  in 
Kentucky,  but  I  have  not  the  pleasure  of  their  acquaintance.  I 
have  heard  of  but  one  Vallandigliam. 

Mr.  Vallandiuiiam.  And  there  are  a  great  many  Yallandighama 
there,  too. 

Mr.  Hickman,  after  a  few  words  further,  w'ithdrew  his  resolutions; 
and  there  the  matter  ended. 

A  few  other  less  formidable  attempts  have  been  made  to  extinguish 
Mr.  Vallandigham.  On  the  21st  of  April,  1862,  Benjamin  F. 
Wade,  of  Ohio — whom  John  A.  Gurley  declared  to  be  "  a  good 
combination  of  Old  Hickory  and  Zacii  Taylor" — attacked  Mr. 
Vallandigham  in  the  Senate,  in  the  following  language: 

I  accuse  them  (the  Democratic  party)  of  deliberate  purpose  to 
assail,  through  the  judicial  tribunals  and  through  the  Senate  and 
House   of   Kepresentatives   of  the    United   States,  and   everywhere 


CHAKGES   OF   DISLOYALTY   TRIUMPHANTLY   REPELLED.       121 

else,  and  to  overawe,  intimidate,  and  trample  under  foot,  if  they  can, 
the  men  who  boldly  stand  forth  in  defense  of  their  country,  now 
imperiled  by  this  gigantic  rebellion.  I  have  watched  it  long.  I 
have  seen  it  in  secret.  I  have  seen  its  movements  ever  since  that 
party  got  together,  with  a  colleague  of  mine  in  the  other  House  as 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions — a  man  who  never  had  any 
sympathy  icith  the  Republic,  but  ivhose  every  breath  is  devoted  to  its 
destruction,  just  as  far  as  his  heart  dare  permit  him  to  go.  —  Con- 
gressional Globe,  p>age  1735. 

Quoting  the  foregoing  extract,  in  the  House,  on  the  21th  of  April, 
Mr.  Vallandigham  said : 

Now,  sir,  here  in  my  place  in  the  House,  and  as  a  Representative, 
I  denounce — and  I  speak  it  advisedly — the  author  of  that  speech  as 
a  liar,  a  scoundrel^  and  a  coward.     His  name  is  Benjamin  F.  Wade. 

This  had  the  effect  to  silence  Wade's  battery,  and  the  "  combina- 
tion of  Old  Hickory  and  Zach  Taylor"  has  not  seen  fit  to  renew 
hostile  demonstrations. 

The  only  other  attack  of  this  sort,  worthy  of  notice — if,  indeed, 
these  we  are  mentioning  are — was  made  in  June  1862,  by  Shella- 
BARGER  and  GuRLEY,  of  Ohio,  who  presented  printed  petitions  from 
citizens  of  their  own  Districts — none  from  Mr.  Vallandigham's — asking 
for  his  expulsion  from  the  House  as  "  a  traitor  and  a  disgrace  to  the 
State  of  Ohio."  The  petitions  were  referred  to  the  Committee  on 
the  Judiciary,  consisting  of  the  following  members  :  John  Hickman, 
chairman,  John  A.  Bingham,  William  Kellogg,  Albert  G. 
Porter,  Benjamin  F.  Thomas,  Alexander  S.  Diven,  James  F. 
Wilson,  George  H.  Pendleton,  and  Henry  May — all  of  them 
Republicans  except  May  and  Pendleton.  This  Committee,  on  the 
very  same  day  on  which  the  petitions  were  presented,  by  a  unanimous 
vote,  ordered  them  to  be  reported  back  and  laid  upon  the  table ;  and, 
accordingly,  on  the  first  day  that  the  Committee  was  called — July  3, 
1862 — Mr.  Bingham  reported  them  back,  and,  on  his  motion,  they 
ujere  laid  on  the  table,  no  evidence  whatever  of  either  "  treason  "  or 
"  disgrace "  having  been  produced  to  the  Committee.  And  there 
they  "lie"  now. 


122  COLUMBUS   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION. 


NUMBER  SIX, 


COLUMBUS  DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION. 

SPEECH   BEFORE  THE  DEMOCRATIC  STATE  CONVENTION,  JULY  4,  18C2. 


The  Convention  tluit  met  in  Columbus,  on  the  4tli  of  July,  1862, 
was  one  of  the  largest,  most  enthusiastic  and  harmonious  ever  con- 
vened in  Ohio.  The  delegation  from  Mr.  Vallandigham's  district 
alone  numbered  fivQ  hundred  and  fifty.  The  largest  hall  in  the 
city,  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity,  failed  to  accommodate  more  than 
one-fourth  part  of  those  in  attendance.  It  was,  therefore,  determ- 
ined, after  a  partial  and  temporary  organization,  to  adjourn  to  the 
State-House  grounds,  in  order  that  the  thousands  of  Democrats 
present  might  be  enabled  to  participate  in,  and  witness  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Convention.  This  order  having  been  made  known,  the 
vast  assemblage  promptly  reported  themselves  on  the  east  side  of  the 
State-House,  ready  for  business.  Gov.  Medary  was  elected  Presi- 
dent, and  conducted  to  the  chair  amidst  shouts  of  triumphant  re- 
joicings. 

The  immediate  object  of  the  convention  was  to  nominate  candi- 
dates for  the  offices  of  Supreme  Judge,  Secretary  of  State,  Attorney 
General,  School  Commissioner,  and  Board  of  Public  Works.  Candi- 
dates were  soon  agreed  upon ;  those  in  the  minority  gracefully  retired, 
or  were  withdrawn  by  their  friends;  and,  in  every  case,  the  nomi- 
nations were  made  unanimous.  A  platform  and  series  of  resolutions 
were  then  read  and  adopted,  the  latter  quoting  from  the  Constitution 
that  important  provision,  "  The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases 
of  impeachment,  shall  be  by  jury,  and  such  trial  shall  be  held  in  the 
State  where  the  said  crimes  shall  have  been  committed."  Also, 
from  the  Amendments,  the  1st,  4th,  5th,  Gth,  and  10th  articles,  so 
clear,  comprehensive,  and  specific,  and  designed  as  an  absolute  and 
perpetual  guarantee  to  the  people  of  this  country  against  those  very 
outrages  and  violations  of  their  rights  which  they  have  been  com- 
pelled to  sufi'er  under  this  Administration.     The  resolutions  then  say : 


COLUMBUS    DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION.  123 

"We  utterly  condemn  and  denounce  the  repeated  and  gross  viola- 
tion, by  the  Executive  of  the  United  States,  of  the  said  rights,  thus 
secured  by  the  Constitution ;  and  we  also  utterly  repudiate  and  con- 
demn the  monstrous  dogma  that  in  time  of  war  the  Constitution  is 
suspended,  or  its  powers  in  any  respect  enlarged  beyond  the  letter 
and  true  meaning  of  that  instrument. 

And  close  with  the  bold  and  solemn  declaration — 

That  we  view,  with  indignation  and  alarm,  the  illegal  and  unconsti- 
tutional seizure  and  imprisonment,  for  alleged  political  offenses,  of  our 
citizens,  without  judicial  process,  in  States  where  such  process  ia 
unobstructed,  but  by  Executive  order,  by  telegraph  or  otherwise,  and 
call  upon  all  who  uphold  the  Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the  laws, 
to  unite  with  us  in  denouncing  and  repelling  such  flagrant  violation 
of  the  State  and  Federal  Constitutions,  and  tyrannical  infraction  of 
the  rights  and  liberties  of  American  citizens ;  and  that  the  people 
of  this  State  can  not  safely,  and  will  not  submit  to  have  the 
freedom  of  speech  and  freedom  of  the  press — the  two  great  and 
essential  bulwarks  of  civil  liberty — put  down  by  unwarranted  and 
despotic  exertion  of  power. 

At  this  point  of  the  proceedings,  loud  and  continued  calls  were 
made  for  Vallandigham,  who,  when  he  ascended  the  platform,  was 
greeted  with  rapturous  applause.     He  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  fellow  Democrats  of  the  State  of  Ohio  : 
I  am  obliged  again  to  regret  that  the  lateness  of  the  hour  precludes 
me  from  addressing  you  either  in  the  manner  or  upon  the  particular 
subjects  which  otherwise  I  should  prefer.  This  is  my  misfortune 
again  to-day,  as  last  night;  but  speaking  thus,  without  premeditation, 
and  upon  such  matters  chiefly  as  may  occur  to  me  at  the  moment, 
if  I  should  happen  to  get  fairly  under  headway,  it  may  turn  out  to  be 
your  misfortune.  (Laughter.)  I  congratulate  the  Democracy  of 
Ohio,  that,  in  the  midst  of  great  public  trial  and  calamity,  of  perse- 
cution for  devotion  to  the  doctrines  of  the  fathers  who  laid  deep 
and  strong  the  foundations  of  the  Constitution  and  the  Union  under 
which  this  country  has  grown  great  and  been  prosperous — the  fathers, 
by  whose  principles,  one  and  all,  the  party  to  which  we  are  proud  to 
belong  has  always  been  guided — to-day  we  have  assembled  in  num- 
bers greater  than  at  any  former  convention  in  Ohio.  I  congratulate 
you  that,  despite  the  threats  which  have  been  uttered,  and  the  de- 
nunciations which  have  been  poured  out  upon  that  time-honored  and 
most  patriotic  organization,  peaceably  and  in  quiet,  with  enthusiasm 
and  earnestness  of  purpose,  we  are  here  met;  and,  in  harmony,  which 
is  the  secret  of  strength  and  the  harbinger  of  success,  have  dis- 
charged the  duties  for  which  we  were  called  together.  There  was  a 
time  when  it  was  questionable  if,  in  free  America — in  the  United 
States,  boasting  of  their  liberties  for  more  than  eighty  years — a  party 
to  which  this  country  is  indebted  for  all  that  is  great  and  good  and 


124  COLUMBUS    DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION. 

grand  and  jrlorlous — would  have  been  permitted  peaceably  to  apsem- 
ble  to  exercise  its  political  rights,  and  perform  its  appropriate  func- 
tions. Threats  have  even  been  made,  in  times  more  recent,  that  this 
most  essential  of  all  political  rights,  secured  to  us  by  the  precious 
blood  of  our  lathers,  in  a  seven  years'  revolutionary  war,  should  no 
longer  be  enjoyed.  The  Democrats  of  our  noble  sister  State  of 
Indiana,  second-born  daughter  of  the  North-west,  have  been  menaced, 
within  the  last  ten  days,  with  a  military  organization  and  the  bayonet, 
to  put  down  their  party.  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  telegraphic  dispatch 
from  the  capital  of  that  State,  boasting  of  this  infamous  purpose, 
I  will  road  it,  gentlemen,  because  I  know  that  the  same  dastardly 
menaces  have  been  proclaimed  against  the  Democrats  of  Ohio,  and 
because  I  am  here  to-day  to  rebuke  them,  as  becomes  a  frceborn  man 

who  is  resolved  to  perish (Great  applause,  in  the  midht  of  which 

the  rest  of  the  sentence  was  lost.) 

Some  months  ago,  a  Democratic  State  Convention  was  held  in 
Indiana.  It  was  a  Convention  of  the  party  founded  by  Thomas 
Jefierson,  built  up  by  a  Madison  and  Monroe,  and  consolidated  by 
an  Andrew  Jackson  (applause) — a  party  under  whose  principles  and 
policy,  from  thirteen  States,  we  have  grown  to  thirty-four,  fur  thirty- 
four  there  were,  true  and  loyal  to  this  Union,  before  the  Presidential 
election  of  1860  —  a  party  under  whose  wise  and  liberal  policy  the 
course  of  empire  westward  did  take  its  way,  until  the  symbol  of 
American  power — the  stars  and  stripes — waved  proudly  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  over  the  breadth  of  a  whole  continent — a 
party  which,  by  peace  and  compromise,  and  through  harmony,  wis- 
dom, and  sound  policy,  brought  us  up  from  feeble  and  impov'.-rishcd 
colonies,  struggling  in  the  midst  of  defeat  and  disaster  in  the  war  of 
the  Kevolution,  to  a  mighty  empire,  foremost  among  the  powers  of 
the  earth,  the  foundations  of  whose  greatness  were  laid,  broad  and 
firm,  in  that  noble  Constitution,  and  that  grand  old  Union  which  the 
Democratic  party  has  ever  maintained  and  defended.  The  Demo- 
cratic party,  with  such  principles,  and  such  a  history  and  record  to 
point  to,  held  a  State  Convention,  in  pursuance  of  its  usages  for  more 
than  thirty  years,  and  under  the  rights  secured  by  a  State  and  Federal 
Constitution,  older  still,  in  the  capital  of  the  State  of  Indiana.  And 
yet,  referring  to  this  party  and  its  Convention,  the  correspondent  of 
a  disloyal  and  pestilent,  but  influential  newspaper,  in  the  chief  city 
of  Ohio,  dared  to  send  over  the  telegraphic  wires,  wires  wholly  under 
the  military  control  of  the  Administration,  which  permits  nothing  to  be 
transmitted  not  acceptable  to  its  censors,  a  dispatch  in  these  words  : 

"  The  fellows  are  frightened,  evidently  not  without  cause." 

Well,  gentlemen,  I  know  not  how  far  Democrats  of  Indiana  may 
be  frightened — and  a  nobler  and  more  fearless  body  of  men  never 
lived — but  I  see  thousands  of  Democrats  before  me,  to  whom  fear 
and  reproach  are  alike  unknown.  Frightened  at  what?  Frightened 
by  whom  ?     We  are  made  of  sterner  stuff. 

"The  militia  of  the  State,"'  he  adds,  "will,  probably,  be  put  upon  a  war 
footing  very  Bhorlly." 


COLUMBUS   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION.  125 

And  ■who,  I  pray,  are  the  militia  of  the  State?  They  are  not 
made  up  of  the  leaders  of  the  Republican  party  in  Indiana  or  Ohio, 
I  know.  I  never  knew  that  sort  of  politicians  to  go  into  any  such 
organization,  in  peace  or  in  war.  No  men  have  ever  been  more  bitter 
and  unrelenting  in  their  opposition  to,  and  ridicule  of,  the  militia, 
and  none  know  it  better  than  I,  as  my  friend  before  me,  by  hia 
smile,  reminds  me,  that  one  of  my  own  offenses  is  that  I  am  a  militia 
brigadier,  in  favor  of  the  next  foreign  war. 

But  who  are  the  militia  ?  They  are  the  freeborn,  strong-armed, 
stout-hearted  Democrats  of  Indiana,  as  they  are  of  Ohio.  Let  them 
be  put  on  a  war  footing.  Good  1  We  have  hosts  of  them  in  the 
array  already,  and  on  a  war  footing,  but  who  are  as  sound  Democrats 
and  as  much  devoted  to  the  principles  of  the  party,  as  they  were  the 
hour  they  enlisted.  They  have  been  in  the  South,  and  I  have  the 
authority  of  hundreds  of  officers  and  privates  in  that  gallant  army 
for  saying,  that  not  only  are  the  original  Democrats  in  it  more  devoted 
to  the  party  to-day  than  ever  before,  but  that  hundreds,  also,  who 
went  hence  Hepublicans,  have  returned,  or  will  return,  cured  of  the 
disease.  (Laughter  and  applause.)  Sir,  the  army  is,  fortunately, 
most  fortunately  for  the  country,  turning  out  to  be  a  sort  of  political 
hospital  or  sanitary  institution,  and  I  only  regret  that  there  are  not 
many  more  Republican  patients  in  it.     (Laughter.) 

Well,  put  the  militia  upon  a  war  footing.  Put  arms  in  their  hands. 
They  never  can  be  made  the  butchers  or  jailers  of  their  fellow-citizens, 
but  the  guardians  rather  of  free  speech  and  a  free  press,  and  of  the 
ballot-box.  Standing  armies  of  mercenaries,  not  the  militia  of  a 
country,  are  the  customary  instruments  of  tyranny  and  usurpation. 

But  this  correspondent  proceeds  : 

"  If  the  sympathizers  with  treason  and  traitors  " — 

We  sympathize  with  treason  and  traitors !  We,  who  have  stood  by 
the  Constitution  and  the  Union  from  the  organization  of  the  party, 
in  our  fathers'  day,  and  in  our  own  day,  in  every  hour  of  trial,  in 
peace  and  in  war,  in  victory  and  in  defeat,  amid  disaster,  and  when 
prosperity  beamed  upon  us — we  to  be  branded  as  enemies  to  our 
country,  by  those  whose  traitor  fathers  burned  blue  lights  as  signals 
for  a  foreign  foe,  or  met  in  Hartford  Convention  to  plot  treason  and 
disunion  fifty  years  ago  !  We  false  to  the  Constitution  and  to  our 
Government,  the  bones  of  whose  fathers  lie  buried  on  every  battle- 
field of  the  war  of  1812,  from  the  massacre  at  the  River  Raisin  to 
the  splendid  victory  at  New  Orleans  ;  we,  who  bore  aloft  the  proud 
banner  of  the  Republic,  and  planted  it  in  triumph  upon  the  palace 
of  the  Montezumas  ;  we,  by  whose  wisdom  in  council,  and  courage  in 
the  field,  for  seventy  years,  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  and  the 
country  which  has  grown  great  under  them,  have  been  preserved  and 
defended ;  we  to  be  denounced  as  sympathizing  with  treason  and 
traitors,  by  the  men  who,  for  twenty  years,  have  labored  day  and  night 
for  the  success  of  those  principles  and  of  that  policy  and  that  party 
which  are  now  destroying  the  grandest  Union,  the  noblest  Constitution 
and  the  fairest  Country  on  the  globe  !     Talk  to  me  about  sympathiz- 


126  COLUMBUS   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION. 

ing  with  disunion,  witli  treason  and  with  traitors !  I  tell  you,  men 
of  Ohio,  that  in  six  nionthf;,  in  three  months,  in  six  weeks  it  raay 
be,  these  very  luon,  and  their  masters  in  Washini:;ton,  whose  bidding 
they  do,  will  be  the  advocates  of  the  eternal  dissolution  of  this  Union, 
and  denounce  all  who  oppose  it,  as  enemies  to  the  peace  of  the 
country.  Foreign  intervention  and  the  repeated  and  most  bcrious 
disasters  which  have  lately  befallen  our  arms,  will  speedily  force  the 
issue  of  separation  and  Southern  independence  —  disunion  —  or  of 
Union  by  negotiation  and  compromise.  Between  these  two  I  am — 
and  I  here  publicly  proclaim  it — for  the  Union,  the  whole  Union,  and 
nothing  less,  if,  by  any  possibility,  I  can  have  it ;  if  not,  then  ibr  so 
much  of  it  as  can  yet  be  rescued  and  preserved  ;  and  in  any  event, 
and  under  all  circumstances,  for  the  Union  which  God  ordained,  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  all  which  may  cling  to  it,  under  the  old 
name,  the  old  Constitution,  and  the  old  flag,  with  all  their  precious 
memories,  with  the  battle-fields  of  the  past,  and  the  songs  and  the 
proud  history  of  the  past — with  the  birthplace  and  the  burialplace  of 
Washington,  the  founder,  and  Jackson,  the  preserver  of,  the  Constitu- 
tion as  it  is,  and  of  the  Union  as  it  was.  (Great  applause.) 
But  this  correspondent  again  proceeds : 

"  If  the  sj-mpatliizers  with  treason  and  traitors  meditate  to  carry  out  their 
plana  in  this  quarter'' — 

What  plans  ?  Just  such  as  to-day  have  been  the  business  of  this 
Convention  ;  the  plans  of  that  old  U^nion  party,  laying  down  a  plat- 
form, and  nominating  Democrats  to  fill  the  offices  and  control  the 
policy  of  the  Government,  to  the  end  that  the  Constitution  may  be 
again  maintained,  the  Union  restored,  and  peace,  prosperity,  and  hap- 
piness once  more  drop  healing  from  their  wings. 

"plans,"  the   fellow  proceeds,  "in  this  quarter,  they  will  doubtless  find  the 
work  quite  as  hot  as  they  bargained  for." 

And  I  tell  the  cowardly  miscreant  who  telegraphed  the  threat  that, 
he,  and  those  behind  him,  will  find  the  work  fifty-fold  hotter  when 
they  begin  it,  than  they  had  reckoned  on,  both  here  and  in  Indiana. 

"  Ten  thousand  stand  of  arms,"  he  adds,  "  have  been  ordered  for  the  State 
troops." 

For  what?  To  put  down  the  Democratic  party?  Sir,  that  is  a 
work  which  can  not  be  done  by  ten,  or  twenty,  or  fifty  thousand  stand 
of  arms  in  the  hands  of  any  such  dastards,  in  ofiice  or  out  of  it.  If 
60  full  of  valor,  and  so  thirsty  for  blood,  let  them  enlist  under  the 
call  just  issued  for  troops  in  Ohio  and  Indiana.  Let  them  go 
down  and  fight  the  armies  of  the  '"rebels"  in  the  South,  and  let 
Democrats  fight  the  unarmed,  but  more  insidious  and  dangerous, 
Abolition  rebels  of  the  North  and  "West,  through  the  ballot-l;ox. 

Forty  thousand  additional  troops,  I  estimate  it,  are  called  for,  in  the 
proclamation  of  yesterday,  from  the  State  of  Ohio.  Where  are  the 
forty  thousand  Wide  Awakes  of  18G0,  armed  with  their  portable  lamp 
pests,  and   drilled   to  the  music  of   the  Chicago  platform?     Sir,  I 


COLUMBUS   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION.  127 

propose  that  tliirty-five  thousand  of  them  be  conscripted  forthwith. 
They  will  never  enlist ;  they  never  do.  They  are  "  Home  Guards." 
They  "  do  n't  go,"  but  stay  vigorously  at  home  to  slander  and  abuse 
and  threaten  Democrats  whose  fathers  or  brothers  or  sons  are  in  the 
Union  armies,  or  have  f;illen  in  battle.  I  speak  generally — certainly 
there  are  exceptions.  But  I  will  engage  that  if  the  records  of  the 
old  Wide  Awake  clubs  in  the  several  cities  and  towns  of  Ohio  shall 
be  produced,  and  the  Republicans  will  detail  or  draft  thirty-five 
thousand  from  the  lists,  I  will  find  five  thousand  strong-armed,  stout- 
hearted, brave  and  loyal  Democrats  to  go  down  and  see  that  they 
do  n't  run  away  at  the  first  fire.     (Great  laughter.) 

Sympathizers  with  treason  and  traitors  !  Secessionists  !  Sir,  it  is 
about  time  that  we  have  heard  the  last  of  this.  The  Democracy  of 
Ohio,  and  of  the  United  States,  are  resolved  that  an  end  shall  be  put 
to  this  sort  of  slander  and  abuse.  But  I  do  not  propose  to  discuss 
this  particular  subject  further  now.     (Go  on,  go  on.) 

Well,  then,  from  that  which  concerns  the  Democratic  party,  to  a 
word,  a  single  word,  about  what  relates  to  myself;  and  I  beg  pardon 
for  the  digression.  I  am  rejoiced  that  it  has  been  permitted  to  me  to 
be  here  present,  to-day,  in  person  before  you.  Had  you  believed  the 
reports  of  the  Republican  press,  you  would,  no  doubt,  have  expected 
to  see,  probably,  the  most  extraordinary  compound  of  leprous  and 
unsightly  flesh  and  blood  ever  exhibited.  (Laughter.)  Well,  my 
friends,  you  see  that  I  am  not  quite  "monstrous,"  at  least,  and  bear 
no  especial  resemblance  to  the  beast  of  the  Apocalypse,  either  in 
heads  or  horns,  but  am  a  man  of  like  fashion  with  yourselves.  To 
the  Republican  party  alone,  and  its  press  and  its  orators,  I  am 
indebted,  no  doubt,  for  a  large  part  of  the  "curiosity"  which,  I  am 
sorry  to  say,  I  seem  to  have  excited,  and  which  has  brought  out 
even  some  of  them,  as  if  to  "see  the  elephant."  They  have  never 
meant  to  be  friendly  toward  me,  I  know;  but  as  I  sec  some  of 
them  now  within  my  vision,  let  me  whisper  in  their  ears,  that  I  never 
had  better  friends,  and  no  man  had,  since  the  world  began.  They 
have  advertised  me  free  of  cost,  absolutely  free  of  cost,  for  the  last 
fifteen  months;  yes,  I  may  say,  for  some  five  years  past,  all  over 
the  United  States,  Why,  sir,  a  Republican  editor,  without  "  the  un- 
dersigned "  for  a  text,  would  be  the  most  unhappy  mortal  in  the 
world.  Every  little  "printer's  devil"  in  the  office  would  be  hallooing 
for  copy,  and  no  copy  to  be  had.  I  know  that  they  are  friends,  by 
the  usual  sign,  "the  remarks  they  make."  Gentlemen,  I  have  had  my 
share  of  what  Jefl'erson  called  the  unction,  the  holy  oil  with  which 
the  Democratic  priesthood  has  always  been  anointed — slander,  detrac- 
tion, and  calumny  without  stint.  Really,  I  am  not  sure  that  with 
me  it  has  not  reached  "extreme  unction,"  though  I  am  by  no  means 
ready,  and  do  not  mean  to  depart  yet.  Well,  I  will  not  complain. 
It  has  cost  me  not  a  single  night's  loss  of  sleep  from  the  beginning. 
My  appetite,  if  you  will  pardon  the  reference — if  you  will  allow  me, 
as  Lincoln  would  say,  to  "blab"  upon  so  delicate  a  subject  —  has 
been  in  no  degree  impaired  by  it.  Others  before  me,  and  with  me, 
have  endured  the  same.     Here  is  my  excellent  friend  near  mc  (Mr. 


128  COLUMBUS    DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION. 

Medary).  0,  blessed  martyr!  (Great  applause.)  For  one  and 
sixty  years  the  storms  of  parti^^an  persecution,  and  nialipnity  in 
every  furm,  have  beaten  upon  his  head;  but,  though  time  and  toil 
have  made  it  gray,  the  heart  beneath  beats  still,  to-day,  as  sound  and 
true  to  its  instincts  of  Democracy  and  patriotism,  and  of  humanity 
too,  as  when  he  laid  his  first  offerings  upon  the  altar  of  his  country, 
just  forty  years  ago.  What  others  have  heroically  suffered  in  ages 
past,  we,  too,  can  endure. 

We  arc  all,  indeed,  still  in  the  midst  of  trials.  Here,  before  me, 
is  the  gentleman  of  whom  T  have  just  spoken,  whom  you  have  hon- 
ored with  the  Presidency  of  this  noble  Convention,  for  forty  years  a 
Democratic  editor — for  forty  years  devoted  to  the  Constitution  and 
the  Union  of  these  States — a  man  who,  through  evil  and  through  good 
report,  has  adhered,  with  the  faith  of  a  devotee  and  the  firmness  of 
a  martyr,  to  the  principles  and  policy  of  that  grand  old  party  of  the 
Union  ;  and  now  that  the  frosts  of  three-score  years  have  descended 
and  whitened  his  head — he,  I  say,  has  lived  to  see  the  paper  to 
which  he  gives  the  labor  and  the  wisdom  of  his  declining  years, 
prohibited  from  circulation  through  a  part  of  the  mails  as  "  disloyal  " 
to  the  Government !  (Cries  of  no,  no,  shame  !)  Samuel  Medary 
disloyal !  and  ^Vendell  Phillips  a  patriot !  Sir,  it  is  not  many  months 
since,  that  in  the  city  of  Washington,  in  that  magnificent  building 
erected  by  the  charity  of  an  Englishman  who  loved  America — I 
would  there  were  more  like  him — that  art  and  science  might  the 
more  widely  flourish  in  this  country — the  Smithsonian  Institute — 
Wendell  Phillips  addressed  an  assemblage  of  men  as  false  to  the 
Union  and  the  Constitution  as  himself.  Upon  the  platform  was  the 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  the  third  officer  in  the 
Government;  by  his  side  the  Vice-President  of  the  United  States, 
and  between  these  two,  in  proportions  long  drawn  out,  the  form  of 
"  Honest  Old  Abraham  Lincoln."  Am  I  mistaken,  and  was  it  at 
another  and  earlier  abolition  lecture  by  that  other  disunionist,  Horace 
Greeley,  in  the  same  place — there  have  been  many  of  them — that 
Lincoln  attended  ?  The  Speaker  and  Vice-President,  I  know,  were 
there ;  and  with  these  two  or  three  witnesses  before  him,  and  in 
presence  of  the  priesthood  of  Abolitionism,  the  Suraners  and  Wilsons, 
the  Lovejoys  and  the  Wades  of  the  House  and  Senate,  (great  laugh- 
ter,) surrounded  by  these,  the  very  architects  of  disunion,  he  pro- 
claimed that  "for  nineteen  years  he  had  labored  to  take  nineteen 
States  out  of  the  LTnion."  And  yet  this  most  spotted  traitor  was 
pleading  for  disunion  in  the  City  of  Washington,  where  women  are 
arrested  for  the  wearing  of  red,  white,  and  red  upon  their  bonnets, 
and  babes  of  eighteen  months  are  dragged  from  the  little  willow 
wagons  drawn  by  their  nurses,  because  certain  colors,  called  seditious, 
are  found  upon  their  swaddling  clothes!  The  next  day,  or  soon 
after,  this  same  Wendell  Phillips  did  dine  with,  or  was  otherwise 
entertained,  by  his  Excellency,  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
who  related  to  him  one  of  his  choicest  anecdotes.  Yet  Democratic 
editors,  Democratic  Senators  and  llepresentatives,  and  those  holding 
other  official  positiens  by  the  grace  of  the  States  or  of  the  people, 


COLUMBUS   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION.  129^ 

are  "  traitors  "  forsooth,  because  they  would  adhere  to  the  principles 
and  organization  of  their  noble  and  patriotic  old  party  !  Such  are 
some  of  the  exhibitions  which  Washington  has  witnessed  during  the 
past  Winter. 

Congress,  too,  has  been  in  session.  Sir,  I  saw  it  announced  in  one 
of  the  disloyal  papers  of  this  city  yesterday,  that  Jeflf.  Davis  and 
Toombs  and  Yancey  and  Rhett  and  other  secessionists  of  the  South, 
would  derive  much  comfort  from  this  day's  meeting.  Well,  sir,  I 
have  just  come  from  a  body  of  men  which  I  would  not,  for  a  moment, 
pretend  to  compare  for  statesmanship,  respectability,  or  patriotism 
with  this  Convention.  That  body  has  devoted  its  time  and  attention 
to  doing  more,  in  six  months,  for  the  cause  of  secessiouism,  than 
Beaui'egard  and  Lee  and  Johnson  and  all  the  southern  Generals 
combined  have  been  able  to  accomplish  in  one  year.  Said  a  Senator 
from  the  South,  the  other  day,  a  Union  man :  "  Jeff.  Davis  is  run- 
ning two  Congresses  now,  and  is  making  a  d — d  sight  more  out  of 
the  Washington  Congress  than  the  one  at  Richmond."  (Laughter, 
and  many  remarks  of  approval.) 

Sir,  the  legislation  of  that  body  has  been  almost  wholly  for  the 
"Almighty  African."  From  the  prayer  in  the  morning — for,  gentle- 
man, we  are  a  pious  body,  we  are — making  long  faces,  and  somtimes 
wry  faces,  too,  (laughter,) — we  open  with  prayer,  but  there  is  not 
much  of  the  Almighty  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth  in  it — from  the 
prayer  to  the  motion  to  adjourn,  it  is  negro  in  every  shape  and  form 
in  which  he  can,  by  any  possibility,  be  served  up.  But  it  is  not 
only  the  negro  inside  of  the  House  and  Senate,  but,  outside,  also. 
The  city  of  Washington  has,  within  the  past  three  weeks,  been  con- 
verted into  one  universal  hospital ;  every  church,  except  one  for  each 
denomination,  has  been  seized  for  hospital  purposes.  But  while  the 
sanctuaries  of  the  Ever-living  God — the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob — not  the  new  god  of  the  Burlingames  and  Sumners  and  other 
Abolitionists,  not  that  god  whose  gospel  is  written  in  the  new  bible 
of  Abolition — but  the  Ever-living  Jehovah  God  have  been  confiscated 
for  hospitals,  every  theater,  every  concert  saloon,  every  other  place 
of  amusement,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  from  the  spacious 
theater  in  which  a  Forrest  exhibits  to  an  enraptured  audience  his 
graphic  renderings  of  the  immortal  creations  of  Shakespeare,  down 
to  the  basest  den  of  revelry  and  drunkenness,  is  open  still.  As  in  the 
Inferno  of  the  great  Italian  poet — 

"The  gates  of  hell  stand  open  night  and  day." 

Sir,  if  these  places  of  amusement — innocent  some  of  them,  but 
not  holy,  certainly — had  first  been  seized  as  hospitals  for  the  comfort 
and  cure  of  the  thousands  of  brave  and  honest  men  who  went  forth 
believing  in  their  hearts  that  they  were  to  battle  for  the  Constitution 
and  the  Union,  but  who  now  lie  wasting  away  upon  their  lonely 
pallets,  with  no  wife,  or  sister,  or  mother  there  to  soothe,  groaning 
in  agony,  with  every  description  of  wound  which  the  devilish  ingen- 
uity of  man  can  iutiict  by  weapons  whose  invention  would  seem  to 
have  been  inspired  by  the  very  spirit  of  the  author  of  all  human 
9 


130  COLUMBUS   DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION. 

woe  and  suffering — wounds,  too,  rankling  and  festering  for  the  want 
of  surgical  aid — if  those  places,  I  say,  had  first  been  seized,  and 
then  it  had  become  necessary,  for  the  comfort  or  life  of  the  thousands 
of  other  sick  and  wounded  who  are  borne  in  the  city  every  day,  to 
occupy  the  churches  of  Washington,  I  know  of  no  better  or  holier 
purpose  to  which  they  could  have  been  devoted.  And  now,  sir,  not 
far  from  that  stately  capitol,  within  whose  marble  walls  Abolition 
treason  now  runs  riot,  is  a  building,  "Green's  Row"  by  name,  rented 
hy  the  Government,  in  which  one  thousand  one  hundred  fugitive 
slaves — "contrabands,"  in  the  precious  slang  of  the  infamous  Butler 
— daily  receive  the  rations  of  the  soldier,  which  are  paid  for  out  of 
the  taxes  levied  upon  the  people.  One  hundred  thousand  dollars  a 
day  are  taken  from  the  public  treasury  for  the  support  of  fugitive 
slaves  there  and  elsewhere ;  while  the  army  of  Shields,  and  other 
Union  armies  in  the  field,  even  so  late  as  six  weeks  ago,  marched 
barefooted,  bareheaded,  and  in  their  drawers,  for  many  weary  miles, 
without  so  much  as  a  cracker  or  a  crust  of  bread  with  which  to  allay 
their  hunger.  Ay,  sir,  while  many  a  gallant  young  soldier  of 
Ohio,  just  blooming  into  manhood,  who  heard  the  cry  that  went  up 
fifteen  months  ago :  "  Rally  to  defend  the  flag,  and  for  the  rescue  of 
the  capital,"  and  went  forth  to  battle,  with  honesty  in  his  heart,  his 
life  in  his  hand,  with  courage  in  every  fiber,  and  patriotism  in  every 
vein,  lies  wan  and  sad  on  his  pallet  in  the  hospital,  your  surgeons 
are  forced  to  divide  their  time  and  care  between  the  wounded  soldiers 
and  these  vagabond  fugitive  slaves,  who  have  been  seduced  or  forced 
from  the  service  of  their  masters.  These  things,  and  much  more — 
I  have  told  you  not  a  tithe  of  all — are  done  in  Washington.  We 
know  it  there,  though  it  is  withheld  from  the  people;  and  while  every 
falsehood  that  the  ingenuity  of  man  can  invent  to  delude  and  deceive, 
is  transmitted  or  allowed  by  the  telegraphic  censors  of  the  Admin- 
istration— themselves  usurpers  unknown  to  the  Constitution  and  laws 
— these  facts  are  not  permitted  to  reach  the  people  of  the  United 
States. 

Your  newspapers,  the  natural  watch-dogs  of  liberty,  are  threatened 
with  suppression,  if  but  the  half  or  the  hundredth  part  of  the  truth 
be  told.  And  now,  too,  when  but  one  other  means  remains  for  the 
redress  of  this  and  the  hundred  other  political  grievances  under 
which  the  land  groans — party  organization  and  public  assemblages 
of  the  people — even  these,  too,  are  threatened  with  suppression  by 
armed  force.  Ay,  sir,  that  very  party,  which,  not  many  years  ago, 
bore  upon  every  banner  the  motto,  "Free  Speech  and  a  Free  Press," 
now,  day  by  day,  forbids  the  transmission  through  your  mails  of  the 
papers  from  which  you  derive  your  knowledge  of  public  events,  and 
which  advocate  the  principles  you  cherish.  And  Democratic  editors, 
too,  are  seized,  "  kidnapped  "  in  the  midnight  hour — torn  from  their 
families — gagged — their  wives  with  ofiicers  over  them  menacing  vio- 
lence if  they  but  ask  one  farewell  grasp  of  the  hand,  one  parting 
kiss — thrust  into  a  close  carriage,  in  the  felon  hour  of  midnight,  and 
with  violence  dragged  to  this  capital,  and  here  forced  upon  an  express 
train  and  hurried  off  to  a  military  fortress  of  the  United  States. 


COLUMBUS   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION.  181 

Yes,  men  of  Ohio,  to  a  fortress  that  bears  the  honored  name  of  that 
first  martyr  to  American  liberty — the  Warren  of  Bunker  Hill ;  or, 
it  may  be,  to  that  other  bastile,  desecrating  that  other  name  sacred 
in  American  history,  and  honored  throughout  the  earth — the  name 
of  that  man  who  forsook  home  and  gave  up  rank  and  title,  and,  in 
the  first  flush  of  youth  and  manhood,  came  to  our  shores  and  linked 
his  fortunes  with  the  American  cause — the  prisoner  of  Olrautz,  the 
brave  and  gallant  Lafayette.  Ay,  freemen  of  the  West,  fortresses 
bearing  these  honored  names,  and  meant  for  the  defense  of  the  coun- 
try against  foreign  foes,  and  out  of  whose  casemates  bristle  cannon 
planted  to  hurl  death  and  destruction  at  armed  invaders,  echo  now 
with  the  groans  and  are  watered  by  the  tears — not  of  men  only  from 
States  seceded  and  in  rebellion,  or  captured  in  war,  but  from  the 
loyal  States  of  the  North  and  the  West,  and  from  that  party  which 
has  contributed  nearly  three-fourths  of  the  soldiers  in  the  field 
to-day.  Are  these  things  to  be  borne  ?  (Never  ;  no,  never.)  If 
you  have  the  spirit  of  freemen  in  you,  bear  them  not !  (Great 
applause,  and  cries  of  that 's  it,  that 's  the  talk.)  What  is  life 
worth  ?  What  are  property  and  personal  liberty  and  political  liberty 
worth  ;  of  what  value  are  all  these  things,  if  we,  born  of  an  ancestry 
of  freemen,  boasting,  in  the  very  first  hours  of  our  boyhood,  of  a 
more  extended  liberty  than  was  ever  vouchsafed  to  any  other  people, 
are  to  fail  no-^  in  this  the  hour  of  sore  trial,  to  demand  and  to  defend 
them  at  every  hazard  ?  Freedom  of  the  press  !  Is  the  man  who  sits 
in  the  White  House  at  Washington,  and  who  owes  all  his  power  to 
the  press  and  the  ballot,  is  he  now  to  play  the  tyrant  over  us?  (No; 
never,  never !)  Shall  the  man  who  sits  at  one  end  of  a  telegraphic 
wire  in  the  AVar  Department,  or  the  Department  of  State — a  mere 
clerk,  it  may  be,  a  servant  of  servants — sit  down,  and  by  one  single 
click  of  the  instrument,  order  some  minion  of  his,  a  thousand  miles 
off,  to  arrest  Samuel  Medary,  or  Judge  Ranney,  or  Judge  Thurman, 
and  hurry  them  to  a  bastile?  (No;  it  can't  be  done  ;  we  will  never 
allow  it.)  The  Constitution  says:  "No  man  shall  be  held  to  answer  for 
crime  except  on  due  process  of  law."  Our  fathers,  six  hundred  years 
ago,  assembled  upon  the  plains  of  Runnymede,  in  old  England,  and 
rescued  from  tyrant  hands,  by  arms  and  firm  resolve,  the  God-given 
right  to  be  free.  Our  fathers,  in  the  time  of  James  I,  and  of  Charles 
I,  and  James  II,  endured  trial  and  persecution  and  loss  of  life  and  of 
liberty,  rather  than  submit  to  oppression  and  wrong.  John  Hamp- 
den—  glorious  John  Hampden!  the  first  gentleman  of  England 
arrested  upon  an  illegal  executive  warrant — went  calmly  and  hero- 
ically to  the  cells  of  a  prison  rather  than  pay  twenty  shillings  of  an 
illegally-assessed  tax,  laid  in  defiance  of  the  Constitution  and  laws 
of  England,  and  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  Englishmen.  And  all 
history  is  full  of  like  examples.  William  Tell  brooked  the  tyrant's 
frown  in  his  day  and  generation,  in  defense  of  these  same  rights, 
in  the  noble  Republic  of  the  Swiss ;  and  that  gallant  little  people, 
henamed  in  among  the  Alps,  though  surrounded  on  every  side  by 
despots  whose  legions  numbered  more  than  the  whole  population  of 
Switzerland,  have,  by  that  same  indomitable  spirit  of  freedom,  main- 


132  COLUMBUS   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION. 

tained  their  rights,  their  liberties,  and  tlieir  independence  to  this 
hour.  And  are  Americans  now  to  offer  themselves  up  a  servile  sac- 
rifice upon  the  altar  of  arbitrary  power?  Sir,  I  have  misread  the 
signs  of  the  times,  and  the  temper  of  the  people,  if  there  is  not 
already  a  spirit  in  the  land  which  is  about  to  speak  in  thunder-tonea 
to  those  who  stretch  forth  still  the  strong  arm  of  despotic  power — 
"Thus  far  shalt  thou  come,  and  no  farther.  We  made  you;  you  are 
our  servants."  That,  sir,  was  the  language  which  I  was  taught  to 
apply  to  men  in  office  when  I  was  a  youth,  or  in  first  manhood  and 
a  private  citizen,  and  afterward,  when  holding  otilce  as  the  gift  of  the 
people,  to  hear  applied  to  me ;  and  I  bore  the  title  proudly.  And  I 
asked  then,  as  I  ask  now,  no  other  or  better  reward  than,  "Well 
done,  good  and  faithful  servant."  (Cries  of  "You  shall  have  it;  you 
deserve  it.")  But  to-day,  they  who  are  our  servants,  creatures  made 
out  of  nothing  by  the  power  of  the  people,  whose  little  brief  author- 
ity was  breathed  into  their  nostrils  by  the  people,  would  now,  for- 
sooth, become  the  masters  of  the  people ;  while  the  organs  and 
instrumeuts  of  the  people — the  press  and  public  assemblages — are 
to  be  suppressed ;  and  the  Constitution,  with  its  right  of  petition, 
and  of  due  process  of  law,  and  trial  by  jury,  and  the  laws,  and  all  else 
which  makes  life  worth  possessing,  are  to  be  sacrificed  now  upon  the 
tyrant's  plea  that  it  is  necessary  to  save  the  Government,  the  Union, 
fcir,  we  did  save  the  Union  for  years — yes,  we  did.  "We  were  the 
"Union  savers,""  not  eighteen  months  ago.  Then  there  was  not  aa 
epithet  in  the  whole  vocabulary  of  political  Billingsgate  so  oppro- 
brious in  the  eyes  of  a  llepublican,  when  applied  to  the  Democratic 
party,  as  "  Union  shriekers,"  or  "  Union  savers."  I  remember,  in 
my  own  city,  on  the  day  of  the  Presidential  election,  in  1860 — 1 
remember  it  well,  for  I  had  that  day  traveled  several  hundred  miles 
to  vote  for  Stephen  A.  Douglas  for  the  Presidency — that,  in  a  ward 
where  the  judges  of  election  were  all  Democrats,  your  patriotic  Wide- 
Awakes,  strutting  in  unctuous  uniform,  came  up,  hour  after  hour, 
thrusting  their  Lincoln  tickets  twixt  thumb  and  finger  at  the  judges, 
with  the  taunt  and  sneer,  ''iSave  the  Union!  Save  the  Union T  And 
yet  now,  fursooth,  we  are  "traitors"  and  "secessionists!"  And  old 
gray-bearded  and  gray-headed  men,  who  lived  and  voted  in  the  times 
of  Jefl'ersou  and  Madison  and  Monroe  and  Jackson — men  who  have 
fought  and  bled  upou  the  battle-field,  and  who  fondly  indulged  the 
delusion,  for  forty  years,  that  they  were  patriots,  wake  up  suddenly 
to-day  to  find  themselves  "traitors!" — sneered  at,  reviled  and  insulted 
by  striplings  "  whose  fathers  they  would  have  disdained  to  have  set 
with  the  dogs  of  their  flocks."  Of  all  these  things  an  inquisition, 
searching  and  terrible,  will  yet  be  made,  as  sure  and  as  sudden,  too, 
it  may  be,  as  the  day  of  judgment.  We  of  the  loyal  States — we  of  the 
loyal  party  of  the  country,  the  Democratic  party — we,  the  loyal  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States,  the  editors  of  loyal  newspapers — we,  who 
gather  together  in  loyal  assemblages,  like  this,  and  are  addressed  by 
truly  loyal  and  Union  men,  as  I  know  you  are  to-day  and  at  this  mo- 
nieut  (that's  so;  that's  the  truth) — we,  forsooth,  are  to  be  now  denied 
our  privileges  and  our  rights  as  Americans  and  as  freemen  j  we  are 


COLUMBUS    DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION.  133 

to  be  threatened  with  bayonets  at  the  ballot-box,  and  baj^onets  to 
disperse  Democratic  meetings  !  Again  I  ask,  why  do  they  not  take 
up  their  muskets  and  march  to  the  South,  and,  like  brave  men,  meet 
the  embattled  hosts  of  the  confederates  in  open  arms,  instead  of 
threatening,  craven  like,  to  fight  unarmed  Democrats  at  home — pos- 
sibly unarmed,  and  possibly  not.  (Laughter  and  applause,  and  a 
remark,  "That  was  well  put  in.")  If  so  belligerent,  so  eager  to  shed 
that  last  drop  of  blood,  let  them  volunteer  to  re-enforce  the  broken 
and  shattered  columns  of  MeClellan  in  front  of  Richmond,  sacrificed 
as  he  has  been  by  the  devilish  machinations  of  Abolition,  and  there 
mingle  their  blood  with  the  blood  of  the  thousands  who  have  already 
perished  on  those  fatal  battle-fields.  But  no  ;  the  whistle  of  the  bul- 
let and  the  song  of  the  shell  are  not  the  sort  of  music  to  fall  pleas- 
antly upon  the  ears  of  this  Home  Guard  Republican  soldiery. 

With  reason,  therefore,  fellow-citizens,  I  congratulate  you  to-day 
upon  the  victory  which  you  have  achieved.     A  great  poet  has  said": 

"Peace  hath  her  victories  as  well  as  "War." 

To-day  the  cause  of  free  govei-nment  has  triumphed.  A  victory  of 
the  Constitution,  a  victory  of  the  Union  has  been  won,  but  is  yet  to 
be  made  complete  by  the  men  who  go  forth  from  this,  the  first  polit- 
ical battle-field  of  the  campaign,  bearing  upon  their  banners  that 
noble  legend,  that  grand  inscription.  The  Constitution  as  it  is, 
AND  THE  Union  as  it  was.  (Great  cheering.)  In  that  sign  shall 
you  conquer.  Let  it  be  inscribed  upon  every  ballot,  emblazoned 
upon  every  banner,  flung  abroad  to  every  breeze,  whispered  in  the 
zephyr,  and  thundered  in  the  tempest,  till  its  echoes  shall  rouse  the 
fainting  spirit  of  every  patriot  and  freeman  in  the  land.  It  is  the 
creed  of  the  truly  loyal  Democracy  of  the  United  States.  In  behalf 
of  this  great  cause  it  is  that  we  are  now,  if  need  be,  to  do  and  to 
suffer  in  political  warfare  whatever  may  be  demanded  of  freemen  who 
know  their  rights,  and  knowing,  dare  maintain  them.  Is  there  any 
one  man,  in  all  this  vast  assemblage,  afraid  to  meet  all  the  respon- 
sibilities which  an  earnest  and  inexorable  discharge  of  duty  may 
require  at  his  hands  in  the  canvass  before  us  ?  (No,  no,  not  one.) 
If  but  one,  let  him  go  home  and  hide  his  head  for  very  shame  : 

"Who  would  be  a  traitor  knave? 
Who  could  fill  a  cowarcVs  grave? 
Who  so  base  as  be  a  slave  V 

Let  him  turn  and  flee." 

It  is  no  contest  of  arms  to  which  you  are  invited.  Your  fathers, 
your  brothers,  your  sons  are  already,  by  thousands  and  hundreds  of 
thousands,  on  the  battle-field.  To-day  their  bones  lie  bleaching 
upon  the  soil  of  every  southern  State,  from  South  Carolina  to  Mis- 
souri. It  is  to  another  conflict,  men  of  Ohio,  that  you  are  summoned, 
but  a  conflict,  nevertheless,  which  will  demand  of  you  some  portion, 
at  least,  of  that  same  determined  courage,  that  same  unconquerable 
will,  that  same  inexorable  spirit  of  endurance,  which  make  the  hero 
upon  the  military  battle-field.  I  have  mistaken  the  temper  of  the 
men  who  are  here  to-day,  I  have  misread  the  firm  purpose  that  speaks 


134:  COLUMBUS   DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION. 

in  every  eye  and  beams  from  every  countenance,  -which  stiffens  every 
sinew  and  throbs  in  every  breast;  I  have  misread  it  all,  if  you  are 
not  resolved  to  s:;o  home  and  there  maintain,  at  all  hazards  and  by 
every  sacrifice,  the  principles,  the  policy,  and  the  organization  of  that 
party  to  which  again,  and  yet  again,  I  declare  unto  you,  this  Govern- 
ment and  country  are  indebted  for  all  that  have  made  them  grand, 
glorious,  and  great.     (Cheers  and  great  applause.) 

The  foregoing  speech  was  received  with  shouts  of  applause,  some- 
times obliging  the  speaker  to  wait.  In  fact,  the  whole  reception  of 
Mr.  VALLANDionAM,  at  Columbus,  was  one  of  the  proudest  and  most 
gratifying  that  could  have  been  given.  He  arrived  from  Washing- 
ton on  the  3d,  and  about  midnight,  on  that  evening,  a  crowd  sur- 
rounded his  hotel,  and  made  it  unmistakably  evident  that  a  speech 
must  be  forthcoming,  or  there  would  be  no  sleep  for  him  or  them 
that  night.  And,  again,  on  the  evening  of  the  4th,  another  speech 
was  demanded,  and  given  from  the  balcony  of  the  hotel — three 
speeches  loithin  twenty  hours. 

Those  exhibitions  of  deep  interest  and  profound  admiration,  thus 
given  in  behalf  of  Mr.  Vallandigham,  were  that  spontaneous 
reaction  which,  sooner  or  later,  was  sure  to  return  to  the  man  who, 
in  the  hour  of  his  country's  most  imminent  peril,  and  when  sur- 
rounded and  prcs.sed  upon,  from  every  direction,  by  the  most  malig- 
nant obloquy  and  reproach,  still  adhered,  with  unflinching  integrity 
and  firmness,  to  those  great  principles  of  political  justice  and  truth 
wherein  is  involved  the  only  hope  for  our  country.  This  speech 
was  made  the  subject  of  a  long  and  complimentary  review  in  the 
London  Times. 


STATE  OF  THE   COUNTRY.  135 


NUMBER    SEVEN, 


STATE  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 

SPEECH  DELIVERED  AT  DAYTON,  AUGUST  2,  1SG2. 


The  reign  of  terror  was  at  its  bight,  and  the  most  serious  appre- 
hensions were  entertained  for  the  personal  safety  of  Mr.  Vallan- 
DIGHAM,  when  he  announced  his  determination  to  address  the  public 
in  Dayton.  A  bolder  stroke  was  never  made,  nor  a  more  fearless  exhi- 
bition given,  of  high  moral  as  well  as  physical  courage.  At  the  first 
intimation  of  the  proposed  meeting,  a  low,  ugly  growl,  like  the  fretting 
of  hungry  but  chained  tigers,  might  have  been  heard  in  the  purlieus 
of  Abolition  fanaticism,  and  those  were  the  places  where  the  edicts 
of  the  Abrahamic  dynasty  were  kept,  and  whence  they  were  issued. 
It  has  been  said  that  fanaticism  is  one  of  the  hounds  who,  when 
once  they  have  tasted  blood,  never  bolt  their  track.  But  this  hound 
does  sometimes  bolt  his  track ;  at  least,  he  cowers  and  hides  himself, 
when  he  sees  his  prey  is  too  large  for  his  grapple.  An  exhibition 
of  that  sort  was  given  in  Dayton,  on  the  2d  of  August,  18G2.  Mr. 
Vallandigham  had  been  selected  as  their  next  victim  by  the  base 
minions  of  a  corrupt  and  desperate  Administration.  As  some 
blood-thirsty,  but  cowardly  beast  of  prey  watches  for  his  victim,  bo 
had  they  been  watching  for  him,  and  a  good  time  to  pounce  upon 
him  had  come,  if  only  the  pounce  could  be  made  without  danger  to 
themselves.  But  as  the  hour  for  the  meeting  approached,  the  brave 
and  true  men  of  Montgomery  and  adjacent  counties  were  seen  coming 
in,  until  fully  seven  tJwiisand  were  there.  The  men  who  had  sworn 
that  Vallandigham  should  never  again  speak  in  Dayton,  very 
wisely  concluded  that  discretion  was  better  than  valor;  so  gracefully 
retired  behind  each  other,  and  kept  that  position  till  the  speech  was 
over.  A  few  hours  before  the  speaking  commenced,  the  Empire  of 
that  day  was  distributed  through  the  city,  and  contained  a  few  words 
of  prudent  advice,  which  may  have  been  of  some  service  in  bringing 


13G  STATE    OF   THE    COUNTRY. 

those  men  to  the  conclusion  they  came  to.  After  stating  the  object 
of  the  meeting,  and  alluding  to  threats  of  disturbance,  the  Empire 
said  : 

Political  meetings,  like  churches,  are  open  alike  to  saint  and  to 
sinner — all  \vho  conduct  themselves  in  an  orderly  manner  are  invited, 
and  all  such  are  made  welcome.  We  have  no  apprehension  that 
the  threats  of  a  few  shoulder-hitters,  urged  on  by  those  who  lack 
but  the  courage  to  do  that  which  they  urge  others  to  do,  will  be 
carried  out.  The  Democrats  present  will  preserve  the  peace  and 
the  credit  of  our  city,  and  will  tolerate  no  disturbance  of  any  kind. 
No  affray,  no  disturbance,  will  be  commenced  by  them,  but  they  will 
promptly  end  all  such  summarily,  and  with  as  little  disorder  as  the 
nature  of  the  case  will  admit. 

This  advice  was  taken,  and,  without  interruption,  the  speech  was 
delivered  to  a  vast  assembly,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Court-IIousc. 
Of  this  speech,  Gov.  Mcdary,  republishing  it  in  the   Crisis,  said : 

It  should  be  read  by  every  voter  in  the  United  States.  Nothing 
equal  to  it  has  been  made  during  the  past  few  years.  Seldom  has 
it  ever  been  equaled  for  power,  pathos,  purity  of  diction,  and  truth- 
fulness in  point  of  facts.  Elevated  in  tone,  statesmanlike  in  concep- 
tion, it  thrills  the  reader  as  though  fresh  from  a  lloman  Senate  in 
the  hour  of  Rome's  most  terrible  trials  for  freedom  and  existence. 
It  should  be  read  in  every  school-house,  to  the  assembled  people, 
before  the  elections,  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  next  October. 

The  following  report  is  full  in  some  parts,  in  others  condensed  : 

Mr.  Vallandigham  began  by  an  allusion  to  the  fact  that  he  had 
arranged  to  be  absent  from  the  city,  ou  a  visit  to  an  aged  and  very 
near  relative,  but  that,  meantime,  false  charges,  and  rumors  also  as  to 
intended  arrests,  were  started.  My  rule,  said  he,  is  to  always  meet 
such  things  a  little  more  than  half  way.  Conscious  of  rectitude,  I 
mean,  face  to  face  with  every  foe  and  every  danger,  to  do  all,  and  to 
bear  all  that  may  become  a  man  ;  and,  therefore,  at  much  incon- 
venience, I  have  postponed  my  visit,  and  am  here  to-night,  surrounded 
by  thousands  of  such  constituents  and  friends  as  no  man  ever  had. 

He  then  referred  to  the  spring  election  and  its  result  in  this  city, 
upon  a  direct  issue  against  himself,  presented  to  and  accepted  by  his 
friends — the  triumphant  election  of  the  whole  Democratic  city  ticket; 
and  observed  that  the  lesson  to  our  enemies  was  a  severe  one,  and 
that  they  ought  to  learn  from  it  that  there  was  such  a  thing  as  abus- 
ing a  man  so  persistently,  wantonly,  and  wickedly,  as  to  make  him 
immensely  popular.* 

Mr.  V.  next  gave  a  full  and  minute  narrative  of  the  infamous  con- 
spiracy just  exploded,  to  procure  his  arrest  as  "implicated"  with  two 
clergymen  from  the  "  Uurder  States,"  who  had  been   guests   at   his 

*"The  City  of  Dayton  repudiates  Clement  L.  Vallandigham." — Dayton 
Republican  Platform. 


STATE    OF    THE    COUNTRY.  137 

house.  Nothing  had  been  found ;  both  of  them  were  promptly 
released,  and  the  whole  plot  had  failed.  But  those  concerned  in  it, 
some  of  them  '•  Christians,"  were  known,  and  would  be  remembered. 
A  telegraphic  dispatch  had  been  prepared  by  one  of  the  conspirators, 
and  sent  oiF  to  the  New  York  Tribune^  from  Dayton,  though  dated  at 
Columbus,  announcing  his  (Mr.  V.'s)  "arrest;"  and  it  had  never 
been  contradicted  to  this  day.*  Democrats,  said  he,  have  never 
received  any  justice  at  the  hand  of  the  telegraph,  and  never  will,  till 
after  the  4th  of  March,  1865,  when,  with  every  thing  else,  it  will  be 
in  Democratic  hands.  The  llepublican  party  are  teaching  us  many 
things,  and  may  find  us  apt  scholars,  possibly  improving  on  their 
lessons,  if  they  shall  finally  succeed  in  overthrowing  all  constitution, 
law,  and  order.     But  I  trust  that  it  will  never  come  to  this. 

I  am  for  obedience  to  all  laws  and  constitutions.  No  man  can  be 
a  good  democrat  who  is  not  in  favor  of  law  and  order.  No  matter 
how  distasteful  constitutions  and  laws  may  be,  they  must  be  obeyed. 
I  am  opposed  to  all  mobs,  and  opposed  also — inexorably  opposed 
above  every  thing,  to  all  violations  of  constitution  and  law  by  men  in 
authority — public  servants.  The  danger  from  usurpations  and  viola- 
tions  by  them  is  fifty-fold  greater  than  from  any  other  quarter, 
because  these  violations  and  usurpations  come  clothed  with  the  false 
semblance  of  authority.  Those  parts  of  our  constitutions  and  laws 
which  command  or  restrain  the  people  must  be  obeyed  ;  but  still 
more  must  those  also  which  limit  and  restrain  public  servants^  from 
the  President  down.  There  are  rights  of  the  people,  to  secure  which 
constitutions  were  ordained,  and  they  must  and  will  be  exacted  at  all 
hazards  ;  and  among  the  most  sacred  of  these  rights,  are  free  speech, 
a  free  press,  public  assemblages,  political  liberty,  and  above  all,  or 
at  least,  at  the  foundation  of  all,  personal  liberty,  or  freedom 
from  illegal  and  arbitrary  arrests.  It  was  a  right,  secured  in  Greece, 
while  she  was  free,  and  in  Rome  in  her  purer  days.  But  it  is  pecul- 
iarly an  Anglo-Saxon  right;  and  it  has  cost  more  struggles  in  En- 
gland to  hold  it  fast  than  any  other.  The  right  is  declared,  in  the 
strongest  language,  in  the  Great  Charter,  in  the  time  of  King 
John,  six  hundred  years  ago.  Here  is  the  pledge  wrung  from  the 
tyrant  by  men,  none  of  whom  could  read  or  write,  but  who  were 
resolved  to  be  free  : 

"  No  freeman  shall  be  arrested,  or  imprisoned,  or  disseized  (of  property),  or 
outlawed,  or  banished,  or  any  ways  injured,  nor  will  we  psiss  sentence  upon 
him,  nor  send  trial  upon  him,  unless  by  the  legal  judgment  of  his  peers, 

OK  BY  THE   LAW  OF   THE  LAND." 

This  is  the  '•  keystone  of  English  liberty,"  the  pride  and  boast 
of  every  Englishman.  The  violation  of  it  cost  one  English  monarch 
his  head,  another  his  crown,  and  a  third  his  most  valuable  colonies; 
and  to-day,  if  Queen  Victoria  were  to  attempt  to  suspend  it  by  tele- 
graph, or  by  executive  order,  or  order  of  privy  council  in  any  way, 
she  would  be  a  refugee  in  a  foreign  laud  before  a  fortnight. 

*  A  full  account  of  the  infamous  transaction  here  referred  to,  was  published 
in  the  Dayton  Empire^  Aug.  5,  18G2. 


138  STATE   OF   THE   COUNTRY. 

Eighty  years  later,  this  sacred  and  invaluable  right  to  be  free  from 
arrest,  except  by  law,  was  confirmed  ;  and  in  1G27,  by  the  celebrated 
Petition  of  Right,  drawn  up  by  that  great  lawyer,  Lord  Coke,  was 
again  confirmed  and  extended,  as  follow  : 

"  No  man,  of  what  estate  or  condition  that  he  be,  shall  be  put  out  of  his 
land,  or  tenements,  nor  arrested,  noi'  imprisoned,  nor  disinherited,  nor  put 
to  death,  without  being  brought  to  answer  by  due  process  of  law." 

And  it  was  further  provided  that  no  commissioner  should  be 
appointed  to  try  any  one  by  "  martial  law,"  who  was  not  in  the  array, 
"  lest  by  color  of  them,  any  of  his  Majesty's  subjects  be  destroyed, 
or  put  to  death,  contrary  to  the  laws  and  franchises  of  the  land." 

Next  came  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act  of  1G79,  to  secure  the  rights 
asserted  by  the  Great  Charter  and  its  confirmations,  a  statute  by 
virtue  of  which,  saj^s  Lord  Campbell — and  with  shame  I  confess  now 
to  the  justice  of  the  proud  boast — ''Personal  liberty  has  been  more 
efiectually  guarded  in  England  than  it  has  in  any  country  in  the 
world." 

Next  after  this  came  the  Bill  of  Rights  of  1689,  enacted  by  the 
profoundest  statesmen  and  purest  patriots  which  England  ever  had. 
These  great  and  good  men,  after  that,  by  arms,  they  had  driven 
James  II  from  the  throne,  for  his  repeated  violations  of  the  rights 
of  Englishmen,  declared  that  he  had  been  guilty  of  an  attempt  to 
Bubvert  the  laws  and  liberties  of  the  kingdom,  among  other  things : 

"  1.  By  assuming  and  exercising  a  power  of  dispensing  with  and  suspending 
of  laws  and  the  execution  uf  laws,  without  consent  of  Farliamejit. 

"  2.  By  committing  and  prosecuting  divers  worthy  prelates,  for  humbly  peti- 
tioning to  be  excused  from  concurring  to  the  said  assumed  power. 

"  7.  By  violating  the  freedom  of  election  of  members  to  serve  in  Parliament. 

"All  which,"  say  they,  "are  utterly  and  directly  contrary  to  the  known 
laws  and  statutes  and  freedom  of  this  realm." 

These,  sir,  are  the  "  Liberties  of  Englishmen."  They  are  the 
Liberties  which  were  brought  over  by  our  ancestors  from  England, 
and  embodied  in  all  our  constitutions  and  laws.  In  1041,  twenty 
years  after  the  first  settlement  of  Massachusetts,  that  infant  colony 
declared,  in  her  "  Body  of  Liberties,"  that 

"No  man's  life  shall  be  taken  away,  no  man's  honor  or  good  name  .shall  be 
etained,  no  man's  person  shall  be  arrested,  restrained,  banished,  dismembered, 
nor  any  ways  punjshed,  no  man  shall  be  deprived  of  his  wife  or  children,  no 
man's  goods  or  estate  shall  be  taken  away  from  him,  nor  any  way  endamaged 
under  color  of  law  or  countenance  of  authority,  unless  it  be  by  virtue  or  equity 
of  some  express  law  of  the  country,  warranting  the  same,  etc. 

"  No  man's  person  shall  be  restrained  or  imprisoned  by  any  authority  what- 
soever, before  the  law  hath  sentenced  him  thereto,  if  he  can  put  in  sufQcient 
security,  bail,  or  mainprise,"  etc. 

So,  also,  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  July  4th,  1776, 
among  the  many  grievances  set  forth  against  the  king,  are  the 
following : 

"  He  has  affected  to  render  the  military  independent  of,  and  superior  to,  tho 
civil  power : 

"For  depriving  us,  in  many  cases,  of  the  benefits  of  trial  by  jury: 
"For  transporting  us  beyond  seas  to  be  tried  for  pretended  offenses." 


STATE   OF   THE   COUNTKY.  139 

In  the  Virginia  "  Bill  of  Rights  "  of  1776,  written  also  by  Jefferson, 
it  is  declared  that — 

"All  power  is  vested  in,  and  consequently  derived  from,  the  people;  that 
magistrates  are  their  trustees  and  servants,  and  at  all  times  amenable  to  them. 

"  All  power  of  suspending  laws,  or  the  execution  of  laws,  by  any  authority, 
without  consent  of  the  representatives  of  the  people,  is  injurious  to  their  rights, 
and  ought  not  to  be  exercised. 

"/rt  all  cases  the  military  should  be  under  strict  subordination  to,  and  gov- 
erned by,  the  civil  power. 

"Freedom  of  the  press  is  one  of  the  great  bulwarks  of  liberty,  and  can 
never  be  restrained,  but  by  despotic  governments." 

And  3'et  again  ;  in  the  "  Declaration  of  Rights  "  of  Massachusetts, 
in  1780,  it  is  laid  down  that — 

"No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  any  crime  or  offense,  until  the  same 
is  fully  and  plainly,  substantially  and  formally  described  to  him.  And  no  per- 
son shall  be  arrested,  imprisoned,  or  despoiled,  or  deprived  of  his  property,  im- 
munities, or  privileges,  put  out  of  the  protection  of  the  law,  exiled  or  deprived 
of  his  life,  liberty,  or  estate,  but  by  the  judgment  of  his  peers,  or  the  law  of  the 
land. 

"Every  person  has  a  right  to  be  secure  from  all  unreasonable  searches  and 
seizures  of  his  person,  his  houses,  his  papers,  and  all  his  possessions. 

"The  liberty  of  the  press  is  essential  to  the  security  of  freedom  in  a  State. 

"The  people  have  a  right  to  keep  and  bear  arms  for  the  common  defense. 
The  military  power  shall  always  be  held  in  exact  siibordinatio7i  to  the  civil 
authority,  and  be  governed  by  it. 

"  The  people  have  a  right  in  an  orderly  and  peaceable  manner  to  assemble, 
to  consult  upon  the  common  good. 

"The  power  of  suspending  the  laws  ought  never  to  be  exercised  but  by  the 
Legislature,  or  by  autiiority  derived  from  it,  to  be  exercised  in  such  particular 
cases  only  as  the  Legislature  shall  expressly  provide  for. 

"  No  person  can,  in  any  case,  be  subjected  to  law  martial,  or  to  any  penalties 
or  pains,  by  virtue  of  that  law,  (except  those  employed  in  tlie  army  or  navy, 
and  except  the  militia  in  actual  service,)  butby  authority  of  the  Legislature." 

Such  were  the  liberties  of  Americans  in  the  Revolutionary  period 
of  our  history,  and  before  it ;  and  they  have  been  embodied  in  all 
our  constitutions  ever  since. 

Let  the  present  Constitution  of  Ohio  speak.  In  our  "  Bill  of 
Rights  "  we  declare  that 

"All  political  power  is  inherent  in  the  people. 

"  The  people  have  the  right  to  assemble  together  in  a  peaceable  manner,  to 
consult  for  their  common  good  ;  to  instruct  their  representatives,  and  to  petition 
the  General  Assembly  for  the  redress  of  grievances. 

"The  people  have  the  right  to  bear  arms  for  their  defense  and  security. 
The  military  shall  be  in  strict  subordination  to  the  civil  power. 

"  The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended,  unless, 
in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  require  it.  No  power  of 
suspending  laivs  shall  ever  be  exercised  except  by  the  General  Assembly. 

"In  any  trial,  in  any  court,  the  part}'  accused  shall  be  allowed  a  speedy 
public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  county  or  district  in  which  the 
offense  is  alleged  to  have  been  committed. 

"Every  citizen  may  freely  speak,  write,  and  publish  his  sentiments  on  all 
subjects,  being  responsible  for  the  abuse  of  the  right;  and  no  law  shall  be 
passed  to  abridge  the  liberty  of  speech  or  of  the  press. 

"The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  papers,  an«l 
possessions,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,  shall  not  be  violated. 


140  STATE    OF   THE   COUNTRY. 

"  All  courts  shall  bo  open,  and  justice  administered  vrithout  denial  or 
delay." 

Similar  provisions  exist  in  every  State  constitution  in  the  United 
States,  tlius  securing  every  citizen  from  State  tyranny  and  oppression. 
Nor  is  the  Federal  Constitution  less  ample  and  explicit.     Hear  it : 

"  All  lesjislative  powers  herein  granted  shall  be  vested  in  a  Congress  of  the 
TJnitod  States." 

"  The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended,  unless 
when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  require  it." 

Now,  sir,  from  the  beginning  of  the  Government  down  to  the  year 
1861,  no  lawyer,  no  jurist,  no  statesman,  no  writer  upon  the  Consti- 
tution, ever  pretended  that  the  President,  or  any  other  authority, 
could  suspend  the  privilege  of  this  writ,  except  Congress  alone. 

But  I  read  further : 

"The  judicial  power  shall  extend  to  all  cases  in  law  and  equity  arising 
under  this  Constitution,  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  treaties  made,  or 
which  shall  be  made,  under  their  authority, 

"  The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  shall  be  \>y  jury, 
and  such  trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where  the  said  crimes  shall  have 
been  committed. 

"  Treason  against  the  United  States  shall  consist  only  in  levying  war  against 
them,  or  in  adhering  to  their  enemies,  giving  them  aid  and  comfort.  No 
person  shall  be  convicted  of  treason  unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  wit- 
nesses to  the  same  overt  act,  or  on  confession  in  open  court. 

"  Congress  shall  make  no  law  I'cspecting  an  establishment  of  religion,  or 
prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof;  or  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech,  or 
of  the  ])ress ;  or  the  riglit  of  the  people  peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to  petition 
the  government  for  a  redress  of  grievances. 

"The  right  <if  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  shall  not  be  infringed. 

"  The  right  of  the  peoi)le  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  papers,  and 
eifects,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,  shall  not  be  violated ;  and 
no  warrant  shall  issue  but  upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  oath  or  athrma- 
tion,  and  particularly  describing  the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the  persons  and 
things  to  be  seized. 

"  No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital  or  otherwise  infamous 
crime,  unless  on  a  presentment  or  indictment  of  a  grand  jury,  except  in  cases 
arising  in  the  land  and  naval  forces,  or  in  the  militia,  when  in  actual  service, 
in  time  of  war  and  public  danger;  nor  shall  be  depkived  of  life,  lib- 
erty, OR  PR0Pf:RTY,  WITHOUT  DUE  PROCESS  OF  LA"w;  nor  shall  private  prop- 
erty be  taken  for  public  use  without  just  compensation. 

"In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  enjoj'  the  right  to  a  speedy 
and  public  trial  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  state  and  district  wherein  the 
crime  shall  have  been  committed,  which  district  shall  have  been  previously 
ascertained  by  law;  and  to  be  informed  of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the 
accusation;  to  be  confronted  with  the  witnesses  against  him;  to  have  com- 
pulsory process  for  obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor,  and  to  have  the  assistance 
of  counsel  for  his  defense. 

"The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor 
prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  respectively,  or  to 
the  people." 

These,  thus  repeated  and  multiplied  over  and  over  again,  are  the 
Magna  Charta  of  American  freemen.  They  constitute  the  BuJy  of 
American  Liberties.  They  cost  much  blood  and  treasure,  and  are 
worth   the   most  precious  treasure  and  blood  of  the  whole  country. 


STATE    OF   THE    COUNTRY.  141 

Let  them  be  maintained  at  every  hazard  and  sacrifice.  They  are 
dearer  in  time  of  war  and  public  danger,  than  in  time  of  peace. 
They  are  secured  by  the  Constitution,  and  can  only  be  forfeited  ia 
accordance  with  the  Constitution.  I  abhor  and  denounce  the  mon- 
strous doctrine,  so  rife  of  late,  that  the  Constitution  is  suspended  in 
time  of  war ;  or  that  the  powers  under  it  are  enlarged ;  or,  at  least, 
that  there  is  a  "  war  power  "  above  and  greater  than  the  Constitu- 
tion. Sir,  that  instrument  was  made  for  war  as  well  as  peace.  It 
expressly  gives  to  Congress  the  right  to  declare  war,  raise  armies, 
provide  navies,  and  call  out  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws,  suppress 
insurrection,  put  down  rebellion,  and  repel  invasion.  Every  power, 
the  very  utmost  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  on  any  war,  for- 
eign or  domestic,  is  explicitly  given.  The  "tyrant's  plea"  of  neces- 
sity, is  false.  No  power  that  ought  to  be  exercised  is  withheld,  and 
every  usurpation  is  utterly  without  excuse.  Whoever  maintains  that 
the  framers  of  the  Constitution  failed  to  make  it  good  enough  and 
strong  enough  for  any  crisis — for  war  and  for  peace — libels  Wash- 
ington and  Madison  and  Hamilton,  and  the  other  patriots  of  '87. 
And  the  man  who  denounces  "  sticklers  "  for  the  Constitution,  and 
declares  that  he  can  tell  a  "traitor"  by  his  crying  out  for  the  Con- 
stitution, is  himself  a  traitor  or  a  fool.     Keep  an  eye  on  him. 

We  have  no  hope  for  ourselves,  or  ou.r  children,  except  in  the  Con- 
stitution. The  President,  more  than  any  other  man,  is  bound  to 
obey  it.  He  takes  a  solemn  oath  to  support  it.  It  is  his  duty  to 
act  according  to  law.  Among  the  personal  rights  under  the  Consti- 
tution is  that  of  habeas  corpus.  The  uniform-  testimony  of  courts 
and  statesmen  is  that  it  can  be  suspended  only  by  Congress.  If  the 
President  can  suspend  it,  it  can  only  be  by  proclamation,  declaring 
where,  and  for  how  long  it  is  suspended.  He  has  no  right  to  send 
a  dispatch  for  the  arrest  of  any  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  to 
say  that,  by  that  act,  his  minions  are  authorized  to  suspend  the  writ. 
Better  to  live  in  Austria,  in  Turkey,  or  under  any  other  admitted 
despotism,  than  where  the  President,  the  servant  of  the  people,  shall 
seize,  without  "due  process  of  law,"  and  carry  off  to  prison  any  citi- 
zen under  the  pretence  of  treason. 

These  guarantees  were  not  in  the  original  Constitution,  but  de- 
manded by  the  States  and  the  people,  and  added  afterwards.  They 
were  added  for  fear  some  President  might  be  elected  who  would 
claim  to  have  the  power,  if  not  expressly  withheld  by  the  Constitu- 
tion. What  are  they?  Freedom  of  speech,  of  the  press,  peaceable 
assemblages,  the  right  to  keep  and  bear  arms,  freedom  from  illegal 
arrest.  Yet  you  have  been  told  that  we  shall  not  be  allowed  to  enjoy 
these  rights — that  "executive  orders"  shall  be  issued  against  us — 
that  men  who  represent  the  voice  of  the  people  shall  not  be  heard — 
that  the  press  shall  be  muzzled,  and  men's  mouths  gagged,  and  no 
censure  or  criticism  of  the  acts  of  the  President,  or  of  the  officials 
under  him,  shall  be  permitted,  under  penalty  of  arrest  and  imprison- 
ment ;  and,  thus,  that  our  personal  and  political  liberties  shall  be 
disregarded,  and  the  Constitution  trampled  under  foot. 

Well,  sir,  we  shall  see  about  it.     "  No  person  shall  be  deprived  of 


142  BTATE    OF   THE    COUNTRY. 

life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law.^'  Every  civil 
officer  knows  what  "  due  process  of  law  "  is,  and,  when  armed  with 
such  due  process,  it  is  the  duty  of  every  person  to  obey.  But  who- 
ever comes  with  any  other  papers,  or  any  pretence  of  authority,  by 
telegraphic  dispatch,  or  otherwise,  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  Com- 
niandcr-iri-chief,  or  President,  deserves  to  be  met  as  a  burglar.  It  is 
a  desecration  of  the  citizen.  There  is  a  statute  against  it.  Let  such 
persons  be  met  by  the  law.  Every  house  is  a  castle,  the  poor  man's 
cottage  as  well  as  the  rich  man's  palace,  in  which  he  may  defy  arbi- 
trary power.  Such  is  the  law  in  England.  In  the  language  of  Lord 
Chatham,  in  that  noblest  outburst  of  Engli.sh  eloquence,  "  The  poorest 
man  in  his  cottage  may  bid  defiance  to  all  the  forces  of  the  Crown. 
It  may  be  frail  ;  its  roof  may  shake ;  the  wind  may  blow  through  it ; 
the  storm  may  enter  ;  the  rain  may  enter ;  but  the  King  of  England 
can  not  enter  it.  All  his  power  dares  not  cross  the  threshold  of  that 
ruined  tenement."     (Tremendous  cheering.) 

This  right  is  equally  sacred  and  secured  to  us  here  in  America, 
and  we  will  never  yield  it  up.  least  of  all  to  our  own  public  servants. 
The  sooner  it  is  made  known  to  this  Administration  that  the  people 
who  created  it  and  put  it  in  power  will  maintain  their  rights,  the 
less  trouble  there  will  be.  I  but  repeat  the  declaration  of  the  two 
hundred  thousand  Democratic  voters  of  Ohio — fifty  thousand  of  them 
in  the  army  from  this  State — that  freedom  can  not  be  violated  by  the 
Administration.  Hear  the  resolution  of  that  Democracy,  in  State 
Convention  assembled,  on  the  4th  of  July  last: 

"That  we  view  with  indignation  and  alarm  the  illegal  and  unconstitutional 
eeizure  and  imprisonment,  for  alleged  political  offenses,  of  our  citizens,  with- 
out judicial  process,  in  States  where  such  process  was  unobstructed,  but,  by 
executive  order,  by  telegraph  or  otherwise;  and  call  upon  all  who  uphold  the 
Union,  tha  Constitution,  and  the  laws,  to  unite  with  us  in  denouncing  and 
repelling  such  flagrant  violation  of  the  State  and  Federal  Constitutions  and 
tyrannical  infraction  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  American  citizens;  and 
that  the  people  of  this  State  can  not  safely,  and  will  not  submit  to 
have  the  freedom  of  speech  and  the  freedom  of  the  press,  the  two  great 
e.ssential  bulwarks  of  civil  liberty,  put  down  by  unwarranted  and  despotic 
exertion  of  power." 

Sir,  the  men  who  urge  on  these  violations  know  not  what  they  do. 
The  title  to  your  lands,  to  your  personal  property,  the  legal  right 
to  all  you  have,  rests  in  obedience  to  constitution  and  laws.  Let 
this  terrible  truth  be  proclaimed  everywhere,  that  whenever,  either 
through  infi-action  and  usurpation  by  the  President,  or  by  violence, 
the  Constitution  is  no  longer  of  binding  force  and  the  hifrhest  rule 
of  action,  then  we  are  at  the  mercy  of  mere  power,  military  power 
at  last.  This  is  despotism,  absolute,  unmixed,  cruel  despotism — a 
despotism  enforcing  its  orders  to-day  by  arbitrary  imprisonments, 
and  to-morrow  by  bloody  executions.  Let  all  men  who  love  the 
peace,  good  order,  and  happiness  of  society,  who  desire  that  the  rights 
of  all  classes,  and  that  rights  of  all  kinds  shall  be  maintained,  lift 
up  their  voices  against  the  arbitrary  and  unconstitutional  acts  of  the 
party  in  power.  Men  of  the  Ptcpublican  party,  it  is  your  day  now: 
to-morrow,  it  may  be,  it  will  be   ours.     Be  warned  in  time.     Stand 


STATE   OF  THE  COUNTRY.  143 

by  the  Constitution — by  law  and  order.  Do  nothing  by  usurpation 
or  violence.  It  must  react — it  will  react — and  there  is  no  raging 
flood,  no  mountain  torrent,  neither  the  whirlwind,  the  surging  ocean, 
nor  the  avalanche,  like  the  madness  of  an  oppressed  and  outraged 
people.  Do  men  who  are  inciting  to  mobs  and  acts  of  violence,  or 
applauding  usurpation  and  infraction  of  Constitution  and  law,  not 
know  that  they  are  those  who  suffer  most  and  worst  in  the  end? 
Do  they  imagine  that  they  whose  nights,  sacred,  by  God's  appoint- 
ment, to  silence  and  rest,  have  been  invaded  without  process  of  law, 
and  their  wives  and  children  terror-stricken  by  arbitrary  arrests  of 
husbands  and  fathers — editors  and  public  men  of  the  loyal  States, 
who  have  languished,  for  opinion's  sake,  within  Bastiles  for  months — 
will  have  no  day  of  reckoning  for  all  these  enormities?  Sir,  that 
great  reaction  has  set  in ;  it  hastens  on.  0,  that  you  may  allow  it 
to  be  under  the  Constitution  and  according  to  law — but  come  it  will ; 
and  be  assured — be  assured — that  when  that  great  day  of  account 
does  come,   by  the   measure   you   have   meted   out  to  us,  by 

THAT  measure  SHALL  IT  BE  METED  OUT  TO  YOU  AGAIN.  Remem- 
ber, remember,  that  wrongs  like  these  burn  deep  into  the  innermost 
recesses  of  our  souls,  steeling  them  against  atonement  and  mercy ; 
and  that  when  the  inevitable  change  which  already  is  hurrying  on 
upon  the  wings  of  the  wind,  shall  have  arrived,  that  same  power  by 
virtue  of  which  you  imprison  us,  will  be  in  our  hands.  Be  warned 
in  time.  All  history  has  been  written  in  vain,  if  our  day  does  not 
come,  and  come  right  speedily : 

"For  time  at  last  sets  all  things  even — • 
And  if  we  do  but  watch  the  hour, 
There  never  yet  was  human  power 
"Which  could  evade,  if  unforgiven, 
The  patient  search  and  vigil  long 
Of  him  who  treasures  up  a  wrong." 

I  speak  it  not  as  a  menace,  but  by  way  of  entreaty,  that  your 
hereafter  in  this  life  depends  upon  your  adherence  to  the  laws  and 
Constitution.  And  yet  I  am  amazed  to  learn  that  men  of  wealth 
and  position  in  this  city — lawyers,  clergy,  merchants,  and  others — - 
are  proclaiming  that  those  in  authority  have  a  right  to  disobey  the 
Constitution  and  laws,  and  ought  to  disobey  them,  to  secure  objects 
which  can  not  be  had  without  disregarding  all  law  and  the  personal 
and  political  rights  of  the  citizen.  Do  these  men  know  what  they 
do?     Have  they  read  history? 

Mr.  Vallandigham  here  referred,  at  length,  to  Greece,  Eome,  England, 
and  the  French  Revolution  for  historic  parallels,  reading  from  the  10th  and 
I4th  chapters  of  Allison's  History  of  Europe.  He  quoted  the  "Law  of  Sus- 
pected Persons,"  under  which  all  France  was  divided  into  twelve  classes  liable 
to  arrest;  among  them  the  following: 

"  1.  All  those  who,  in  the  assemblies  of  the  people,  discourage  their  enthu- 
siasm b}'  cries,  menaces,  or  crafty  discourses.  2.  All  those  who  more  prudently 
epeak  only  of  the  misfortunes  of  the  Republic,  and  are  always  ready  to  spread 
bad  news  with  an  afl'ected  air  of  sorrow.  3.  All  those  who  have  changed 
their  conduct  and  language  according  to  the  course  of  events,  who  were  mute 
on  the  crimes  of  the  Koyulists,  and  loudly  exclaimed  against  the  slight  fauiU 


144  STATE   OF  TUE    COUNTRY. 

of  the  Republicans.  10.  Those  who  speak  with  contempt  of  the  constituted 
authorities,  the  ensigns  of  the  law,  tlie  popular  societies,  or  the  '  defenders 
of  liberty,'"  etc. 

Having  read  these  passages,  Mr.  Vallaxdigham  proceeded: 

Sir,  fifty  thousand  "  Revolutionary  Committees "  spranjr  up  ia 
France  to  execute  this  terrible  decree.  They  numbered  five  hund- 
red and  forty  thousand  members,  each  one  a  special  marshal  or 
policeman  to  enforce  it ;  and  in  a  few  weeks  seven  hundred  thousand 
citizens  were  suspected  of  "disloyalty."  The  prisons  were  speedily 
loaded  with  victims  in  every  part  of  France.  "Let  them  quake  in 
their  cells,"  said  Collot  d'  Herbois,  in  the  Convention  ;  "  let  the  base 
traitors  tremble  at  the  successes  of  our  enemies ;  let  a  mine  be  dug 
under  their  prisons,  and  at  the  approach  of  those  whom  they  call 
their  liberators,  let  a  spark  blow  them  into  the  air." 

Mr.  Vallandigham  then  read  a  passage  concluding  as  follows; 

"Night  came,  but  with  it  no  diminution  of  the  anxietj^of  the  people.  Every 
family  early  assembled  its  members ;  with  trembling  looks  they  gazed  round 
the  room,  fearful  that  the  very  walls  might  harbor  traitors.  The  sound  of  a 
foot,  the  stroke  of  a  hammer,  a  voice  in  the  streets,  froze  all  hearts  with  hor- 
ror. If  a  knock  was  heard  at  the  door,  every  one,  in  agonized  suspense, 
expected  his  fate.  Unable  to  endure  such  protracted  misery,  numbers  com- 
mitted suicide." 

Sir,  all  of  these  enormities  sprang  first  from  a  disregard  of  \afr 
and  right  in  little  things,  or  in  violations  declared  to  be  "  necessary  j" 
and  advanced  step  by  step,  till  they  culminated  in  the  bloody  and 
accumulated  atrocities  of  Marat,  Danton,  and  Robespierre,  when,  by 
execution  or  massacre,  tens  of  thousands  perished.  All  history  is 
but  a  repetition  of  itself;  and  what  has  been,  may  be.  You  of  the 
Republican  party  did  not  believe  me,  two  years  and  more  ago,  when 
I  foretold  that  Abolition  and  sectionalism  must  and  would  produce 
civil  war.  And  you  do  not  believe  me  now.  Neither  did  the  ante- 
diluvians believe  Noah ;  but  the  Flood  came. 

It  is  the  history  of  the  past,  that,  in  times  of  great  public  danger, 
the  provisions  of  the  law  will  not  be  respected.  It  was  that  which 
made  France  go  into  such  great  excesses.  They  began  with  the 
savans  and  lawyers  of  France,  who  taught  the  multitude  that  con- 
stitutions and  laws  and  personal  rights  did  not  stand  in  their  way ; 
and  that  men  might  be  imprisoned  or  put  to  death  without  process 
of  law.  In  such  cases,  power  falls  always,  at  last,  into  the  hands  of 
the  worst  of  men. 

Let  the  day  of  reckoning  come,  and  these  men  will  peri^:-h  as  they 
have  done  in  all  ages.  Robespierre  died  horribly  in  atonement  for 
his  crimes ;  and,  as  the  ax  fell  upon  his  neck,  a  woman  exclaimed  in 
tones  of  terrible  exultation :  "  Murderer  of  my  kindred,  your  agony 
fills  me  with  joy;  descend  to  hell,  covered  with  the  curses  of  every 
mother  in  France!" 

Sirs,  by  the  memories  of  the  past,  by  the  history  of  the  tyrannies 
of  Greece  and  Rome,  and  the  terrors  of  the  French  Revolution,  I 
call  on  all  men  to  demand  of  the  Administration  that  it  obey  the 
Constitution.     If  any  man  is  a  traitor,  guilty  of  any  act  of  treasoa — 


STATE   OF  THE   COUNTRY.  145 

not  for  opinion's  sake,  not  for  political  differences — let  liim  be  pro- 
ceeded against  according  to  law,  and,  if  guilty,  let  him  perish  on  a 
gallows  as  high  as  Haman's.  It  is  because  I  would  avoid  these 
horrors  that  I  call  on  the  President  to  keep  the  exercise  of  the  mil- 
itary law  where  the  Constitution  keeps  it,  in  the  army  and  navy — 
and  to  see  to  it  that  no  man,  not  in  the  army  and  navy,  shall  be 
arrested  without  ''  due  process  of  law." 

Hear  the  Constitution  again  :  "  No  person  shall  be  deprived  of  life, 
liberty,  or  property  without  due  process  of  law."  "  The  accused 
shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial  by  an  impartial 
jury."  Was  this,  was  either  of  these  rights  "enjoyed"  by  Flanders, 
of  Malone,  in  New  York,  a  Democratic  editor,  who  was  dragged  from 
his  family,  imprisoned  for  months,  and  then  released  without  charge 
against  him,  and  without  redress  for  the  wrong?  Were  they  enjoyed 
by  General  Chra'les  Stone?  Were  they  not  flagrantly  violated  in  the 
person  of  James  W.  Wall,  the  honored  son  of  a  patriot  Senator  of 
New  Jersey?  Have  they  been  allowed  to  any  one  arrested  by  "Ex- 
ecutive order?"  Sir,  this  Administration  has  no  Constitutional  or 
legal  authority  to  make  these  arrests.  I  have  as  good  a  right  to 
arrest  the  President,  or  any  one  of  his  Cabinet,  as  he  or  they  have  to 
arrest  me  or  any  other  citizen  in  this  manner.  The  Constitution  is 
broad  enough  and  strong  enough  for  any  emergency.  It  points  out 
the  mode  of  arrest  and  trial  wherever  there  is  actual  or  suspected 
guilt.  Let  it  be  obeyed.  I,  too,  have  sworn  to  support  that  Constitu- 
tion ;  and,  more  than  that,  I  have  done  it.  I  demand  that  all  men,  from 
the  humblest  citizen  up  to  the  President,  shall  be  made  to  obey  it 
likewise.  In  no  other  way  can  we  have  liberty,  order,  security.  I 
was  born  a  freeman.  I  shall  die  a  freeman.  It  is  appointed  to  all 
men  once  to  die ;  and  death  never  comes  too  soon  to  one  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duty.  I  have  chosen  my  course — have  pursued  it — 
have  adhered  to  it  to  this  hour,  and  will  to  the  end,  regardless  of 
consequences.  My  opinions  are  immovable ;  fire  can  not  melt  them 
out  of  me.  I  scorn  the  mob.  I  defy  arbitrary  power.  I  may  be 
imprisoned  for  opinion's  sake — never  for  crime ;  never  because  false 
to  the  country  of  my  birth,  or  disloyal  to  the  Constitution  which  I 
worship.  Other  patriots,  in  other  ages,  have  suffered  before  me.  I 
may  die  for  the  cause;  be  it  so  ;  but  the  "immortal  fire  shall  outlast 
the  humble  organ  which  conveys  it,  and  the  breath  of  liberty,  like 
the  word  of  the  holy  man,  will  not  die  with  the  prophet,  but  survive 
him."     (Loud  cheers.) 

And,  meantime,  men  of  Dayton,  the  opinions  which  I  entertain, 
the  deep  convictions  that  control  me  in  that  course  which,  before 
Almighty  God,  I  believe  can  alone  maintain  the  Constitution  and 
restore  the  Union  as  our  fathers  made  it,  I  never,  never  will  yield  up. 
Neither  hight  nor  depth,  neither  death  nor  life,  nor  principalities,  nor 
powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come — no,  nor  the  knife  of 
the  assassin,  shall  move  me  from  my  firm  purpose.  (Great  and  long- 
continued  cheering.) 

The  President  professes  to  think  that  the  Union  can  be  restored 
by  arms.  I  do  not.  A  Union  founded  on  consent  can  never  be 
10 


146  STATE    OF    THE    COUNTRY. 

ceiuciitcd  by  force.     This  is  the  testimony  of  the  Fathers.     It  was 
his  own.     He  said,  in  his  Inaugural,  but  sixteen  months  ago  : 

"Suppose  you  go  to  war,  you  can  not  fight  nlwnys;  and  when,  after  much 
loss  on  bvih  sic/e.i,  and  no  gain  on  either,  you  cease  lighting,  the  old  identical 
questions  as  to  terms  of  intercourse  are  upon  you." 

I  a,i;ree  with  hira  in  that.  But  now  we  are  in  the  midst  of  war, 
and  tlioy  who  really  think  that  war  will  maintain  the  Constitution 
and  restore  the  Union,  ought  to  fight.  I  am  for  the  Union  in  any 
event.  It  is  an  impelling  necessity,  it  is  manifest  destiny,  certainly 
in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  that  we  be  one  people.  We  never 
can  fulfill  the  Great  Mission  appointed  for  us  without  it.  But,  under 
Providence,  it  can  onl}^  be  brought  about  through  the  wisdom,  cour- 
age, and  integrity  of  the  people. 

At  a  late  "war  meeting,"  so-called,  in  this  city,  it  was  charged  by 
an  ex-Uovcrnor  of  the  State,  of  "tin-cup"  memory,  that  I  proposed 
to  divide  this  country  into  four  confederacies  or  republics.  It  is 
false,  and  he  knew  it.  I  proposed  only  to  divide  the  Senate  into  four 
divisions,  and  to  change  the  mode  of  electing  the  President.  And 
this  I  did  in  order  to  preserve,  not  to  destroy  the  Union.  And  still 
my  heart's  desire  and  prayer  is  to  see  it  restored  just  as  our  fathers 
made  it. 

And  now,  men  of  ]Montgomery,  I  have  somewhat  to  say  upon  what 
Mr.  Lincoln,  in  his  late  proclamation,  has  most  justly  and  truly  called 
"this  unnecessary  and  injurious  CIVIL  war."  I  am  for  suppressing 
rebellion — I  am.  I  always  have  been.  Perhaps  my  mode  is  not  that 
of  other  men  ;  but  I  have  the  right — and  mean  to  exercise  it  still — 
of  judging  for  myself  of  the  true  and  proper  mode.  I  think  mine 
would  iiave  prevented  it  at  first ;  and  even  after  it  began,  would  have 
ended  it  long  since.  It  must,  it  will  be  tried  at  last,  if  ever  any  thing 
is  to  be  accomplished.  But  I  have  had  no  power  to  try  it.  They 
who  have  the  power  have  determined  upon  another  way — with  what 
success,  judge  ye — and,  like  a  good  citizen,  I  resist  not,  but  stand  by 
to  see  the  result  of  the  experiment.  If  it  is  successful  in  maintaining 
the  Constitution  and  restoring  the  Union,  I  will  make  full,  open, 
explicit  confession  that  I  was  wrong,  utterly,  totally  wrong,  and  will 
retire  to  private  life  the  residue  of  my  days.  But  if  it  fail — let  the 
people  judge  then  between  mc  and  my  accusers. 

I  repeat  it:  I  am  for  suppressing  all  rebellion — both  rebellions. 
There  are  two — the  Secession  Kcbcllion  South,  and  the  Abolition 
Rebellion  North  and  West.  I  am  against  both  ;  for  putting  down 
both.  Since  you  have  resolved  that  there  shall  be  war,  I  commit 
the  armed  Rebellion  South,  to  the  soldiers  of  the  army,  three-fourths 
of  them  Democrats,  young  Democrats.  I  commit  it  to  Halleck  and 
Buell  and  Burnside  and  others,  and  to  that  abused,  persecuted,  out- 
raged general  and  patriot,  George  B.  McClellan.  (Great  cheering.) 
If  he  can  not  do  it,  it  is  because,  in  the  nature  of  things,  it  is  not 
possible  that  it  be  done  in  that  way.  The  plan  proposed  hy  him 
was  (he  only  one  which  even  so  much  as  promised  success.  And  it 
implied  a  restoration   of  the   Union   as   it  was,  and,  meantime,  the 


STATE   OF   THE   COUNTRY.  147 

maintenance  of  the  Constitution  as  it  is.  That  is  the  reason  why 
he  has  been  so  persecuted  by  abolition  rebels  and  disunionists. 
But  it  is  the  proud  boast  of  himself  and  his  friends,  that  in  spite 
of  all  their  abuse  and  calumny,  he  has  calmly  and  steadfastly 
pursued  his  policy.  All  our  victories  were  the  result  of  that 
policy ;  all  our  reverses  followed  his  supersession.  From  that  hour 
to  this,  there  has  been  no  victory.  Defeat  has  not  lost  him  the  con- 
fidence of  the  people.  He  has  the  devoted  and  enthusiastic  affection 
of  his  soldiers;  and  he  has  the  calmness,  the  firmness,  and  the 
unshaken  consistency  and  persistency  of  purjjose  which  will  enable 
him  to  triumph  in  the  end,  at  least,  over  his  enemies  at  home.  To 
him,  therefore,  and  to  the  army,  I  commit  the  Secession  Rebellion 
of  the  South.  I  waste  no  breath  in  idle  denunciation  of  an  enemy 
a  thousand  miles  off.  Cursing  will  not  put  down  men  in  arms,  else 
there  would  have  been  an  end  to  this  armed  rebellion  long  ago.  As 
Governor  Richardson  suggested  in  Congress,  the  Jericho  of  Secession 
is  not  to  be  thrown  down  by  the  blowing  of  Abolition  horns.  Who- 
ever among  the  Abolitionists  would  curse  secession,  let  him  enlist, 
and  then  he  will  show  his  faith  by  his  works,  and  your  armies  will 
be  full  in  a  week.  Let  every  man  who  would  invite  others  to  go, 
first  go  himself.  I  have  never  interfered  with  enlistments.  While 
the  war  lasts,  our  armies,  for  many  reasons,  must  not  be  disbanded ; 
go  I  said  in  Congress  more  than  a  year  ago.  Without  enlistments 
they  can  not  be  kept  up ;  and  if  any  man,  subject  to  military  duty, 
really  thinks  that  the  Union  can  be  restored  by  force  and  arms,  and 
only  in  that  way,  let  him  enlist;  it  is  his  duty  to  enlist;  he  is 
"disloyal"  if  he  does  not  enlist.  (Cries  of  good,  good;  that's  the 
talk.)  Whoever  shall  be  drafted,  should  a  draft  be  ordered  accord- 
ing to  Constitution  and  law,  is  in  duty  bound,  no  matter  what  he 
thinks  of  the  war,  to  either  go,  or  find  a  substitute,  or  pay  the  fine 
which  the  law  imposes ;  he  has  no  right  to  resist,  and  none  to  run 
away. 

I  have  said  that,  in  my  deliberate  and  solemn  judgment,  war  can 
not  restore  the  Union,  but,  if  continued  long  enough,  must  destroy 
it;  and,  it  may  be,  our  own  liberties  also.  "War,"  said  Douglas, 
"is  disunion;  war  is  final,  eternal  separation."  The  Administration 
do  not  seem  to  think  so.  The  country,  just  now,  does  not  think  so. 
Mr.  Lincoln  says,  that  war  is  the  right  way  to  restore  the  Union. 
I  think  there  is  another,  a  better,  the  only  way  to  do  it.  He  has 
the  power  to  try  his ;  I  have  not.  War  is  upon  us ;  and  from  the 
beginning,  believing  as  I  did,  and  yet  powerless  for  good,  I  laid 
down  the  rule  for  myself,  and  have  faithfully  adhered  to  it,  and  will 
to  the  end,  neither  to  vote  for  or  against  any  purely  war  measure 
of  the  Administration.  Wherever  I  have  voted  upon  any  question, 
my  course  has  been  governed  by  other  considerations  than  those 
having  reference  to  my  opinions  on  the  war.  Accordingly,  I  have 
not  voted  for  any  army  bill,  or  navy  bill,  or  army  or  navy  appropria- 
tion bill,  since  the  meeting  of  Congress  on  the  4th  of  July,  1861. 
Neither  have  I  voted  against  any  such  bill  from  the  beginning.  I 
appeal  to  the  Globe,  and  to  the  Journals  of  the  House,  for  the  proof. 


148  STATE  OF   THE   COUNTRY. 

These  facts  I  refer  to,  because  you  are  my  constituents,  and  have  a 
right  to  know  them.  One  thing,  liowever,  we  all  must  demand  of 
the  Administration :  that  the  war  be  conducted  according  to  the 
Constitution,  and  for  a  constitutional  purpose. 

But,  men  of  Dayton,  there  is  another  and  diiferent,  yet  most  des- 
perate rebellion  to  be  dealt  with — the  Abolition  Kebellion  of  the 
North  and  West.  It,  too,  must  be  put  down  ;  speedily  and  firmly 
put  down,  if  we  would  save  the  country.  In  my  judgment,  you  will 
never  suppress  the  armed  Secession  llebellion  till  you  have  crushed 
under  foot  the  pestilent  Abolition  Rebellion  first.  Ask  the  officers 
and  soldiers  of  the  army,  and  they  will  tell  you  the  same  thing.  A 
Kepresentative,  and  exempt,  therefore,  from  military  service,  I  believe 
it  my  duty  to  stay  at  home  and  fight  the  Abolition  rebels  of  the 
North  and  West.  In  the  exercise  of  my  constitutional  rights,  which 
can  not  and  shall  not  be  taken  away,  I  propose  to  do  my  part  toward 
putting  down  this,  the  earliest  and  most  desperate  and  malignant 
rebellion.  It  must  be  met  by  reason  and  appeals  to  the  people, 
through  the  press  and  in  public  assemblages,  and  be  put  down  at  the 
ballot-box.  But  if  the  overt  rebellion  in  Wisconsin  and  in  Ohio,  at 
Urbana,  in  1857,  and  Cleveland,  in  1859,  (the  one  at  Urbana  an 
armed  rebellion,)  had  been  promptly  and  severely  punished  as  they 
ought  to  have  been,  we  never  would  have  had  any  other. 

Here  Mr.  V.  traced  briefly  the  history  of  the  slavery  question 
from  the  beginning  to  the  present  day.  In  1787  it  had  been  settled 
by  the  compromises  of  the  Constitution,  and  all  had  been  peace, 
quiet,  and  prosperity,  till  the  terrible  "  Missouri  Question,"  which 
struck  upon  the  ear  of  Jeflerson  "  like  a  fire-bell  in  the  night." 
That  had  been  settled  by  compromise,  and  we  had  quiet  and  peace 
again  for  fifteen  years,  till  the  systematic  and  organized  anti-slavery 
agitation  began,  in  1835,  at  which  time  it  was  so  bitterly  denounced  by 
President  Jackson.  But  it  continued  gaining  strength  every  year, 
till  it  ended,  as  every  wise  man  foresaw  it  must  end,  in  an  "unneces- 
sary and  injurious  civil  war."  Fifteen  years  ago  there  were 
Secession  disunionists  South,  just  as  there  were  Abolition  disunionists 
in  the  North  and  West.  The  former  were  in  public  places,  State 
and  Federal ;  but  as  soon  as  they  proclaimed  their  disunion  proclivi- 
ties, or  were  even  suspected  of  them,  they  were  speedily  ejected  from 
office,  even  in  South  Carolina.  In  1851,  every  southern  State,  with- 
out exception,  carried  the  Union  ticket  upon  a  direct  issue ;  and  for 
years  no  disunionist,  in  the  South,  could  be  elected  to  any  office. 
How  was  it,  meantime,  in  the  North  and  West?  From  absolute 
odium  and  weakness.  Abolitionism  steadily  increased  in  position  and 
power,  till  the  Senate  began  to  be  filled  with  Abolitionists,  open  or 
in  disguise,  and  the  House  of  Representatives  also ;  and  till  every 
free  State,  in  every  branch  of  its  government,  fell  into  the  hands  of 
active  and  aggressive  anti-slavery  men ;  and,  finally,  a  President  was 
elected  by  a  sectional  anti-slavei-y  party,  on  a  sectional  anti-slavery 
platform,  who  himself  declared  that  this  Union  could  not  endure 
"part  slave  and  part  free."  And  yet,  at  the  South,  even  after 
secession  began,  it  was  with  difficulty  that  any  State  was  induced  to 


STATE   OF  THE   COUNTRY.  149 

secede,  except  Soutli  Carolina.  In  every  other  cotton  State,  there 
was  a  large  minority  against  secession ;  and  up  to  April  15th,  1861, 
North  Carolina,  Virginia,  Tennessee,  and  Arkansas  refused,  by  large 
majorities,  to  secede,  while  Delaware,  Maryland,  Kentucky,  and 
Missouri  adhere  to  the  Union  to  this  day.  In  the  very  midst  of 
secession,  if  any  fair  and  adequate  compromise  had  been  proposed  by 
Congress,  especially  if  the  ''Crittenden  propositions"  of  December, 

1860,  had  been  adopted,  secession  would  have  perished.  Mr.  Davis 
and  Mr.  Toombs  both  declared  that  they  would  be  content.  That 
is  the  statement  of  Mr.  Pugh.  It  is  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Douglas 
also.  But  those  propositions  never  received  a  solitary  Republican 
vote  in  either  the  Senate  or  the  House.  "  Hence,  the  sole  responsi- 
bility for  our  disagreement,"  said  Douglas,  on  the  3d  of  January, 

1861,  "and  the  only  difl&culty  in  the  way  of  our  amicable  adjust- 
ment, is  %oith  the  Republican  party ^ 

Sir,  these  are  facts  which  it  is  useless  to  deny,  and  senseless  to 
quarrel  with  ;  and  they  are  part  of  the  many  circumstances  upon 
which  I  found  my  immovable  hope  of  a  final  restoration  of  the 
Union,  in  spite  of  the  folly  and  madness  and  wickedness  every  day 
exhibited,  uniting  the  South,  and  dividing  the  North  and  West, 

The  South  is  now  well  nigh  united  as  one  man ;  and  for  nearly  three 
months  we  have  met  with  little  else  than  defeat.  What  united  the 
South?  What  changed  the  fortunes  of  the  war?  In  the  beginning 
it  was  declared  to  be  for  the  Union  and  the  Constitution.  These 
were  noble  objects,  and  success  attended  our  arms.  Before  the 
battle  of  Bull  Run,  Mr.  Crittenden  sought  to  offer  his  now  often 
quoted  resolution,  defining  the  objects  of  the  war,  and  the  Repub- 
licans did  not  allow  it  to  be  even  so  much  as  received.  It  was  met 
with  sneers  and  contempt.  The  day  after  the  battle,  when  Washing- 
ton was  full  of  escaped  soldiers,  and  fugacious  Congressmen  from 
the  battle-field,  it  was  offered  again,  and  without  objection.  But 
two  men,  both  Republicans,  voted  against  that  part  of  it.  I  voted 
for  that  part  of  it,  but  not  for  the  first,  because  it  did  not  speak 
the  whole  truth ;  because  it  did  not  denounce  the  Abolition  dis- 
unionists  of  the  North  and  West  also,  and  hold  them  responsible 
too.  Six  hundred  thousand  men  were  soon  afterward  enlisted.  The 
victories  of  Hatteras,  Port  Royal,  Mill  Springs,  Donelson,  Roanoke, 
Winchester,  Newbern,  Island  Ten,  New  Orleans,  Norfolk,  and  others 
all  followed.  Then  was  the  hour  for  wisdom  and  sound,  policy. 
But,  no ;  it  was  the  exact  time  selected  by  Abolitionism  for  the  very 
saturnalia  of  its  folly  and  madness.  Every  scheme  and  project  of 
emancipation,  execution,  and  confiscation.  Congressional  and  Execu- 
tive, of  the  whole  session,  was  pressed  forward,  and  many  of  them 
consummated  during  this  same  period  of  victory.  The  war  was  every- 
where to  be  perverted  from  the  spirit  of  the  "Crittenden  resolution." 
And  with  what  result?  The  South,  before  that  time  divided,  was 
now  united  as  one  man.  Even  the  border  slave  States  were  shaken 
to  the  center,  and  thousands  of  their  citizens  driven  into  the  Con- 
federate service.  The  armies  of  the  South  were  rapidly  filled  up.  A 
spirit  was  breathed  into  each  man's  breast  which  made  him  a  host, 


150  STATE   OF   THE    COUNTRY. 

It  was  these  things,  and  such  infamous  orders  as  Butler's  at  New 
Orleans,  which  inspired  their  armies,  making  them  invincible — and 
not  overwhelming  numbers.  Victory  everywhere  was  theirs.  Mc- 
Dowell, The  Seven  Pines,  Front  Royal,  Winchester,  Cross  Keys, 
Port  Republic,  James  Island,  Vicksburg,  and  the  Great  Seven  Days 
Battle  of  Richmond  all  followed.  The  men,  and  the  women,  too,  of 
the  South  said.  If  indiscriminate  execution,  confiscation,  and  eman- 
cipation arc  to.be  the  rule  of  the  Federal  Government,  let  us  perish 
rather  on  the  battle-field. 

This  is  what  Abolitionism  has  cost  us  already — an  unnecessary 
and  injurious  civil  war;  a  united  South;  a  divided  North  and  West; 
a  diminished  Federal  army;  an  increased  Confederate  army;  the  one 
dispirited,  the  other  confident;  fifteen  months  of  most  vigorous  war, 
with  the  largest  army  and  most  numerous  navy  of  modern  times; 
and  yet  not  a  single  State  restored ;  but  a  public  debt  of  a  thousand 
millions  of  dollars  incurred,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
brave  men  lost  to  the  army,  no  man  knows  how.  For  all  this, 
Abolitionism  is  responsible.  Let  it  answer  at  the  bar  of  public 
opinion.  Let  the  people  judge.  Let  the  inexorable  sentence  go  forth, 
and  just  and  speedy  judgment  be  executed  upon  it. 

These,  men  of  Dayton,  are  my  opinions.  They  are  my  convictions. 
And  yet,  for  these  I  am  denounced  as  "disloyal!"  What  is  loyalty? 
Obedience,  faithfulness  to  law,  or,  in  Norman-French,  to  LoY  ;  and 
there  is  no  higher  law  than  the  Constitution.  AVhoever  obeys  the 
laws  is  Myal ;  whoever  breaks  them,  whether  one  in  authority  or  a 
private  citizen,  is  disloyal.  There  is  no  such  thing  yet  in  the  United 
States,  thank  God,  as  loyalty  to  a  President,  or  to  any  Administration. 
And  yet,  I  have  heard  of  loyalty  to  Abraham  Lincoln,  to  a  man,  a 
public  servant,  whom  the  people  made,  and  can  unmake  !  Whoever 
talks  thus  is  fit  only  to  be  a  slave.  If  these  men  mean  that  I  am 
opposed  to  the  Administration  and  party  in  power,  and  to  the  doc- 
trines and  policy  of  Abolition,  and  think  them  false  to  the  Constitution, 
and  disastrous  to  the  country  ;  if  they  mean  that  I  am  a  Democrat, 
devoted  to  the  principles  and  policy,  and  faithful  to  the  organization 
of  that  grand  old  party  which  made  this  country  what  it  is,  and  am 
for  the  old  Constitution  and  the  old  Union,  then  I  am  disloyal,  and 
bless  God  for  it.  But  if  they  mean  that  I  am  false  to  the  Constitu- 
tion, untrue  to  the  Union,  or  disloyal  to  the  country  of  my  birth,  in 
thought,  or  word,  or  deed,  then,  in  the  language  of  an  eloquent 
citizen  of  Indiana,  (Mr.  Voorhees,)  "  they  lie  in  their  teeth,  in  their 
throats,  and  in  their  hearts."     (Loud  cheers.) 

Who  is  an  Abolitionist?  Whoever  is  for  indiscriminate  confisca- 
tion, in  order  to  strike  at  slavery,  is  an  Abolitionist.  Whoever  is  for 
emancipation  and  purchase  of  the  slaves  of  the  border  States,  and 
the  pretended  colonization  of  them  abroad,  but  really  their  importa- 
tion North  and  West,  to  compete  with  our  own  white  labor,  is  an 
Abolitionist.  Whoever  would  reduce  the  southern  States  to  Territo- 
ries, in  order  to  strike  down  slavery  in  them  by  Federal  power,  is  an 
Abolitionist.  Whoever  is  in  favor  of  arming  the  slaves,  or  of  declar- 
ing slavery  abolished  by  executive  or  military  proclamation,  is  aa 


STATE   OF  THE   COUNTRY.  151 

Abolitionist.  And,  finally,  ■whoever  is  for  converting  the  war,  directly 
or  indirectly,  into  a  crusade  for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  is  an  Aboli- 
tionist of  the  worst  sort ;  and  he  who  votes  for  those  who  favor  these 
things,  is  also  an  Abolitionist  in  practice,  no  matter  what  his  profes- 
sions or  his  party  name  may  be.  Whoever  is  opposed  to  these  pro- 
jects and  votes  accordingly,  and  is  for  the  Constitution  as  it  is,  and 
the  Union  as  it  was,  is  a  truly  loyal  citizen,  whether  he  fights  Seces- 
sion rebels  in  the  field,  or  Abolition  rebels  at  the  ballot-box. 

And  now,  men  of  Montgomery,  if  you  desire  that  the  rebellion  at 
the  South  shall  be  suppressed,  that  the  Confederate  armies  shall  be 
dissolved,  and  that  the  Constitution  shall  be  maintained,  the  Union 
restored,  and  all  laws  obeyed,  unite  with  me  at  the  ballot-box  in  speedily 
and  forever  crushing  out  the  execrable  Abolition  rebellion  in  the 
North  and  West.  Whoever  feels  it  his  duty  to  fight  armed  rebels  at 
the  South,  let  him  enlist  at  once  ;  let  him  not  buy  up  a  substitute, 
but  go  himself.  Whoever  remains  at  home,  it  is  his  duty  to  join  with 
me  against  Abolition  rebels  in  our  midst.  This  is  loyalty ;  this  is 
fidelity  to  the  Union.  The  hour  of  trial  and  of  vindication  will  soon 
come.  The  great  hereafter  is  at  hand.  In  six  month — I  repeat 
it — in  three  months,  in  six  weeks,  it  may  be — sooner  or  later,  come 
meantime  what  may,  the  question  will  be,  eternal  separation,  or 
THE  UNION  THROUGH  COMPROMISE.  Which  will  you  then  choose — 
not  now,  not  yet;  for  amid  arms  reason,  too,  is  silent — but  when  it 
does  come  ?  Come  it  will,  and  then  you  must  choose  between  the 
Union  which  our  fathers  made,  or  a  hopeless,  cheerless,  eternal,  and 
belligerent  disunion.  I  believe  that  the  Administration  will  declare 
for  separation.  Then,  as  now  and  ever,  I  shall  be  for  the  Union  and 
against  separation.  Sir,  the  choice  must  be  made,  and  made  soon. 
We  have  already  an  enormous  debt.  A  thousand  millions  would 
not  pay  it.  We  spend  three  millions  a  day.  How  long  can  you 
stand  that?  Our  army  of  six  hundred  and  thirty -seven  thousand  last 
January,  has  melted  away  to  four  hundred  thousand ;  and  now  three 
hundred  thousand  more  volunteers  are  demanded,  and  will  soon  be  in 
the  field.  Yet,  only  fifteen  mouths  ago,  just  seventy-five  thousand 
militia  were  called  out,  and  the  '"insurgents  "  ofiicially  commanded  to 
disperse  in  twenty  days !  A  government  paper  currency  of  hundreds 
of  millions  is  upon  us;  and  a  taxation  the  most  onerous  and  unjust 
ever  levied  upon  any  but  a  conquered  people.  A  tarifi",  too,  of  from 
forty-one  to  one  hundred  and  thirteen  per  cent.,  as  if  to  heap  up  the 
utmost  measure  of  the  load,  is  now  added.  Stand  in  the  doorway 
of  your  farm-house  and  behold  and  feel  nothing,  nothing  not  taxed, 
except  the  air  you  breathe,  and  the  bright  sun-light  or  star-light  of 
heaven  !  And  yet,  you  must  pay  it  to  the  uttermost  farthing.  None 
but  a  madman  or  a  traitor  will  talk  of  resistance  or  repudiation.  It 
was  not  so  in  Democratic  times.  For  sixty  years  that  party  goveyned 
this  country  in  peace  and  prosperity,  and  with  wisdom  and  sound 
policy.  Try  it  again.  I  am  a  party  man  more  from  conviction  than 
inclination.  There  must  be  parties  under  every  free  government,  and 
if  there  are  not  good  parties,  there  will  be  bad  ones ;  and  "  when  bad 
men  combine,"  said  Burke,  "  good  men  must  associate."     Why  did 


152  POLITICAL    CAMPAIGN    OF   1862. 

the  Democratic  party  always  govern  this  country  wisely  and  well 
and  all  other  parties  fail?  Because  our  institutions  are  Democratic, 
and  the  principles  and  policy  of  the  Democratic  party  arc  consistent 
with  them  ;  just  as  a  piece  of  mechanism  can  only  be  made  to  work 
upon  the  principle  or  theory  on  which  it  is  constructed.  That  is  the 
philosophy  of  the  historic  fact.  But  the  Democratic  party  could  not 
conduct  the  British  government  three  months  without  signal  and  dis- 
astrous failure.  Let  the  people  lay  these  things  to  heart.  IjCt  them 
restore  the  Democratic  party  to  power,  if  they  would  be  rescued  at 
last.  And,  meantime,  if  the  President  would  be  sustained,  let  him 
resist  fearlessly  the  spirit  of  Abolitionism;  let  him  adhere  to  the  Con- 
stitution ;  and  himself  obey  all  laws,  and  execute  all  laws  ;  let  him 
unmuzzle  the  press,  and  unfetter  the  tongue,  and  give  freedom  again 
to  assemblages  of  the  people  and  to  elections ;  let  him  liberate  his 
so-called  prisoners  of  State,  and  henceforth  arrest  no  man  without 
due  process  of  law ;  in  a  word,  let  him  look  to  love,  not  fear ;  to  law, 
not  terror,  as  the  support  of  his  administration ;  and  every  true  patriot 
in  the  land  will  rally  round  him ;  and  then,  in  God's  good  time,  our 
eyes  shall  yet  be  gladdened,  dark  as  the  hour  now  is,  with  the  blessed 
vision  of  the  Constitution  maintained,  the  Union  restored,  and  the 
old  flag  of  our  country  known  and  honored  once  again  in  every  land 
and  upon  every  sea.     (Great  and  long-continued  cheering.) 


NUMBER  EIGHT. 


POLITICAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1862. 


The  Democratic  Congressional  Convention,  composed  of  the  coun- 
ties of  Butler,  Montgomery,  Preble,  and  Warren,  met  at  Hamilton,  in 
Butler  Co.,  September  4th,  and  nominated  Hon.  C.  L.  Vallandigham, 
by  acclamation.  Mr.  V.  being  informed  of  his  nomination,  and  con- 
ducted to  the  stand,  signified  his  acceptance  by  reading  the  following 
address : 

To  the  Democrats  and  other  loyal  Union  men  of  the  Third  Congres- 
sional District  of  Ohio  : 

Just  after  the  congressional  election  in  18G0,  acknowledging  my 
very  many  and  great  obligations  to  you  for  past  iavors,  I  declared 
my  fixed  purpose  to  decline  another  candidacy.     In  this  mind  I  con- 


POLITICAL    CAMPAIGN    OF   1862.  153 

tinned  through  all  the  extraordinary  changes  of  the  past  two  years. 
I  learned,  indeed,  some  time  ago,  from  many  sources,  and  upon  un- 
mistakable evidence,  that  it  was  the  general  desire  of  the  Democracy 
of  the  District  that  I  should  be  their  candidate  again,  and  I  thanked 
them  for  the  confidence  implied.  But  recently  circumstances  have 
changed.  The  "  reign  of  terror  "  has  been  renewed  with  more  sever- 
ity than  ever  before.  Freedom  of  the  press  and  of  speech  has  been 
repeatedly  and  causelessly  stricken  down.  Political  and  personal 
liberty  has,  over  and  over  again,  been  assailed  by  illegal  and  arbitrary 
arrests  ;  and  thus  a  determined  purpose  evinced  to  break  down  the 
ancient,  customary,  and  constitutional  means  of  opposition  to  the  poli- 
tical party  in  power,  under  the  false  and  tyrannical  pretence  that  it 
is  *'  opposition  to  the  Government."  To  shrink  from  a  canvass 
pressed  upon  me  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  Democracy  of  the 
District,  would  be  cowardice  now.  You  have  never  deserted  me  ;  I 
will  not,  in  this  hour  of  peculiar  trial  and  peril,  desert  you.  With 
many  and  most  heartful  thanks,  therefore,  I  accept  the  unanimous 
nomination  just  tendered  to  me,  content  with  your  indorsement  here 
to-day,  and  the  ratification  of  it,  by  the  Democrats  and  other  loyal 
Union  men  of  the  District  at  the  polls,  as  of  more  value  than  an 
election  purchased  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  party  and  the  principles 
■which  my  judgment  and  conscience  approve,  and  which  I  have 
adhered  to  and  maintained  from  my  very  boyhood  to  this  day ;  a 
party,  too,  the  success  of  which  is  so  essential,  at  this  moment,  to  the 
reunion  of  the  States,  and  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  country  ; 
for,  if  there  be  any  one  fact  proved  now  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt, 
it  is  the  utter  imcompetency  of  the  party  in  power  to  successfully 
administer  the  Government.  /  know,  indeed,  that  the  District  in 
which  I  have  been  three  times  honored  with  an  election,  has  been 
changed  by  a  '■'■no  party  "  partisan  Legislature,  and  made  heavily 
Republican,  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the  return  of  a  Democrat; 
and  that  at  the  election  last  fall,  the  counties  which  now  compose  this 
District,  gave  the  Republican  or  Fusion  candidate  for  Governor  a  very 
large  majority.  But  districts  made  for  party  purposes  have  more 
than  once  been  changed  by  the  people  at  the  polls,  and  greater  ma- 
jorities than  this  many  times  overcome,  as  was,  indeed,  done  last 
spring,  even  in  the  District  as  now  constituted.  In  any  event,  the 
vindication  of  Democratic  principles  and  the  Democratic  cause  is,  at 
this  time  especially,  of  far  more  importance  than  mere  success  in  any 
election. 

At  yoixr  demand,  therefore,  men  of  the  Third  District,  I  accept 
the  nomination,  and  present  myself  to  the  people  for  their  suffrages, 
upon  no  other  platform  than  the  Constitution  as  it  is  and  the 
Union  as  it  was. 

It  is  a  platform  broad  enough  for  every  patriot.  Whoever  is  for 
it,  I  ask  his  support.  Wheever  is  against  it,  I  would  not  have  his 
vote.  Every  faculty  of  body  and  mind  which  I  possess  shall  be 
exerted  unremittingly  for  the  great  purpose  implied  in  this  platform. 

As  a  Representative,  it  is  my  duty  to  visit  the  constituency  of  the 
old  District,  still  a  part  of  the  new,  and  to  render  to  them  an  account 


154  POLITICAL    CAMPAIGN    OF   1862. 

of  my  stewardsliip  as  a  public  servant.     As  a  candidate,  I  have  ft 
right   to  address  the   people  upon  all  political  questions,  and  they 
have  a  rip;ht  to  hear  me. 
Says  the  Constitution  : 

"  Membora  of  the  House  of  rvcpresenlatives  shall  be  chosen  every  second  year 
by  the  people." 

And  again  : 

"  Congress  shall  mal<e  no  law  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech,  or  of  tho 
press ;  or  the  right  of  the  people  peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to  petition  the 
government  for  a  redress  of  grievances." 

Our  State  Constitution  is  still  more  explicit : 

"  The  people  have  the  right  to  assemble  together  in  a  peaceable  manner,  to 
consult  for  their  common  good;  to  instruct  their  representatives,  and  to  peti- 
tion the  General  Assembly  for  the  redress  of  grievances. 

These  high  and  essential  constitutional  rights  the  Democrats  and 
other  loyal  Union  men  of  this  District  everywhere,  and  I  as  their 
candidate,  mean  to  exercise  to  the  fullest  extent.  And  it  will  tend 
much  toward  the  quiet  and  good  feeling  of  communities,  if  all  idle 
talk,  such  as  that  the  Democratic  candidate  shall  not  speak  in  this 
place  or  that  place,  be  dispensed  with  :  for  let  it  be  understood,  once 
for  all,  that  wherever  in  any  part  of  any  county  in  the  District  it 
is  deemed  convenient  and  proper  to  advertise  a  Democratic  meeting, 

IT  WILL  BE  HELD  ;    AND,    GOD   WILLING,   I  WILL  ADDRESS  IT, 

After  reading  the  foregoing,  Mr.  Vallandigham  spoke  an  hour 
or  more,  with  great  force  and  effect,  often  interrupted  by  applauding 
responses.  No  report  was  made  of  the  speech,  beyond  a  few  notes 
by  the  secretary,  from  which  we  learn  that,  in  closing,  he  stated, 
that  he  had  supported  the  Six  Million  Bill  for  paying  the  three 
months'  volunteers  ;  and  had  also  prepared  and  reported  a  bill  to 
pay  a  bounty  of  thirty  dollars  to  these  volunteers,  in  addition  to 
their  pay.  This  bill,  he  said,  passed  the  House,  but  failed  in  the 
Senate. 

Mr.  v.  then  defined  his  position  as  to  State  defense,  expressed  in 
the  following  resolution,  which  he  offered,  and  which  was  adopted 
by  the  meeting  unanimously,  amid  great  cheering : 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  highest  duty  of  the  citizen,  whenever  his 
country  or  State  is  invaded,  to  rush  to  its  rescue,  by  arms,  if  he  is 
capable  of  military  service,  and  by  money  or  otherwise  every  way, 
if  he  is  not;  and  that  the  Democracy,  as  a  part  of  the  people  of  this 
district,  laying  aside  all  party  fooling  for  that  purpose,  are  ready  with 
life  and  fortune  to  do  their  part  in  discharging  this  patriotic  duty. 

The  way  being  thus  opened,  by  receiving  and  accepting  the  nomi- 


POLITICAL    CAMPAIGN    OF   1862,  'ISS 

nation,  Mr.  Vallandigham  entered  upon  a  thorough  and  vigorous 
canvass  of  his  district.  To  carry  his  old  congressional  district,  and 
by  a  larger  majority  than  ever  before,  after  all  denunciation,  was  the 
great  point  to  be  attained.  But  the  Legislature,  at  its  last  session,, 
had  added  to  his  district  the  county  of  Warren,  one  of  the  strongest 
Abolition  counties  in  the  State,  and  by  this  most  unfair  and  dis- 
ingenuous piece  of  gerrymandering,  had  provided  against  the  pos- 
sibility of  his  re-election.  But  this,  with  him,  was  no  reason  for 
faltering.  It  was  due  to  his  friends,  and  the  cause,  that  he  should 
demonstrate  to  them,  and  to  all  concerned,  that  he  had  lost  none  of 
his  fitness  for  the  high  office  in  which  they  desired  to  continue  himj 
and  should  publicly  nail  to  the  wall  those  base  slanders  and  lies 
with  which  the  abolition  press  had  been  teeming.  The  occasion,  also, 
furnished  an  opportunity  not  to  be  lost,  for  bringing  clearly  and 
boldly  to  the  view  of  the  people,  those  great  and  true  principles  of 
political  practice  and  faith,  for  whose  fearless  and  unwavering  advo- 
cacy and  defense  he  had  continually  suffered  the  most  malignant 
assaults. 

The  occasion  was  improved  ;  the  six  weeks  preceding  the  day  of 
election  being  spent  in  addressing  large  and  enthusiastic  assemblies, 
at  prominent  points  in  the  district.  And  the  result  was  a  triumphant 
indorsement  and  vindication  of  Mr.  Vallandigham.  His  old  dis- 
trict, which  hehas  represented  for  the  last  six  years,  gave  him  a 
majority  four  times  larger  than  ever  before. 

The  Cincinnati  Times,  an  Abolition  paper,  in  its  issue  the  day 
after  election,  said : 

Vallandigham,  though  his  district,  in  the  new  apportionment,  was 
arranged  especially  to  defeat  him,  is  barely  defeated,  and  that  is  all. 
In  his  old  district,  where,  a  year  ago.  he  scarcely  dare  attempt  to 
address  a  popular  assemblage,  he  has  a  majority  of  about  700,  and 
is  defeated  only  from  the  fact  that  a  very  strong  Bepublican  county 
has  been  added  to  the  district.  These  facts  are  given  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  political  revolution  that  has  undoubtedly  begun  in  the 
North-western  States. 

The  Cincinnati  Enquirer,  referring  to  this  statement,  the  next 
day,  said : 

The  Times  is  correct  in  its  facts.  The  Hon.  C.  L.  Vallandigham 
has  obtained  the  greatest  personal  and  political  triumph  ever  won  by 
any  public  man  in  the  United  States.  In  the  face  of  a  storm  of 
abuse,  obloquy,  slander,  and  denunciation,  from  every  Abolition  print, 
and  every  Abolition  orator,  from  Maine  to  California,  which,  in  fury, 
was  probably  never  equaled,  Mr.  Vallandigham  has  been  indorsed  by 


156  POLITICAL   CAMPAIGN   OF    1862. 

the  constituents  whora  he  represents  in  Congress,  by  a  majority 
of  800  votes,  an  increase  of  700  since  his  last  election,  in  1860. 
Denouiicoil  as  a  traitor,  as  a  secessionist,  as  an  enemy  of  his  country, 
by  the  fawning  parasites  of  power,  by  vindictive  political  partisans, 
who  have  sought  to  make  his  name  synonymous  with  treason,  his 
life  and  liberty  threatened  by  those  who  were  ignorant  of  his  political 
record,  he  has  appealed  to  the  people  of  his  district,  and  he  has  been 
triumphantly  sustained. 

It  was  a  spectacle  that  challenged  admiration,  to  see  an  able,  a 
bold  and  brave  man  standing  up  for  what  he  deemed  right,  unawed 
by  power,  and  unseduccd  by  his  personal  advantages^  which  lay  upon 
the  other  side.  The  American  people  are  a  generous  people,  and 
love  to  see  fairness  and  honesty  displayed. 

After  the  indorsement  of  the  people  of  his  district — after  10,000 
American  citizens  have  honored  him  with  their  votes — the  slanderers 
of  Mr.  Yallandigham  had  better,  for  shame's  sake,  cease  their  abuse. 
If  they  do  not,  there  is  no  knowing  to  what  position  of  prominence 
he  may  advance.  If  Mr.  Vallandigham  has  been  beaten,  it  is  owing 
to  the  rascality  of  an  Abolition  legislature,  which  made  a  district 
with  especial  view  to  his  defeat.  He  has  carried  his  own  district, 
but  he  could  hardly  be  expected  to  carry  Tom  Corwin's  in  addition, 
which  was  saddled  upon  him. 

The  haters  and  slanderers  of  Mr.  Vallandigham  were  thus 
despoiled  of  the  triumph  they  had  hoped  to  secure,  and  had  nothing 
to  boast  of  beyond  what  they  obtained  by  unfair  legislation  and 
fraud. 

A  most  corrupt  and  infamous  Abolition  sheet,  the  most  deadly, 
persistent,  and  mendacious  slanderer  of  Mr.  Vallandigham,  on  the 
morning  of  the  election,  thus  put  in  its  last  word : 

Vallandigham. — It  will  be  enough  to  beat  the  cowardly,  impu- 
dent, and  malignant  traitor  Vallandigham  in  his  district  as  it  stands. 
In  the  name  of  the  honor  of  Ohio,  beat  him  in  the  old  district. 
The  new  district — we  explain  for  the  public  at  large — is  the  old  one, 
with  "Warren  county  attached.  It  is  discreditable  that  Vallandigham 
can  have  the  support  of  even  a  faction  in  Ohio.  The  disgrace  will 
be  black,  burning,  and  infinitely  shameful,  if  he  is  not  beaten  over- 
whelmingly. 

Then,  surely,  the  disgrace  was  "  black,  burning,  and  infinitely 
shameful,"  for,  as  the  Empire  remarked,  referring  to  the  above 
declaration : 

Mr.  Vallandigham  has  not  been  beaten  in  the  old  district ;  on  the 
contrary,  he  triumphantly  carries  it,  by  four  times  as  large  a  ma- 
jority as  ever  before.  And,  better  still,  he  is  indorsed  in  his  own 
county,  which  he  never  carried  before,  by  a  majority  of  near  four 
hundred. 


POLITICAL   CAMPAIGN   OF   1862.  157 

The  Empire  says,  also  : 

And,  further,  lie  lias  not  only  been  indorsed  by  the  people  of  hi3 
own  district,  but  by  the  Democracy  of  the  whole  State.  Does  the 
Commercial  remember  any  thing  about  the  Fourth  of  July  Conven- 
tion, of  which  it  said  Vallandigham  and  Medary  were  the  "ruling 
spirits  ;  "  that  convention  of  "  Butternuts,"  if  you  please,  over  which 
Sam  Medary  presided,  and  at  which  Vallandighani  was  the  principal 
speaker?  Well,  the  ticket  which  the  "  Vallandighammers  "  that  day 
nominated  has  been  elected,  ratified,  and  indorsed  by  the  people  of 
the  State.  Montgomery  county  has  a  representative  on  that  ticket, 
in  the  person  of  Professor  C.  W.  H.  Cathcart. 

But  the  fact  that  Mr.  Vallandigham's  non-election  was  secured 
by  adding  to  his  district  a  piece  of  strong  Abolition  territory,  has 
been  studiously  ignored,  and  even  lied  out  of  view,  by  the  Abolition 
press.  Referring  to  this  subject,  the  Hon.  J.  W.  Wall,  lately 
elected  United  States  Senator  from  New  Jersey,  said,  in  a  letter  to 
the  New  York   World,  in  October,  1862 : 

If  I  am  correctly  informed,  at  the  last  session  of  the  Ohio  Legis- 
lature, over  three  thousand  Republican  votes  were  transferred  bodily 
to  the  district,  for  the  purpose,  as  was  avowed,  of  preventing  his 
return  to  Congress.  Besides  all  this,  resort  was  had  to  the  base 
means  that  corruption  and  misrepresentation  understand  so  well  how 
to  wield. 

There  is  no  public  man  in  the  State  of  Ohio  who  wields  the  per- 
sonal influence,  and  has  a  stronger  hold  upon  the  popular  heart,  than 
the  fearless,  incorruptible,  and  talented  Representative  from  the  Day- 
ton district.  Knowing  him,  as  I  do,  and  the  fierce,  malignant  oppo- 
sition against  which  he  has  had  to  contend,  led  on  by  the  remorseless 
energies  of  fanaticism,  I  may  say,  as  was  said  of  Hector,  '■'■Si  Pergema 
dextra  defendi  possent^  etiam  hac  defensa  fuissent."  But  Hector's 
arm  was  not  strong  enough  to  save  the  city. 

There  is  no  more  patriotic  heart  beats  in  any  man's  bosom  than 
his.  No  man,  either  in  Congress  or  out  of  it,  has  exhibited  more 
wisdom  and  remarkable  forecast  in  reference  to  this  war  and  its 
results.  No  man  has  been  more  disinterested,  devoted  himself  to 
his  country's  best  interests,  and  labored  more  assiduously  to  stay 
the  disastrous  legislation  of  the  last  Congress,  which  he  declared  was 
pregnant  with  manifold  mischief  to  the  country.  Any  man  familiar 
with  his  speeches,  will  be  struck  with  the  prophetic  sagacity  they 
manifest.  He  saw  the  "end  from  the  beginning,"  and  predicted  the 
present  ruined,  disastrous  condition  of  the  country. 

In  every  part  of  the  Union  the  defeat  of  Mr.  Vallandigham  was 
deeply  regretted,  especially  as  he  had  been  so  well  sustained  by  his 
own  district,  and  was  beaten  only  by  a  part  of  Corwin's  old  district 


158  POLITICAL    CAMPAIGN    OF    1862. 

bein"'  turned  over  unto  him.     The  tone  of  the  Democratic  press  was 
like  this,  from  the  Mount  Vernon  (Ohio)  Banner: 

The  defeat  of  the  gallant  Clement  L.  Vallandighara,  in  the 
Third  District,  is  greatly  lamented  by  all  good  Union-loving  Demo- 
crats. The  Republicans  purposely  formed  a  district  to  defeat  him, 
and  they  have  been  successful  by  a  small  majority.  But  they  can 
not  put  Mr.  Vallandigham  down.  Although  slandered  more  than 
any  living  man,  he  has  come  out  of  the  "fiery  ordeal"  like  pure 
gold.     Higher  honors  yet  await  him. 

The  Syracuse  (N.  Y.)   Courier  said  : 

In  this  State  the  malignants  and  radicals  crow  lustily  over  the 
defeat  of  the  brave,  gifted,  and  patriotic  Vallandigham.  A  high 
and  independent  spirit,  such  as  the  times  require,  has,  perhaps,  fallen 
there,  but  not  sacrificed  by  the  people  whom  he  had  represented. 
If  victimized  at  all,  he  is  a  victim  of  the  same  kind  of  radical  gerry- 
mandering of  his  district  as  sacrificed  Biddle  in  Pennsylvania.  A 
strong  Republican  county  was  added  to  his  district,  and  it  was  so 
constituted  that  the  counties  composing  the  district  gave  last  fall 
over  3,000  majority  against  the  Democratic  ticket.  If  defeated  by 
800  majority,  he  has  every  reason  to  be  proud  of  the  result,  and  of 
the  confidence  evinced  by  this  diminished  majority  against  him. 

In  Hamilton,  where  Mr.  Vallandigham  was  nominated,  a  meet- 
ing, held  soon  after  the  election,  indorsed  him  in  a  series  of  resolu- 
tions, among  which  are  the  following : 

Whereas,  A  recent  act  of  the  Ohio  Legislature  remapped  the 
territory  of  the  Third  Congressional  District,  including  within  its 
well-known  boundary  the  county  of  Warren  ;  and,  whereas,  such 
remapping  was  executed  by  the  enemies  of  the  Democratic  party, 
with  the  intent  to  prevent  a  return  to  Congress  of  the  chosen  tribune 
of  the  ancient  district;  and,  whereas,  by  such  partisan  legislation  we 
have  been  temporarily  deprived  of  the  services  of  our  faithful  public 
servant,  Hon.  C.  L.  Vallandigham,  therefore, 

Resolved,  By  the  Democracy  of  Butler  county,  in  mass  meeting 
assembled,  That  we  reaffirm  our  confidence  in  the  patriotism  of  our 
Representative,  and  again  record  an  entire  satisfaction  of  his  man- 
agement of  our  trust. 

Resolved,  That  to  his  fortitude  and  consumate  policy  as  much  as  to 
any  single  existence,  we  attribute  the  recently  disclosed  sober  second 
thought  of  the  people. 

Resolved,  That  for  his  earnest  deprecation  of  the  calamities  of 
these  States ;  for  his  attempt  to  appease  the  wrath  of  the  contending 
people  of  both  sections  of  the  Union  ;  for  his  endeavor  to  invoke 
reason,  and  call  back  the  blessings  of  happier  days;  for  his  marvelous 
perception  of  the  consequences  of  this  "unnatural  civil  war,"  and  for 
his  unoqualed  exertions  in  its  repression  ;  for  this  catalogue  of  crimes, 
which  has  excited  the  ire  of  fanatics,  which  has  furnished  the  weapons 


DEMOCRATIC    JUBILEES.  159 

of  destruction  to  an  Abolition  press,  and  wliicli  has  made  his  name 
synonymous  with  traitor,  the  constituents  of  Hon.  Clement  L.  Val- 
landigham  demand  the  judgment  of  history. 

The   closing  resolution  ends  with   a  quotation  which   it  -will   not 
always  be  treason  to  repeat,  nor  is  it  now  treason  against  Heaven — 

"Blessed  are  the  peace-makers,  for  they  shall  be  called  the  children 
of  God." 


NUMBER   NINE 


DEMOCRATIC    JUBILEES, 


After  the  election  of  October  14,  1862,  which  exhibited  the 
gratifying  results  of  the  most  important  and  remarkable  political 
revolution  ever  witnessed  in  Ohio,  it  was  determined  to  have  some 
general  jubilee  celebrations.  Those  meetings  were  started,  and  went 
with  a  rush  all  over  the  State.  For  several  weeks  the  "  Democratic 
jubilees"  were  the  order  of  the  day,  and  were  attended  by  immense 
multitudes.     Indiana,  also,  took  a  part  in  those  jubilees. 

Mr.  Vallandigham  attended  a  large  number  of  those  meetings. 
One  of  the  first  at  which  he  was  present  was  held  at  Centreville, 
Indiana,  on  the  20th  of  October,  where  he  spoke  two  hours  to  an 
audience  of  two  thousand  or  more,  who  heard  and  applauded  his 
speech  with  unbounded  enthusiasm.  One  of  that  crowd  ends  a 
report  of  the  doings  with  the  remark  that  "  Not  only  have  the 
people  of  his  district  indorsed  him,  but  the  people  of  Indiana, 
Ohio,  and  Pennsylvania  have  spoken  in  thunder  tones  in  favor  of 
Vallandigham,  the  Constitution,  and  the  Union." 

On  the  22d  of  October,  two  days  later,  Mr.  Vallandigham  was 
at  the  "  grand  jollification  "  in  Hillsborough,  Ohio,  held  in  honor 
of  "the  great  Democratic  victories  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania."    The  Hillsborough  Gazette  says : 

Never  was  the  truth  of  that  old  adage,  "  Truth  is  mighty  and 
will  prevail,"  more  fully  verified  than  on  this  occasion.     Many  who 


160  DEMOCRATIC   JUBILEES. 

had  come  to  hear  the  speaker,  with  opinions  altogether  biased  against 
hiui,  having  never  been  Democrats  in  their  lives,  went  away  from  the 
meeting  impressed  with  the  belief  that  he  was  the  most  powerful, 
forcible,  and  truthful  speaker  they  had  ever  heard,  and  with  a 
fixed  determination  to  vote  for  him  in  case  he  shall  ever  be  a  can- 
didate for  any  office  that  will  give  them  an  opportunity  to  do  so. 
We  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  Mr.  Vallandigham  is,  to-day,  the 
most  popular  man  in  the  State  of  Ohio  ;  and,  as  a  rebuke  for  the 
shameful  manner  in  which  he  was  gerrymandered  out  of  his  seat  in 
Congress  by  an  Abolition  legislature,  the  people  of  Ohio  would  now 
be  willing  to  bestow  upon  him  any  office  within  their  gift. 

Three  days  later,  October  25th,  Mr.  Vallandiguam  was  at  Mt. 
Vernon,  0.,  in  midst  of  the  Democracy  of  "Old  Knox."  The  day 
was  stormy  and  very  unpleasant,  but  the  city  had  no  room  large 
enough  for  the  crowd ;  so  they  took  a  stand  in  the  open  air,  and, 
defying  the  weather,  listened  to  Mr.  Vallandiguam  with  the  moat 
earnest  attention  for  three  full  hours.  The  Mt.  Vernon  Banner 
says : 

The  audience  would  have  heard  him  speak  a  whole  day  with  the 
greatest  pleasure.  His  speech  was  certainly  the  ablest  and  best  ever 
delivered  in  this  city ;  and  men  who  have  heard  many  of  the  most 
eminent  speakers  in  the  Union,  declare  Mr.  Vallandigham  equal,  if 
not  superior,  to  any  of  them.  The  speech,  fi'om  beginning  to  end, 
was  characteristic  of  the  statesman,  the  patriot,  and  the  Christian.  It 
comprehended  the  situation  and  crisis  of  our  affiiirs.  The  course  and 
tendency  of  events  were  well  told,  and  the  condition  of  the  country 
truly  depicted.  The  designs  of  the  factious  demagogues,  conspiring 
fanatics,  and  unfaithful  public  men,  who  now,  unfortunately,  sit  in  the 
high  places  of  power  and  trust,  were  laid  bare  and  reprobated  with, 
crushing  truth,  reason,  and  common  sense.  "Would  that  every  honest 
and  really  patriotic  citizen  could  hear  and  heed  Mr.  Vallandigham's 
words  of  truth  and  wisdom;  the  base  schemes  of  wicked  men  would 
soon  be  exploded  or  frustrated,  their  authors  punished,  or,  at  least, 
deprived  of  power  to  ruin,  and  the  country  restored  to  peace,  har- 
mony, and  prosperity. 

The  next  of  these  meetings  at  which  we  find  Mr.  Vallandigham 
was  held  on  the  1st  of  November,  at  his  old  home  in  New  Lisbon, 
Columbiana  county,  0.  The  Ohio  Patriot^  of  that  place,  describing 
the  meeting,  says : 

"Word  had  circulated  that  Vallandigham,  the  friend  of  the  Consti- 
tion  and  the  Union — which,  by  Repuljlican  interpretation,  means  the 
traitor  and  secessionist — was  to  speak,  and  the  old  men  of  the  county, 
who  used  to  listen  to  his  father's  preaching,  and  the  young  men  who 
admired  his  valor  and  his  patriotism,  came  in,  by  hundreds,  to  get  the 
political  gospel  from  the  son.  Never  in  New  Lisbon  did  there  assem- 
ble so  many  of  the  sober  and  pious  people  of  the  county. 


DEMOCRATIC   JUBILEES.  161 

In  another  editorial  the  Patriot  says  : 

Mr.  Vallandigham  was  born  and  raised  in  New  Lisbon,  and  was 
well  known  to  the  people  of  this  county  previous  to  his  removal  to 
Dayton.  When  a  young  man,  fully  confiding  in  his  ability  and  integ- 
rity, they  elected  him  to  the  legislature  of  the  State;  and  their  con- 
fidence in  his  patriotism  and  statesmanship  has  been  increased  by 
every  act  of  his  life.  He  has  been  the  subject  of  much  abuse  from 
the  Republicans ;  but  they  can  not  show  one  word  he  has  ever  uttered 
that  was  disloyal :  while  it  would  be  very  easy  to  establish,  that,  if 
every  man  in  the  North  had  pursued  the  same  course  for  the  last  ten 
years,  we  would  have  had  no  war,  no  Federal  tax,  no  draft,  no  stricken 
people  mourning  for  their  dead  kindred,  victims  of  battle.  Mr.  Val- 
landigham is  immensely  popular. 

On  the  5th  of  November,  Mr.  Vallandigham  was  at  that  immense 
Democratic  celebration  in  Newark,  0.  A  correspondent  of  the  Cin- 
cinnati Enquirer,  describing  the  meeting,  says  : 

Such  demonstrations  as  the  one  we  had  here  yesterday  should  con- 
vince the  most  skeptical  of  the  lively,  healthy,  vigorous  existence  of 
the  Democracy.  It  is  affirmed  by  those  who  ought  to  know,  that  it 
was  the  largest  political  meeting  in  this  city  since  the  year  1840. 
And  certainly  it  could  not  well  be  exceeded  in  earnestness  and  zeal. 
About  ten  thousand  people  convened  in  the  court-house  square,  be- 
tween one  and  two  o'clock,  P.  M.  Many  came  from  the  adjoining 
counties.  Hon.  C.  L.  Vallandigham  made  the  first  speech.  His 
introduction  was  accompanied  by  an  enthusiastic  outburst  of  applause 
from  the  whole  multitude.  Mr.  Vallandigham  began  by  referring 
to  and  narrating  the  incidents  and  revealing  the  motives  of  the  recent 
causeless  and  most  foul  murder,  at  Dayton,  of  one  of  his  best  friends, 
J.  F.  Bollmeyer,  editor  of  the  Dayton  Mnpire,  by  an  Abolition 
assassin.  He  had,  the  day  before,  attended  the  funeral  of  his  mar- 
tyred friend,  a  victim  of  Abolition  vindictiveness.  He  spoke  most 
feelingly  on  this  subject;  he  characterized  the  murder  very  truly  and 
properly  as  one  of  the  sad  results  of  the  Gospel  of  Hate,  which  has 
been  for  years  persistently  preached  by  so  many  of  the  clergy,  and 
diffused  and  instilled  by  the  Abolition  press  of  the  land.  He  scouted 
and  exposed  the  false  and  miserable  pretence  which  the  lying  tele- 
graph and  the  Abolition  papers  had  alleged,  that  it  was  the  issue  of 
a  rencounter  about  a  dog.  The  fact  of  the  Grand  Jury  having 
indicted  the  assassin  for  murder  in  the  first  degree,  showed  the  real 
character  of  the  affair.  It  was  a  cowardly  Abolition  murder  of  a 
noble,  talented,  and  courageous  man,  for  no  other  reason  than  that 
he  was  an  able  and  prominent  Democrat. 

Although,  Mr.  Vallandigham  said,  he  sometimes  felt  like  harboring 
a  spirit  of  revenge  for  the  many  persecutions  and  outrages,  even  to 
the  shedding  of  blood  and  loss  of  life,  which  had  been  inflicted  upon 
Democrats  by  the  Abolitionists,  yet  he  counseled  charity  toward  them, 
and  would  seek  for  redress,  at  least  in  the  first  place,  at  the  hands 
11 


l§t  DEMOCRATIC  JUBILEES. 

of  the  Liw  and  through  the  ballot-box.  His  rebuke  at  our  hypo- 
critical opponents,  ^vho  profess  to  be  such  pure  Christians  and  mor- 
alists, was  most  scathing.  He  contrasted  their  conduct  and  practice 
with  that  of  the  Democracy,  as  to  who  had  manifested  the  greater 
regard  for  the  precepts  of  Christianity,  which,  as  he  understands  it, 
is  the  Gospel  of  Love.  The  Abolitionists  had  preached  and  prac- 
ticed the  Gospel  of  Hate — hate  toward  everybody  except  the  negro, 
and  even  with  respect  to  him,  they  were  more  actuated  by  hate  for 
the  negro's  master  than  by  love  for  the  negro. 

On  the  13th  of  November,  Mr.  Vallandigham  spoke  at  the  mass 
meeting  in  Circleville  ;  and  the  next  day  at  Lancaster.  He  then 
suddenly  disappeared  from  the  State;  but,  on  the  day  following,  was 
heard  of  at  Cambridge,  Ind.,  where  a  grand  Democratic  jubilee  was 
that  day  to  be  held. 

The  "  Butternuts  "  came  in  by  car-loads,  while  wagons  and  horses, 
by  thousands,  brought  up  the  rear.  Mr.  Vallandigham  was  there, 
as  a  part  of  the  programme.  He  had  visited  the  same  district  on 
the  20th  of  October,  and  spoken  at  Centreville,  as  we  have  said. 
Being,  of  course,  a  suspicious  character,  he  was  dogged  by  the 
United  States  Marshal  for  Indiana,  named  Garland  Rose,  under 
orders  from  Governor  Morton,  of  that  State.  Referring  to  his  former 
visit  and  its  adventures,  Mr.  Vallandigham  began  his  speech  thus : 

Is  the  Marshal  of  Indiana  here  to-day?  Are  his  minions  about? 
Is  his  committee  here  again?  Why  liest  thou  hid  now,  0,  sweet- 
soented  Rose  ?  Lift  up  thy  delicate  head,  thou  daughter  of  a  mild 
sky. 

"Quid  lates  dudum,  Rosa?" 

Why  has  not  Morton  threatened  to  deck  me  this  time,  also,  with 
a  garland  of  roses?  Ah!  I  remember  me,  elections  have  been  held, 
and  the  people  have  spoken.  Their  voice,  as  the  voice  of  many 
waters,  has  been  heard.  It  has  reached  the  palaces  at  Washington 
and  Indianapolis  and  Columbus,  and  penetrated  even  their  darkened 
and  deaf  recesses.  Lincoln  and  Morton  have  heard  it,  and  their 
knees  have  smitten  together.  Tod  heard  it.  The  "  Democratic 
thunder"  reached  his  ears;  he  knew  it,  and  his  "back-bone"  soft- 
ened and  shriveled  and  shrunk  before  it.  Sic  semper  tijrannit. 
Let  us  rejoice.  The  people  are  once  more  masters,  and  henceforth, 
no  more  shall  the  rights  of  the  citizen  and  the  courtesies  and  hos- 
pitalities of  States  be  violated.  The  occupation  of  marshals  and 
detectives  and  spies  and  informers  and  affidavit-makers,  is  gone, 
never  to  return ;  and  their  offices,  at  least  the  official  existence  of 
them,  one  and  all,  will  soon  cease.  "Teach  me  the  measure  of  my 
days,"  sr.ys  the  Psalmist ;  and  I  commend  the  pious  reflection  to 
Lincoln  and  Morton  and  Tod,  and  all  others  under  and  around,  or 
like  them,  who  have  abused  power,  and  outraged  the  people.     The 


DEMOCRATIC  JUBILEES.  ll^S 

4th  of  March,  1864,  will  end  their  days.  Habeas  corpus  is  here. 
Arbitrary  arrests  are  at  an  end.  The  people  of  New  York  had 
restored  the  great  charter  of  liberty  on  the  6th  of  November,  and 
the  people  of  Ohio  and  Indiana  on  the  14th  day  of  October.  In  the 
midst  of  a  despotism  worse  than  that  of  Austria,  the  people  of  these 
great  States  have  risen  in  their  might,  and  pulled  down  the  temple 
of  Abolitionism,  never  to  rise  again.  Not  a  vestige  of  it  will  be  left. 
Its  site  will  be  plowed  over,  and  salt  sowed,  after  the  custom  of  the 
Romans,  upon  the  spot  where  it  stood. 

In  the  contest  just  closed,  while  the  sky  was  dark,  and  the  storm 
•was  gathering — when  the  old  Democratic  ship  was  struggling  with 
the  billows — men  who  had  professed  to  be  leaders,  who  had  been 
foremost  when  the  sky  was  bright  and  the  wind  blew  fair,  had 
deserted  their  posts.  It  was  always  so.  Some  were  terrified,  and 
fled ;  others,  ambitious  men,  who  would  secure  power  dishonorably, 
fled ;  but  the  people,  always  true  to  themselves,  retired  to  their 
homes,  to  their  farms  and  their  workshops  and  their  offices,  in  the 
hour  of  trial,  to  commune  with  their  sober  thoughts,  and  they  came 
forth  at  the  appointed  time,  and  righted  the  floundering  ship.  They 
achieved  a  victory  surprising  even  to  themselves,  and  perfectly 
astounding  to  the  Abolitionists. 

The  railroads,  the  banks,  the  telegraph  lines,  the  express  com- 
panies, and  another  element,  that  had  of  late  defiled  itself  in  the 
land — the  Churches — were  all  arrayed  against  the  people.  The  pure 
altars  of  Christianity  were  defiled,  and  the  disciples  had  huckstered 
in  the  political  markets.  The  Churches  had  departed  from  the  doc- 
trines of  Christ  and  him  crucified,  and  taken  up  the  negro  and  him 
glorified!  There  will  be  no  Union,  no  peace,  no  hope,  no  country, 
until  you  drive  out  those  who  have  defiled  the  temple  of  the  Savior 
of  mankind,  and  restore  the  gospel  in  its  purity.  It  is  time  to  aban- 
don the  Abolition  churches.  Refuse  them  support.  It  is  time  to 
speak  out. 

Mr.  Vallandigham  said  he  was  the  son  of  a  clergyman,  but  of  one 
■who  did  not  disgrace  his  calling.  He  had  of  late  quoted  freely  from 
the  Scriptures,  in  his  speeches.  Some  of  his  friends  remarked  it,  and 
he  told  them  he  had  not  attended  church  lately,  and  consequently  he 
had  time  to  examine  the  Bible.  In  his  closet  he  could  find  its 
teachings,  but  not  in  the  pulpit. 

Proscription  had  been  another  means  used.  Men  were  proscribed 
in  every  way.  His  advice  was  to  meet  proscription  with  proscription. 
We  have  as  much  money  as  they  have — at  least,  honestly.  We 
have  not  as  many  contractors,  nor  as  heavy  amounts  of  stealings 
hoarded  up,  but  we  consume  as  much  as  they  do,  eat  as  much,  wear 
as  much,  and,  by  honest  toil,  can  pay  for  as  much.  Proscription 
is  a  game  that  two  can  play  at,  and  they  will  be  the  first  to  tire  of  it. 

Over  all  these  means,  freely  and  unscrupulously  used,  we  behold 
the  sublime  spectacle  of  twenty  millions  of  freemen  making  their 
voices  heard,  even  in  the  White  House.  Abraham  has  heard  it,  the 
Cabinet  have  heard  it,  and  the  governors  of  States  have  heard  it. 

Mr.  Vallandigham  then  counseled  his  Democratic  friends  to  stand 


164  DEMOCRATIC   JUBILEES. 

by  the  laws,  to  seek  redress  through  the  courts,  and  administer  that 
rebuke  to  the  corrupt — "exclusion  from  office."  We  will  get  satis- 
faction for  our  wrongs  through  the  law.  lie  called  upon  every  man 
who  had  been  unlawfully  imprisoned  in  the  walls  of  a  Bastile,  to  seek 
for  redress  through  the  forms  of  law,  as  he  valued  himself  and  the 
liberties  of  his  countrymen.  England  has  given  us  examples  of 
illegal  arrest — these  usurpers  can  not  even  claim  the  merit  of  origin- 
ality for  their  tyranny — she  has  also  given  us  examples  of  the  pun- 
ishment of  the  offenders.  In  England,  the  person  of  a  subject  ia 
inviolate.  An  Englishman's  house  or  home  is  his  castle.  We  have 
a  notable  instance  of  what  an  Englishman's  liberty  for  one  hour  is 
considered  worth  by  an  English  jury.  A  secretary  of  state  arrested 
a  British  subject,  and  imprisoned  him  for  one  hour.  At  the  end  of 
that  time  he  was  released.  He  brought  suit  against  "  my  Lord,"  and 
recovered  a  verdict  for  §5,000.  Lord  Chief  Justice  Pratt,  afterward 
Lord  Camden — the  advocate  of  the  cause  of  the  Colonies,  the  friend 
of  America  in  its  youth — made  the  memorable  declaration  in  this 
case:  "None  but  an  English  jury  can  estimate  the  value  of  an 
Englishman's  liberty  for  one  hour."  An  Indiana  jury  may  be  able 
to  make  a  like  estimate.  That  is  the  way  we  should  and  will  have 
satisfaction.  The  people  have  spoken — they  must  be  heard,  and  will 
be  heard.  "  We  will  have  the  Union  as  it  was,  the  Constitution  as 
it  is,  and  the  negroes  where  they  are." 

Mr.  Vallandigham  said  that  the  campaign  had  only  just  begun. 
It  must  be  kept  up.  We  have  a  wily  and  unscrupulous  antagonism 
to  contend  with.  The  good  old  times  will  return.  He  did  believe 
in  the  possibility,  nay,  the  probability,  of  the  restoration  of  the  Union 
as  it  was.  We  have  commenced  the  work  here,  with  the  ballot-box  ; 
with  it  we  have  smitten  the  Philistines  hip  and  thigh.  The  people 
of  the  South,  after  a  little  while,  will,  by  the  same  instrumentality, 
put  down  the  Secessionists  there,  as  we  have  the  Abolitionists  here, 
and  peace  and  union  will  once  more  smile  upon  the  land.  That  is 
the  sentiment  in  the  ranks  of  both  armies,  and  if  you  would  to-day 
put  ballots  in  the  hands  of  the  private  soldiers  of  the  North  and 
South,  the  agitators  and  leaders,  who  are  forcing  streams  of  blood  to 
flow,  would  be  effectually  put  down.  He  related  several  instances  of 
this  feeling  in  the  army,  and  concluded  with  an  elegant  peroration, 
which  was  received — as  the  main  parts  of  his  speech  had  been, 
throughout — by  thunders  of  applause. 

On  the  21st  of  November,  at  the  residence  of  Judge  Morse,  near 
Dayton,  Mr.  Vallandigham  was  presented  with  an  elegant  gold- 
headed  cane,  a  gift  from  ladies  of  that  city.  Mr.  Thomas  0. 
Lowe,  who,  on  behalf  of  the  ladies,  made  the  presentation  speech, 
alluding  to  the  sentiments  of  those  for  whom  he  was  commissioned 
to  speak,  said : 

There  are  yet  some  who,  from  their  very  natures,  have  deprecated 
this  war,  who  desired,  as  you  did,  that  it  should  be  averted,  and  who 


DEMOCRATIC   JUBILEES.  165  / 

now  pray  that  the  ruler  of  heaven  and  earth,  who  is  the  Prince  of 
Peace  and  God  of  Love,  will  turn  the  hearts  of  men  froni  all  bitter- 
ness and  strife,  so  that  bloodshed  may  be  known  among  us  no  more 
forever.  And  if  there  be  a  prayer  which  the  '•  ministering  angels  " 
round  about  us  more  gladly  hear,  and  more  quickly  bear  to  the  ear 
of  heaven,  than  any  other,  it  must  be  theirs.  The  Savior  of  men 
Baid  "  Blessed  are  the  peacemakers,"  and 

"Gave  his  life 
To  bend  man's  stubborn  will; 
When  elements  were  fierce  with  strife, 
Said  to  them  'Peace;  be  still.'" 

And,  describing  the  estimation  those  ladies  had  placed  upon  the 
services  of  him  to  whom  this  elegant  gift  was  offered,  Mr.  Lowe  said : 

They  desire  to  express  to  you  their  belief  that  if  all  the  men  of 
the  North  and  South  had  but  loved  this  Union  as  well,  and  had  strug- 
gled as  wisely  for  the  best  interests  of  the  country  as  you,  this  war 
would  have  been  averted ;  and  that,  even  now,  if  the  combatants 
could  but  be  imbued  with  a  patriotism  as  true  as  yours,  this  struggle 
would  speedily  cease,  our  Union  be  restored  as  it  was,  and  every  thing 
which  has,  in  days  gone  by,  made  Americans  proud  of  their  country, 
would  come  back  to  us  again.  They  believe,  too,  that  when  the  his- 
torian shall  come  to  write  of  the  causes  of  the  downfall  of  this  great 
Republic — if,  in  the  providence  of  God,  it  be  doomed  to  fall — if  he 
write  with  an  unprejudiced  pen,  "  nothing  extenuating,  naught  setting 
down  in  malice,"  he  will  have  this  to  say  of  you  :  You  hated  and 
resisted  the  fell  spirit  of  Abolitionism,  which  you  knew  to  be 

"  False,  deceitful. 
Sudden,  malicious,  smacking  of  every  sin 
That  has  a  name," 

which,  invigorated  by  the  blood  and  carnage  of  the  rebellion,  you 
saw  endeavoring,  under  various  pretexts,  to  destroy  our  dearest  lib- 
erties, and  for  this  cause,  and  this  alone,  you  were  made  the  object 
of  a  persecution  which,  for  malignity  and  persistency,  has  few  par- 
allels in  history. 

Mr.  Lowe  closed  by  saying : 

And  we  all  think,  sir,  that  it  is  not  among  the  least  of  the  services 
you  have  rendered  to  your  country,  that  you  have  shown  that  there 
is  such  a  thing  as  unconquerable  devotion  to  principle — that  there  is 
one  statesman  among  us  who  is  not  to  be  moved  from  his  conviction 
of  right  by  any  danger  or  threatenings — that  if  one  obeys  the  exhorta- 
tions of  Woolsey,  and  makes  his  aims  "  his  country's,  his  God's  and 
truth's,"  he  need  not  fear.  Though  storms  may  be  raging  all  around 
him,  he  will  be  "  sustained  by  an  unfaltering  trust,"  and  have  "that 
peace  which  is  above  all  earthly  dignities,  a  still  and  quiet  con- 
science." 


166  DEMOCRATIC   JUBILEES. 

Accepting  the  beautiful  gift,  Mr.  Vallandiqham  said : 

Mr.  Lowe  :  With  a  grateful  heart  I  receive  this  cane  from  the 
ladies  for  whom  you  have  just  spoken.  Valuable  in  itself,  it  is  to 
mc  far  more  valuable  because  of  the  kindly  motives  which  have 
induced  its  presentation ;  but  especially  as  a  testimony  of  their 
approbation  of  my  conduct  as  a  public  man,  in  the  recent  and  present 
perilous  times  of  the  country.  From  them  I  accept  it  as  a  large 
recompense  for  whatever  of  calumny  and  reproach  I  have  endured 
for  the  last  eighteen  months,  because  of  my  adherence  to  principle 
and  a  course  of  public  policy  which,  in  my  conscience  and  judgment, 
I  believed  essential  to  the  restoration  of  the  Union  and  the  best 
interests  of  my  country.  Such  honors  are  bestowed  commonly  upon 
the  heroes  of  military  warfare.  But  if  I  merit  any  part  of  the 
praise  which  you  have  so  eloquently  expressed,  it  is  moral  heroism 
which,  to-night,  is  honored  by  these  ceremonies.  It  is  the  victories 
of  PEACE  which  you  here  celebrate.  Her  triumphs  are,  indeed, 
grander,  and  her  conquests  nobler  than  any  achieved  by  the  military 
hero  upon  the  battle-field.  And  it  is  especially  fitting  that  these 
honors  should  be  paid  to  the  cause — though  I,  myself,  may  deserve 
them  not — by  the  women  of  the  country ;  and,  while  I  lament  that 
so  many  among  them  should  have  forgotten  the  softness  of  their 
sex,  and  the  mild  teachings  of  a  religion,  essential,  indeed,  to  man, 
but  especially  congenial  to  woman's  nature,  yet  I  rejoice  that  so 
many,  also,  have  laid  not  aside  the  ornament  of  a  meek  and  quiet 
spirit,  but  remembered  and  clung  yet  the  more  steadfastly  to  the 
gospel  of  peace  and  love,  even  amid  the  phrensy  of  a  desolating  and 
demoralizing  civil  war.  True  to  woman's  mission,  they  are,  or  will 
be,  the  wives,  mothers,  daughters,  and  sisters,  who,  by  precept,  ex- 
ample, or  association,  shall  bring  back  yet  the  present,  or  educate  a 
new  generation  which  shall  restore  peace,  the  Union,  and  constitu- 
tional liberty,  with  all  their  virtues  and  their  blessings,  once  more  to 
this  bleeding  and  distracted  country.  If,  indeed,  sir,  I  have  exhibited 
any  part  of  the  high  qualities  of  courage,  fortitude,  and  immovable 
devotion  to  the  good  and  the  right,  which,  on  behalf  of  these 
ladies,  you  have  so  kindly  attributed  to  me,  it  is  to  one  of  their  own 
sex,  more  than  to  any  other  human  agency,  that  I  am  indebted  for 
them — MY  MOTHER.  In  childhood,  in  boyhood,  and  in  youth,  in  the 
midst  of  many  trials,  from  her  teachings,  and  by  her  example,  I 
learned  those  lessons,  and  formed  the  character  and  habits — if  it  be 
so — which  fitted  me,  with  courage  and  endurance,  and  unfaltering 
faith,  to  struggle  with  the  terrible  times  in  the  midst  of  which  we 
live. 

Congratulating  the  ladies  on  the  selection  of  yourself  as  their 
representative  upon  thig  occasion,  and  thanking  you  cordially  for  the 
many  kind  things  you  have  been  pleased  to  say,  I  accept  this  beauti- 
ful present,  with  my  most  grateful  acknowledgments  to  one  and  all 
here  assembled. 

The  next  day  Mr.  Vallandigham  addressed,  at  length,  a  very 


DEMOCRATIC  JUBILEES-  167 

large  Democratic  meeting  at  Springfield,  Clark  county,  Oli'.o.     The 
Democrat  of  that  city,  speaking  of  it,  said : 

We  would  like  to  give  a  synopsis  of  his  great  speech,  but  will  not 
attempt  it.  We  but  quote  the  words  of  hundred  of  others  when  we 
say  that  for  beauty,  simplicity,  and  strength  many  of  the  passages 
of  the  speech  were  equal  to  the  best  periods  of  Webster.  Would  to 
God  that  all  his  revilers  could  have  heard  him ! 

On  the  2Gth  of  November  Mr.  Vallandigham  attended  another 
of  those  Democratic  jubilees,  held  at  Chillicothe,  Ohio.  The  day 
was  cold  and  unpleasant,  and  yet  not  less  than  four  thousand  were 
there.  Mr.  Vallandigham  followed  Hon.  Wm.  Allen,  and  spoke 
until  near  dark.     The  Chillicothe  Advertiser  says  : 

It  was  a  remarkable  circumstance — a  thing  almost  unparalleled — 
that  so  many  men  and  women  should  stand  out  there  in  the  cold 
fully  four  hours  after  an  election,  and  listen  to  two  political  speeches. 
Mr.  Vallandigham  spoke  free  from  all  restraint  —  free  from  the 
restraint  that  weighed  many  speakers  down  before  the  election — and 
yet  no  one  could  find  in  that  speech  either  open  or  covert  treason, 
unless  the  unvailing  of  the  Republican  Mohkanna  is  obnoxious  to 
that  charge. 

He  believed  it  possible,  since  the  rendition  of  the  verdict  of  the 
people  through  the  ballot-bos  at  the  late  elections,  that  the  Union 
might  be  restored ;  he  believed  it  would  be  in  time — that  when  the 
Abolitionists  were  put  down  through  the  ballot-box,  then  the  people 
of  the  South  would  put  down  secession  there,  and  then  would  com- 
mence the  work  of  restoration.  His  conviction,  from  the  first,  had 
been  that  the  Union  could  not  be  restored  through  the  agency  of 
arms ;  he  believed  so  now  more  firmly  than  ever. 

Mr.  Vallandigham  closed  amidst  a  profusion  of  bouquets- 
thrown  to  him  by  the  ladies,  who,  in  addition,  presented  him  a  very 
beautiful  wreath. 

But  the  unbounded  enthusiasm  of  the  people  was  not  satisfied  by 
a  four  hours'  meeting  in  the  open  air.  They  met  again,  at  the  court- 
house, in  the  evening.  Mr,  Vallandigham,  not  expecting  to  speak 
again,  came  in  late,  but  was  "so  earnestly  called  for,"  says  the 
Advertiser^  "  that  he  felt  constrained  to  respond,  and  did  respond  in 
a  speech  of  two  hours,"  which  is  described  as  fully  equal  to  his 
effort  of  the  afternoon. 

The  Advertiser  expresses  the  belief  that  "  the  seed  thus  sown  will 
undoubtedly,  ripen  into  a  'butternut'  crop  by  next  fall  far  larger 
than  the  one  that  blessed  the  Democratic  husbandmen  this  last 
fall." 


168  TUB    ailEAT    CIVIL    WAR   IN   AMERICA. 

This  is  the  man  whom  some  people  call  a  "  traitor  ;"  and  such 
were  the  proud  and  triumphant  receptions  with  which  the  people  of 
Ohio  were  delighted  to  honor  a  "  defeated  candidate." 

Immediately  after  the  meeting  in  Chillicothe,  Mr.  Vallandigham 
left  for  Washington  city,  the  day  for  the  reassembling  of  Congress 
beins:  at  hand. 


NUMBER   TEN. 


THE  GREAT  CIVIL  WAR  IN  AMERICA. 

BPKECH  DELIVEKED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  BEPEESENTATIVES,  JANUABT  U,  1863. 


No  speech  ever  heard  in  the  Halls  of  Congress  has  made  a  deeper 
impression  on  the  mind  of  the  American  people  than  the  one  deliv- 
ered by  Mr.  Vallandigham  on  the  1-ith  of  January,  1863.  From 
the  day  Congress  assembled,  public  expectation  had  been  turned 
toward  him,  and  many  were  waiting  to  hear  what  counsels  he  would 
give  in  this  most  perilous  hour  of  our  country's  history.  The 
highest  hopes  of  his  friends,  and  the  worst  fears  of  his  enemies  were 
realized;  for  he  spoke  like  a  statesman,  a  patriot,  an  American. 

Already  that  speech  has  found  a  million  of  readers,  but  we  will 
repeat  it  here,  revised  and  corrected,  for  this  purpose,  by  the  author. 
Those  who  have  read  it  will  be  glad  to  have  it  in  a  permanent  form, 
while  they  and  others  will  value  it  more  highly  in  this  connection, 
the  last  of  a  series  of  speeches,  which,  in  the  aggregate,  furnish  a 
thorough  and  complete  exposition  of  the  growth,  progress,  develop- 
ment, and  culmination  of  a  most  pernicious,  deadly,  and  destructive 
fanaticism. 

It  is  right  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  estimate  we  have 
formed  of  this  speech  is  fully  sustained  by  the  opinions  of  the  press, 
true  index  and  exponent  of  popular  sentiment. 

The  Washington  correspondent  of  the  Cincinnati  Gazette,  a  bitter 
and  malignant  political  opponent  of  Mr.  Vallandigham,  describing 
the  speech,  and  the  effect  of  its  delivery,  relates  that  the  most  busy 


THE   GKEAT   CIVIL   WAR  IN   AMERICA.  169 

and  active  members,  such  as  Colfax,  Wickliffe,  Lovejoy.  Olin,  and  others 
dropped  every  thing  else,  and  obtained  the  best  positions  for  hearing. 
An  effort  was  making  to  get  a  joint  session  of  the  military  and  naval 
committees  to  consider  a  matter  to  which  attention  had  been  called 
by  the  Secretary  of  War.  Only  three  out  o^  fourteen  members  could 
be  got  to  the  committee-room  in  the  course  of  an  hour.  Even  the 
reporters  in  the  galleries  wake  up;  the  ladies  cease  their  eternal 
chattering,  and  lean  forward  to  catch  every  word. 

Such  are  some  of  the  indications,  of  deep  and  unusual  interest,  as 
described  by  the  correspondent  referred  to,  who  says : 

This  man  is  the  hero  of  our  Northern  rebels  ;  the  most  respectable 
in  talents,  the  most  honest  in  declaring  his  positions,  the  bravest  in 
maintaining  them  against  whatever  storm  of  opposition  and  obloquy. 

Describing  his  manner  of  commencing,  the  same  writer  says  : 

He  begins  boldly,  defiantly,  even  ;  and  is  speedily  preaching  the 
very  doctrine  of  devils.  "  You  can  never  subdue  the  seceded  States. 
Two  years  of  fearful  experience  have  taught  you  that.  Why  carry 
on  the  war?  If  you  persist,  it  can  only  end  in  final  separation 
between  the  North  and  South.  And  in  that  case,  believe  it  now,  as 
you  did  not  my  former  warnings,  the  whole  North-west  will  go  with 
the  South !  " 

He  waxes  more  earnest  as  he  approaches  this  key-note  of  his 
harangues,  and  with  au  energy  and  force  that  makes  every  hearer — 
as  his  moral  nature  revolts  from  the  bribe — acknowledge,  all  the 
more,  the  splendid  force  with  which  the  tempter  urges  his  cause,  with 
flashing  eye  and  livid  features  and  extended  hand,  trembling  with 
the  passion  of  his  utterance,  he  hurls  the  climax  of  his  threatening 
argument  again  upon  the  Republican  side  of  the  House :  "  Believe 
me,  as  you  did  not  the  solemn  warning  of  years  past,  the  day  which 
divides  the  North  from  the  South,  the  self-same  day  decrees  eternal 
divorce  between  the  West  and  the  East!" 

These  solemn  warnings  have,  at  last,  caught  the  ear  of  leading 
Republicans.     Will  they  heed  them  ? 

The  group  of  Republicans  standing  in  the  open  space  before  the 
Clerk's  desk,  increases  j  they  crowd  down  the  aisles  among  the 
Opposition  and  cluster  around  the  Speaker. 

Mr.  Vallandigham  tells  them  : 

There  is  not  one  drop  of  rain  that  falls  over  the  whole  vast  expanse 
of  the  North-west  that  does  not  find  its  home  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Gulf.  We  must  and  we  will  follow  it,  with  travel  and  trade ;  not  by 
treaty,  but  by  right;  freely,  peaceably,  and  without  restriction  or 
tribute,  under  the  same  Grovernment  and  flag. 


170  THE   GREAT    CIVIL    WAR  IN   AMERICA. 

The  correspondent,  whose  unwilling  testimony  we  are  quoting,  says 
of  the  above  declaration  : 

It  is  eloquently  spoken,  and  none  are  more  willing  to  concede  it 
than  his  opponents. 

The  strongest  testimony  to  Mr.  Vallandigham's  power  as  a 
speaker,  and  to  thfe  resistless  force  of  the  great  truths  he  was  utter- 
ing, is  given  by  this  writer,  in  saying : 

He  has  spoken  over  an  hour  and  a  quarter,  and  accomplished  the 
rare  feat  of  compelling  the  closest  attention  of  the  most  disorderly 
deliberative  body  in  the  world,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end. 

The  speech  being  ended,  the  Gazettes  correspondent  adds : 

There  is  a  gradual  relaxation,  a  sudden  humming  of  conversation 
again  on  the  floor  and  through  the  galleries.  The  Democrats  and 
Border-State  men,  with  faces  wreathed  in  smiles,  crowd  around  their 
champion  with  their  congratulations.  At  a  single  step,  the  shunned 
and  execrated  Vallandigham  has  risen  to  the  leadership  of  their 
party.  Deny  it,  as  some  of  them  still  may,  henceforth  it  is  accom- 
plished. 

The  Washington  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Herald  said : 

The  speech  of  Mr.  Vallandigham  in  the  House,  to-day,  produced  a 
profound  sensation.  It  was  bold  and  able.  The  Republican  side, 
also,  listened  intently  to  it. 

The  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Journal  of  Commerce  wrote : 

Mr.  Vallandigham's  speech  of  to-day  commanded  marked  attention, 
and  those  who  do  not  agree  with  him  in  policy,  give  him  credit  for 
great  abilities.  He  declared  himself  for  the  Union  as  it  was,  wanted 
Massachusetts  to  come  back  where  she  was  in  other  days,  and  in  the 
event  of  a  final  separation,  prophesied  that  the  North-west  would  go 
with  the  South,  leaving  the  North-east  '-in  the  cold" — but  still  he 
battled,  with  great  force,  for  a  united  country. 

The  correspondent  of  the  Boston  Herald,  describing  the  speech 
and  the  efifect  of  its  delivery,  says : 

The  long-expected  speech  of  Vallandigham  was  delivered  in  the 
presence  of  a  large  audience  iu  the  galleries,  and  an  unusual  attend- 
ance on  the  floor.  As  soon  as  he  arose  to  address  the  House,  a  large 
number  of  members  of  all  parties  gathered  about  him.  His  method 
of  speaking  is  very  attractive.  Added  to  fine  appearance  of  person, 
he  has  a  good  voice  and  gesture,  and  always  speaks  without  notes. 
To-day  he  was  bold  and  determined ;  and  while  his  views  may  be 
regarded  "as  words  of  brilliant  and  polished  treason,"  it  was  univer- 
sally admitted  to  have  been  a  most  able  speech  from  that  stand-point. 


THE  GREAT   CIVIL   WAR  IN   AMERICA.  171 

He  spoke  for  an  hour  without  interruption  of  any  kind,  and  had 
most  attentive  listeners.  I  might  add,  that  Vallandigham's  great 
coolness  amid  the  most  heated  discussions,  is  one  of  his  peculiarities, 
and  gives  him  decided  advantages  over  more  impassioned  antagonists. 

Of  a  similar  character  is  the  notice  of  the  Washington  correspond- 
ent of  the  St,  Louis  Repuhlican,  who  writes : 

The  peace  speech  of  this  Ohio  Congressman,  in  the  House,  yester- 
day, was  received  with  remarkable  and  respectful  attention  by  the 
Republicans ;  and  it  is  significant,  as  the  first  occasion  when  that 
party  in  Congress  calmly  listened  to  the  semi-secession  doctrines  of 
Vallandigham,  or  any  other  peace  man.  It  also  attracts  attention 
from  every  other  quarter,  and,  to-day,  is  the  general  subject  of 
comment  in  the  city. 

The  Boston  Courier^  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  reliable  of  the 
Eastern  papers,  thus  certifies  its  worth : 

This  is  an  extremely  able  and  a  very  honest  speech.  No  one  can 
read  it  and  help  believing  that  Mr.  Vallandigham  is  a  brave  and 
honest  man ;  and  the  speech  itself  afi"ords  irresistible  evidence  that  it 
is  his  unfaltering  devotion  to  the  Union  and  the  Constitution  which 
has  led  those  less  loyal  to  stigmatize  him  as  a  secessionist  and  a 
traitor.  His  opinions  will  answer  for  themselves  ;  but  for  its  histori- 
cal value  and  its  strong  grasp  of  the  future,  the  speech  ought  to  have 
the  widest  circulation. 

The  Philadelphia  Constitutional  Union  has  a  bold,  full,  and  une- 
quivocal indorsement : 

The  speech  of  this  distinguished  statesman  and  heroic  defender  of 
the  Constitution,  which  we  present  in  full  to-day,  is  the  crowning 
effort  of  his  public  life.  It  rises  above  the  mere  cant  and  humbug  of 
present  popularity,  into  the  clear  and  comprehensive  realm  of  uniself- 
ish  statesmanship,  and  discusses  the  exciting  and  momentous  topics 
of  the  day  with  that  measure  of  candor  which  their  importance 
demands.  While  proclaiming  that  peace  is  the  only  road  which  can 
lead  to  a  satisfactory  settlement  of  this  vexed  question,  Mr.  Vallan- 
digham at  the  same  time  points  out  the  principles  upon  which  peace 
must  rest,  in  order  to  make  it  permanent.  He  traces  with  a  master- 
hand  the  causes  which  have  produced  our  national  estrangement, 
shows  how  the  difiiculties  have  grown  to  their  present  gigantic 
proportions,  and  then  appeals  to  the  good  sense  of  the  nation  to 
apply  the  remedy  before  it  be  too  late.  The  speech  should  be  read 
by  every  man  in  the  country. 

The  above  are  fair  specimens  of  the  opinions  of  leading  newspa- 
pers. Even  the  Republican  press  has  limited  its  denunciations  to 
the  sentiments  of  the  speech ;  and  no  paper  whose  opinions  the  public 


172  THE   GREAT    CIVIL   WAR   IN   AMERICA. 

respect,  has  denied  its  great  power  and  merit  as  a  production  of 
eloquence  and  logical  skill.  Even  Forney,  in  the  Washington 
Chronicle,  says  it  is  a  "  logical  and  powerful  speecJi." 

A  few  quotations  will  indicate  the  general  tone  of  the  Democratic 
press  of  Ohio.     The  Cincinnati  Enquirer  says : 

No  speech  has  been  made  in  Congress  for  years  that  has  produced 
BO  great  an  effect  in  political  circles,  has  been  so  universally  admired 
for  surpassing  ability,  for  genuine  and  manly  patriotism,  for  its  wise 
gtatesmanship,  as  that  of  Mr.  Vallandigham.  It  is  a  valuable  and 
undying  contribution  to  American  Congressional  eloquence,  and  will 
raise  its  author  to  a  high  place  among  the  greatest  men  of  the 
country.  We  do  not  know  of  a  speech  made  by  any  of  our  eminent 
statesmen  that  has  received  higher  praise  or  been  more  sought  for. 

The  Columbus  Crisis,  edited  by  Gov.  Medary,  says  : 

This  is  no  ordinary  speech — made  by  no  ordinary  man,  and  under 
circumstances  the  most  remarkable  which  ever  overtook  any  nation 
or  people.  It  will  be  well  if  this  nation  ponders  seriously  and  with 
judgment  over  the  words  of  wisdom  and  burning  eloquence  which 
run  through  every  paragraph,  sentence,  and  line. 

The  speech  of  Cato,  in  the  Roman  Senate,  warning  the  people 
against  the  designs  of  C-iESAr  upon  the  liberties  of  the  Roman 
people,  contained  not  more  truthful  and  thrilling  interest  to  that 
great  people  about  to  be  sacrificed  at  the  shrine  of  ambition,  than 
does  this  speech  of  the  member  from  the  Dayton  district,  but  the 
true  representative  of  the  whole  people,  of  all  the  States,  and  the 
nation  as  it  was,  collectively. 

The  Newark  Advocarte  calls  it  "  the  ablest  speech  Mr.  Vallan- 
digham has  ever  made,"  and  says:  "No  higher  praise  need  be 
desired."  The  Bucyrus  Forum  says :  "  Every  Democratic  paper  that 
comes,  contains  the  great  master-speech  of  Vallandigham,"  whom 
the  Forum  calls  the  "  coming  man."  The  Marion  Mirror  pro- 
nounces it  "  the  greatest  effort  of  the  age,"  and  says  "  it  reflects 
undying  credit  upon  its  author."  The  Ohio  Democrat  calls  it  "  the 
most  able  speech  delivered  in  Congress  during  the  war."  The  Stark 
County  Democrat  says :  "  This  speech  is  in  favor  of  stopping  the 
war,  and  looking  to  other  means  for  restoring  the  Union,"  and  adds: 
"  That  is  the  right  talk."  With  general  agreement,  the  Democratic 
press  everywhere,  but  especially  in  Ohio  and  other  Western  States, 
has  bestowed  higher  commendations  than  upon  any  other  speech 
delivered  during  the  late  Congressional  session.  And  this  is  the 
estimate  the  public,  also,  are  forming  of  the  speech  that  here 
follows,  and  which  is  destined  to  find  a  prominent  place  in  the 
literature  these  perilous  times  have  created. 


THE  GREAT   CIVIL   WAR  IN  AMERICA.  173 

Mr.  Vallandigham  said : 

Mr.  Speaker  :  Indorsed  at  the  recent  election,  within  the  same 
district  for  which  I  still  hold  a  seat  on  this  floor,  by  a  majority  four 
times  greater  than  ever  before,  I  speak  to-day  in  the  name  and  by 
the  authority  of  the  people  who,  for  six  years,  have  intrusted  me 
with  the  Office  of  a  Representative.  Loyal,  in  the  true  and  highest 
sense  of  the  word,  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  they  have 
proved  themselves  devotedly  attached  to,  and  worthy  of,  the  libertiee 
to  secure  which  the  Union  and  the  Constitution  were  established. 
With  candor  and  freedom,  therefore,  as  their  Representative,  and  much 
plainness  of  speech,  but  with  the  dignity  and  decency  due  to  thia 
presence,  I  propose  to  consider  the  State  op  the  Union  to-day, 
and  to  inquire  what  the  duty  is  of  every  public  man  and  every 
citizen  in  this  the  very  crisis  of  the  Great  Revolution. 

It  is  now  two  years,  sir,  since  Congress  assembled  soon  after  the 
Presidential  election.  A  sectional  anti-slavery  party  had  then  just 
succeeded  through  the  forms  of  the  Constitution.  For  the  first  time 
a  President  had  been  chosen  upon  a  platform  of  avowed  hostility 
to  an  institution  peculiar  to  nearly  one  half  of  the  States  of  the 
Union,  and  who  had  himself  proclaimed  that  there  was  an  irrepress^ 
ible  conflict,  because  of  that  institution,  between  the  States;  and  that 
the  Union  could  not  endure  "  part  slave  and  part  free."  Congress 
met,  therefore,  in  the  midst  of  the  profoundest  agitation,  not  here 
only,  but  throughout  the  entire  South.  Revolution  glared  upon  us. 
Repeated  efi"orts  for  conciliation  and  compromise  were  attempted,  in 
Congress  and  out  of  it.  All  were  rejected  by  the  party  just  com- 
ing into  power,  except  only  the  promise  in  the  last  hours  of  the 
session,  and  that,  too,  against  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  that  party 
both  in  the  Senate  and  House :  that  Congress — not  the  Executive — 
should  never  be  authorized  to  abolish  or  interfere  with  slavery  in 
the  States  where  it  existed.  South  Carolina  seceded;  Georgia,  Ala» 
bama,  Florida,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  Texas  speedily  followed. 
The  Confederate  Government  was  established.  The  other  slave 
States  held  back.  Virginia  demanded  a  peace  congress.  The  com- 
missioners met,  and,  after  some  time,  agreed  upon  terms  of  final 
adjustment.  But  neither  in  the  Senate  nor  the  House  were  they 
allowed  even  a  respectful  consideration.  The  President  elect  left  his 
home  in  February,  and  journeyed  towards  this  capital,  jesting  as  he 
came;  proclaiming  that  the  crisis  was  only  artificial,  and  that  "no- 
body was  hurt."  He  entered  this  city  under  cover  of  night  and  in 
disguise.  On  the  4th  of  March  he  was  inaugurated,  surrounded  by 
soldiery ;  and,  swearing  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  announced  in  the  same  breath  that  the  platform  of  his  party 
should  be  the  law  unto  him.  From  that  moment  all  hope  of  peace- 
able adjustment  fled.  But  for  a  little  while,  either  with  unstead- 
fast  sincerity  or  in  premeditated  deceit,  the  policy  of  peace  was  pro- 
claimed, even  to  the  evacuation  of  Sumpter  and  the  other  Federal 
forts  and  arsenals  in  the  seceded  States.  Why  that  policy  was  sud- 
denly abandoned,  time  will  fully  disclose.     But  just  after  the  spring 


174  THE   GREAT   CIVIL   WAR  IN   AMERICA. 

elections,  and  the  secret  meeting  in  this  city  of  the  Governors  of 
Bevcral  northern  and  western  States,  a  fleet  carrying  a  large  number 
of  men  was  sent  down  ostensibly  to  provision  Fort  Sumptcr.  The 
authorities  of  South  Carolina  eagerly  accepted  the  challenge,  and 
bombarded  the  fort  into  surrender,  while  the  fleet  fired  not  a  gun, 
but,  just  as  soon  as  the  flag  was  struck,  bore  away  and  returned  to 
the  North.  It  was  Sunday,  the  14th  of  April,  1861  ;  and  that  day 
the  President,  in  fatal  haste,  and  without  the  advice  or  consent  of 
Congress,  issued  his  proclamation,  dated  the  next  day,  calling  out 
seventy-five  thousand  militia  for  three  months,  to  repossess  the  forts, 
places,  and  property  seized  from  the  United  States,  and  commanding 
the  insurgents  to  disperse  in  twenty  days.  Again  the  gage  was 
taken  up  by  the  South,  and  thus  the  flames  of  a  civil  war,  the 
grandest,  bloodiest,  and  saddest  in  history,  lighted  up  the  whole 
heavens.  Virginia  forthwith  seceded.  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and 
Arkansas,  followed  ;  Delaware,  Maryland,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri 
were  in  a  blaze  of  agitation,  and  within  a  week  from  the  proclama- 
tion, the  line  of  the  Confederate  States  was  transferred  from  the 
cotton  States  to  the  Potomac,  and  almost  to  the  Ohio  and  the  Missouri, 
and  their  population  and  fighting  men  doubled. 

In  the  North  and  West,  too,  the  storm  raged  with  the  fury  of  a 
hurricane.  Never  in  history  was  anything  equal  to  it.  Men,  women, 
and  children,  native  and  foreign  born.  Church  and  State,  clergy 
and  laymen,  were  all  swept  along  with  the  current.  Distinction 
of  age,  sex,  station,  party,  perished  in  an  instant.  Thousands  bent 
before  the  tempest ;  and  here  and  there  only  was  one  found  bold 
enough,  foolhardy  enough  it  may  have  been,  to  bend  not,  and  him 
it  smote  as  a  consuming  fire.  The  spirit  of  persecution  for  opinion's 
Bake,  almost  extinct  in  the  old  world,  now,  by  some  mysterious 
transmigration,  appeared  incarnate  in  the  new.  Social  relations 
were  dissolved ;  friendships  broken  up  ;  the  ties  of  family  and  kin- 
dred snapped  asunder.  Stripes  and  hanging  were  every  where  threat- 
ened, sometimes  executed.  Assassination  was  invoked  ;  slander 
sharpened  his  tooth ;  falsehood  crushed  truth  to  the  earth ;  reason 
fled;  madness  reigned.  Not  justice  only  escaped  to  the  skies,  but 
peace  returned  to  the  bosom  of  God,  whence  she  came.  The  gospel 
of  love  perished  ;  hate  sat  enthroned,  and  the  sacrifices  of  blood 
smoked  upon  every  altar. 

But  the  reign  of  the  mob  was  inaugurated  only  to  be  supplanted 
by  the  iron  domination  of  arbitrary  power.  Constitutional  limitation 
•was  broken  down  ;  habeas  corpus  fell ;  liberty  of  the  press,  of  speech, 
of  the  person,  of  the  mails,  of  travel,  of  one's  own  house,  and  of  relig- 
ion;  the  right  to  bear  arms,  due  process  of  law,  judical  trial,  trial 
by  jury,  trial  at  all;  every  badge  and  muniment  of  freedom  in  re- 
publican government  or  kingly  government — all  went  down  at  a 
blow;  and  the  chief  law  officer  of  the  crown — I  beg  pardon,  sir,  but 
it  is  easy  now  to  fall  into  this  courtly  language — the  Attorney- 
General,  first  of  all  men,  proclaimed  in  the  United  States  the  maxim 
of  Roman  servility :  Whatever  pleases  the  President,  that  is  law ! 
Prisoners  of  State  were  then  first   heard  of  here.      Midnight  and 


THE   GREAT  CIVIL   WAR  IN  AMERICA.  175 

arbitrary  arrests  commenced ;  travel  was  interdicted ;  trade  embar- 
goed ;  passports  demanded ;  bastiles  were  introduced  ;  strange  oathg 
invented  ;  a  secret  police  organized  ;  "  piping  "  began  ;  informers 
multiplied  ;  spies  now  first  appeared  in  America.  The  right  to  declare 
war,  to  raise  and  support  armies,  and  to  provide  and  maintain  a 
navy,  was  usurped  by  the  Executive ;  and  in  a  little  more  than  two 
months  a  land  and  naval  force  of  over  three  hundred  thousand  men 
was  in  the  field  or  upon  the  sea.  An  army  of  public  plunderers 
followed,  and  curruption  struggled  with  power  in  friendly  strife  for 
the  mastery  at  home. 

On  the  4th  of  July  Congress  met,  not  to  seek  peace  ;  not  to  re- 
buke usurpation  nor  to  restrain  power  ;  not  certainly  to  deliberate ; 
not  even  to  legislate,  but  to  register  and  ratify  the  edicts  and  acta 
of  the  Executive ;  and  in  your  language,  sir,  upon  the  first  day  of 
the  session,  to  invoke  a  universal  baptism  of  fire  and  blood  amid  the 
roar  of  cannon  and  the  din  of  battle.  Free  speech  was  had  only  at 
the  risk  of  a  prison ;  possibly  of  life.  Opposition  was  silenced  by 
the  fierce  clamor  of  "  disloyalty."  All  business  not  of  war  waa 
voted  out  of  order.  Five  hundred  thousand  men,  an  immense  navy, 
and  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  money  were  speedily  granted. 
In.  twenty,  at  most  in  sixty  days,  the  rebellion  was  to  be  crushed 
out.  To  doubt  it  was  treason.  Abject  submission  was  demanded. 
Lay  down  your  arms,  sue  for  peace,  surrender  your  leaders — forfeit- 
ure, death — this  was  the  only  language  heard  on  this  floor.  The 
galleries  responded  ;  the  corridors  echoed  ;  and  contractors  and  place- 
men and  other  venal  patriots  everywhere  gnashed  upon  the  friends 
of  peace  as  they  passed  by.  In  five  weeks  seventy-eight  public  and 
private  acts  and  joint  resolutions,  with  declaratory  resolutions,  in 
the  Senate  and  House,  quite  as  numerous,  all  full  of  slaughter,  were 
hurried  through  without  delay  and  almost  without  debate. 

Thus  was  CIVIL  WAR  inaugurated  in  America.  Can  any  man  to- 
day see  the  end  of  it? 

And  now  pardon  me,  sir,  if  I  pause  here  a  moment  to  define  my 
own  position  at  that  time  upon  this  great  question. 

Sir,  I  am  one  of  that  number  who  have  opposed  abolitionism;  or 
the  political  development  of  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  of  the  North 
and  West,  from  the  beginning.  In  school,  at  college,  at  the  bar,  in 
public  assemblies,  in  the  Legislature,  in  Congress,  boy  and  man,  as 
a  private  citizen  and  in  public  life,  in  time  of  peace  and  in  time  of 
war,  at  all  times  and  at  every  sacrifice,  I  have  fought  against  it.  It 
cost  me  ten  years'  exclusion  from  ofiice  and  honor,  at  that  period  of 
life  when  honors  are  sweetest.  No  matter :  I  learned  early  to  do 
right  and  to  wait.  Sir,  it  is  but  the  development  of  the  spirit  of 
intermeddling,  whose  children  are  strife  and  murder.  Cain  troubled 
himself  about  the  sacrifices  of  Abel,  and  slew  him.  Most  of  the 
wars,  contentions,  litigation,  and  bloodshed,  from  the  beginning  of 
time,  have  been  its  fruits.  The  spirit  of  non-intervention  is  the  very 
spirit  of  peace  and  concord.  I  do  not  believe  that  if  slavery 
had  never  existed  here  we  would  have  had  no  sectional  controversies. 
This  very  civil  war  might  have  happened  fifty,  perhaps  a  hundred  years 


176  TUE   GREAT   CIVIL  WAR   IN   AMERICA. 

later.  Other  and  stronger  causes  of  discontent  and  of  disunion,  it 
may  be,  have  existed  between  other  States  and  sections,  and  are  now 
being  developed  every  day  into  maturity.  The  spirit  of  intervention 
assumed  the  form  of  abolitionism  because  slavery  was  odious  in  name, 
and  by  association  to  the  northern  mind,  and  because  it  was  that 
which  most  obviously  marks  the  different  civilizations  of  the  two 
sections.  The  South  herself,  in  her  early  and  later  efforts  to  rid 
herself  of  it,  had  exposed  the  weak  and  offensive  parts  of  slavery  to 
the  world.  Abolition  intermeddling  taught  her  at  last  to  search  for 
and  defend  the  assumed  social,  economic,  and  political  merit  and 
values  of  the  institution.  But  there  never  was  an  hour  from  the 
beginning  when  it  did  not  seem  to  me  as  clear  as  the  sun  at  broad 
noon,  that  the  agitation  in  any  form,  in  the  North  and  West,  of  the 
slavery  question,  must  sooner  or  later  end  in  disunion  and  civil  war. 
This  was  the  opinion  and  prediction  for  years  of  Whig  and  Dem- 
ocratic statesmen  alike ;  and  after  the  unfortunate  dissolution  of 
the  Whig  party,  in  1854,  and  the  organization  of  the  present  Repub- 
lican party  upon  an  exclusively  anti-slavery  and  sectional  basis,  the 
event  was  inevitable  ;  because,  in  the  then  existing  temper  of  the 
public  mind,  and  after  the  education  through  the  press,  and  by  the 
pulpit,  the  lecture  and  the  political  canvass  for  twenty  years,  of  a 
generation,  taught  to  hate  slavery  and  the  South,  the  success  of  that 
party,  possessed,  as  it  was,  of  every  engine  of  political,  business, 
social,  and  religious  influence,  was  certain.  It  was  only  a  question 
of  time,  and  short  time.  Such  was  its  strength,  indeed,  that  I  do  not 
believe  that  the  union  of  the  Democratic  party,  in  1860,  on  any  can- 
didate, even  though  he  had  been  supported  also  by  the  entire  so-called 
conservative  or  anti-Lincoln  vote  of  the  country,  would  have  availed 
to  defeat  it ;  and  if  it  had,  the  success  of  the  Abolition  party  would 
only  have  been  postponed  four  years  longer.  The  disease  had  fast- 
ened too  strongly  upon  the  system  to  be  healed  until  it  had  run  its 
course.  The  doctrine  of  the  "irrepressible  conflict"  had  been  taught 
too  long,  and  accepted  too  widely  and  earnestly,  to  die  out  until 
it  should  culminate  in  secession  and  disunion  ;  and,  if  coercion 
were  resorted  to,  then  in  civil  war.  I  believed  from  the  first  that 
it  was  the  purpose  of  some  of  the  apostles  of  that  doctrine  to 
force  a  collision  between  the  North  and  the  South,  either  to  bring 
about  a  separation,  or  to  find  a  vain,  but  bloody  pretext  for  abolish- 
ing slavery  in  the  States.  In  any  event,  I  knew,  or  I  thought  I 
knew,  that  the  end  was  certain  collision,  and  death  to  the  Union. 

Believing  thus,  I  have  for  years  past  denounced  those  who  taught 
that  doctrine  with  all  the  vehemence,  the  bitterness,  if  you  choose — 
I  thought  it  a  righteous,  a  patriotic  bitterness — of  an  earnest  and 
impassioned  nature.  Thinking  thus,  I  forewarned  all  who  believed 
the  doctrine,  or  followed  the  party  which  taught  it,  with  a  sincerity 
and  a  depth  of  conviction  as  profound  as  ever  penetrated  the  heart 
of  man.  And  when,  for  eight  years  past,  over  and  over  again,  I  have 
proclaimed  to  the  people  that  the  success  of  a  sectional  anti-slavery 
party  would  be  the  beginning  of  disunion  and  civil  war  in  America, 
I  believed  it.     I  did.     I  had  read  history,  and  studied  human  nature, 


THE   GREAT   CIVIL   WAR   IN   AMERICA.  177 

and  meditated  for  years  upon  the  character  of  our  institutions  and 
form  of  government,  and  of  the  people  South  as  well  as  North ;  and 
I  could  not  doubt  the  event.  But  the  people  did  not  believe  me, 
nor  those  older  and  wiser  and  greater  than  I.  They  rejected  the 
prophesy,  and  stoned  the  prophets.  The  candidate  of  the  Republican 
party  was  chosen  President.  Secession  began.  Civil  war  was  im- 
minent. It  was  no  petty  insurrection;  no  temporary  combination  to 
obstruct  the  execution  of  the  laws  in  certain  States ;  but  a  REVOLUTION, 
systematic,  deliberate,  determined,  and  with  the  consent  of  a  majority 
of  the  people  of  each  State  which  seceded.  Causeless  it  may  have 
been  ;  wicked  it  may  have  been  ;  but  there  it  was ;  not  to  be  railed 
at,  still  less  to  be  laughed  at,  but  to  be  dealt  with  by  statesmen  as  a 
fact.  No  display  of  vigor  or  force  alone,  however  sudden  or  great, 
could  have  arrested  it,  even  at  the  outset.  It  was  disunion  at  last. 
The  wolf  had  come.  But  civil  war  had  not  yet  followed.  In  my 
deliberate  and  most  solemn  judgment,  there  was  but  one  wise  and 
masterly  mode  of  dealing  with  it.  Non-coercion  would  avert  civil 
war,  and  compromise  crush  out  both  Abolitionism  and  Secession.  The 
parent  and  the  child  would  thus  both  perish.  But  a  resort  to  force 
would  at  once  precipitate  war,  hasten  secession,  extend  disunion,  and, 
while  it  lasted,  utterly  cut  off  all  hope  of  compromise.  I  believe, 
that  war,  if  long  enough  continued,  would  be  final,  eternal  disunion, 
I  said  it ;  I  meant  it ;  and,  accordingly,  to  the  utmost  of  my  ability 
and  influence,  I  exerted  myself  in  behalf  of  the  policy  of  non-coer- 
cion. It  was  adopted  by  Mr.  Buchanan's  Administration,  with  the 
almost  unanimous  consent  of  the  Democratic  and  Constitutional  Union 
parties  in  and  out  of  Congress  ;  and,  in  February,  with  the  con- 
currence of  a  majority  of  the  Republican  party  in  the  Senate  and 
this  House.  But  that  party,  most  disastrously  for  the  country,  refused 
all  compromise.  How,  indeed,  could  they  accept  any  ?  That  which 
the  South  demanded,  and  the  Democratic  and  conservative  parties  of 
the  North  and  West  were  willing  to  grant,  and  which  alone  could 
avail  to  keep  the  peace  and  save  the  tFnion,  implied  a  surrender  of 
the  sole  vital  element  of  the  party  and  its  platform — of  the  very 
principle,  in  fact,  upon  which  it  had  just  won  the  contest  for  the 
Presidency;  not,  indeed,  by  a  majority  of  the  popular  vote  —  the 
majority  was  nearly  a  million  against  it — but  under  the  forms  of  the 
Constitution.  Sir,  the  crime,  the  "  high  crime  "  of  the  Republican 
party  was  not  so  much  its  refusal  to  compromise,  as  its  original  organ- 
ization upon  a  basis  and  doctrine  wholly  inconsistent  with  the  stability 
of  the  Constitution  and  the  peace  of  the  Union. 

But  to  resume  :  the  session  of  Congress  expired.  The  President 
elect  was  inaugurated;  and  now,  if  only  the  policy  of  non-coercion 
could  be  maintained,  and  war  thus  averted,  time  would  do  its  work 
in  the  North  and  the  South,  and  final  peaceable  adjustment  and 
reunion  be  secured.  Some  time  in  March  it  was  announced  that  the 
President  had  resolved  to  continue  the  policy  of  his  predecessor,  and 
even  go  a  step  further,  and  evacuate  Sumter  and  the  other  Federal  forts 
and  arsenals  in  the  seceded  States.  His  own  party  acquiesced ;  the 
whole  country  rejoiced.  The  policy  of  non-coercion  had  triumphed, 
12 


178  THE    GREAT   CIVIL   WAR   IN    AMERICA. 

tod  for  once,  sir,  in  my  life,  I  found  myself  in  an  immense  majority. 
No  man  then  pretended  that  a  Union  founded  in  consent,  could  be 
cemented  by  force.  Nay,  more,  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of 
State  went  further.  Said  Mr.  Seward,  in  an  official  diplomatic  letter 
to  Mr.  Adams : 

"For  these  reasons,  he  (the  President)  wouUl  not  be  disposed  to  reject  a 
cardinsil  dd.cma  of  theirs,  (the  Secessionists.)  namely,  that  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernmcnt  eoiild  not  reduce  the  seceding  States  to  obedience  by  conquest,  although 
he  were  disposed  to  question  that  proposition.  But  hi  /act  the  President  will- 
ingly acce2>ts  it  as  true.  Only  an  imperial  or  despotic  Government  could  subjugate 
Viorougldy  disaffected  and  insurrectionary  members  of  the  Stated 

Pardon  me,  sir,  but  I  beg  to  know  whether  this  conviction  of  the 
President  and  his  Secretary,  is  not  the  philosophy  of  the  persistent 
and  most  vigorous  eiForts  made  by  this  Administration,  and  first  of 
all  through  this  same  Secretary,  the  moment  war  broke  out,  and  ever 
since  till  the  late  elections,  to  convert  the  United  States  into  an 
imperial  Or  despotic  Grovernment  ?  But  Mr.  Seward  adds,  and  I  agree 
with  him  : 

"This  Federal  Eepublican  system  of  ours  is,  of  all  forms  of  government, 
the  very  one  which  is  most  untitted  for  such  a  labor." 

This,  sir,  was  on  the  10th  of  April,  and  yet  that  very  day  the 
fleet  was  under  sail  for  Charleston.  The  policy  of  peace  had  been 
abandoned.  Collision  followed;  the  militia  were  ordered  out;  civil 
war  began. 

Now,  sir,  on  the  14th  of  April,  I  believed  that  coercion  would 
bring  on  war,  and  war  disunion.  More  than  that,  I  believed,  what 
you  all  in  your  hearts  believe  to-day,  that  the  South  could  never  be 
conquered — never.  And  not  that  only,  but  I  was  satisfied — and  you 
of  the  Abolition  party  have  now  proved  it  to  the  world — that  the 
secret  but  real  purpose  of  the  war  was  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  States. 
In  any  event,  I  did  not  doubt  that,  whatever  might  be  the  moment- 
ary impulses  of  those  in  power,  and  whatever  pledges  they  might 
make,  in  the  midst  of  the  fury,  for  the  Constitution,  the  Union,  and 
the  flag,  yet  the  natural  and  inexorable  logic  of  revolutions  would, 
sooner  or  later,  drive  them  into  that  policy,  and  with  it  to  its  final 
but  inevitable  result,  the  change  of  our  present  dcmocratical  form 
of  government  into  an  imperial  despotism. 

These  were  my  convictions  on  the  14th  of  April.  Had  I  changed 
them  on  the  15th,  when  I  read  the  President's  proclamation,  and 
become  convinced  that  I  had  been  wrong  all  my  life,  and  that  all 
history  was  a  fable,  and  all  human  nature  false  in  its  development 
from  the  beginning  of  time,  I  would  have  changed  my  public  con- 
duct also.  But  my  convictions  did  not  change.  I  thought  that,  if 
war  was  disunion  on  the  14th  of  April,  it  was  equally  disunion  on 
the  15th,  and  at  all  times.  Believing  this,  I  could  not,  as  an  honest 
man,  a  Union  man,  and  a  patriot,  lend  an  active  support  to  the  war; 
and  I  did  not.  I  had  rather  my  right  arm  were  plucked  from  its 
socket  and  cast  into  eternal  burnings  than,  with  my  convictions,  to 
have  thus  defiled  my  soul  with  the  guilt  of  moral  perjury.     Sir,  1  was 


THE   GREAT   CIVIL  WAR  IN   AMERICA.  179 

not  taught  in  that  school  which  proclaims  that  "all  is  fair  in  polities." 
I  loathe,  abhor  and  detest  the  execrable  maxim.  I  stamp  upon  it. 
No  State  can  endure  a  single  generation  whose  public  men  practice 
it.  Whoever  teaches  it  is  a  corrupter  of  youth.  What  we  most  want 
in  these  times,  and  at  all  times,  is  honest  and  independent  public 
men.  That  man  who  is  dishonest  in  politics,  is  not  honest  at  heart 
iq  any  thing;  and  sometimes  moral  cowardice  is  dishonesty.  Do 
right;  and  trust  to  God,  and  truth,  and  the  people.  Perish  office, 
perish  honors,  perish  life  itself — but  do  the  thing  that  is  right,  and 
do  it  like  a  man.  I  did  it.  Certainly,  sir,  I  could  not  doubt  what 
he  must  suffer  who  dare  defy  the  opinions  and  the  passions,  not  to 
Bay  the  madness,  of  twenty  millions  of  people.  Had  I  not  read  his- 
tory? Did  I  not  know  human  nature?  But  I  appealed  to  Time; 
and  right  nobly  hath  the  Avenger  answered  me. 

I  did  not  support  the  war ;  and  to-day  I  bless  God,  that  not  the 
smell  of  so  much  as  one  drop  of  its  blood  is  upon  my  garments. 
Sir,  I  censure  no  brave  man  who  rushed  patriotically  into  this  war; 
neither  will  I  quarrel  with  any  one,  here  or  elsewhere,  who  gave  to 
it  an  honest  support.  Had  their  convictions  been  mine,  I,  too,  would 
doubtless  have  done  as  they  did.     With  my  convictions  I  could  not. 

But  I  was  a  Representative.  War  existed — by  whose  act  no  mat- 
ter—  not  mine.  The  President,  the  Senate,  the  House,  and  the 
country,  all  said  that  there  should  be  war — war  for  the  Union ;  a 
union  of  consent  and  good-will.  Our  southern  brethren  were  to  be 
whipped  back  into  love  and  fellowship  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 
0,  monstrous  delusion !  I  can  comprehend  a  war  to  compel  a  people 
to  accept  a  master ;  to  change  a  form  of  government ;  to  give  up 
territory ;  to  abolish  a  domestic  institution  —  in  short,  a  war  of 
conquest  and  subjugation;  but  a  war  for  union!  Was  the  Union 
thus  made  ?  Was  it  ever  thus  presei-ved  ?  Sir,  history  will  record 
that,  after  nearly  six  thousand  years  of  folly  and  wickedness  in  every 
form  and  administration  of  government — theocratic,  democratic,  mo- 
narchic, oligarchic,  despotic  and  mixed — it  was  reserved  to  American 
statesmanship,  in  the  nineteenth  century  of  the  Christian  era,  to  try 
the  grand  experiment,  on  a  scale  the  most  costly  and  gigantic  in  its 
proportions,  of  creating  love  by  force,  and  developing  fraternal  affec- 
tion by  war !  And  history  will  record,  too,  on  the  same  page,  the 
utter,  disastrous,  and  most  bloody  failure  of  the  experiment. 

But  to  return:  the  country  was  at  war;  and  I  belonged  to  that 
school  of  politics  which  teaches  that  when  we  are  at  war,  the  Gov- 
ernment— I  do  not  mean  the  Executive  alone,  but  the  Government — 
is  entitled  to  demand  and  have,  without  resistance,  such  number  of 
men,  and  such  amount  of  money  and  supplies  generally,  as  may  be 
necessary  for  the  war,  until  an  appeal  can  be  had  to  the  people. 
Before  that  tribunal  alone,  in  the  first  instance,  must  the  question  of 
the  continuance  of  the  war  be  tried.  This  was  Mr.  Calhoun's  opinion, 
and  he  laid  it  down  very  broadly  and  strongly*  in  a  speech  on  the 
loan  bill,  in  1841.     Speaking  of  supplies,  he  said: 

"I  hold  that  there  is  a  distinction  in  this  respect  between  a  state  of  peace 
and  war.     In  the  latter,  the  right  of  withholding  supplies  ought  ever  to  be 


180  THE   GREAT   CIVIL  WAR   IN   AMERICA. 

held  subordinate  to  the  energetic  and  successful  prosecution  of  the  war.  I  go 
further,  and  regard  the  withholding  supplies,  with  a  view  oj  Jorcing  the  coun- 
try into  a  dishonorable  peace,  as  not  only  to  be  what  it  has  been  called,  moral 
treason,  but  very  little  short  of  actual  treason  itself." 

Upon  this  principle,  sir,  he  acted  afterward  in  the  Mexican  War. 
Speaking  of  that  war,  in  1847,  he  said  : 

"Every  Senator  knows  that  I  was  opposed  to  the  war;  but  none  knows 
but  myself  the  depth  of  that  opposition.  With  my  conception  of  its  char- 
acter and  consequences,  it  was  impossible  for  mo  to  vote  for  it." 

And  again,  in  1848: 

"But,  after  the  war  was  declared,  by  authority  of  the  Government,  T acqui- 
esced in  what  I  could  not  prevent,  and  which  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  arrest; 
and  I  then  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to  limit  my  efibrts  to  give  such  direction  to  the 
war  as  would,  as  far  as  possible,  prevent  the  evils  and  dangers  with  which  it 
threatened  the  country  and  its  institutio7is." 

Sir,  I  adopt  all  this  as  my  own  position  and  my  defense  ;  though, 
perhaps,  in  a  civil  war  I  might  fairly  go  further  in  opposition.  I 
could  not,  with  my  convictions,  vote  men  and  money  for  this  war, 
and  I  would  not,  as  a  Representative,  vote  against  them.  I  meant 
that,  without  opposition,  the  President  might  take  all  the  men  and  all 
the  money  he  should  demand,  and  then  to  hold  him  to  a  strict 
accountability  before  the  people  for  the  results.  Not  believing  the 
soldiers  responsible  for  the  war,  or  its  purposes,  or  its  consequences, 
I  have  never  withheld  my  vote  where  their  separate  interests  were 
concerned.  But  I  have  denounced,  from  the  beginning,  the  usurpa- 
tions and  the  infractions,  one  and  all,  of  law  and  Constitution,  by 
the  President  and  those  under  him;  their  repeated  and  persistent 
arbitrary  arrests,  the  suspension  of  habeas  corp^is,  the  violation  of 
freedom  of  the  mails,  of  the  private  house,  of  the  press  and  of 
speech,  and  all  the  other  multiplied  wrongs  and  outrages  upon  public 
liberty  and  private  right,  which  have  made  this  country  one  of  the 
worst  despotisms  on  earth  for  the  past  twenty  months ;  and  I  will 
continue  to  rebuke  and  denounce  them  to  the  end ;  and  the  people, 
thank  God  !  have  at  last  heard  and  heeded,  and  rebuked  them,  too. 
To  the  record  and  to  time  I  appeal  again  for  my  justification. 

And  now,  sir,  I  recur  to  the  state  of  the  Union  to-day.  What  is 
it?  Sir,  twenty  months  have  elapsed,  but  the  rebellion  is  not  crushed 
out;  its  military  power  has  not  been  broken;  the  insurgents  have 
not  dispersed.  The  Union  is  not  restored ;  nor  the  Constitution 
maintained ;  nor  the  laws  enforced.  Twenty,  sixty,  ninety,  three 
hundred,  six  hundred  days  have  passed  ;  a  thousand  millions  been 
expended;  and  three  hundred  thousand  lives  lost  or  bodies  mangled; 
and  to-day  the  Confederate  flag  is  still  near  the  Potomac  and  the 
Ohio,  and  the  Confederate  Government  stronger,  many  times,  than  at 
the  beginning.  Not  a  State  has  been  restored,  not  any  part  of  any 
State  has  voluntafily  returned  to  the  Union.  And  has  any  thing 
been  wanting  that  Congress,  or  the  States,  or  the  people  in  their 
most  generous  enthusiasm,  their  most  impassionate  patriotism,  could 


THE   G-REAT   CIVIL   WAR  IN  AMERICA.  181 

bestow?  Was  it  power?  And  did  not  the  party  of  the  Executive 
control  the  entire  Federal  Government,  every  State  government,  every 
county,  every  city,  town  and  village  in  the  North  and  West?  Was 
it  patronage?  All  belonged  to  it.  Was  it  influence  ?  What  more? 
Did  not  the  school,  the  college,  the  church,  the  press,  the  secret 
orders,  the  municipality,  the  corporation,  railroads,  telegraphs,  express 
companies,  the  voluntary  association,  all,  all  yield  it  to  the  utmost? 
Was  it  unanimity  ?  Never  was  an  Administration  so  supported  in 
England  or  America.  Five  men  and  half  a  score  of  newspapers  made 
up  the  Opposition.  Was  it  enthusiasm?  The  enthusiasm  was  fanati- 
cal. There  has  been  nothing  like  it  since  the  Crusades.  Was  it  con- 
fidence ?  Sir,  the  faith  of  the  people  exceeded  that  of  the  patriarch. 
They  gave  up  Constitution,  law,  right,  liberty,  all  at  your  demand 
for  arbitrary  power  that  the  rebellion  might,  as  you  promised,  bo 
crushed  out  in  three  months,  and  the  Union  restored.  Was  credit 
needed  ?  You  took  control  of  a  country,  young,  vigorous,  and  inex- 
haustible in  wealth  and  resources,  and  of  a  Government  almost  free  from 
public  debt,  and  whose  good  faith  had  never  been  tarnished.  Your 
great  national  loan  bubble  failed  miserably,  as  it  deserved  to  fail ; 
but  the  bankers  and  merchants  of  Philadelphia,  New  York  and 
Boston  lent  you  more  than  their  entire  banking  capital.  And  when 
that  failed  too,  you  forced  credit  by  declaring  your  paper  promises  to 
pay,  a  legal  tender  for  all  debts.  Was  money  wanted  ?  You  had 
all  the  revenues  of  the  United  States,  diminished  indeed,  but  still  in 
gold.  The  whole  wealth  of  the  country,  to  the  last  dollar,  lay  at 
your  feet.  Private  individuals,  municipal  corporations,  the  State  gov- 
ernments, all,  in  their  frenzy,  gave  you  money  or  means  with  reckless 
prodigality.  The  great  eastern  cities  lent  you  $150,000,000.  Con- 
gress voted,  first,  $250,000,000,  and  next  §500,000,000  more  in  loans; 
and  then,  first  850,000,000,  next  $10,000,000,  then  $90,000,000,  and, 
in  July  last,  $150,000,000  in  Treasury  notes  ;  and  the  Secretary  has 
issued  also  a  paper  "postage  currency,"  in  sums  as  low  as  five  cents, 
limited  in  amount  only  by  his  discretion.  Nay,  more  :  already  since 
the  4th  of  July,  1861,  this  House  has  appropriated  $2,017,864,000, 
almost  every  dollar  without  debate,  and  without  a  recorded  vote.  A 
thousand  millions  have  been  expended  since  the  15th  of  April,  1861; 
and  a  public  debt  or  liability  of  $1,500,000,000  already  incurred. 
And  to  support  all  this  stupendous  outlay  and  indebtedness,  a  system 
of  taxation,  direct  and  indirect,  has  been  inaugurated,  the  most 
onerous  and  unjust  ever  imposed  upon  any  but  a  conquered  people. 

Money  and  credit,  then,  you  have  had  in  prodigal  profusion.  And 
•were  men  wanted  ?  More  than  a  million  rushed  to  arms !  Seventy- 
five  thousand  first,  (and  the  country  stood  aghast  at  the  multitude,) 
then  eighty-three  thousand  more  were  demanded ;  and  three  hundred 
and  ten  thousand  responded  to  the  call.  The  President  next  asked 
for  four  hundred  thousand,  and  Congress,  in  their  generous  con- 
fidence, gave  him  five  hundred  thousand ;  and,  not  to  be  outdone,  he 
took  six  hundred  and  thirty-seven  thousand.  Half  of  these  melted 
away  in  their  first  campaign  ;  and  the  President  demanded  three  hund- 
red thousand  more  for  the  war,  and  then  drafted  yet  another  three 


182  THE   GREAT    CIVIL    WAR   IN   AMERICA. 

hundred  thousand  for  nine  montlis.  The  fabled  hosts  of  Xerxes 
have  been  out-numbered.  And  yet  victory,  strangely,  follows  the 
standard  of  the  foe.  From  Great  Bethel  to  Vicksburg,  the  battle 
has  not  been  to  the  strong.  Yet  every  disaster,  except  the  last,  has 
been  iollowcd  by  a  call  for  more  troops,  and  every  time,  so  far,  they 
have  been  promptly  furnished.  From  the  beginning  the  war  has 
been  conducted  like  a  political  campaign,  and  it  has  been  the  folly 
of  the  party  in  power  that  they  have  assumed,  that  numbers  alone 
would  win  the  field  in  a  contest  not  with  ballots  but  with  musket 
and  sword.  But  numbers,  you  have  had  almost  without  number — the 
largest,  best  appointed,  best  armed,  fed,  and  clad  host  of  brave  men, 
well  organized  and  well  disciplined,  ever  marshaled.  A  Navy,  too, 
not  the  most  formidable  perhap.s,  but  the  most  numerous  and  gallant, 
and  the  costliest  in  the  world,  and  against  a  foe,  almost  without  a 
navy  at  all.  Thus,  with  twenty  millions  of  people,  and  every  element 
of  strength  and  force  at  command — power,  patronage,  influence, 
unanimity,  enthusiasm,  confidence,  credit,  money,  men,  an  Army  and 
a  Navy  the  largest  and  the  noblest  ever  set  in  the  field,  or  afloat  upon 
the  sea  ;  with  the  support,  almost  servile,  of  every  State,  county,  and 
municipality  in  the  North  and  West,  with  a  Congress  swift  to  do  the 
bidding  of  the  Executive  ;  without  opposition  anywhere  at  home ; 
and  with  an  arbitrary  power  which  neither  the  Czar  of  Russia,  nor 
the  Emperor  of  Austria  dare  exercise  ;  yet  after  nearly  two  j'ears  of 
more  vigorous  prosecution  of  war  than  ever  recorded  in  history ;  after 
more  skirmishes,  combats  and  battles  than  Alexander,  Caesar,  or  the 
first  Napoleon  ever  fought  in  any  five  years  of  their  military  career, 
you  have  utterly,  signally,  disastrously — I  will  not  say  ignominiously 
— failed  to  subdue  ten  millions  of  "  rebels,"  whom  you  had  taught 
the  people  of  the  North  and  West  not  only  to  hate,  but  to  despise. 
Rebels,  did  I  say  ?  Yes,  your  fathers  were  rebels,  or  your  grand- 
fathers. He,  who  now  before  me  on  canvas  looks  down  so  sadly 
upon  us,  the  false,  degenerate,  and  imbecile  guardians  of  the  great 
Republic  which  he  founded,  was  a  rebel.  And  yet  we,  cradled  our- 
selves in  rebellion,  and  who  have  fostered  and  fraternized  with  every 
insurrection  in  the  nineteenth  century  everywhere  throughout  the 
globe,  would  now,  forsooth,  make  the  word  "  rebel "  a  reproach. 
Rebels  certainly  they  are ;  but  all  the  persistent  and  stupendous 
efforts  of  the  most  gigantic  warfare  of  modern  times  have,  through 
your  incompetency  and  folly,  availed  nothing  to  crush  them  out,  cut 
off  though  they  have  been,  by  your  blockade,  from  all  the  world,  and 
dependent  only  upon  their  own  courage  and  resources.  And  yet,  they 
were  to  be  utterly  conquered  and  subdued  in  six  weeks,  or  three 
months  !  Sir,  my  judgment  was  made  up,  and  expressed  from  the 
first.  I  learned  it  from  Chatham  :  "  My  lords,  you  can  not  conquer 
America."  And  you  have  not  conquered  the  South.  You  never 
will.  It  is  not  in  the  nature  of  things  possible  ;  much  less  under 
your  auspices.  But  money  you  have  expended  without  limit,  and 
blood  poured  out  like  water.  Defeat,  debt,  taxation,  sepulchers,  these 
are  your  trophies.  In  vain,  the  people  gave  you  treasure,  and  the 
BOldicr  yielded  up  his  life.     "  Fight,  tax,  emancipate,  let  these,"  said 


THE   GREAT   CIVIL   WAR  IN  AMERICA.  183 

the  gentleman  from  Maine,  (Mr.  Pike,)  at  the  last  session,  "  be  the 
trinity  of  our  salvation."  Sir,  they  have  become  the  trinity  of  your 
deep  damnation.  The  war  for  the  Union  is,  in  your  hands,  a  most 
bloody  and  costly  failure.  The  President  confessed  it  on  the  22d 
of  September,  solemnly,  officially,  and  under  the  broad  seal  of  the 
United  States.  And  he  has  nov?  repeated  the  confession.  The  priests 
and  rabbis  of  abolition  taught  him  that  God  would  not  prosper  such 
a  cause.  War  for  the  Union  was  abandoned  ;  war  for  the  negro 
openly  begun,  and  with  stronger  battalions  than  before.  With  what 
success  ?     Let  the  dead  at  Fredericksburg  and  Vicksburg  answer. 

And  now,  sir,  can  this  war  continue?  Whence  the  money  to  carry 
it  on?  Where  the  men?  Can  you  borrow?  From  whom?  Can 
you  tax  more?  Will  the  people  bear  it?  Wait  till  you  have  col- 
lected what  is  already  levied.  How  many  millions  more  of  "legal 
tender" — to-day  forty-seven  per  cent,  below  the  par  of  gold — can 
you  float?  Will  men  enlist  now  at  any  price?  Ah,  sir,  it  is  easier 
to  die  at  home.  I  beg  pardon  ;  but  I  trust  I  am  not  "  discouraging 
enlistments."  If  I  am,  then  first  arrest  Lincoln,  Stanton,  Halleck, 
and  some  of  your  other  generals,  and  I  will  retract ;  yes,  I  will 
recant.  But  can  you  draft  again  ?  Ask  New  England — New  York. 
Ask  Massachusetts.  Where  are  the  nine  hundred  thousand?  Ask 
not  Ohio — the  Northwest.  She  thought  you  in  earnest,  and  gave 
you  all,  all — more  than  you  demanded. 

"The  wifo  whose  babe  first  smiled  that  day, 
The  fair,  fond  bride  of  y ester  eve, 
And  aged  sire  and  matron  gray, 
Saw  the  loved  warriors  haste  away, 
And  deemed  it  sin  to  grieve." 

Sir,  in  blood  she  has  atoned  for  her  credulity ;  and  now  there  is 
mourning  in  every  house,  and  distress  and  sadness  in  every  heart. 
Shall  she  give  you  any  more  ? 

But  ought  this  war  to  continue?  I  answer,  no — not  a  day,  not 
an  hour.  What  then  ?  Shall  we  separate  ?  Again  I  answer,  no, 
no,  no !  What  then  ?  And  now,  sir,  I  come  to  the  grandest  and 
most  solemn  problem  of  statesmanship  from  the  beginning  of  time  ; 
and  to  the  God  of  heaven,  illuminer  of  hearts  and  minds,  I  would 
humbly  appeal  for  some  measure,  at  least,  of  light  and  wisdom  and 
strength  to  explore  and  reveal  the  dark  but  possible  future  of  this 
land. 

CAN    THE    UNION   OF   THESE    STATES   BE   RESTORED?      HOW   SHALL   IT 

BE   DONE? 

And  why  not?  Is  it  historically  impossible?  Sir,  the  frequent 
civil  wars  and  conflicts  between  the  States  of  Greece  did  not  prevent 
their  cordial  union  to  resist  the  Persian  invasion ;  nor  did  even  the 
thirty  years  Peloponnesian  war,  springing,  in  part,  from  the  abduc- 
tion of  slaves,  and  embittered  and  disastrous  as  it  was — let  Thucidi- 
des  speak — wholly  destroy  the  fellowship  of  those  States.  The  wise 
Romans  ended  the  three  years  Social  War,  after  many  bloody  battles 


184  THE   GREAT   CIVIL   WAR   IN   AMERICA. 

and  much  atrocity,  by  admitting  the  States  of  Italy  to  all  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  Koman  citizenship  —  the  very  object  to  secure 
which  those  States  had  taken  up  arms.  The  border  wars  between 
Scotland  and  England,  running  through  centuries,  did  not  prevent 
the  final  union,  in  peace  and  by  adjustment,  of  the  two  kingdoms 
under  one  monarch.  Compromise  did  at  last  what  ages  of  coercion 
and  attempted  conquest  had  failed  to  efi'ect.  England  kept  the 
crown,  while  Scotland  gave  the  king  to  wear  it;  and  the  memories 
of  Wallace,  and  the  Bruce  of  Bannockburn,  became  part  of  the 
glories  of  British  history.  I  pass  by  the  union  of  Ireland  with 
England — a  union  of  force,  which  God  and  just  men  abhor;  and 
yet  precisely  "the  Union  as  it  should  be"  of  the  Abolitionists  of 
America.  Sir,  the  rivalries  of  the  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster, 
filled  all  England  with  cruelty  and  slaughter ;  yet  compromise  and 
intermarriage  ended  the  strife  at  last,  and  the  white  rose  and  the  red 
were  blended  in  one.  Who  dreamed  a  month  before  the  death  of 
Cromwell  that  in  two  years  the  people  of  England,  after  twenty 
years  of  civil  war  and  usurpation,  would,  with  great  unanimity, 
restore  the  house  of  Stuart,  in  the  person  of  its  most  worthless 
prince,  whose  father,  but  eleven  years  before,  they  had  beheaded  ? 
And  who  could  have  foretold,  in  the  beginning  of  1812,  that  within 
some  three  years,  Napoleon  would  be  in  exile  upon  a  desert  island, 
and  the  Bourbons  restored?  Armed  foreign  intervention  did  it; 
but  it  is  a  strange  history.  Or  who  then  expected  to  see  a  nephew 
of  Napoleon,  thirty-five  years  later,  with  the  consent  of  the  people, 
supplant  the  Bourbon,  and  reign  Emperor  of  France?  Sir,  many 
States  and  people,  once  separate,  have  become  united  in  the  course 
of  ages,  through  natural  causes,  and  without  conquest;  but  I  remem- 
ber a  single  instance  only,  in  history,  of  States  or  peoples  once 
united,  and  speaking  the  same  language,  who  have  been  forced  per- 
manently asunder  by  civil  strife  or  war,  unless  they  were  separated 
by  distance  or  vast  natural  boundaries.  The  secession  of  the  Ten 
Tribes  is  the  exception :  these  parted  without  actual  war ;  and  their 
subsequent  history  is  not  encouraging  to  secession.  But  when 
Moses,  the  greatest  of  all  statesmen,  would  secure  a  distinct  nation- 
ality and  government  to  the  Hebrews,  he  left  Egypt,  and  established 
his  people  in  a  distant  country.  In  modern  times,  the  Netherlands, 
three  centuries  ago,  won  their  independence  by  the  sword ;  but 
France  and  the  English  channel  separated  them  from  Spain.  So 
did  our  Thirteen  Colonies ;  but  the  Atlantic  ocean  divided  us  from 
England.  So  did  Mexico,  and  other  Spanish  colonies  in  America, 
but  the  same  ocean  divided  them  from  Spain.  Cuba  and  the  Cana- 
daa  still  adhere  to  the  parent  Governments.  And  who  now.  North 
or  South,  in  Europe  or  America,  looking  into  history,  shall  pre- 
sumptuously say,  that  because  of  civil  war  the  reunion  of  these  States 
ia  impossible?  War,  indeed,  while  it  lasts,  is  disunion,  and,  if  it 
lasts  long  enough,  will  be  final,  eternal  separation  first,  and  anarchy 
and  despotism  afterward.  Hence,  I  would  hasten  peace  now,  to-day, 
by  every  honorable  aj)pliance. 

Are   there   physical   causes  which   reader  reunion   impracticable? 


THE   GREAT   CIVIL  WAR  IN  AMERICA.  185 

None.  Where  other  causes  do  not  control,  rivers  unite ;  but 
mountains,  deserts,  and  great  bodies  of  water — oceani  dissociabiles — 
separate  a  people.  Vast  forests  originally,  and  the  lakes  now  also, 
divide  us — not  very  widely  or  wholly — from  the  Canadas,  though  we 
speak  the  same  language,  and  are  similar  in  manners,  laws,  and 
institutions.  Our  chief  navigable  rivers  run  from  North  to  South, 
Most  of  our  bays  and  arms  of  the  sea  take  the  same  direction.  So 
do  our  ranges  of  mountains.  Natural  causes  all  tend  to  Union, 
except  as  between  the  Pacific  coast  and  the  country  east  of  the 
Rocky  mountains  to  the  Atlantic.  It  is  "  manifest  destiny."  Union 
is  empire.  Hence,  hitherto  we  have  continually  extended  our  terri- 
tory, and  the  Union  with  it,  South  and  West.  The  Louisiana  pur- 
chase, Florida,  and  Texas  all  attest  it.  We  passed  desert  and 
forest,  and  scaled  even  the  Rocky  mountains,  to  extend  the  Union  to 
the  Pacific.  Sir,  there  is  no  natural  boundary  between  the  North 
and  the  South,  and  no  line  of  latitude  upon  which  to  separate ;  and 
if  ever  a  line  of  longitude  shall  be  established  it  will  be  east  of  the 
Mississippi  valley.  The  Alleghanies  are  no  longer  a  barrier.  High- 
ways ascend  them  everywhere,  and  the  railroad  now  climbs  their 
summits,  and  spans  their  chasms,  or  penetrates  their  rockiest 
sides.  The  electric  telegraph  follows,  and,  stretching  its  connecting 
wires  along  the  clouds,  there  mingles  its  vocal  lightnings  with  the 
fires  of  heaven. 

But  if  disunionists  in  the  East  will  force  a  separation  of  any  of 
these  States,  and  a  boundary,  purely  conventional,  is  at  last  to  be 
marked  out,  it  must,  and  it  will  be  either  from  Lake  Erie  upon  the 
shortest  line  to  the  Ohio  river,  or  from  Manhattan  to  the  Canadas. 

And  now,  sir,  is  there  any  difi'erence  of  race  here  so  radical  as  to 
forbid  reunion?  I  do  not  refer  to  the  negro  race,  styled  now,  in 
unctuous  official  phrase,  by  the  President,  "  Americans  of  African 
descent."  Certainly,  sir,  there  are  two  white  races  in  the  United 
States,  both  from  the  same  common  stock,  and  yet  so  distinct — one 
of  them  so  peculiar — that  they  develop  different  forms  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  might  belong,  almost,  to  different  types  of  mankind.  But 
the  boundary  of  these  two  races  is  not  at  all  marked  by  the  line 
which  divides  the  slaveholding  from  the  non-slaveholding  States. 
If  race  is  to  be  the  geographical  limit  of  disunion,  then  Mason  and 
Dixon's  can  never  be  the  line. 

Next,  sir,  do  not  the  causes  which,  in  the  beginning,  impelled  to 
Union,  still  exist  iu  their  utmost  force  and  extent?  What  were 
they? 

First,  the  common  descent  —  and,  therefore,  consanguinity — of 
the  great  mass  of  the  people  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  stock.  Had 
the  Canadas  been  settled,  originally,  by  the  English,  they  would, 
doubtless,  have  followed  the  fortunes  of  the  Thirteen  Colonies. 
Next,  a  common  language,  one  of  the  strongest  of  the  ligaments  which 
bind  a  people.  Had  we  been  contiguous  to  Great  Britain,  either  the 
causes  which  led  to  a  separation  would  have  never  existed,  or  else 
been  speedily  removed;  or,  afterward,  we  would  long  since  have  been 
reunited  as  equals,  and  with  all  the  rights  of  Englishmen.     And 


186  TUE    GREAT   CIVIL  WAR   IN   AMERICA. 

along  •with  these  were  similar,  at  least  not  essentially  dissimilar, 
manners,  habits,  laws,  religion,  and  institutions  of  all  kinds,  except 
one.  The  common  defense  was  another  powerful  incentive,  and  is 
named  in  the  Constitution  as  one  among  the  objects  of  the  "  more 
perfect  Union"  of  1787.  Stronger  yet  than  all  these,  perhaps,  but 
made  up  of  all  of  them,  was  a  common  interest.  Variety  of  climate 
and  soil,  and,  therefore,  of  production,  implying,  also,  extent  of 
country,  is  not  an  element  of  separation,  but,  added  to  contiguity, 
becomes  a  part  of  the  ligament  of  interest,  and  is  one  of  its  toughest 
strands.  A'ariety  of  production  is  the  parent  of  the  earliest  commerce 
and  trade ;  and  these,  in  their  full  development,  are,  as  between  for- 
eign nations,  hostages  for  peace ;  and  between  States  and  people 
united,  they  are  the  firmest  bonds  of  union.  But,  after  all,  the 
strongest  of  the  many  original  impelling  causes  to  the  Union  was 
the  securing  of  domestic  tranquillity.  The  statesmen  of  1787  well 
knew  that  between  thirteen  independent  but  contiguous  States,  with- 
out a  natural  boundary,  and  with  nothing  to  separate  them,  except 
the  machinery  of  similar  governments,  there  must  be  a  perpetual,  in 
fact,  an  '-irrepressible  conflict"  of  jurisdiction  and  interest,  which, 
there  being  no  other  common  arbiter,  could  only  be  terminated  by 
the  conflict  of  the  sword.  And  the  statesmen  of  1863  ought  to 
kuow  that  two  or  more  confederate  governments,  made  up  of  similar 
States,  having  no  natural  boundary  either,  and  separated  only  by 
different  governments,  can  not  endure  long  together  in  peace,  unless 
one  or  more  of  them  be  either  too  pusillanimous  for  rivalry,  or  too 
insignificant  to  provoke  it,  or  too  weak  to  resist  aggression. 

These,  sir,  along  with  the  establishment  of  justice,  and  the  securing 
of  the  general  welfare,  and  of  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  themselves 
and  their  posterity,  made  up  the  causes  and.  motives  which  impelled 
our  fathers  to  the  Union  at  first. 

And  now,  sir,  what  one  of  them  is  wanting?  What  one  dimin- 
ished? On  the  contrary,  many  of  them  are  stronger  to-day  than  in 
the  beginning.  Migration  and  intermarriage  have  strengthened  the 
ties  of  consanguinity.  Commerce,  trade,  and  production  have  im- 
mensely multiplied.  Cotton,  almost  unknown  here  in  1787,  is  now 
the  chief  product  and  export  of  the  country.  It  has  set  in  motion 
three-fourths  of  the  spindles  of  New  England,  and  given  employ- 
ment, directly  or  remotely,  to  full  half  the  shipping,  trade,  and 
commerce  of  the  United  States.  More  than  that:  cotton  has  kept 
the  peace  between  England  and  America  for  thirty  years ;  and,  had 
the  people  of  the  North  been  as  wise  and  practical  as  the  statesmen 
of  Great  Britain,  it  would  have  maintained  union  and  peace  here. 
But  we  are  being  taught  in  our  first  century,  and  at  our  own  cost, 
the  lessons  which  England  learned  through  the  long  and  bloody 
experience  of  eight  hundred  years.  We  shall  be  wiser  next  time. 
Let  not  cotton  be  king,  but  peace-maker,  and  inherit  the  blessing. 

A  common  interest,  then,  still  remains  to  us.  And  union  for  the 
common  defense,  at  the  end  of  this  war,  taxed,  indebted,  impover- 
ished, exhausted,  as  both  sections  must  be,  and  with  foreign  fleets 
and  armies  around  us,  will   be  fifty-fold  more  essential  than  ever 


THE   GREAT   CIVIL   WAR   IN  AMERICA.  187 

before.  And  finally,  sir,  ■without  union,  our  domestic  tranquillity  must 
forever  remain  unsettled.  If  it  can  not  be  maintained  within  the  Union, 
how,  then,  outside  of  it,  without  an  exodus  or  colonization  of  the 
people  of  one  section  or  the  other  to  a  distant  country?  Sir,  I  repeat, 
that  two  governments  so  interlinked  and  bound  together  every  way, 
by  physical  and  social  ligaments,  can  not  exist  in  peace  without  a 
common  arbiter.  Will  treaties  bind  us  ?  What  better  treaty  than 
the  Constitution?  What  more  solemn,  more  durable?  Shall  we 
settle  our  disputes  then  by  arbitration  and  compromise  ?  Sir,  let  us 
arbitrate  and  compromise  now,  inside  of  the  Union.  Certainly  it  will 
be  quite  as  easy. 

And  now,  sir,  to  all  these  original  causes  and  motives  which 
impelled  to  Union  at  first,  must  be  added  certain  artificial  ligaments, 
which  eighty  years  of  association  under  a  common  Government  have 
most  fully  developed.  Chief  among  these  are  canals,  steam  naviga- 
tion, railroads,  express  companies,  the  post-ofiice,  the  newspaper 
press,  and  that  terrible  agent  of  good  and  evil  mixed — "  spirit  of 
health,  and  yet  goblin  damned,"  if  free,  the  gentlest  minister  of  truth 
and  liberty,  when  enslaved,  the  supplest  instrument  of  falsehood 
and  tyranny — the  magnetic  telegraph.  All  these  have  multiplied  the 
speed  or  the  quantity  of  trade,  travel,  communication,  migration,  and 
intercourse  of  all  kinds,  between  the  different  States  and  sections  ; 
and  thus,  so  long  as  a  healthy  condition  of  the  body-politic  contin- 
ued, they  became  powerful  cementing  agencies  of  union.  The  numer- 
ous voluntary  associations,  artistic,  literary,  charitable,  social,  and 
scientific,  until  corrupted  and  made  fanatical ;  the  various  ecclesias- 
tical organizations,  until  they  divided ;  and  the  political  parties,  so 
long  as  they  remained  all  national,  and  not  sectional,  were  also  among 
the  strong  ties  which  bound  us  together.  And  yet  all  of  these,  per- 
verted and  abused  for  some  years  in  the  hands  of  bad  or  fanatical 
men,  became  still  more  powerful  instrumentalities  in  the  fatal  work 
of  disunion ;  just  as  the  veins  and  arteries  of  the  human  body, 
designed  to  convey  the  vitalizing  fluid  through  every  part  of  it,  will 
carry  also,  and  with  increased  rapidity  it  may  be,  the  subtile  poison 
which  takes  life  away.  Nor  is  this  all.  It  was  through  their  agency 
that  the  imprisoned  winds  of  civil  war  were  all  let  loose  at  first  with 
such  sudden  and  appalling  fury ;  and,  kept  in  motion  by  political 
power,  they  have  ministered  to  that  fury  ever  since.  But,  potent 
alike  for  good  and  evil,  they  may  yet,  under  the  control  of  the 
people,  and  in  the  hands  of  wise,  good,  and  patriotic  men,  be  made 
the  most  effective  agencies,  under  Providence,  in  the  reunion  of  these 
States. 

Other  ties,  also,  less  material  in  their  nature,  but  hardly  less  per- 
suasive in  th^ir  influence,  have  grown  up  under  the  Union.  Long 
association,  a  common  history,  national  reputation,  treaties  and  diplo- 
matic intercourse  abroad,  admission  of  new  States,  a  common  juris- 
prudence, great  men  whose  names  and  fame  are  the  patrimony  of  the 
whole  country,  patriotic  music  and  songs,  common  battle-fields,  and 
glory  won  under  the  same  flag.  These  make  up  the  poetry  of  the 
Union  ;    and  yet,  as  in  the  marriage  relation,  and  the  family,  with 


188  THE   GREAT   CIVIL  WAR  IN  AMERICA. 

similar  influences,  they  are  stronger  than  hooks  of  steel.  He  was  a 
wise  statesman,  though  he  may  never  have  held  an  office,  who  said : 
"Let  me  write  the  songs  of  a  people,  and  I  care  not  who  makes  their 
laws."  Why  is  the  Marseillaise  prohibited  in  France?  Sir,  Hail 
Columbia  and  the  Star-Spangled  Banner — Pennsylvania  gave  us  one, 
and  Maryland  the  other — have  done  more  for  the  Union  than  all  the 
legislation  and  all  the  debates  in  this  capitol  for  forty  years;  and 
they  will  do  more  yet  again  than  all  your  armies,  though  you  call 
out  another  million  of  men  into  the  field.  Sir,  I  would  add  "  Yan- 
kee Doodle  ;"  but  first  let  me  be  assured  that  Yankee  Doodle  loves 
the  Union  more  than  he  hates  the  slaveholder.* 

And  now,  sir,  I  propose  to  briefly  consider  the  causes  which  led 
to  disunion  and  the  present  civil  war;  and  to  inquire  whether  they 
are  eternal  and  ineradicable  in  their  nature,  and  at  the  same  time 
powerful  enough  to  overcome  all  the  causes  and  considerations  which 
impel  to  reunion. 

Having,  two  years  ago,  discussed  fully  and  elaborately  the  more 
abstruse  and  remote  causes  whence  civil  commotions  in  all  Govern- 
ments, and  those  also  which  are  peculiar  to  our  complex  and  Federal 
system,  such  as  the  consolidating  tendencies  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment, because  of  executive  power  and  patronage,  and  of  the  tariff, 
and  taxation  and  disbursement  generally,  all  unjust  and  burdensome 
to  the  West  equally  with  the  South,  I  pass  them  by  now. 

What  then,  I  ask,  is  the  immediate,  direct  cause  of  disunion  and 
this  civil  war?  Slavery,  it  is  answered.  Sir,  that  is  the  philosophy 
of  the  rustic  in  the  play — "that  a  great  cause  of  the  night,  is  lack 
of  the  sun."  Certainly  slavery  was  in  one  sense — ver}'  obscure,  indeed 
— the  cause  of  the  war.  Had  there  been  no  slavery  here,  this  par- 
ticular war  about  slavery  would  never  have  been  waged.  In  a  like 
sense,  the  Holy  Sepulcher  was  the  cause  of  the  war  of  the  Crusades, 
and  had  Troy  or  Carthage  never  existed,  there  never  would  have 
been  Trojan  or  Carthaginian  war,  and  no  such  personages  as  Hector 
and  Hannibal;  and  no  Iliad  or  ^neid  would  ever  have  been  written. 
But  far  better  say  that  the  negro  is  the  cause  of  the  war ;  for  had 
there  been  no  negro  here,  there  would  be  no  war  just  now.  What 
then?  Exterminate  him  ?  Who  demands  it?  Colonize  him?  How? 
Where?  When?  At  whose  cost?  Sir,  let  us  have  an  end  of  thia 
folly. 

But  slavery  is  the  cause  of  the  war.  Why  ?  Because  the  South 
obstinately  and  wickedly  refused  to  restrict  or  abolish  it  at  the 
demand  of  the  philosophers  or  fanatics  and  demagogues  of  the  North 
and  West.  Then,  sir,  it  was  abolition,  the  purpose  to  abolish  or 
interfere  with  and  hem  in  slavery,  which  caused  disunion  and  war. 
Slavery  is  only  the  subject,  but  Abolition  the  cause  of  this  civil  war. 
It  was  the  persistent  and  determined  agitation  in  the  free  States  of 
the  question  of  abolishing  slavery  in  the  South,  because  of  the  alleged 
"irrepressible  conflict"  between  the  forms  of  labor  in  the  two  sec- 

•  In  truth,  the  song  was  written  in  derision  by  a  British  officer,  and  not  by 
an  American. 


THE   GREAT   CIVIL   WAR  IN   AMERICA.  189 

tions,  or,  in  the  false  and  mischievous  cant  of  the  day,  between  free- 
dom and  slavery,  that  forced  a  collision  of  arms  at  last.  Sir,  that 
conflict  was  not  confined  to  the  Territories.  It  was  expressly  proclaimed 
by  its  apostles,  as  between  the  States  also — against  the  institution  of 
domestic  slavery  everywhere.  But,  assuming  the  platforms  of  the 
Republican  party  as  a  standard,  and  stating  the  case  most  strongly  in 
favor  of  that  party,  it  was  the  refusal  of  the  South  to  consent  that 
slavery  should  be  excluded  from  the  Territories,  that  led  to  the  con- 
tinued agitation,  North  and  South,  of  that  question,  and  finally  to 
disunion  and  civil  war.  Sir,  I  will  not  be  answered  now  by  the  old 
clamor  about  "the  aggressions  of  the  slave  power."  That  miserable 
specter,  that  unreal  mockery,  has  been  exorcised  and  expelled  by  debt 
and  taxation  and  blood.  If  that  power  did  govern  this  country  for 
the  sixty  years  preceding  this  terrible  revolution,  then  the  sooner 
this  Administration  and  Government  return  to  the  principles  and 
policy  of  Southern  statesmanship,  the  better  for  the  country ;  and 
that,  sir,  is  already,  or  soon  will  be,  the  judgment  of  the  people.  But 
I  deny  that  it  was  the  "  slave  power  "  that  governed  for  so  many  years, 
and  so  wisely  and  well.  It  was  the  Democratic  party,  and  its  prin- 
ciples and  policy,  molded  and  controlled,  indeed,  largely  by  Southern 
statesmen.  Neither  will  I  be  stopped  by  that  other  cry  of  mingled 
fanaticism  and  hypocrisy,  about  the  sin  and  barbarism  of  African 
slavery.  Sir,  I  see  more  of  barbarism  and  sin,  a  thousand  times,  ia 
the  continuance  of  this  war,  the  dissolution  of  the  Union,  the  break- 
ing up  of  this  Government,  and  the  enslavement  of  the  white  race, 
by  debt  and  taxes  and  arbitrary  power.  The  day  of  fanatics  and 
sophists  and  enthusiasts,  thank  God,  is  gone  at  last ;  and  though  the 
age  of  chivalry  may  not,  the  age  of  practical  statesmanship  is  about 
to  return.  Sir,  I  accept  the  language  and  intent  of  the  Indiana 
resolution,  to  the  full — "that  in  considering  terms  of  settlement,  we 
will  look  only  to  the  welfare,  peace,  and  safety  of  the  white  race, 
without  reference  to  the  efi"ect  that  settlement  may  have  upon  the 
condition  of  the  African."  And  when  we  have  done  this,  my  word 
for  it,  the  safety,  peace,  and  welfare  of  the  African  will  have  been 
best  secured.  Sir,  there  is  fifty-fold  less  of  anti-slavery  sentiment 
to-day  in  the  West  than  there  was  two  years  ago  ;  and  if  this  war  be 
continued,  there  will  be  still  less  a  year  hence.  The  people  there 
begin,  at  last,  to  comprehend,  that  domestic  slavery  in  the  South  ia 
a  question,  not  of  morals,  or  religion,  or  humanity,  but  a  form  of 
labor,  perfectly  compatible  with  the  dignity  of  free  white  labor  in  the 
same  community,  and  with  national  vigor,  power,  and  prosperity,  and 
especially  with  military  strength.  They  have  learned,  or  begin  to 
learn,  that  the  evils  of  the  system  affect  the  master  alone,  or  the 
community  and  State  in  which  it  exists  ;  and  that  we  of  the  free 
States  partake  of  all  the  material  benefits  of  the  institution,  unmixed 
with  any  part  of  its  mischief  They  believe,  also,  in  the  subordina- 
tion of  the  negro  race  to  the  white,  where  they  both  exist  together, 
and  that  the  condition  of  subordination,  as  established  in  the  South, 
is  far  better  every  way,  for  the  negro,  than  the  hard  servitude  of 
poverty,  degradation,  and  crime,  to  which  he  is  subjected  in  the  free 


190  THE    GREAT    CIVIL    WAR   IN    AMERICA. 

States.  All  this,  sir,  may  be  "  pro-slaveryism,"  if  there  be  such 
a  word.  JVrhaps  it  is  ;  but  the  people  of  the  West  begin  now  to 
think  it  wisdom  and  good  sense.  We  will  not  establish  slavery  ia 
our  own  midst;  neither  will  we  abolish  it,  or  interfere  with  it  outside 
of  our  own  limits. 

Sir,  an  anti-slavery  paper  in  New  York,  {the  Tribune.^  the  most 
influential,  and  therefore  most  dangerous,  of  all  of  that  class — it 
would  exhibit  more  of  dignity,  and  command  more  of  influence,  if  it 
were  always  to  discuss  public  questions  and  public  men  with  a  decent 
respect — laying  aside  now  the  epithets  of  "secessionist  "  and  "  traitor," 
has  returned  to  its  ancient  political  nomenclature,  and  calls  certain 
members  of  this  House  "  pro-slavery."  Well,  sir,  in  the  old  sense 
of  the  term,  as  applied  to  the  Democratic  party,  I  will  not  object. 
I  said  years  ago,  and  it  is  a  fitting  time  now  to  repeat  it : 

"If  to  love  my  country;  to  cherish  the  Union;  to  revere  the  Constitution; 
if  to  abhor  the  madness  and  hate  the  treason,  which  would  lift  up  a  sacri- 
legious hand  against  either;  if  to  read  that  in  the  past,  to  behold  it  in  the 
present,  to  foresee  it  in  the  future  of  tliis  land,  which  is  of  more  value  to  us, 
and  to  the  world,  for  ages  to  come,  than  all  the  multiplied  millions  who  have 
inhabited  Africa  from  the  creation  to  this  day  ! — if  this  it  is  to  be  pro  slavery, 
then  in  every  nerve,  fiber,  vein,  bone,  tendon,  joint,  and  ligament,  from  the 
topmost  hair  of  the  head  to  the  last  extremity  of  the  foot,  I  am  all  over  and 
altogether  a  pro-slavery  man." 

And  now,  sir,  I  come  to  the  great  and  controlling  question  within 
which  the  whole  issue  of  union  or  disunion  is  bound  up :  Is  there 
"an  irrepressible  conflict"  between  the  slaveholding  and  non-slave- 
holding  States?  Must  "  the  cotton  and  rice  fields  of  South  Carolina, 
and  the  sugar  plantations  of  Louisiana,"  in  the  language  of  Mr. 
Seward,  "  be  ultimately  tilled  by  free  labor,  and  Charleston  and  New 
Orleans  become  marts  for  legitimate  merchandise  alone,  or  else  the 
rye  fields  and  wheat  fields  of  Massachusetts  and  New  York  again  be 
surrendered  by  their  farmers  to  slave  culture  and  the  production  of 
slaves,  and  Boston  and  New  York  become,  once  more  markets  for  trade 
in  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men  ?  "  If  so,  then  there  is  an  end  of 
all  union,  and  forever.  You  can  not  abolish  slavery  by  the  sword ; 
still  less  by  proclamations,  though  the  President  were  to  "  proclaim  " 
every  month.  •  Of  what  possible  avail  was  his  proclamation  of  Sep- 
tember? Did  the  South  submit?  Was  she  even  alarmed  ?  And  yet, 
he  has  now  fulmined  another  "  bull  against  the  comet  " — hrutum  ful- 
men — and,  threatening  servile  insurrection  with  all  its  horrors,  has 
yet  coolly  appealed  to  the  judgment  of  mankind,  and  invoked  the 
blessing  of  the  God  of  peace  and  love  !  But  declaring  it  a  military 
necessity,  an  essential  measure  of  war  to  subdue  the  rebels,  yet,  with 
admirable  wisdom,  he  expressly  exempts  from  its  operation  the  only 
States,  and  parts  of  States,  in  the  South,  where  he  has  the  military 
power  to  execute  it. 

Neither,  sir,  can  you  abolish  slavery  by  argument.  As  well  attempt 
to  abolish  marriage,  or  the  relation  of  paternity.  The  South  is 
resolved  to  maintain  it  at  every  hazard,  and  by  every  sacrifice  ;  and 
if  •'  this  Union  can  not  endure,  part  slave  and  part  free,"  then  it  is 


THE  GREAT   CIVIL   WAR  IN   AMERICA.  191 

already  and  finally  dissolved.  Talk  not  to  me  of  "West  Virginia." 
Tell  me  not  of  Missouri,  trampled  under  the  feet  of  your  soldiery. 
As  well  talk  to  me  of  Ireland.  Sir,  the  destiny  of  those  States  must 
abide  the  issue  of  the  war.  But  Kentucky  you  may  find  tougher. 
And  Maryland — 

"  E'en  in  her  ashes  live  their  wonted  fires." 

Nor  will  Delaware  be  found  wanting  in  the  day  of  trial. 

But  I  deny  the  doctrine.  It  is  full  of  disunion  and  civil  war.  It 
is  disunion  itself.  Whoever  first  taught  it  ought  to  be  dealt  with  as 
not  only  hostile  to  the  Union,  but  an  enemy  of  the  human  race. 
Sir,  the  fundamental  idea  of  the  Constitution  is  the  perfect  and 
eternal  compatibility  of  a  union  of  States  "  part  slave  and  part  free  ;  " 
else  the  Constitution  never  would  have  been  framed,  nor  the  Union 
founded ;  and  seventy  years  of  successful  experiment  have  approved 
the  wisdom  of  the  plan.  In  my  deliberate  judgment,  a  confederacy 
made  up  of  slaveholding  and  non-slaveholding  States,  is,  in  the  nature 
of  things,  the  strongest  of  all  popular  governments.  African  slavery 
lias  been,  and  is,  eminently  conservative.  It  makes  the  absolute 
political  equality  of  the  white  race  everywhere  practicable.  It  dis- 
penses with  the  English  order  of  nobility,  and  leaves  every  white 
man.  North  and  South,  owning  slaves  or  owning  none,  the  equal  of 
every  other  white  man.  It  has  reconciled  universal  suffrage,  through- 
out the  free  States,  with  the  stability  of  government.  I  speak  not 
now  of  its  material  benefits  to  the  North  and  West,  which  are  many 
and  more  obvious.  But  the  South,  too,  has  profited  many  ways  by 
a  union  with  the  non-slaveholding  States.  Enterprise,  industry,  self- 
reliance,  perseverance,  and  the  other  hardy  virtues  of  a  people  living 
in  a  higher  latitude,  and  without  hereditary  servants,  she  has  learned 
or  received  from  the  North.  Sir,  it  is  easy,  I  know,  to  denounce  all 
this,  and  to  revile  him  who  utters  it.  Be  it  sO.  The  p]nglish  is,  of 
all  languages,  the  most  copious  in  words  of  bitterness  and  reproach. 
"Pour  on  :  I  will  endure." 

Then,  sir,  there  is  not  an  "irrepressible  conflict"  between  slave 
labor  and  free  labor.  There  is  no  conflict  at  all.  Both  exist 
together  in  pei'fect  harmony  in  the  South.  The  master  and  the  slave, 
the  white  laborer  and  the  black,  work  together  in  the  same  field,  or 
the  same  shop,  and  without  the  slightest  sense  of  degradation.  They 
are  not  equals,  either  socially  or  politically.  And  why,  then,  can 
not  Ohio,  having  only  free  labor,  live  in  harmony  with  Kentucky, 
which  has  both  slave  and  free?  Above  all,  why  can  not  Massachu- 
setts allow  the  same  right  of  choice  to  South  Carolina,  separated  as 
they  are  a  thousand  miles,  by  other  States,  who  would  keep  the 
peace,  and  live  in  good  will?  Why  this  civil  war?  Whence  dis- 
union ?  Not  from  slavery — not  because  the  South  chooses  to  have 
two  kinds  of  labor  instead  of  one — but  from  sectionalism,  always  and 
every  where  a  disintegrating  principle.  Sectional  jealousy  and  hate 
— these,  sir,  are  the  only  elements  of  conflict  between  these  States; 
and,  though  powerful,  they  are  yet  not  at  all  irrepressible.  They 
exist    between    families,   communities,    towns,   cities,    counties,    and 


192  THE   GREAT   CIVIL   WAR  IN   AMERICA. 

States;  and  if  not  repressed,  would  dissolve  all  society  and  govern- 
ment. They  exist,  also,  between  other  sections  than  the  North  and 
South.  Sectionalism  East,  many  years  02:0,  saw  the  South  and  West 
united  by  the  ties  of  geographical  position,  migration,  intermarriage, 
and  interest,  and  thus  strong  enough  to  control  the  power  and  policy 
of  the  Union.  It  found  us  divided  only  by  different  forms  of  labor, 
and,  with  consummate,  but  most  guilty  sagacity,  it  seized  upon  the 
question  of  slavery  as  the  surest  and  most  powerful  instrumentality 
by  which  to  separate  the  West  from  the  South,  and  bind  her  wholly 
to  the  North.  Encouraged  every  way,  from  abroad,  by  those  who 
were  jealous  of  our  prosperity  and  greatness,  and  who  knew  the 
secret  of  our  strength,  it  proclaimed  the  "irrepressible  conflict" 
between  slave  labor  and  free  labor.  It  taught  the  people  of  the 
North  to  forget  both  their  duty  and  their  interests ;  and,  aided  by 
the  artificial  ligaments  and  influences  which  money  and  enterprise 
had  created  between  the  seaboard  and  the  North-west,  it  persuaded 
the  people  of  that  section,  also,  to  yield  up  every  tie  which  binds 
them  to  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and  to  join,  their  political 
fbrtunes  especially,  wholly  with  the  East.  It  resisted  the  fugitive 
slave  law,  and  demanded  the  exclusion  of  slavery  from  all  the  Terri- 
tories, and  from  this  District,  and  clamored  against  the  admission  of 
any  more  slave  States  into  the  Union.  It  organized  a  sectional  anti- 
slavery  party,  and  thus  drew  to  its  aid  as  well  political  ambition  and 
interest  as  fanaticism  ;  and,  after  twenty-five  years  of  incessant  and 
vehement  agitation,  it  obtained  possession,  finally,  and  upon  that 
issue,  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  of  every  State  government 
North  and  West.  And,  to-day,  we  are  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest, 
most  cruel,  most  destructive  civil  war  ever  waged.  But  two  years 
sir,  of  blood  and  debt  and  taxation,  and  incipient  commercial  ruin 
are  teaching  the  people  of  the  AVest,  and,  I  trust,  of  the  North,  also 
the  folly  and  madness  of  this  crusade  against  African  slavery,  and 
the  wisdom  and  necessity  of  a  union  of  the  States,  as  our  fathers 
made  it,  "  part  slave  and  part  free." 

What  then,  sir,  with  so  many  causes  impelling  to  reunion,  keeps 
us  apart  to-day?  Hate,  passion,  antagonism,  revenge — all  heated 
seven  times  hotter  by  war.  Sir,  these,  while  Ihey  last,  are  the  most 
powerful  of  all  motives  with  a  people,  and  with  the  individual  man  ; 
but,  fortunately,  they  are  the  least  durable.  They  hold  a  divided 
sway  in  the  same  bosoms  with  the  nobler  qualities  of  love,  justice, 
reason,  placability ;  and,  except  when  at  their  hight,  are  weaker  than 
the  sense  of  interest,  and  always,  in  States,  at  least  give  way  to  it  at 
last.  No  statesman  who  yields  himself  up  to  them  can  govern  wisely 
or  well ;  and  no  State  whose  policy  is  controlled  by  them  can  either 
prosper  or  endure.  But  war  is  both  their  offspring  and  their  ahi.ient, 
and,  while  it  lasts,  all  other  motives  are  subordinate.  The  virtues 
of  peace  can  not  flourish,  can  not  even  find  development  in  the 
midst  of  fighting ;  and  this  civil  war  keeps  in  motion  all  the  cen- 
trifugal forces  of  the  Union,  and  gives  to  them  increased  strength 
and  activity  every  day.  But  such,  and  so  many  and  powerful,  in 
my  judgment,  are  the  cementing  or  centripetal  agencies  impelling  us 


THE   GREAT   CIVIL   WAR   IN  AMERICA.  193 

together,  that  nothing   but   perpetual   war   and   strife   can   keep   us 
always  divided. 

Sir,  I  do  not  under-estimate  the  power  of  the  prejudices  of  section, 
or,  what  is  much  stronger,  of  race.  Prejudice  is  colder,  and,  there- 
fore, more  durable  than  the  passions  of  hate  and  revenge,  or  the 
spirit  of  antagonism.  But,  as  I  have  already  said,  its  boundary  in 
the  United  States  is  not  Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  The  long  standing 
mutual  jealousies  of  New  England  and  the  South  do  not  primarily 
grow  out  of  slavery.  They  are  deeper,  and  will  always  be  the  chief 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  full  and  absolute  reunion.  They  are  founded 
in  difference  of  manners,  habits,  and  social  life,  and  different  notions 
about  politics,  morals,  and  religion.  Sir,  after  all,  this  whole  war  is 
not  so  much  one  of  sections — least  of  all,  between  the  slaveholding 
and  non-slaveholding  sections — as  of  races,  representing  not  difference 
in  blood,  but  mind  and  its  development,  and  different  types  of  civ- 
ilization. It  is  the  old  conflict  of  the  Cavalier  and  the  lioundhead, 
the  Liberalist  and  the  Puritan ;  or,  rather,  it  is  a  conflict,  upon  new 
issues,  of  the  ideas  and  elements  represented  by  those  names.  It  is 
a  war  of  the  Yankee  and  the  Southron.  Said  a  Boston  writer,  the 
other  day,  eulogizing  a  New  England  officer  who  fell  at  Fredericks- 
burg :  "  This  is  Massachusetts'  war ;  Massachusetts  and  South  Caro- 
lina made  it."  But,  in  the  beginning,  the  Roundhead  outwitted  the 
Cavalier,  and,  by  a  skillful  use  of  slavery  and  the  negro,  united  all  New 
England  first,  and  afterwards  the  entire  North  and  West,  and  finally 
sent  out  to  battle  against  him  Celt  and  Saxon,  German  and  Knicker- 
bocker, Catholic  and  Episcopalian,  and  even  a  part  of  his  own  house- 
hold, and  of  the  descendants  of  his  own  stock.  Said  Mr.  Jefferson, 
when  New  England  threatened  secession,  some  sixty  years  ago  :  "No, 
let  us  keep  the  Yankees  to  quarrel  with."  Ah,  sir,  he  forgot  that 
quarreling  is  always  a  hazardous  experiment ;  and,  after  some  time, 
the  countrymen  of  Adams  proved  themselves  too  sharp  at  that  work 
for  the  countrymen  of  Jefferson.  But  every  day  the  contest  now 
tends  again  to  its  natural  and  original  elements.  In  many  parts  of 
the  North-west — I  might  add,  of  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and 
New  York  city — the  prejudice  against  the  "  Yankee  "  has  always 
been  almost  as  bitter  as  in  the  South.  Suppressed  for  a  little  while 
by  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  and  the  war,  it  threatens  now  to  break 
forth  in  one  of  those  great,  but  unfortunate,  popular  uprisings,  in  the 
midst  of  which  reason  and  justice  are,  for  the  time,  utterly  silenced. 
I  speak  advisedly,  and  let  New  England  heed,  else  she,  and  the  whole 
East,  too,  in  their  struggle  for  power,  may  learn  yet,  from  the  West,  the 
same  lesson  which  civil  war  taught  to  Rome,  that  evulgato  imperii 
arcano^  posse  principcm  alibi,  qnam  RonuB  fieri.  The  people  of  the 
"West  demand  peace,  and  they  begin  to  more  than  suspect  tiiat  New 
England  is  in  the  way.  The  storm  rages ;  and  they  believe  that  she, 
not  slavery,  is  the  cause.  The  ship  is  sore  tried;  and  passengers  and 
crew  are  now  almost  ready  to  propitiate  the  w.xves,  by  throwing  the 
ill-omened  prophet  overboard.  In  plain  English — not  very  classic, 
but  most  expressive — they  threaten  to  "set  New  England  out  in  the 
cold." 

13 


194  TUE    GREAT    CIVIL    WAR    IN    AMERICA. 

And  now,  sir,  I,  who  have  not  a  drop  of  New  England  blood  in 
my  veins,  but  was  born  in  Ohio,  and  am  wholly  of  southern  ancestry 
— with  a  sli<>;ht  cross  of  Pennsylvania  Scotch-Irish — would  speak  a 
word  to  the  men  of  the  West  and  the  South,  in  behalf  of  New 
Enslarid.  Sir,  some  years  ago,  in  the  midst  of  high  sectional  con- 
troversies, and  speaking  as  a  western  man,  I  said  some  things  harsh 
of  the  North,  which  now,  in  a  more  catholic  spirit,  as  a  United  States 
man,  and  for  the  sake  of  reunion,  I  would  recall.  My  prejudices, 
indeed,  upon  this  subject,  arc  as  strong  as  any  man's;  but  in  this, 
the  day  of  great  national  humiliation  and  calamity,  let  the  voice  of 
prejudice  be  hushed. 

Sir,  they  who  would  exclude  New  England  in  any  reconstruction 
of  the  Union,  assume  that  all  New  Englanders  are  "Yankees"  and 
Puritans ;  and  that  the  Puritan  or  pragmatical  element,  or  type  of 
civilization,  has  always  held  undisputed  sway.  Well,  sir,  Yankees, 
certainly,  they  are,  in  one  sense;  and  so  to  Old  England  we  are  all 
Yankees,  North  and  South ;  and  to  the  South  just  now,  or  a  little 
while  ago,  we,  of  the  middle  and  western  States,  also,  are,  or  were, 
Y'ankees,  too.  But  there  is  really  a  very  large,  and  most  liberal  and 
conservative  non-Puritan  element  in  the  population  of  New  England, 
which,  for  many  years,  struggled  for  the  mastery,  and  sometimes  held 
it.  It  divided  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  and  Connecticut,  and  once 
controlled  Khode  Island  wholly.  It  held  the  sway  during  the  Revo- 
lution, and  at  the  period  when  the  Constitution  was  founded,  and 
for  sonic  years  afterwards.  Mr.  Calhoun  said,  very  justly,  in  18-47, 
that  to  the  wisdom  and  enlarged  patriotism  of  Sherman  and  Ells- 
worth, on  the  slavery  question,  we  were  indebted  for  this  admirable 
Government;  and  that,  along  with  Paterson,  of  New  Jersey,  "their 
names  ought  to  be  engraven  on  brass,  and  live  forever."  And  Mr. 
Webster,  in  1830,  in  one  of  those  grand  historic  word-paintings,  in 
which  he  was  so  great  a  master,  said  of  Massachusetts  and  South 
Carolina :  "  Hand  in  hand  they  stood  around  the  Administration  of 
Washington,  and  felt  his  own  great  arm  lean  on  them  for  support." 
Indeed,  sir,  it  was  not  till  some  thirty  years  ago  that  the  narrow, 
presumptuous,  intermeddling,  and  fanatical  spirit  of  the  old  Puritan 
element  began  to  reappear  in  a  form  very  much  more  aggressive  and 
destructive  than  at  first,  and  threatened  to  obtain  absolute  mastery  in 
Church,  and  School,  and  State.  A  little  earlier  it  had  struggled 
hard,  but  the  conservatives  proved  too  strong  for  it ;  and  so  long  as 
the  great  statesmen  and  jurists  of  the  Whig  and  Democratic  parties 
survived,  it  made  small  progress,  though  John  Quincy  Adams  gave 
to  it  the  strength  of  his  great  name.  But  after  their  death,  it  broke 
iu  as  a  flood,  and  swept  away  the  last  vestige  of  the  ancient,  liberal, 
and  tolerating  conservatism.  Then  every  form  and  development  of 
fanaticism  sprang  up  in  rank  and  most  luxuriant  growth,  till  abo- 
litionism, the  chief  fungus  of  all,  overspread  the  whole  of  New  En- 
gland first,  and  then  the  middle  States,  and  finally  every  State  in  the 
North-west. 

Certainly,  sir,  the  more  liberal  or  non-Puritan  element  was  mainly, 
though  not  altogether,  from  the  old  Puritan  stock,  or  largely  crossed 


THE   GREAT   CIVIL    WAR   IN   AMERICA.  195 

with  it.  But  even  within  the  first  ten  years  after  the  landing  of  the 
Pilgrims,  a  more  enlarged  and  tolerating  civilization  was  introduced. 
Roger  Williams,  not  of  the  Mayflower,  though  a  Puritan  himself,  and 
thoroughly  imbued  with  all  its  peculiarities  of  cant  and  creed  and 
forni  of  worship,  seems  yet  to  have  had  naturally  a  more  liberal 
spirit ;  and,  first,  perhaps,  of  all  men,  some  three  or  more  years  before 
the  Ark  and  the  Dove  touched  the  shores  of  the  St.  Mary's,  in  Mary- 
land, taught  the  sublime  doctrine  of  freedom  of  opinion  and  practice 
in  religion.  Threatened  first  with  banishment  to  England,  so  as  to 
"remove,  as  far  as  possible,  the  infection  of  his  principles,"  and,  after- 
ward, actually  banished  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts, 
because,  in  the  language  of  the  sentence  of  the  General  Court,  "he 
broached  and  divulged  divers  new  and  strange  doctrines  against  the 
authority  of  magistrates,"  over  the  religious  opinions  of  men,  thereby 
disturbing  the  peace  of  the  colony,  he  became  the  founder  of  Rhode 
Island,  and,  indeed,  of  a  large  part  of  New  Elgland  society.  And, 
whether  from  his  teachings  and  example,  and  in  the  persons  of  his 
descendants  and  those  of  his  associates,  or  from  other  causes  and 
another  stock,  there  has  always  been  a  large  infusion  throughout  New 
England  of  what  may  be  called  the  Roger  Williams  element,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  extreme  Puritan  or  Mayfiower  and  Plymouth 
Rock  type  of  the  New  Englander;  and,  its  influence,  till  late  years, 
has  always  been  powerful. 

The  Speaker.     The  gentleman's  hour  has  expired. 
Mr.  Vallandigham.     I  ask  for  a  short  time  longer. 
Mr.  Potter.     I  hope  there  will  be  no  objection  from  this  side  of 
the  House. 

The  Speaker.     If  there  be  no  objection,  the  gentleman  will  be 
allowed  further  time. 

There  was  no  objection,  and  it  was  ordered  accordingly. 
Mr.  Vallandiguam.  Sir,  I  would  not  deny  or  disparage  the 
austere  virtues  of  the  old  Puritans  of  England  or  America.  But  I 
do  believe  that,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  no  community  could 
exist  long  in  peace,  and  no  government  endure  long  alone,  or  become 
great,  where  that  clement,  in  its  earliest  or  its  more  recent  form, 
holds  supreme  control.  And,  it  is  my  solemn  conviction,  that  tyierc 
can  be  no  possible  or  durable  reunion  of  these  States,  until  it  shall 
have  been  again  subordinated  to  other  and  more  liberal  and  conserva- 
tive elements,  and,  above  all,  until  its  worst  and  most  mischievous 
development.  Abolitionism,  has  been  utterly  extinguished.  Sir,  the 
peace  of  the  Union  and  of  this  continent  demands  it.  But,  fortu- 
nately, those  very  elements  exist  abundantly  in  New  England  herself; 
and  to  her  I  look  with  confidence  to  secure  to  them  the  mastery 
within  her  limits.  In  fact,  sir,  the  true  voice  of  New  England  has, 
for  some  years  past,  been  but  rarely  heard,  here  or  elsewhere,  in 
public  afiairs.  Men  now  control  her  politics,  and  arc  in  high  places. 
State  and  Federal,  who,  twenty  years  ago,  could  not  have  been 
chosen  selectmen  in  old  3Iassachusetts.  But,  let  her  remember,  at 
last,  her  ancient  renown  ;  lot  her  turn  from  vain-glorious  admiration 
of  the  stone  monuments  of  her  heroes  and  patriots  of  a  former  age, 


196  THE   GREAT   CIVIL  WAR   IN   AMERICA. 

to  generous  emulation  of  the  noble  and  manly  virtues  wlilch  tliey 
were  desipjncd  to  commemorate.  Let  us  hear  less  from  her  of  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers  and  the  Mayflower  and  of  Plymouth  Rock,  and 
more  of  Roger  Williams  and  his  compatriots,  and  his  toleration. 
Let  her  banish,  now  and  forever,  her  dreamers  and  her  sophists  and 
her  fanatics,  and  call  back  again  into  her  State  administration,  and 
into  the  national  councils,  "her  men  of  might,  her  grand  in  soul" — 
some  of  them  still  live — and  she  will  yet  escape  the  dangers  which 
now  threaten  her  with  isolation. 

Then,  sir,  while  I  am  inexorably  hostile  to  Puritan  domination  in 
religion  or  morals  or  literature  or  politics,  I  am  not  in  favor  of  the 
proposed  exclusion  of  New  England.  I  would  have  the  Union  as  it 
was,  and,  first.  New  England  as  she  was.  But  if  New  England  will 
have  no  union  with  slaveholders,  if  she  is  not  content  with  "  the 
Union  as  it  was,"  then,  upon  her  own  head  be  the  responsibility  for 
secession;  and  there  will  be  no  more  coercion  now;  I,  at  least,  will 
be  exactly  consistent. 

And  now,  sir,  can  the  central  States,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and 
Pennsylvania,  consent  to  separation?  Can  New  York  city?  Sir,  the 
txade  of  the  South  made  her  largely  what  she  is.  She  was  the  factor 
and  banker  of  the  South.  Cotton  filled  her  harbor  with  shipping, 
and  her  banks  with  gold.  But  in  an  evil  hour,  the  foolish,  I  will 
not  say  bad  "  men  of  Gotham  "  persuaded  her  merchant  princes — 
against  their  first  lesson  in  business — that  she  could  retain  or  force 
back  the  southern  trade  by  war.  War,  indeed,  has  given  her,  just 
now,  a  new  business  and  trade,  greater  and  more  profitable  than  the  old  ; 
but  with  disunion,  that,  too,  must  perish.  And  let  not  Wall  street, 
or  any  other  great  interest,  mercantile,  manufacturing,  or  commercial, 
imagine  that  it  shall  have  power  enough,  or  wealth  enough,  to  stand 
in  the  way  of  reunion  through  peace.  Let  them  learn,  one  and  all, 
that  a  public  man,  who  has  the  people  as  his  support,  is  stronger 
than  tlicy,  though  he  may  not  be  worth  a  million,  nor  even  one 
dollar.  A  little  while  ago  the  banks  said  that  they  were  king,  but 
President  Jackson  speedily  taught  them  their  mistake.  Next,  rail- 
roads assumed  to  be  king;  and  cotton  once  vaunted  largely  his  king- 
ship. Sir,  these  are  only  of  the  royal  family — princes  of  the  blood. 
There  is  but  one  king  on  earth.     Politics  is  king. 

But  to  return :  New  Jersey,  too,  is  bound  closely  to  the  South, 
and  the  South  to  her ;  and  more  and  longer  than  any  other  State,  she 
remembered  both  her  duty  to  the  Constitution  and  her  interest  in 
the  Union.  And  Pennsylvania,  a  sort  of  middle  ground,  just  between 
the  North  and  the  South,  and  extending,  also,  to  the  West,  is  united 
by  nearer,  if  not  stronger  ties  to  every  section  than  any  other  one 
State,  unless  it  be  Ohio.  She  was — she  is  yet — the  keystone  in  the 
great  but  now  crumbling  arch  of  the  Union.  She  is  a  border  State ; 
and,  more  than  that,  she  has  less  within  her  of  the  fanatical  or  dis- 
turbing element  than  any  of  the  States.  The  people  of  Pennsylvania 
are  quiet,  peaceable,  practical,  and  enterprising,  without  being  aggress- 
ive. They  have  more  of  the  honest  old  English  and  German  thrift 
than  any  other.    No  people  mind  more  diligently  their  own  business. 


THE   GREAT   CIVIL  WAR   IN   AMERICA.  197 

They  have  but  one  idiosyncrasy  or  specialty — the  tariff;  and  even 
that  is  really  far  more  a  matter  of  tradition  than  of  substantial  interest. 
The  industry,  enterprise,  and  thrift  of  Pennsylvania  arc  abundantly 
able  to  take  care  of  themselves  against  any  competition.  In  any  event, 
the  Union  is  of  more  value,  many  times,  to  her,  than  any  local  interest. 

But  other  ties  also  bind  these  States — Pennsylvania  and  New 
Jersey,  especially — to  the  South,  and  the  South  to  them.  Only  an 
imaginary  line  separates  the  former  from  Delaware  and  Maryland. 
The  Delaware  river,  common  to  both  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey, 
flows  into  Delaware  Bay.  The  Susquehanna  empties  its  waters, 
through  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  into  the  Chesapeake.  And 
that  great  watershed  itself,  extending  to  Norfolk,  and,  therefore, 
almost  to  the  North  Carolina  line,  does  belong,  and  must  ever  belong, 
in  common,  to  the  central  and  southern  States,  under  one  govern- 
ment; or  else  the  line  of  separation  will  be  the  Potomac  to  its  head 
waters.  All  of  Delaware  and  Maryland,  and  the  counties  of  Aceo- 
mac  and  Northampton,  in  Virginia,  would,  in  that  event,  follow  the 
fortunes  of  the  northern  confederacy.  In  fact,  sir,  disagreeable  as 
the  idea  may  be  to  many  within  their  limits,  on  both  sides,  no  man 
who  looks  at  the  map  and  then  reflects  upon  history  and  the  force  of 
natural  causes,  and  considers  the  present  actual  and  the  future  prob- 
able position  of  the  hostile  armies  and  navies  at  the  end  of  this  war, 
ought  for  a  moment  to  doubt  that  either  the  States  and  counties 
which  I  have  named,  must  go  with  the  North,  or  Pennsylvania  and 
New  Jersey  with  the  South.  Military  force  on  either  side  can  not 
control  the  destiny  of  the  States  lying  between  the  mouth  of  the 
Chesapeake  and  the  Hudson.  And  if  that  bay  were  itself  made  the 
line,  Delaware,  and  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland  and  Virginia, 
would  belong  to  the  North ;  while  Norfolk,  the  only  capacious  harbor 
on  the  south-eastern  coast,  must  be  commanded  by  the  guns  of  some 
new  fortress  upon  Cape  Charles ;  and  Baltimore,  the  now  queenly 
city,  seated  then  upon  the  very  boundary  of  two  rival,  yes,  hostile, 
confederacies,  would  rapidly  fall  into  decay. 

And  now,  sir,  I  will  not  ask  whether  the  North-west  can  consent 
to  separation  from  the  South.  Never.  Nature  forbids.  We  are 
only  a  part  of  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  There  is  no  line 
of  latitude  upon  which  to  separate.  Neither  party  would  desire  the 
old  line  of  3G°  30'  on  both  sides  of  the  river;  and  there  is  no  natural 
boundary  east  and  west.  The  nearest  to  it  are  the  Ohio  and  Missouri 
rivers.  But  that  line  would  leave  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis,  as  border 
cities,  like  Baltimore,  to  decay,  and,  extending  fifteen  hundred  miles 
in  length,  would  become  the  scene  of  an  eternal  border  warfare,  with- 
out example  even  in  the  worst  of  times.  Sir,  we  can  not,  ought  not, 
will  not,  separate  from  the  South.  And  if  you  of  the  East  who  have 
found  this  war  against  the  South,  and  for  the  negro,  gratifying  to 
your  hate  or  profitable  to  your  purse,  will  continue  it  till  a  separation 
be  forced  between  the  slaveholding  and  your  non-slaveholding  States, 
then,  believe  me,  and  accept  it,  as  you  did  not  the  other  solemn  warn- 
ings of  years  past,  the  day  which  divides  the  North  from  the  South, 
that  selfsame  day  decrees  eternal  divorce  between  the  West  and  the  East. 


198  TUB    GREAT    CIV'IL  WAR    IN  AMERICA. 

Sir,  our  destiny  is  fixed.  There  is  not  one  drop  of  rain  whicli, 
descending  from  the  heavens  and  fertilizing  our  soil,  causes  it  to 
yield  an  abundant  harvest,  but  flows  into  the  Mississippi,  and  there 
mingling  with  the  waters  of  that  mighty  river,  finds  its  way,  at  last, 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  And  we  must  and  will  follow  it  with  travel 
and  trade — not  by  treaty,  but  by  right — freely,  peaceably,  and  with- 
out restriction  or  tribute,  under  the  same  government  and  flag,  to 
its  home  in  the  bosom  of  that  gulf.  Sir,  we  will  not  remain,  after 
separation  from  the  South,  a  province  or  appanage  of  the  East,  to 
bear  her  burdens  and  pay  her  taxes;  nor,  hemmed  in  and  isolated 
as  we  are,  and  without  a  sea-coast,  could  we  long  remain  a  distinct 
confederacy.  But  wherever  we  go,  married  to  the  South  or  the 
East,  we  bring  with  us  three-fourths  of  the  territories  of  that  valley 
to  the  Eoeky  Mountains,  and  it  may  be  to  the  Pacific — the  grandest 
and  most  magnificent  dowry  that  bride  ever  had  to  bestow. 

Then,  sir,  New  England,  freed  at  last  from  the  domination  of  her 
sophisters,  dreamers,  and  bigots,  and  restored  to  the  control  once 
more  of  her  former  liberal,  tolerant,  and  conservative  civilization, 
will  not  stand  in  the  way  of  the  reunion  of  these  States  upon  terms 
of  fair  and  honorable  adjustment.  And  in  this  great  work  the  cen- 
tral free  and  border  slave  States,  too,  will  unite  heart  and  hand.  To 
the  West  it  is  a  necessity,  and  she  demands  it.  And  let  not  the 
States  now  called  Confederate  insist  upon  separation  and  independ- 
ence. What  did  they  demand  at  first?  Security  against  Abolition- 
ism within  the  Union:  protection  from  the  "irrepressible  conflict," 
and  the  domination  of  the  absolute  numerical  majority:  a  change  of 
public  opinion,  and  consequently  of  political  parties  in  the  North 
and  West,  so  that  their  local  institutions  and  domestic  peace  should 
no  longer  be  endangered.  And  now,  sir,  after  two  years  of  persist- 
ent and  most  gigantic  effort  on  part  of  this  Administration  to  compel 
them  to  submit,  but  with  utter  and  signal  failure,  the  people  of  the 
free  States  are  now,  or  are  fast  becoming,  satisfied  that  the  price  of 
the  Union  is  the  utter  suppression  of  Abolitionism  or  anti -slavery 
as  a  political  element,  and  the  complete  subordination  of  the  spirit 
of  fanaticism  and  intermeddling  which  gave  it  birth.  In  any  event, 
they  are  ready  now,  if  I  have  not  greatly  misread  the  signs  of  the 
times,  to  return  to  the  old  Constitutional  and  actual  basis  of  fifty 
years  ago :  three-fifths  rule  of  representation,  speedy  rendition  of 
fugitives  from  labor,  equal  rights  in  the  Territories,  no  more  slavery 
agitation  anywhere,  and  transit  and  temporary  sojourn  with  slaves, 
without  molestation,  in  the  free  States.  Without  all  these  there 
could  be  neither  peace  nor  permanence  to  a  restored  union  of  States 
"part  slave  and  part  free."  With  it,  the  South,  in  addition  to  all 
the  other  great  and  multiplied  benefits  of  union,  would  be  far  more 
secure  in  her  slave  property,  her  domestic  institutions,  than  under  a 
separate  government.  Sir,  let  no  man.  North  or  West,  tell  me  that 
this  would  perpetuate  African  slavery.  I  know  it.  But  so  does  the 
Constitution.  I  repeat,  sir,  it  is  the  price  of  the  Union.  Whoever 
hates  negro  slavery  more  than  he  loves  the  Union  must  demand 
separation  at  last.     I  think  that  you  can  never  abolish  slavery  by 


THE    GREAT    CIVIL  WAR   IN  AMERICA.  199 

fighting.  Certainly  you  never  can  till  you  have  first  destroyed  the 
South,  and  then,  in  the  language,  first  of  Mr.  Douglas  and  after- 
ward of  Mr.  Seward,  converted  this  Government  into  an  imperial 
despotism.  And,  sir,  whenever  I  am  forced  to  a  choice  between  the 
loss,  to  my  own  country  and  race,  of  personal  and  political  liberty, 
with  all  its  blessings,  and  the  involuntary  domestic  servitude  of 
the  negro,  I  shall  not  hesitate  one  moment  to  choose  the  latter  alter- 
native. The  sole  question,  to-day,  is  between  the  Union,  with  slavery, 
or  final  disunion,  and,  I  think,  anarchy  and  despotism.  I  am  for 
the  Union.  It  was  good  enough  for  my  fathers.  It  is  good  enough 
for  us,  and  our  children  after  us. 

And,  sir,  let  no  man  in  the  South  tell  me  that  she  has  been 
invaded,  and  that  all  the  horrors  implied  in  those  most  terrible  of 
words,  civil  war,  have  been  visited  upon  her.  I  know  that,  too.  But 
we,  also,  of  the  North  and  West,  in  every  State,  and  by  thousands, 
who  have  dared  so  much  as  to  question  the  principles  and  policy,  or 
doubt  the  honesty,  of  this  Administration  and  its  party,  have  suflered 
everything  that  the  worst  despotism  could  inflict,  except  only  loss 
of  life  itself  upon  the  scaffold.  Some  even  have  died  for  the  cause, 
by  the  hand  of  the  assassin.  And  can  we  forget?  Never,  never. 
Time  will  but  burn  the  memory  of  these  wrongs  deeper  into  our 
hearts.  But  shall  we  break  up  the  Union  ?  Shall  we  destroy  the 
Grovernment,  because  usurping  tyrants  have  held  possession,  and  per- 
verted it  to  the  most  cruel  of  oppressions  ?  Was  it  ever  so  done  in 
any  other  country?  In  Athens?  Rome?  England?  Anywhere? 
No,  sir  ;  let  us  expel  the  usurper,  and  restore  the  constitution  and 
laws,  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  the  liberties  of  the  people  •  and 
then,  in  the  country  of  our  fathers,  under  the  Union  of  our  fathers, 
and  the  old  flag — the  symbol  once  again  of  the  free  and  the  brave — 
let  us  fulfill  the  grand  mission  which  Providence  has  appointed  for 
us  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

And  now,  sir,  if  it  be  the  will  of  all  sections  to  unite,  then  upon 
what  terms  ?  Sir,  between  the  South  and  most  of  the  States  of  the 
North,  and  all  of  the  West,  there  is  but  one  subject  in  controversy — 
slavery.  It  is  the  only  question,  said  Mr.  Calhoun,  twenty-five  years 
ago,  of  sufficient  magnitude  and  potency  to  divide  this  Union  ;  and 
divide  it  it  will,  he  added,  or  drench  the  country  in  blood,  if  not 
arrested.  It  has  done  both.  But  settle  it  on  the  original  basis  of 
the  constitution,  and  give  to  each  section  the  pov/er  to  protect  itself 
within  the  Union,  and  now,  after  the  terrible  lessons  of  the  past  two 
years,  the  Union  will  be  stronger  than  before,  and,  indeed,  endure 
for  ages.  Woe  to  the  man,  North  or  South,  who,  to  the  third  or 
fourth  generation,  should  teach  men  disunion. 

And  now  the  way  to  reunion  :  what  so  easy  ?  Behold  to-day  two 
separate  governments  in  one  country,  and  without  a  natural  dividing 
line  ;  with  two  presidents  and  cabinets,  and  a  double  Congress  ;  and 
yet,  each  under  a  constitution  so  exactly  similar,  the  one  to  the  other, 
that  a  stranger  could  scarce  discern  the  difference.  Was  ever  folly 
and  madness  like  this  ?  Sir,  it  is  not  in  the  nature  of  things  that  it 
should  so  continue  lons- 


200  THE    GRKAT   CIVIL   WAR   IN  AMERICA. 

But  why  speak  of  ways  or  terms  of  reunion  now  ?  The  will  is  yet 
wantinj^  in  both  sections.  Union  is  consent,  and  good  will,  and  IVater- 
nal  affection.  War  is  force,  hate,  revenge.  Is  the  country  tired  at 
last  of  war  ?  lias  the  experiment  been  tried  long  enough  ?  Has 
sufficient  blood  been  shed,  treasure  expended,  and  misery  inflicted  in 
both  th"^  North  and  the  South  ?  What  then  ?  Stop  fighting.  Make 
an  armistice — no  formal  treaty.  Withdraw  your  army  from  the  seceded 
States.  Keduce  both  armies  to  a  fair  and  sufficient  peace  establish- 
ment. Declare  absolute  free  trade  between  the  North  and  South. 
Buy  and  sell.  Agree  upon  a  zollvcrein.  Recall  your  fleets.  Break 
up  your  blockade.  Bcduce  your  navy.  Restore  travel.  Open  up 
railroads.  Re-establish  the  telegraph.  Reunite  your  express  com- 
panies. No  more  Monitors  and  iron-clads,  but  set  your  friendly 
steamers  and  steamships  again  in  motion.  Visit  the  North  and  West. 
Visit  the  South.  Exchange  newspapers.  Migrate.  Intermarry. 
Let  slavery  alone.  Hold  elections  at  the  appointed  times.  Let  U8 
choose  a  new  President  in  sixty-four.  And  when  the  gospel  of  peace 
shall  have  descended  again  from  heaven  into  their  hearts,  and  the 
gospel  of  abolition  and  of  hate  been  expelled,  let  your  clergy  and 
the  churches  meet  again  in  Christian  intercourse,  North  and  South. 
Let  the  secret  orders  and  voluntary  associations  everywhere  reunite  as 
brethren  once  more.  In  short,  give  to  all  the  natural,  and  all  the 
artificial  causes  which  impel  us  together,  their  fullest  sway.  Let 
time  do  his  office — drying  tears,  dispelling  sorrows,  mellowing  pas- 
sion, and  making  herb  and  grass  and  tree  to  grow  again  upon  the 
hundred  battle-liclds  of  this  terrible  war. 

"  But  this  is  recognition."  It  is  not  formal  recognition,  to  which 
I  will  not  consent.  Recognition  now,  and  attempted  permanent 
treaties  about  boundary,  travel,  and  trade,  and  partition  of  Territories 
would  end  in  a  war  fiercer  and  more  disastrous  than  before.  Recog- 
nition is  absolute  disunion ;  and  not  between  the  slave  and  the  free 
States,  but  with  Delaware  and  Maryland  as  part  of  the  North,  and 
Kentucky  and  Missouri  part  of  the  West.  But  wherever  the  actual 
line,  every  evil  and  mischief  of  disunion  is  implied  in  it.  And,  for 
similar  reasons,  sir,  I  would  not,  at  this  time,  press  hastily  a  conven- 
tion of  the  States.  The  men  who  now  would  hold  seats  in  such  a 
convention,  would,  upon  both  sides,  if  both  agreed  to  attend,  come 
together  full  of  the  hate  and  bitterness  inseparable  from  a  civil  war. 
No,  sir ;  let  passion  have  time  to  cool,  and  reason  to  resume  its 
sway.  It  cost  thirty  years  of  desperate  and  most  wicked  patience  and 
industry  to  destroy  or  impair  the  magnificent  temple  of  this  Union. 
Let  us  be  content  if,  within  three  years,  we  shall  be  able  to 
restore  it. 

But,  certainly,  what  I  propose  is  informal,  practical  recognition. 
And  that  is  precisely  what  exists  to-day,  and  has  existed,  more  or 
less  defined,  from  the  first.  Flags  of  truce,  exchange  of  prisoners, 
and  all  your  other  observances  of  the  laws,  forms,  and  courtesies  of 
war,  are  acts  of  recognition.  Sir,  does  any  man  doubt,  to-day,  that 
there  is  a  Confederate  Government  at  Richmond,  and  that  it  is  a 
"belligerent?"     Even   the  Secretary  of  State  has  discovered  it  at 


THE   GREAT   CIVIL  WAR  IN  AMERICA.  201 

laat,  though  he  has  written  ponderous  folios  of  polished  rhetoric  to 
prove  that  it  is  not.  Will  continual  war  then,  without  extended  and 
substantial  success,  make  the  Confederate  States  any  the  less  a  gov- 
ernment in  fact? 

"But  it  confesses  disunion."  Yes,  just  as  the  surgeon,  who  sets 
your  fractured  limb  in  splints,  in  order  that  it  may  be  healed, 
admits  that  it  is  broken.  "  But  the  Government  will  have  failed  to 
crush  out  the  rebellion."  Sir,  it  has  failed.  You  went  to  war  to 
prove  that  we  had  a  Government.  With  what  result?  To  the 
people  of  the  loyal  States  it  has,  in  your  hands,  been  the  Govern- 
ment of  King  Stork,  but  to  the  Confederate  States,  of  King  Log. 
"  But  the  rebellion  will  have  triumphed."  Better  triumph  to-day 
then  ten  years  hence.  But  I  deny  it.  The  rebellion  will,  at  last, 
be  crushed  out,  in  the  only  way  in  which  it  ever  was  possible.  "  But 
no  one  will  be  hung  at  the  end  of  war."  Neither  will  there  be, 
though  the  war  should  last  half  a  century,  except  by  the  mob  or 
the  hand  of  arbitrary  power.  But,  really,  sir,  if  there  is  to  be  no 
hanging,  let  this  Administration,  and  all  who  have  done  its  bidding 
everywhere,  rejoice  and  be  exceeding  glad. 

And  now,  sir,  allow  me  a  word  upon  a  subject  of  very  great 
interest  at  this  moment,  and  most  important,  it  may  be,  in  its  influ- 
ence upon  the  future — foreign  mediation.  I  speak  not  of  armed 
and  hostile  intervention,  which  I  would  resist  as  long  as  but  one 
man  was  left  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  invader.  But  friendly  media- 
tion— the  kindly  offer  of  an  impartial  power  to  stand  as  a  daysman 
between  the  contending  parties  in  this  most  bloody  and  exhausting 
strife — ought  to  be  met  in  a  spirit  as  cordial  and  ready  as  that  in 
which  it  is  proffered.  It  would  be  churlish  to  refuse.  Certainly,  it 
is  not  consistent  with  the  former  dignity  of  this  Government  to  ask 
for  mediation,  neither,  sir,  would  it  befit  its  ancient  magnanimity  to 
reject  it.  As  proposed  by  the  Emperor  of  France,  I  would  accept 
it  at  once.  Now  is  the  auspicious  moment.  It  is  the  speediest, 
easiest,  most  graceful  mode  of  suspending  hostilities.  Let  us  hear 
no  more  of  the  mediation  of  the  cannon  and  the  sword.  The  day 
for  all  that  has  gone  by.  Let  us  be  statesmen  at  last.  Sir,  I  give 
thanks,  that  some,  at  least,  among  the  Republican  party,  seem  ready 
now  to  lift  themselves  up  to  the  hight  of  this  great  argument,  and 
to  deal  with  it  in  the  spirit  of  the  patriots  and  great  men  of  other 
countries  and  ages,  and  of  the  better  days  of  the  United  States. 

And  now,  sir,  whatever  may  have  been  the  motives  of  England, 
France,  and  the  other  great  powers  of  Europe,  in  witholding  recogni- 
tion so  long  from  the  Confederate  States,  the  South  and  the  North 
are  both  indebted  to  them  for  an  immense  public  service.  The 
South  has  proved  her  ability  to  maintain  herself  by  her  own  strength 
and  resources,  without  foreign  aid,  moral  or  material.  And  the  North 
and  West — the  whole  country,  indeed — these  great  powers  have  served 
incalculably,  by  holding  back  a  solemn  proclamation  to  the  world 
that  the  Union  of  these  States  was  finally  and  formally  dissolved. 
They  have  left  to  us  every  motive  and  every  chance  for  reunion ;  and 
if  that  has   been   the  purpose   of  England  especially — our  rival  so 


202  THE   GREAT   CIVIL   WAR  IN   AMERICA. 

long,  interested  more  than  any  other  in  disunion,  and  the  consequent 
weakening  of  our  great  naval  and  commercial  power,  and  puffcring, 
too,  as  she  his  suflered,  so  long  and  severely  because  of  this  war — I 
do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  she  has  performed  an  act  of  unselfish 
heroism  without  example  in  history.  Was  such,  indeed,  her  pur- 
pose? Let  her  answer  before  the  impartial  tribunal  of  posterity. 
In  any  event,  after  the  great  reaction  in  public  sentiment  in  the 
North  and  West,  to  be  followed,  after  some  time,  by  a  like  reaction 
in  the  South,  foreign  recognition  now  of  the  Confederate  States  could 
avail  little  to  delay  or  prevent  final  reunion,  if,  as  I  firmly  believe, 
reunion  be  not  only  possible,  but  inevitable. 

Sir,  I  have  not  spoken  of  foreign  arbitration.  That  is  quite 
another  question.  I  think  it  impracticable,  and  fear  it  as  dangerous. 
The  very  powers — or  any  other  power — which  have  hesitated  to  aid 
disunion  directly  or  by  force,  might,  as  authorized  arbiters,  most 
readily  pronounce  for  it  at  last.  Very  grand,  indeed,  would  be  the 
tribunal  before  which  the  great  question  of  the  Union  of  these 
States,  and  the  final  destiny  of  this  continent,  for  ages,  should  be 
heard,  and  historic,  through  all  time,  the  ambassadors  who  should 
argue  it.  And,  if  both  belligerents  consent,  let  the  subjects  in  con- 
troversy be  referred  to  Switzerland,  or  Russia,  or  any  other  impartial 
and  incorruptible  power  or  state  in  Europe.  But,  at  last,  sir,  the 
people  of  these  several  States  here,  at  home,  must  be  the  final  arbi- 
ters of  this  great  quarrel  in  America ;  and  the  people  and  States  of 
the  Northwest,  the  mediators  who  shall  stand,  like  the  prophet, 
betwixt  the  living  and  the  dead,  that  the  plague  of  disunion  may  be 
stayed. 

Sir,  this  war,  horrible  as  it  is,  has  taught  us  all  some  of  the  most 
important  and  salutary  lessons  which  a  people  ever  learned. 

First,  it  has  annihilated,  in  twenty  months,  all  the  false  and  perni- 
cious theories  and  teachings  of  Abolitionism  for  thirty  years,  and 
which  a  mere  appeal  to  facts  and  arguments  could  not  have  untaught 
in  half  a  ce^itury.  We  have  learned  that  the  South  is  not  weak, 
dependent,  unenterprising,  or  corrupted  by  slavery,  luxury,  and  idle- 
ness; but  powerful,  earnest,  warlike,  enduring,  self-supporting,  full  of 
energy,  and  inexhaustible  in  resources.  We  have  been  taught,  and 
now  confess  it  openly,  that  African  slavery,  instead  of  being  a  source 
of  weakness  to  the  South,  is  one  of  her  main  elements  of  strength  ; 
and  hence  the  ''  military  necessity,"  wc  are  told,  of  abolishing  slavery 
in  order  to  suppress  the  rebellion.  We  have  learned,  also,  that  the 
non-slaveholding  white  men  of  the  South,  millions  in  number,  are 
immovably  attached  to  the  institution,  and  are  its  chief  support;  and 
Abolitionists  have  found  out,  to  their  infinite  surprise  and  disgust, 
that  the  slave  is  not  "  panting  for  freedom,"  nor  pining  in  silent,  but, 
revengeful  grief  over  cruelty  and  oppression  inflicted  upon  him,  but 
happy,  contented,  attached  deeply  to  his  master,  and  unwilling — at 
least  not  eager — to  accept  the  precious  boon  of  freedom,  which  they 
have  proifered  him.  I  appeal  to  the  President  for  the  proof  I 
appeal  to  the  fact,  that  fewer  slaves  have  escaped,  even  from  Virginia, 
in  now  yearly  two  years,  than  Arnold  and  Cornwullis  carried  away  ia 


THE   GREAT   CIVIL   WAR  IN   AMERICA.  203 

six  months  of  invasion,  in  1781.  Finally,  sir,  we  have  learned,  and 
the  South,  too,  what  the  history  of  the  world  ages  ago,  and  our  own 
history  might  have  taught  us,  that  servile  insurrection  is  the  least  of 
the  dangers  to  which  she  is  exposed.  Hence,  in  my  deliberate  judg- 
ment, African  slavery,  as  an  institution,  will  come  out  of  this  conflict 
fifty-fold  stronger  than  when  the  war  began. 

The  South,  too,  sir,  has  learned  most  important  lessons ;  and  among 
them,  that  personal  courage  is  a  quality  common  to  all  sections,  and 
that  in  battle,  the  men  of  the  North,  and  especially  of  the  West,  are 
their  equals.  Hitherto  there  has  been  a  mutual,  and  most  mischievous 
mistake  upon  both  sides.  The  men  of  the  South  over-valued  their 
own  personal  courage,  and  under -valued  ours,  and  we,  too,  readily 
consented  ;  but  at  the  same  time  they  exaggerated  our  aggregate 
strength  and  resources,  and  under-estimated  their  own ;  and  we  fell 
into  the  same  error ;  and  hence,  the  original  and  fatal  mistake,  or  vice, 
of  the  military  policy  of  the  North,  and  which  has  already  broken 
down  the  war  by  its  own  weight — the  belief  that  we  could  bring 
overwhelming  numbers  and  power  into  the  field,  and  upon  the  sea, 
and  crush  out  the  South  at  a  blow.  But  twenty  months  of  terrible 
warfare  have  corrected  many  errors,  and  taught  us  the  wisdom  of  a 
century.  And  now,  sFr,  every  one  of  these  lessons  will  profit  us  all 
for  ages  to  come  ;  and  if  we  do  but  reunite,  will  bind  us  in  a  closer, 
firmer,  more  durable  union  than  ever  before. 

I  have  finished  now,  Mr.  Speaker,  what  I  desired  to  say  at  this 
time,  upon  the  great  question  of  the  reunion  of  these  States.  I  have 
spoken  freely  and  boldly — not  wisely,  it  may  be,  for  the  present,  or 
for  myself  personally,  but  most  wisely  for  the  future  and  for  my 
country.  Not  courting  censure,  I  yet  do  not  shrink  from  it.  My 
own  immediate  personal  interests,  and  my  chances  just  now  for  the 
more  material  rewards  of  ambition,  I  again  surrender  as  hostages  to 
that  GREAT  HEREAFTER,  the  echo  of  whose  footsteps  already  I  hear 
along  the  highway  of  time.  Whoever,  here  or  elsewhere,  believes 
that  war  can  restore  the  Union  of  these  States  ;  whoever  would  have 
a  war  for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  or  disunion  ;  and  he  who  demands 
southern  independence  and  final  separation — let  him  speak,  for  him 
I  have  ofi"ended.  Devoted  to  the  Union  from  the  beginning,  I  will 
not  desert  it  now  in  this  the  hour  of  its  sorest  trial. 

Sir,  it  was  the  day-dream  of  my  boyhood,  the  cherished  desire  of 
my  heart  in  youth,  that  I  might  live  to  see  the  hundredth  anniver- 
sary of  our  national  independence,  and,  as  orator  of  the  day,  exult  in 
the  expanding  glories  and  greatness  of  the  still  United  States.  That 
vision  lingers  yet  before  my  eyes,  obscured,  indeed,  by  the  clouds  and 
thick  darkness  and  the  blood  of  civil  war.  But,  sir,  if  the  men  of 
this  generation  are  wise  enough  to  profit  by  the  hard  experience  of 
the  past  two  years,  and  will  turn  their  hearts  now  from  bloody  in- 
tents to  the  words  and  arts  of  peace,  that  day  will  find  us  again  the 
United  States.  And  if  not  earlier,  as  I  would  desire  and  believe,  at 
least  upon  that  day  let  the  great  work  of  reunion  be  consummated; 
that  thenceforth,  for  ages,  the  States  and  the  people  who  shall  fill 
up  this  mighty  continent,  united  under  one  Constitution,  and  in  one 


204  THE  CONSCRIPTION  BILL. 

Union,  and  tho  same  destiny,  shall  celebrate  it  as  the  birthday  both 
of  Independence  and  of  the  Great  Restoration. 

Sir,  I  repeat  it,  we  are  in  the  midst  of  the  very  crisis  of  this  revo- 
lution. If,  to-day,  we  secure  peace,  and  begin  the  work  of  reunion, 
we  shall  yet  escape  ;  if  not,  I  see  nothing  before  us  but  universal 
political  and  social  revolution,  anarchy,  and  bloodshed,  compared  with 
which,  the  Keign  of  Terror  in  France  was  a  merciful  visitation. 


NUMBER   ELEVEN 


THE    CONSCRIPTION    BILL. 

SPEECH  DEHVEEED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPEESENTATIVES,  FEBBTJAEY  23,  1863. 


In  the  last  days  of  the  late  Congress,  a  law  was  enacted  which 
gives  the  President  power  to  call  into  the  military  service  every  man 
between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  forty-five.  No  exceptions  on  the 
ground  of  color ;  and  only  a  few  special  exemptions,  at  the  head  of 
which  is  the  President.  The  Bill  virtually  admits  that  the  war  is  no 
longer  one  to  which  the  people  give,  freely,  themselves  and  their 
substance;  but  a  war  whose  further  prosecution  must  be  enforced  by 
arbitrary  power.  The  Constitution  makes  a  distinction  between  the 
army  and  the  militia  ;  to  the  States,  it  reserves  the  right  to  control, 
officer,  and  discipline  the  latter,  until  mustered  into  the  service  of 
the  United  States  This  reserved  right  of  the  States  the  Conscription 
Bill  disregards,  and  clothes  the  President  with  power  to  convert  the 
entire  militia  into  a  Federal  army,  under  his  immediate  direction  and 
command  ;  leaving  out  those  who  are  able  and  willing  to  commute  by 
paying  three  hundred  dollars. 

The  Bill  passed  the  Senate  without  much  opposition  :  went  through 
at  midnight,  when  Democrats  and  Conservatives  were  not  there  to 
oppose  it,  or  even  record  their  votes  against  it.  On  coming  to  the 
House,  the  Chairman  of  the  Military  Committee  gave  notice  of 
their  intention  to  bring  the  Bill  to  a  final  vote,  without  debate.  Its 
opponents  could  not  muster  more  than  thirty  fighting  men,  but  had 
Buch  men  as  Vallandigham  and  Voorhees  for  leaders,  and  deter- 


THE   CONSCRIPTION  BILL.  205 

mined  to  give  all  the  resistance  parliamentary  rules  would  permit. 
By  perseverance  and  management,  they  brought  the  majority  to  a 
discussion  of  the  Bill,  and  the  war  opened  in  earnest.  A  debate 
ensued  which,  for  power,  eloquence,  strength  of  argument,  and  bold 
defense  of  constitutional  rights,  has  not  often  been  equalled.  In- 
spired with  the  courage  always  given  to  those  who  are  right,  Val- 
LANDIGHAM,  VooRHEES,  Pendleton,  and  the  others,  standing  un- 
moved against  the  strong  current  of  despotism,  boldly  assailed  the 
most  dangerous  and  vulnerable  features  of  the  Bill.  Its  friends 
faltered,  relaxed  their  hold  upon  one  after  another  of  their  favorite 
despotic  measures.  They  had  determined  to  give  the  provost  marshals 
power  to  arrest  and  hold  civilians,  but  were  compelled  to  insert  a 
provision  that  persons  arrested  should  be  handed  over  to  the  civil 
authorities  for  trial.  All  that  related  to  "treasonable  practices"  waa 
stricken  out,  though  retained  in  the  "  Indemnity  Bill."  Other  im- 
portant concessions  were  made  ;  thus,  by  fearless,  and  manly  courage, 
a  few  sacred  constitutional  rights  were  wrested  from  the  hard  grasp 
of  despotism.  At  the  most  exciting  moment  of  the  conflict,  Mr.  V. 
addressed  the  House.  Bingham,  of  Ohio,  thought  his  "  assumptions 
unworthy  of  any  man  who  had  grown  to  man's  estate  under  the  shelter 
of  the  Constitution."  Voorhees  replied  he  "  had  held  the  House 
spell-bound  with  one  of  the  ablest  arguments  he  had  ever  heard." 
Mr.  Vallandigham  said : 

Mr.  Speaker  :  I  do  not  propose  to  discuss  this  bill  at  any  great 
length  in  this  House.  I  am  satisfied  that  there  is  a  settled  purpose 
to  enact  it  into  a  law,  so  far  as  it  is  possible  for  the  action  of  the 
Senate  and  House,  and  the  President,  to  make  it  such.  I  appeal, 
therefore,  from  you,  from  them,  directly  to  the  country;  to  a  forum 
where  there  is  no  military  committee,  no  previous  question,  no  hour 
rule,  and  where  the  people  themselves  are  the  masters.  I  commend 
the  spirit  in  which  this  discussion  was  commenced  by  the  chairman 
of  the  military  committee,  (Mr.  Olin,)  and  I  do  it  the  more  cheer- 
fully because,  unfortunately,  he  is  not  always  in  so  good  a  temper  as 
he  was  to-day ;  and  I  trust,  that  throughout  the  debate,  and  on  its 
close,  he  will  exhibit  that  same  disposition  which  characterized  his 
opening  remarks.  Only  let  me  caution  him  that  he  can  not  dictate 
to  the  minority  here  what  course  they  shall  pursue.  But,  sir,  I 
regret  that  I  can  not  extend  the  commendation  to  the  gentleman 
from  Pennsylvania,  (Mr.  Campbell,)  who  addressed  the  House  a 
little  while  ago.  His  speech  was  extremely  offensive,  and  calculated 
to  stir  up  a  spirit  of  bitterness  and  strife,  not  at  all  consistent  with 
that  in  which  debates  in  this  House  should  be  conducted.  If  he,  or 
any  other  gentleman  of  the  majority,  imagines  that  any  one  here  is 
to  be  deterred  by  threats,  from  the  expression  of  his  opinions,  or 
from  giving  such  votes  as  he  may  see  fit  to  give,  he  has  utterly  mis- 
apprehended the  temper  and  determination  of  those  who  sit  on  this 


206  THE   CONSCRIPTION   BILL. 

Bide  of  the  Chamber.  His  threat  I  hurl  back  with  dcQance  into 
his  teeth.  I  .spurn  it.  I  spit  upon  it.  That  is  not  the  argument 
to  be  addressed  to  equals  here ;  and  I,  therefore,  most  respectfully 
suggest,  that  hereafter,  all  such  be  dispensed  with,  and  that  we 
shall  be  spared  personal  denunciation,  and  insinuations  against  the 
loyalty  of  men  who  sit  with  me  here;  men  whose  devotion  to  the 
Constitution,  and  attachment  to  the  Union  of  these  States  is  as 
ardent  and  immoveable  as  yours,  and  who  only  differ  from  you  as  to 
the  mode  of  securing  the  great  object  nearest  their  hearts. 

Mr.  C.\MPBELL.     The  gentleman  will  allow  me — 

Mr.  Vall.vndigham.     I  yield  for  explanation. 

Mr.  Campbell.  Mr.  Speaker:  It  is  a  significant  fact,  that  the 
gentleman  from  Ohio  has  applied  my  remarks  to  himself,  and  others 
on  his  side  of  the  House.  Why  was  this  done?  I  was  denouncing 
traitors  here,  and  I  will  denounce  them  while  I  have  a  place  upon 
this  floor.  It  is  my  duty  and  my  privilege  to  do  so.  And  if  the 
gentleman  from  Ohio  chooses  to  give  my  remarks  a  personal  appli- 
cation, he  can  so  apply  them. 

Mr.  Vallandigham.     That  is  enough. 

Mr.  Campbell.     One  moment. 

Mr.  Vallandigham.  Not  ainother  moment  after  that.  I  yielded 
the  floor  in  the  spirit  of  a  gentleman,  and  not  to  be  met  in  the 
manner  of  a  blackguard.     (Applause  and  hisses  in  the  galleries.) 

Mr.  Campbell.  The  member  from  Ohio  is  a  blackguard.  (Re- 
newed hisses  and  applause  in  the  galleries.) 

Mr.  PtOBiNSON.  I  rise  to  a  question  of  order.  I  demand  that  the 
galleries  be  cleared.  We  have  been  insulted  time  and  again  by 
contractors  and  plunderers  of  the  Government,  in  these  galleries, 
and  I  ask  that  they  be  now  cleared. 

Mr.  Cox.  I  hope  my  friend  from  Illinois  will  not  insist  on  that. 
Only  a  very  small  portion  of  those  in  the  galleries  take  part  in  these 
disturbances.     The  fool  killer  will  take  care  of  them. 

The  Speaker  pro  tern.  The  chair  will  have  to  submit  the  ques- 
tion to  the  House. 

Mr.  Cox.     I  hope  the  demand  will  be  withdrawn. 

The  Speaker  pro  tern.  The  Chair  will  state,  that  if  disorder  is 
repeated,  whether  by  applause  or  expressions  of  disapprobation,  he 
will  feel  called  upon  himself  to  order  the  galleries  to  be  cleared, 
trusting  that  the  House  will  sustain  him  in  so  doing. 

Mr.  Robinson.  I  desire  the  order  to  be  enforced  now,  and  the 
galleries  to  be  cleared,  excepting  the  ladies'  gallery. 

Mr.  RoscoE  CoNKLiNG.  I  was  going  to  say  that  I  hoped  the 
order  would  not  be  extended  to  that  portion  of  the  galleries 

Mr.  Robinson.     The  galleries  were  cautioned  this  afternoon. 

Mr.  Johnson.  And  it  is  the  same  men  who  have  been  making  this 
disturbance  now.     I  know  their  faces  well. 

Mr.  Vallandigham.  I  think,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  this  lesson  has 
not  been  lost ;  and  that  it  is  sufficiently  impressed  now  upon  the 
minds  of  the  audience  that  this  is  a  legislative,  and  is  supposed  to 
be  a  deliberative,  assembly,  and  that  no  breach  of  decorum  or  order 


THE    CONSCRIPTION   BILL.  207 

should  occur  among  them,  whatever  may  be  the  conduct  of  any  of 
us  on  the  floor.  I  trust,  therefore,  that  my  friends  on  this  side 
will  withdraw  the  demand  for  the  enforcement  of  the  rule  of  the 
House. 

Mr.  Robinson.     I  withdraw  the  demand. 

Mr.  Verree.  I  raise  the  point  of  order,  that  members  here,  in 
debating  questions  before  the  House,  are  not  at  liberty  to  use  lan- 
guage that  is  unparliamentary,  and  unworthy  of  a  member. 

The  Speaker.     That  is  the  rule  of  the  House. 

Mr.  Verree.     I  hope  it  will  be  enforced. 

Mr.  Vallandigham.  And  I  hope  that  it  will  be  enforced,  also, 
against  members  on  the  other  side  of  the  Chamber.  We  have  borne 
enough,  more  than  enough  of  such  language,  for  two  years  past. 

The  Speaker.  The  gentleman  from  Illinois  withdraws  his  demand 
to  have  the  galleries  cleared.  The  Chair  desires  to  say  to  gentlemen 
in  the  galleries,  that  this  being  a  deliberative  body,  it  is  not  becom- 
ing this  House,  or  the  character  of  American  citizens,  to  disturb  its 
deliberations  by  any  expression  of  approval  or  disapproval. 

Mr.  Vallandigham.  The  member  from  Pennsylvania  (Mr.  Camp- 
bell) alluded  to-day,  generally,  to  gentlemen  on  this  side  of  the 
House.  There  was  no  mistaking  the  application.  The  language 
and  gesture  were  both  plain  enough.  He  ventured  also,  approvingly, 
to  call  our  attention  to  the  opinions  and  course  of  conduct  of  some 
Democrats  in  the  State  of  New  York,  as  if  we  were  to  learn  our  les- 
sons in  Democracy,  or  in  any  thing  else,  from  that  quarter.  I  do 
not  know,  certainly,  to  whom  he  alluded.  Perhaps  it  was  to  a  gentle- 
man who  spoke,  not  long  since,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  advocated 
on  that  occasion,  what  is  called  in  stereotype  phrase  "  the  vigorous 
prosecution  of  the  war,"  and  who,  but  two  months  previously, 
addressed  assemblages  in  the  same  State  and  city,  in  which  he  pro- 
posed only  to  take  Kichmond,  and  then  let  the  "  wayward  sisters  depart 
in  peace."  Now  I  know  of  no  one  on  this  side  of  the  Chamber 
occupying  such  a  position ;  and  I,  certainly,  will  not  go  to  that  quar- 
ter to  learn  lessons  in  patriotism  or  Democracy. 

I  have  already  said,  that  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  debate  the  general 
merits  of  this  Bill  at  large,  and  for  the  reason,  that  I  am  satisfied 
that  argument  is  of  no  avail  here.  I  appeal,  therefore,  to  the  people. 
Before  them,  I  propose  to  try  this  great  question — the  question  of 
constitutional  power,  and  of  the  unwise  and  injudicious  exercise  of 
it  in  this  Bill.  We  have  been  compelled,  repeatedly,  since  the  4th 
of  March,  1861,  to  appeal  to  the  same  tribunal.  We  appealed  to  it 
at  the  recent  election.  And  the  people  did  pronounce  judgment 
upon  our  appeal.  The  member  from  Pennsylvania  ought  to  have  heard 
their  sentence,  and  I  venture  to  say  that  he  did  hear  it,  on  the  night 
of  the  election.  In  Ohio  they  spoke  as  with  the  voice  of  many 
waters.  The  very  question,  of  summary  and  arbitrary  arrests,  now 
sanctioned  in  this  Bill,  was  submitted,  as  a  direct  issue,  to  the  people 
of  that  State,  as  also  of  other  States,  and  their  verdict  was  ren- 
dered upon  it.  The  Democratic  Convention  of  Ohio,  assembled  on 
the  4th  of  July,  in  the  city  of  Columbus,  the  largest  and  best,  ever 


208  THE   CONSCRIPTION   BILL. 

held  in  the  State,  among  other  resolutions,  of  the  same  temper  and 
spirit,  adopted  this  without  a  dissenting  voice  : 

"And  we  utterly  condemn  and  denounce  the  repeated  and  gross  violation, 
by  the  Executive  of  the  United  States,  of  the  rights  thus  scoured  by  the 
Constitution;  and  we  also  utterly  repudiate  and  condemn  the  monstrous 
dogma,  that  in  time  of  war  the  Constitution  is  suspended,  or  its  power  in 
any  respect  enlarged  beyond  the  letter  and  true  meaning  of  that  instrument. 

"And  we  view,  also,  with  indignation  and  alarm,  the  illegal  and  unconsti- 
tutional seizure  and  imprisonment,  for  alleged  pulilical  oifenscs,  of  our  citizens, 
without  judicial  process,  in  States  where  such  process  is  unobstructed,  but  by 
Executive  order  by  telegraph,  or  otherwise,  and  call  upon  all  who  uphold  the 
Union,  the  Constitution  and  the  laws,  to  unite  with  us,  in  denouncing  and 
repelling  such  flagrant  violation  of  the  State  and  Federal  Constitutions,  and 
tyrannical  infraction  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  American  citizens;  and  that 
the  people  of  this  State  can  not  safely,  and  will  not,  submit  to  have  the 
freedom  of  speech  and  freedom  of  the  press,  the  two  great  and  essential  bulwarks 
of  civil  liberty,  put  down  by  unwarranted  and  despotic  exertion  of  power." 

On  that,  the  judgment  of  the  people  was  given  at  the  October 
elections,  and  the  party  candidates  nominated  by  the  convention 
which  adopted  that  resolution,  were  triumphantly  elected.  So,  too, 
with  the  candidates  of  the  same  party  in  the  States  of  Wisconsin, 
Illinois,  Indiana,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and  New  York.  And, 
sir,  that  "  healthy  re-action,"  recently,  of  which  the  member  from 
Pennsylvania  (Mr.  Campbell)  affected  to  boast,  has  escaped  my 
keenest  sense  of  vision.  I  see  only  that  hand-writing  on  the  wall 
which  the  fingers  of  the  people  wrote  against  him  and  his  party,  and 
this  whole  Administration,  at  the  ballot-box,  in  October  and  Novem- 
ber last.  Talk  to  me,  indeed,  of  the  leniency  of  the  Executive  !  too 
few  arrests  !  too  much  forbearance  by  those  in  power !  Sir,  it  is  the 
people  who  have  been  too  lenient.  They  have  submitted  to  your 
oppressions  and  wrongs  as  no  free  people  ought  ever  to  submit. 
But  the  day  of  patient  endurance  has  gone  by  at  last.  Mistake  them 
not.  They  will  be  lenient  no  longer.  Abide  by  the  Constitution, 
stand  by  the  laws,  restore  the  Union,  if  you  can  restore  it — not  by 
force — you  have  tried  that  and  failed.  Try  some  other  method  now 
— the  ancient,  the  approved,  the  reasonable  way — the  way  in  which  the 
Union  was  first  made.  Surrender  it  not  now — not  yet — never.  But 
unity  is  not  Union  ;  and  attempt  not,  at  your  peril — I  warn  you — 
to  coerce  unity  by  the  utter  destruction  of  the  Constitution  and  of 
the  rights  of  the  States  and  the  liberties  of  the  pco])le.  Union  is 
liberty  and  consent :  unity  is  despotism  and  force.  For  what  was 
the  Union  ordained?  As  a  splendid  edifice,  to  attract  the  gaze  and 
admiration  of  the  world?  As  a  magnificent  temple — a  stupendous 
superstructure  of  marble  and  iron,  like  this  Capitol,  upon  whose 
lofty  dome  the  bronzed  image — hollow  and  inanimate — of  Freedom 
is  soon  to  stand  erect  in  colossal  mockery,  while  the  true  spirit,  the 
living  Goddess  of  Liberty,  veils  her  eyes  and  turns  away  her  face  in 
sorrow,  because,  upon  the  altar  established  here,  and  dedicated  by 
our  fathers  to  her  worship — you,  a  false  and  most  disloyal  priest- 
hood, offer  up,  night  and  morning,  the  mingled  sacrifices  of  servitude 
and  despotism?     No,  sir.     It  was  for  the   sake   of  the   altar,  the 


THE   CONSCRIPTION  BILL.  209 

service,  the  religion,  the  devotees,  that  the  temple  of  the  Union  was 
first  erected ;  and  when  these  are  all  gone,  let  the  edifice  itself 
perish.  Never — never — never — will  the  people  consent  to  lose  their 
own  personal  and  political  rights  and  liberties,  to  the  end  that  you 
may  delude  and  mock  them  with  the  splendid  unity  of  despotism. 

Sir,  what  are  the  bills  which  have  passed,  or  are  still  before  the 
House  ?     The  bill  to   give  the  President  entire  control  of  the  cur- 
rency— the  purse — of  the  country.     A  tax-bill  to  clothe  him  with 
power  over  the  whole   property  of  the  country.     A  bill  to  put  all 
power  in  his  bauds  over  the  personal  liberties  of  the  people.     A  bill 
to  indemnify  him,  and  all  under  him,  for  every  act  of  oppression  and 
outrage  already  consummated.     A  bill  to  enable  him  to  suspend  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus,  in  order  to  justify  or  protect  him,  and  every 
minion  of  his,  in  the  arrests  which  he  or  they  may  choose  to  make 
— arrests,  too,  for  mere  opinions'  sake.     Sir,  some  two  hundred  years 
ago,  men  were  burned  at  the  stake,  subjected  to  the  horrors  of  the 
Inquisition,  to  all  the  tortures  that  the  devilish  ingenuity   of   man 
could  invent — for  what?     For  opinions  on  questions  of  religion — of 
man's  duty  and  relation  to  his  God.     And  now,  to-day,  for  opinions 
on  questions  political,  under  a  free  government,  in  a  country  whose 
liberties  were  purchased  by  our  fathers  by  seven  years'  out-pouring 
of  blood,  and  expenditure  of  treasure — we  have  lived  to  see  men,  the 
born  heirs  of  this  precious  inheritance,  subjected  to  arrest  and  cruel 
imprisonment  at  the   caprice   of  a  President,  or   a   secretary,  or  a 
constable.     And,  as   if  that  were   not  enough,  a  bill  is   introduced 
here,  to-day,  and  pressed  forward  to  a  vote,  with  the  right  of  debate, 
indeed — extorted  from  you  by  the  minority — but  without  the  right  to 
amend,  with   no   more   than   the    mere   privilege   of   protest — a  bill 
which    enables    the    President   to    bring   under   his   power,  as   com- 
mander-in-chief, every  man  in  the  United  States  between  the  ages  of 
twenty  and  forty-five — three  millions  of  men.     And,  as  if  not  satis- 
fied with  that,  this    bill   provides,  further,  that  every  other  citizen, 
man,  woman,  and  child,  under  twenty  years  of  age  and  over  forty- 
five,  including  those  that  may  be  exempt  between  these  ages,  shall 
be  also,  at  the  mercy — so  far  as  his  personal  liberty  is  concerned — 
of  some  miserable  "provost  marshal"  with  the  rank  of  a  captain  of 
cavalry,  who   is   never  to  see  service   in   the  field ;  and  every  Con- 
gressional  district   in    the    United    States    is    to    be    governed — yes, 
governed — by  this  petty  satrap — this  military  eunuch — this  Baba — 
and  he  even  may  be  black — who  is  to  do  the  bidding  of  your  Sultan, 
or  his  Grand  Vizier.     Sir,  you  have  but  one  step  further  to  go — give 
him  the  symbols  of  his  office — the  Turkish  bow-string  and  the  sack. 
What  is  it,  sir,  but  a  bill  to  abrogate  the  Constitution,  to  repeal 
all  existing  laws,  to  destroy  all  rights,  to  strike  down  the  judiciary, 
and  erect,  upon  the  ruins  of  civil  and  political  liberty,  a  stupendous 
superstructure  of  despotism.     And  for  what?     To  enforce  law?     No, 
sir.     It  is  admitted  now,  by  the  legislation  of  Congress,  and  by  the  two 
proclamations  of  the  President ;  it  is  admitted  by  common  consent, 
-that  the  war  is  for  the  abolition  of  negro  slavery,  to  secure  freedom 
to  the  black  man.     You  tell  me,  some  of  you,  I  know,  that  it  is  so 

u 


210  THE   CONSCRIPTION   BILL. 

prosecuted  because  tliis  is  the  only  way  to  restore  the  Union;  but 
others  openly  and  candidly  confess  that  the  purpose  of  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  war  is  to  abolish  slaver}'.  And  thus,  sir,  it  is  that  the 
freedom  of  the  negro  is  to  be  purchased,  under  this  bill,  at  the 
sacrifice  of  every  right  of  the  white  men  of  the  United  States. 

Sir,  I  am  opposed — earnestly,  inexorably  opposed — to  this  measure. 
If  there  were  not  another  man  in  this  Ilouse  to  vote  against  it — if 
there  were  none  to  raise  his  voice  against  it — I,  at  least,  dare  stand 
here  alone  in  my  place,  as  a  Representative,  undismayed,  unscduced, 
unterriScd,  and  heedless  of  the  miserable  cry  of  "disloyalty,"  of 
sympathy  with  the  rebellion,  and  with  rebels,  to  denounce  it  as  the 
very  consummation  of  the  conspiracy  against  the  Constitution  and 
the  liberties  of  my  country. 

Sir,  I  yield  to  no  man  in  devotion  to  the  Union.  I  am  for  main- 
taining it  upon  the  principles  on  which  it  was  first  formed ;  and  I 
would  have  it,  at  every  sacrifice,  except  of  honor,  which  is  "  the  life 
of  the  nation."  I  have  stood  by  it  in  boyhood  and  in  manhood,  to 
this  hour;  and  I  will  not  now  con.sent  to  yield  it  up;  nor  am  I  to 
be  driven  from  an  earnest  and  persistent  support  of  the  only  means 
by  which  it  can  be  restored,  cither  by  the  threats  of  the  party  of 
the  Administration  here,  or  because  of  affected  sneers  and  contemptu- 
ous refusals  to  listen,  now,  to  re-union,  by  the  party  of  the  Admin- 
istration at  Richmond.  I  never  was  weak  enough  to  cower  before 
the  reign  of  terror  inaugurated  by  the  men  in  power  here,  nor  vain 
enough  to  expect  favorable  responses  now,  or  terms  of  settlement, 
from  the  men  in  povfer,  or  the  presses  under  their  control,  in  the 
South.  Neither  will  ever  compromise  this  great  quarrel,  nor  agree 
to  peace  on  the  basis  of  re-union :  but  I  repeat  it — stop  fighting,  and 
let  time  and  natural  causes  operate — uncontrolled  by  military  influ- 
ences— and  the  ballot  there,  as  the  ballot  here,  will  do  its  work.  I 
am  for  the  Union  of  these  States;  and  but  for  my  profound  convic- 
tion that  it  can  never  be  restored  by  force  and  arms ;  or,  if  so 
restored,  could  not  be  maintained,  and  would  not  be  worth  maintain- 
ing, I  would  have  united,  at  first — even  now  would  unite,  cordially 
— in  giving,  as  I  have  acquiesced,  silently,  in  your  taking,  all  the 
men  and  all  the  money  you  have  demanded.  But  I  did  not  believe, 
and  do  not  now  believe,  that  the  war  could  end  in  any  thing  but 
final  defeat;  and  if  it  should  last  long  enough,  then  in  disunion;  or, 
if  successful  upon  the  principles  now  proclaimed,  that  it  must  and 
would  end  in  the  establishment  of  an  imperial  military  despotism — 
not  only  in  the  South — but  in  the  North  and  West.  And  to  that  I 
never  will  submit.  No,  rather,  first  I  am  ready  to  yield  up  property, 
and  liberty — nay,  life  itself. 

Sir,  I  do  not  propose  to  discuss  now  the  question  of  the  constitu- 
tionality of  this  measure.  The  gentleman  from  Ohio,  who  preceded  me, 
(Mr.  White,)  has  spared  me  the  necessity  of  an  argument  on  that 
point.  He  has  shown  that,  between  the  army  of  the  United  States, 
of  which,  by  the  Constitution,  the  President  of  the  United  States  is 
the  commander-in-chief,  and  the  militia,  belonging  to  the  States, 
there  is  a  wide,  and  clearly  marked  line  of  distinction.     The  dis- 


THE   CONSCRIPTION  BILL.  211 

tinction  is  fully  and  strongly  defined  in  the  Constitution  ;  and  has  been 
recognized  in  the  entire  legislation  and  practice  of  the  Government  from 
the  beginning.  The  States  have  the  right,  and  have  always  exercised  it, 
of  appointing  the  officers  of  their  militia,  and  you  have  no  power  to 
take  it  away.  Sir,  this  bill  was  originally  introduced  in  the  Senate  as 
a  militia  bill,  and  as  such,  it  recognized  the  right  of  the  States  to 
appoint  the  officers ;  but  finding  it  impossible,  upon  that  basis,  to  give 
to  the  Executive  of  the  United  States  the  entire  control  of  the  mil- 
lions thus  organized  into  a  military  force,  as  the  conspirators  against 
State  rights  and  popular  liberty  desire,  the  original  bill  was  aban- 
doned ;  and  to-day  behold  here  a  stupendous  Conscription  Bill,  for 
a  standing  army  of  more  than  three  millions  of  men,  forced  from 
their  homes,  their  families,  their  fields,  and  their  workshops — an 
army  organized,  officered,  and  commanded  by  the  servant  President, 
now  the  master  Dictator,  of  the  United  States.  And  for  what? 
Foreign  war?  Home  defense?  No;  but  for  coercion,  invasion,  and 
the  abolition  of  negro  slavery  by  force.  Sir,  the  conscription  of 
Russia  is  mild  and  merciful  and  just,  compared  with  this.  And  yet, 
the  enforcement  of  that  conscription  has  just  stirred  again  the 
slumbering  spirit  of  insurrection  in  Poland,  though  the  heel  of  des- 
potic power  has  trodden  upon  the  necks  of  her  people  for  a  century. 

Where  now  are  your  taunts  and  denunciations,  heaped  upon  the 
Confederate  Government  for  its  conscription,  when  you,  yourselves, 
become  the  humble  imitators  of  that  government,  and  bring  in  here 
a  Conscription  Act,  more  odious  even  than  that  passed  by  the  Con- 
federate Congress  at  Richmond?  Sir,  the  chairman  of  the  military 
committee  rejoiced  that  for  the  last  two  years  the  army  had  been 
filled  up  by  voluntary  enlistments.  Yes,  your  army  has  hitherto 
been  thus  filled  up  by  the  men  of  the  North  and  West.  One 
million  two  hundred  and  thirty-seven  thousand  men — for  most  of 
the  drafted  men  enlisted,  or  procured  substitutes — have  voluntarily 
surrendered  their  civil  rights,  subjected  themselves  to  military  law, 
and  thus  passed  under  the  command  and  within  the  control  of  the 
President  of  the*  United  States.  It  is  not  for  me  to  complain  of  that. 
It  was  their  own  act — done  of  their  own  free  will  and  accord — unless 
bounties,  promises,  and  persuasion  may  be  regarded  as  coercion.  The 
•work  you  proposed  was  gigantic,  and  your  means  proportionate  to  it. 
And  what  has  been  the  result?  What  do  you  propose  now?  What 
is  this  bill?  A  confession  that  the  people  are  no  longer  ready  to 
enlist:  that  they  are  not  willing  to  carry  on  this  war  longer,  until 
some  effort  has  been  made  to  settle  this  great  controversy  in  some 
other  way  than  by  the  sword.  And  yet,  in  addition  to  the  1.237,000 
men  who  have  voluntarily  enlisted,  you  propose  now  to  force  the 
entire  body  of  the  people,  between  the  ages  of  twenty  and  forty-five, 
under  military  law,  and  within  the  control  of  the  President,  as  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  army,  for  three  years,  or  during  the  war — 
which  is  to  say  "for  life  ;"  aye,  sir,  for  life,  and  half  your  army  has 
already  found,  or  will  yet  find,  that  their  enlistment  was  for  life  too. 

I  repeat  it,  sir,  this  bill  is  a  confession  that  the  people  of  the 
country   are  against   this  war.     It  ia   a  solemn  admission,  upon  the 


212  THE    CONSCRIPTION   BILL. 

record  in  the  legislation  of  Congress,  that  they  will  not  voluntarily 
consent  to  wage  it  any  longer.  And  yet,  ignoring  every  principle 
upon  which  the  Government  was  founded,  this  measure  is  an  attempt, 
by  compulsion,  to  carry  it  on  against  the  will  of  the  people.  Sir, 
what  docs  all  this  mean  ?  You  were  a  majority  at  first,  the  people 
were  almost  unanimously  with  you,  and  they  were  generous  and 
enthusiastic  in  your  support.  You  abused  your  power,  and  your 
trust,  and  you  failed  to  do  the  work  which  you  promised.  You  have 
lost  the  confidence,  lost  the  hearts  of  the  people.  You  are  now 
in  a  minority  at  home.  And  yet,  what  a  spectacle  is  exhibited 
here  to-night !  You,  an  accidental,  temporary  majority,  condemned 
and  repudiated  by  the  people,  are  exhausting  the  few  remaining 
hours  of  your  political  life,  in  attempting  to  defeat  the  popular  will, 
and  to  compel,  by  the  most  desperate  and  despotic  of  expedients  ever 
resorted  to,  the  subinission  of  the  majority  of  the  people,  at  home, 
to  the  minority,  their  servants,  here.  Sir,  this  experiment  has  been 
tried  before,  in  other  ages  and  countries,  and  its  issue  always,  among 
a  people  born  free,  or  fit  to  be  free,  has  been  expulsion  or  death  to 
the  conspirators  and  tyrants. 

I  make  no  threats.  They  are  not  arguments  fit  to  be  addressed 
to  equals  in  a  legislative  assembly ;  but  there  is  truth,  solemn, 
alarming  truth,  in  what  has  been  said,  to-day,  by  gentlemen  on  this 
side  of  the  Chamber.  Have  a  care,  have  a  care,  T  entreat  you,  that 
you  do  not  pressthese  measures  too  far.  I  shall  do  nothing  to  stir  up 
an  already  excited  people — not  because  of  any  fear  of  your  contemptible 
petty  provost  marshals,  but  because  I  desire  to  see  no  violence  or  revolu- 
tion in  the  North  or  West.  But  1  warn  you  now,  that  whenever,  against 
the  will  of  the  people,  and  to  perpetuate  power  and  office  in  a  popular 
government  which  they  have  taken  from  you,  you  undertake  to  enforce 
this  bill,  and,  like  the  destroying  angel  in  Egypt,  enter  every  house 
for  the  first-born  sons  of  the  people — remember  Poland.  You  can 
not,  and  will  not  be  permitted  to,  establish  a  military  despotism. 
Be  not  encouraged  by  the  submission  of  other  nations.  The  people 
of  Austria,  of  Russia,  of  Spain,  of  Italy,  have  never  known  the  inde- 
pendence and  liberty  of  freemen.  France,  in  seventy  years,  has  wit- 
nessed seven  principal  revolutions — the  last  brought  about  in  a  single 
day,  by  the  arbitrary  attempt  of  the  king  to  suppress  freedom  of 
speech  and  of  the  press,  and  next  the  free  assembling  of  the  people; 
and  when  he  would  have  retraced  his  steps  and  restored  these  liberties, 
a  voice  from  the  galleries,  not  filled  with  clerks  and  plunderers  and 
place-men,  uttered  the  sentiments  and  will  of  the  people  of  France, 
in  words  now  historic  :  "  It  is  too  late."  The  people  of  England 
never  submitted,  and  would  not  now  submit,  for  a  moment,  to  the 
despotism  which  you  propose  to  inaugurate  in  America.  England 
can  not,  to-day,  fill  up  her  standing  armies  by  conscription.  Even  the 
"  press  gang,"  unknown  to  her  laws,  but  for  a  time  acquiesced 
in,  has  long  since  been  declared  illegal ;  and  a  sweeping  conscription 
like  this  now,  would  hurl  not  only  the  ministry  from  power,  but 
the  queen  from  her  throne. 

Sir,  80  far  as  this  bill  is  a  mere  military  measure,  I  might  have 


THE   CONSCRIPTION  BILL.  218 

been  content  to  have  given  a  silent  vote  against  it;  but  there  are  two 
provisions  in  it  hostile,  both  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  inconsistent  with  the  avowed  scope  and  purpose  of  the  bill 
itself;  and,  certainly,  as  I  read  them  in  the  light  of  events  which  have 
occurred  in  the  past  two  years,  of  a  character  which  demands  that  the 
majority  of  this  House  shall  strike  them  out.  There  is  nothing  in 
the  argument,  that  we  have  no  time  to  send  the  bill  back  to  the  Senate, 
lest  it  should  be  lost.  The  presiding  officers  of  both  Houses  are 
friends  of  the  bill,  and  will  constitute  committees  of  conference  of  men 
favorable  to  it.  They  will  agree  at  once,  and  can  at  any  moment, 
between  this  and  the  4th  of  March,  present  their  report  as  a  question 
of  the  highest  privilege ;  and  you  have  a  two-thirds  majority  in  both 
branches  to  adopt  it. 

With  these  provisions  of  the  bill  stricken  out,  leaving  it  simply 
as  a  military  measure,  to  be  tested  by  the  great  question  of 
peace  or  war,  I  would  be  willing  that  the  majority  of  the  House 
should  take  the  responsibility  of  passing  it  without  further  debate; 
although,  even  then,  you  would  place  every  man  in  the  United  States, 
between  the  ages  of  twenty  and  forty-five,  under  military  law,  and 
within  the  control,  everywhere,  of  the  President,  except  the  very  few 
who  are  exempt;  but  you  would  leave  the  shadow,  at  least,  of  liberty 
to  all  men  not  between  these  ages,  or  not  subject  to  draft  under  this 
bill,  and  to  the  women  and  children  of  the  country  too. 

Sir,  these  two  provisions  propose  to  go  a  step  further,  and  include 
every  one,  man,  woman  and  child,  and  to  place  him  or  her  under 
the  arbitrary  power,  not  only  of  the  President  and  his  cabinet,  but 
of  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  other  petty  officers,  captains  of  cavalry, 
appointed  by  him.  There  is  no  distinction  of  sex,  and  none  of  age. 
These  provisions,  sir,  are  contained  in  the  seventh  and  twenty-fifth 
sections  of  the  bill.  What  are  they  ?  I  comment  not  on  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  general  provost  marshal  of  the  United  States,  and  provost 
marshals  in  every  Congressional  District.  Let  that  pass.  But  what 
do  you  propose  to  make  the  duty  of  each  provost  marshal  in  carry- 
ing out  the  draft  ?  Among  other  things,  that  he  shall  "  inquire  into, 
and  report  to  the  provost  marshal  general" — what?  Treason?  No. 
Felony?  No.  Breach  of  the  peace,  or  violation  of  law  of  any 
kind  ?  No  ;  but  "  treasonable  practices  ;"  yes,  treasonable  prac- 
tices. What  mean  you  by  these  strange,  ominous  words  ?  Whence 
come  they  ?  Sir,  they  are  no  more  new  or  original  than  any  other 
of  the  cast-ofF  rags  filched  by  this  Administration  from  the  lumber- 
house  of  other  and  more  antiquated  despotisms.  The  history  of 
European  tyranny  has  taught  us  somewhat  of  this  doctrine  of  con- 
structive treason.  Treasonable  practices  !  Sir,  the  very  language  is 
borrowed  from  the  old  proclamations  of  the  British  monarchs,  some 
hundreds  of  years  ago.  It  brings  up  the  old,  identical  quarrel  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  Treasonable  practices !  It  was  this  that  called 
forth  that  English  Act  of  Parliament  of  twenty-fifth  Edward  III, 
from  which  we  have  borrowed  the  noble  provision  against  constructive 
treason,  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Arbitrary  arrests, 
for  no  crime  known,  defined   or  limited   by  law,  but   for  pretended 


214  THE    CONSCRIPTION   BILL. 

offenses,  herded  tojrcther  under  the  general  and  most  comprehensive 
name  of  "  treasonable  practices,"  had  been  so  frequent,  in  the  worst 
periods  of  English  history,  that  in  the  language  of  the  act  of  Henry 
the  Fourth,  "  no  man  knew  how  to  behave  himself,  or  what  to  do  or 
say,  for  doubt  of  the  pains  of  treason."  The  statute  of  Edward  the 
Third,  had  cut  all  these  fungous,  toadstool  treasons  up  by  the  root; 
and  yet,  so  prompt  is  arbitrary  power  to  denounce  all  opposition  to 
it  as  treasonable,  that,  as  Lord  Hale  observes, 

"Things  were  so  carried  by  parties  and  factions,  in  the  succeeding  reign  of 
Richard  the  Second,  that  this  statute  was  but  little  observed,  but  as  this  or 
that  party  got  the  better.  So  the  crime  of  high  treason  was,  in  a  mnnner, 
arbitrarily  imposed  and  adjudged  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  party  vihich  was 
to  be  judged ;  which  by  various  vicissitudes  and  revolutions,  niisehiel'ed  all 
parties,  first  and  last,  and  left  a  great  unsettledness  and  unquietness  in  the 
minds  of  the  people,  and  was  one  of  the  occasions  of  the  unhappiness  of  the 
king." 

And  he  adds  that, 

"  It  came  to  pass  that  almost  every  offense  that  was,  or  seemed  to  he,  a  breach 
of  the  faitli  and  allegiance  due  to  the  king,  was,  by  construction,  consequence, 
and  interpretation,  raised  into  the  oficnse  of  high  treason." 

Richard  the  Second,  procured  an  Act  of  Parliament — -even  he  did 
not  pretend  to  have  power  to  do  it  by  proclamation — declaring  that 
the  bare  purpose  to  depose  the  king,  and  to  place  another  in  his 
stead,  without  any  overt  act,  was  treason ;  and  yet,  as  Blackstone 
remarks,  so  little  effect  have  over-violent  laws  to  prevent  crime,  that 
within  two  years  afterward  this  very  prince  was  both  deposed  and 
put  to  death.  Still  the  struggle  for  arbitrary  and  despotic  power 
continued  ;  and  up  to  the  time  of  Charles  the  First,  at  various  periods, 
almost  every  conceivable  offense  relating  to  the  government,  and  every 
form  of  opposition  to  the  king,  was  declared  high  treason.  Among 
these  were  execrations  against  the  king  ;  calling  him  opprobrious 
names  by  public  writing;  refusing  to  abjure  the  Pope;  marrying 
without  license,  certain  of  the  king's  near  relatives;  derogating  from 
his  royal  style  or  title  ;  impugning  his  supremacy,  or  assembling 
riotously  to  the  number  of  twelve,  and  refusing  to  disperse  on  proc- 
lamation. But  steadily,  in  better  times,  the  people  and  the  Parliament 
of  England  returned  to  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  act  of  Edward 
the  Third,  passed  by  a  Parliament  which  now,  for  five  hundred  years, 
has  been  known  and  honored  as  parUamentum  hencdictum,  the 
"  blessed  Parliament  " — just  as  this  Congress  will  be  known,  for  ages 
to  come,  as  "  the  accursed  Congress  " — and  among  many  other  acts, 
it  was  declared  by  a  statute,  in  the  first  year  of  the  Fourth  Henry's 
reign,  that  '•  in  no  time  to  come  any  treason  be  judged,  otherwise  than  as 
ordained  by  the  statute  of  king  Edward  the  Third."  And  for  nearly 
two  hundred  years,  it  has  been  the  aim  of  the  lawyers  and  judges  of 
England  to  adhere  to  the  plain  letter,  spirit,  and  intent  of  that  act, 
"  to  be  extended,"  in  the  language  of  Erskine,  in  his  noble  defense 
of  Hardy,  "  by  no  new  or  occasional  constructions — to  be  strained 
by  no  fancied  analogies — to  be  measured  by  no  rules  of  political 


THE   CONSCRIPTION   BILL.  215 

expediency — to  be  judged  of  by  no  theory — to  be  determined  by  the 
wisdom  of  no  individual,  however  wise — but  to  be  expounded  by 
the  simple,  genuine  letter  of  the  law." 

Such,  sir,  is  the  law  of  treason  in  England  to-day  ;  and  so  much 
of  the  just  and  admirable  statute  of  Edward  as  is  applicable  to  our 
form  of  government,  was  embodied  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  The  men  of  1787  were  well  read  in  history  and  in  English 
constitutional  law.  They  knew  that  monarchs  and  governments,  in 
all  ages,  had  struggled  to  extend  the  limits  of  treason,  so  as  to  include 
all  opposition  to  those  in  power.  They  had  learned  the  maxim  that, 
miserable  is  the  servitude  where  the  law  is  either  uncertain  or 
unknown,  and  had  studied  and  valued  the  profound  declaration  of 
Montesquieu,  that  "  if  the  crime  of  treason  be  indeterminate,  that 
alone  is  sufficient  to  make  any  government  degenerate  into  arbitrary 
power."     Hear  Madison,  in  the  Federalist : 

"As  new-fangled  and  artificial  treasons  have  been  the  great  engines  by 
which  violent  factions,  the  natural  offspring  of  free  governments,  have  usually 
wreaked  their  alternate  malignity  on  each  other,  the  convention  have,  with 
great  judgment,  opposed  a  barrier  to  this  peculiar  danger,  by  inserting  a 
constitutional  definition  of  the  crime,  fixing  the  proof  necessary  for  convic- 
tion of  it,  and  restraining  the  Congress,  even  in  punishing  it,  from  extending 
the  consequences  of  guilt  beyond  the  person  of  its  author." 

And  Story,  not  foreseeing  the  possibility  of  such  a  party  or 
Administration  as  is  now  in  power,  declared  it  "  an  impassahle  harrier 
against  arbitrary  constructions,  either  by  the  courts  or  by  Congress, 
upon  the  crime  of  treason."  "  Congress  " — that,  sir,  is  the  word,  for 
he  never  dreamed  that  the  President,  or,  still  less,  his  clerks,  the 
cabinet  ministers,  would  attempt  to  declare  and  punish  treasons.  And 
yet,  what  have  we  lived  to  hear  in  America  daily,  not  in  political 
harangties,  or  the  press  only,  but  in  official  proclamations  and  in 
bills  in  Congress  !  Yes,  your  high  officials  talk  now  of  "  treasonable 
practices,"  as  glibly  "as  girls  of  thirteen  do  of  puppy  dogs."  Treas- 
onable practices  !  Disloyalty  !  Who  imported  these  precious  phrases, 
and  gave  them  a  legal  settlement  here  ?  Your  Secretary  of  War, 
He  it  was  who  by  command  of  our  most  noble  President,  authorized 
every  marshal,  every  sheriff,  every  township  constable,  or  city  police- 
man, in  every  State  in  the  Union,  to  fix,  in  his  own  imagination, 
what  he  might  choose  to  call  a  treasonable  or  disloyal  practice,  and 
then  to  arrest  any  citizen  at  his  discretion,  without  any  accusing  oath, 
and  without  due  process,  or  any  process  of  law.  And  now,  sir,  all  this 
monstrous  tyranny,  against  the  whole  spirit  and  the  very  letter  of  the 
Constitution,  is  to  be'deliberately  embodied  in  an  Act  of  Congress ! 
Your  petty  provost  marshals  arc  to  determine  what  treasonable 
practices  are,  and  "  inrjuire  into,"  detect,  spy  out,  eavesdrop,  ensnare, 
and  then  inform,  report  to  the  chief  spy  at  Washington.  These,  sir, 
are  now  to  be  our  American  liberties  under  your  Administration. 
There  is  not  a  crowned  head  in  Europe  who  dare  venture  on  such 
an  experiment.  How  long  think  you  this  people  will  submit?  But 
words,  too  —  conversation  or  public  speech  —  are  -  to  be  adjudged 
'•  treasonable  practices."     Men,  women,  and  children  are  to  be  haled 


216  THE    CONSCRIPTION   BILL. 

to  prison  for  free  speech.  Whoever  shall  denounce  or  oppose  this 
Administration — whoever  may  affirm  that  war  will  not  restore  the 
Union,  and  teach  men  the  gospel  of  peace,  may  be  reported  and 
arrested,  upon  some  old  grudge,  and  by  some  ancient  enemy,  it  may 
be,  and  imprisoned  as  guilty  of  a  treasonable  practice. 

Sir,  there  can  be  but  one  treasonable  practice,  under  the  Constitu- 
tion, in  the  United  States.  Admonished  by  the  lessons  of  English 
history,  the  framers  of  that  instrument  defined  what  treason  is.  It 
is  the  only  offense  defined  in  the  Constitution.  We  know  what  it 
is.  Every  man  can  tell  whether  he  has  committed  treason.  He  has 
only  to  look  into  the  Constitution,  and  he  knows  whether  he  hag 
been  guilty  of  the  offense.  But  neither  the  Executive,  nor  Congress, 
nor  both  combined,  nor  the  courts,  have  a  right  to  declare,  either  by 
pretended  law,  or  by  construction,  that  any  other  offense  shall  be 
treason,  except  that  defined  and  limited  in  this  instrument.  What 
is  treason  ?  It  is  the  highest  offense  known  to  the  law — the  most 
execrable  crime  known  to  the  human  heart — the  crime  of  Iclscc  inajes- 
talis;  of  the  parricide  who  lifts  his  hand  against  the  country  of  his 
birth  or  his  adoption.  "Treason  against  the  United  States,"  says  the 
Constitution,  "  shall  consist  only  in  levying  war  against  them,  or  in 
adhering  to  their  enemies,  giving  them  aid  and  comfort."  (Here  a 
Republican  member  nodded  several  tinier  and  smiled,  and  Mr.  V. 
said.)  Ah,  sir,  I  understand  you.  But  was  Lord  Chatham  guilty 
of  legal  treason,  treasonable  aid  and  comfort,  when  he  denounced 
the  war  against  the  Colonies,  and  rejoiced  that  America  had  resisted? 
Was  Burke,  or  Fox,  or  Barre  guilty,  when  defending  the  Americans, 
in  the  British  Parliament,  and  demanding  conciliation  and  peace? 
Were  even  the  Federalists  guilty  of  treason,  as  defined  in  the  Con- 
stitution, for  "giving;  aid  and  comfort"  to  the  enemy,  in  the  war  of 
1812?  Were  the  Whigs  in  1846?  Was  the  Ohio  Senator  liable 
to  punishment,  under  the  Constitution,  and  by  law,  who  said,  sixteen 
years  ago,  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  when  we  were  at  war  in  Mexico, 
"  If  I  were  a  Mexican  as  I  am  an  American,  I  would  greet  your 
volunteers  with  bloody  hands,  and  welcome  them  to  hospitable 
graves?"  Was  Abraham  Lincoln  guilty,  because  he  denounced  that 
same  war,  while  a  llepresentative  on  the  floor  of  this  House  ?  Was 
all  this  "adhering  to  the  enemy,  giving  him  aid  and  comfort,"  withiu 
the  meaning  of  this  provision  ? 

A  Member.     The  Democratic  papers  said  so. 

Mr.  Vallandiguam.  Sir,  I  am  speaking  now  as  a  lawyer,  and  as  a 
legislator,  to  legislators  and  lawyers  acting  under  oath  and  the  other 
special  and  solemn  sanctions  of  this  Chamber,  and  not  in  the  loose 
language  of  the  political  canvass.  And  I  repeat,  sir,  that  if  such 
had  been  the  intent  of  the  Constitution,  the  whole  Federal  party, 
and  the  whole  Whig  party,  and  their  Representatives  in  this  and  the 
other  Chamber,  might  have  been  indicted  and  punished  as  traitors. 
Yet,  not  one  of  them  was  ever  arrested.  And  shall  they,  or  their 
descendants,  undertake  now  to  denounce  and  to  punish,  as  guilty  of 
treason,  every  man  who  opposes  the  policy  of  this  Administration, 
or  is  against  this  civil  war,  and  for  peace  upon  honorable  terms  ?    I 


THE   CONSCRIPTION   BILL.  217 

hope,  in  spite  of  the  hundreds  of  your  provost  marshals,  and  all 
your  threats,  that  there  will  be  so  much  of  opposition  to  the  war  as 
will  compel  the  Administration  to  show  a  decent  respect  for,  and 
yield  some  sort  of  obedience  to,  the  Constitution  and  laws,  and  to  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  States  and  of  the  people. 

But  to  return ;  the  Constitution  not  only  defines  the  crime  of 
treason,  but,  in  its  jealous  care  to  guard  against  the  abuses  of  tyrannic 
power,  it  expressly  ascertains  the  character  of  the  proof,  and  the 
number  of  witnesses  necessary  for  conviction,  and  limits  the  punish- 
ment to  the  person  of  the  offender,  thus  going  beyond  both  the 
statute  of  Edward,  and  the  Common  law.  And  yet  every  one  of 
these  provisions  is  ignored  or  violated  by  this  bill. 

"No  person,"  says  the  Constitution,  "shall  be  covicted  of  treason" — a* 
just  defined — "  unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses." 

Where,  and  when,  and  by  whom,  sir,  are  the  two  witnesses  to  be 
examined,  and  under  what  oath  ?  By  your  provost  marshals,  your 
captains  of  cavalry?  By  the  jailors  of  your  military  bastiles,  and 
inside  of  forts  Warren  and  Lafayette  ?  Before  arrest,  upon  arrest, 
while  in  prison,  when  discharged,  or  at  any  time  at  all  ?  Has  any 
witness  ever  been  examined  in  any  case  heretofore  ?  What  means 
the  Constitution  by  declaring  that  no  person  shall  be  convicted  of 
treason  "  unless  on  the  testimony/  of  two  ivitnesses  ?  "  Clearly,  convic- 
tion in  a  judicial  court,  upon  testimony  openly  given  under  oath, 
with  all  the  sanctions  and  safeguards  of  a  judicial  trial  to  the  party 
accused.  And  if  any  doubt  there  could  be  upon  this  point,  it  is 
removed  by  the  sixth  article  of  the  amendments. 

But  the  Constitution  proceeds  : 

"  Unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses  to  the  same  overt  act." 

But  words,  and  still  less,  thoughts  or  opinions,  sir,  are  not  acts ; 
and  yet,  nearly  every  case  of  arbitrai-y  arrest  and  imprisonment,  in 
the  wholly  loyal  States,  at  least,  has  been  for  words  spoken  or  written, 
or  for  thoughts,  or  opinions  supposed  to  be  entertained  by  the  party 
arrested.  And  that,  too,  sir,  is  precisely  what  is  intended  by  this 
bill. 

But  further : 

"  The  testimony  of  two  witnesses  to  tho  same  overt  act,  or  confession  in 
open  coic7-t." 

What,  court  ?  The  court  of  some  deputy  provost  marshal  at  home, 
or  of  your  provost  marshal  general,  or  Judge  Advocate  General,  here 
in  Washington  ?  The  court  of  a  military  bastile,  whose  gates  are 
shut  day  and  night  against  every  officer  of  the  law,  and  whose  very 
casemates  are  closed  to  the  light  and  air  of  heaven?  Call  you  that 
•'open  court?"  Not  so  the  Constitution.  It  means  judicial  court, 
law  court,  with  judge  and  jury  and  witnesses  and  counsel  ;  and  to 
speak  of  it  as  any  thing  else,  is  a  confusion  of  language,  and  an  insult 
to  intelligence  and   common   sense.     Yet,  to-night,  you   deliberately 


218  THE  CONSCRIPTION   BILL. 

propose  to  enact  ttc  illegal  and  unconstitutional  executive  orders,  or 
proclamations,  of  last  summer,  into  the  semblance  and  form  of  law. 

"  To  inquire  into  treasonable  practices,"  says  the  bill.  So,  then, 
your  provost-marshals  are  to  be  deputy  spies  to  the  grand  spy,  hold- 
ing his  secret  inquisitions  here  in  Washington,  upon  secret  reports, 
sent  by  telegraph  perhaps,  or  through  the  mails,  both  under  the 
control  of  the  Executive.  What  right  has  he  to  arrest  and  hold  me 
without  a  hearing,  because  some  deputy  spy  of  his  chooses  to  report 
me  guilty  of  "disloyalty,"  or  of  "treasonable  practices?"  Is  this 
the  liberty  secured  by  the  Constitution  ?  Sir,  let  me  tell  you,  that 
if  the  purpose  of  this  bill  be  to  crush  out  all  opposition  to  the 
Administration  and  the  party  in  power,  you  have  no  constitutional 
right  to  enact  it,  and  not  force  enough  to  compel  the  people,  your 
masters,  to  submit. 

But  the  enormity  of  the  measure  does  not  stop  here.  Says  the 
Constitution  : 

"  Congress  shall  make  no  law  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech,  or  of  the 
press." 

And  yet  speech — mere  words,  derogatory  to  the  President,  or  in 
opposition  to  his  Administration,  and  his  party  and  policy,  have,  over 
and  over  again,  been  reported  by  the  spies  and  informers  and  shad- 
ows, or  other  minions,  of  the  men  in  power,  to  be  "  disloyal  prac- 
tices," for  which  hundreds  of  free  American  citizens,  of  American, 
not  African,  descent,  have  been  arrested  and  imprisoned  for  months, 
without  public  accusation,  and  without  trial  by  jury,  or  trial  at  all. 
Even  upon  pretence  of  guilt  of  that  most  vague  and  indefinite,  but 
most  comprehensive  of  all  offenses,  "discouraging  enlistments,"  men 
have  been  seized  at  midnight,  and  dragged  from  their  beds,  their 
homes,  and  their  families,  to  be  shut  up  in  the  stone  casemates  of 
your  military  fortresses,  as  felons.  And  now,  by  this  bill,  you  propose 
to  declare,  in  the  form  and  semblance  of  law,  that  whoever  "  coun- 
sels or  dissuades"  any  one  from  the  performance  of  the  military  duty 
required  under  this  conscription,  shall  be  summarily  arrested  by  your 
provost  marshals,  and  held,  without  trial,  till  the  draft  shall  have 
been  completed.  Sir,  even  the  "  Sedition  Law  "  of  '98  was  constitu- 
tional, merciful  and  just,  compared  with  this  execrable  enactment. 
Wisely  did  Hamilton  ask,  in  the  Federalist^  "  What  signifies  a 
declaration  that  the  liberty  of  the  press  (or  of  speech)  shall  be 
inviolably  preserved,  when  its  security  must  altogether  depend  oa 
public  opinion,  and  on  the  general  spirit  of  the  people^  and  of  the 
Government." 

But  this  extraordinary  bill  does  not  stop  here, 

"No  person,"  says  the  Constitution,  "no  person  shall  be  hclJ  to  answer  for 
a  capital  or  otherwise  infamous  crime,  unless  on  a  presentment  or  indictment 
of  a  grand  jury,  except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  and  naval  force,  or  in 
the  militia  when  in  actual  service  in  time  of  war  or  public  danger;  nor  bo 
deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law." 

Note  the  exception.  Every  man  not  in  the  military  service,  is 
exempt  from  arrest,  except  by  due  process  of  law ;  or,  being  arrested 


THE   CONSCRIPTION  BILL.  219 

without  it,  is  entitled  to  demand  immediate  inquiry  and  discharge,  or 
bail  ;  and  if  held,  then  presentment  or  indictment  by  a  grand  jury 
in  a  civil  court,  and  according  to  the  law  of  the  land.  And  yet  you 
now  propose,  by  this  Bill,  in  addition  to  the  1,237,000  men  who  have 
voluntarily  surrendered  that  great  right  of  freemen,  second  only  to 
the  ballot — and,  indeed,  essential  to  it — to  take  it  away  forcibly,  and 
against  their  consent,  from  three  millions  more,  whose  only  crime  is 
that  they  happen  to  have  been  so  born  as  to  be  now  between  the 
ages  of  twenty  and  forty-five.  Do  it,  if  you  can,  under  the  Con- 
stitution ;  and  when  you  have  thus  forced  them  into  the  military 
service,  they  will  be  subject  to  military  law,  and  not  entitled  to  arrest 
only  upon  due  process  of  law,  nor  to  indictment  by  a  grand  jury  in 
a  civil  court.  But  you  can  not,  you  shall  not — because  the  Consti- 
tution forbids  it — deprive  the  whole  people,  also,  of  the  United 
States,  of  these  rights,  "  inestimable  to  them,  and  formidable  to 
tyrants  only,"  under  "  the  war  power,"  or  upon  pretense  of  "military 
necessity,"  and  by  virtue  of  an  act  of  Congress  creating  and  defining 
new  treasons,  new  offenses,  not  only  unknown  to  the  Constitution, 
but  expressly  excluded  by  it. 
But  again : 

"In  all  criminal  prosecutions," — 

and  wherever  a   penalty   is   to  be    imposed,  imprisonment   or   fine 
inflicted,  it  is  a  criminal  prosecution — 

"  In  all  criminal  prosecutions,"  says  the  Constitution,  "  the  accused  shall 
enjoy  the  rii^ht  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the 
State  and  district  wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been  committed,  which  district 
shall  have  been  previously  ascertained  by  law;  and  to  be  informed  of  the 
nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation  ;  to  be  confronted  with  the  witnesses 
against  him;  to  have  compulsory  process  for  obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor, 
and  to  have  the  assistance  of  counsel,  for  his  defense." 

Do  you  propose  to  allow  any  of  these  rights?  No,  sir — none— 
not  one ;  but,  in  the  twenty -fifth  section,  you  empower  these  provost 
marshals  of  yours  to  arrest  any  man — men  not  under  military  law — 
whom  he  may  charge,  or  any  one  else  may  charge  before  him,  with 
"counseling  or  dissuading"  from  military  service,  and  to  hold  him 
in  confinement  indefinitely,  until  the  draft  has  been  completed.  Sir, 
has  it  been  completed  in  Connecticut  yet?  Is  it  complete  in  New 
York  ?  Has  it  been  given  up  ?  If  so  now,  nevertheless  it  was  in  pro- 
cess of  pretended  execution  for  months.  In  any  event,  you  propose, 
now,  to  leave  to  the  discretion  of  the  Executive  the  time  during  which 
all  per'^ons  arrested,  under  the  provisions  of  this  Bill,  shall  be  held 
in  confinement  upon  that  summary  and  arbitrary  arrest ;  and  when 
he  sees  fit,  and  then  only,  shall  the  accused  be  delivered  over  to  the 
civil  authorities  for  trial.  And  is  this  the  speedy  and  public  trial 
by  jury,  which  the  Constitution  secures  to  every  citizen  not  in  the 
military  service  ? 

"The  State  and  district  wherein  the  crime" — 


220  THE   CONSCRIPTION   BILL. 

Yes,  crime,  for  crime  it  must  be,  known  to  and  defined  by  law,  to 
justify  the  arrest — 

"Shall  have  been  committed,  which  district  shall  have  been  previously 
EBcertained  by  law." 

Do  you  mean  to  obey  that,  and  to  observe  State  lines,  or  district 
lines,  in  arrests  and  imprisonments?  Has  it  ever  been  done?  Were 
•not  Keycs,  and  Olds,  and  IMahoney,  and  Sheward,  and  my  friend  here 
to  the  left,  (Mr.  Allen,  of  Illinois,)  and  my  other  friend  from  Mary- 
land, (Mr.  May,)  dragged  from  their  several  States  and  districts,  to 
New  York,  or  Masssachusetts,  or  to  this  city  ?  The  pirate,  the  mur- 
derer, the  counterfeiter,  the  thief — you  would  have  seized  by  duo  and 
sworn  process  of  law,  and  tried  forthwith,  by  jury,  at  home  ;  but 
honorable  and  guiltless  citizens,  members  of  this  House,  your  peers 
upon  this  floor,  were  thrust,  and  may,  again,  under  this  bill,  be 
thrust  into  distant  dungeons  and  bastilcs,  upon  the  pretence  of  some 
crawling,  verminous  spy  and  informer,  that  they  have  "  dissuaded  " 
some  one  from  obedience  to  the  draft,  or  are  otherwise  guilty  of 
some  "treasonable  practice." 

"And  to  be  informed  of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation." 

How?  By  presentment  or  indictment  of  a  grand  jury.  When? 
"Speedily,"  says  the  Constitution.  "When  the  draft  is  completed," 
says  this  bill ;  and  the  President  shall  determine  that.  But  who  is 
to  limit  and  define,  "counseling  or  dissuading"  from  military  serv- 
ice? Who  shall  ascertain  and  inform  the  accused  of  the  "nature 
and  cause"  of  a  "treasonable  practice?"  Who,  of  all  the  thousand 
victims  of  arbitrary  arrests,  within  the  last  twenty-two  months,  even 
to  this  day,  has  been  informed  of  the  charge  against  him,  although 
long  since  released?  Yet  even  the  Roman  pro-consul,  in  a  conquered 
province,  refused  to  send  up  a  prisoner,  without  signifying  the  crimes 
with  which  he  was  charged. 

"To  be  confronted  with  the  witnesses  against  him." 

Witnesses,  indeed !  Fortunate  will  be  the  accused  if  there  be  any 
witnesses  against  him.  But  is  your  deputy  provost  marshal  to  call 
them?  0,  no;  he  is  only  to  "inquire  into,  and  report."  Is  your 
provost  marshal  general?  What!  call  witnesses  from  the  remotest 
parts  of  the  Union,  to  a  secret  inquisition  here  in  Washington.  Has 
any  "  pri.'ioner  of  State,"  hitherto,  been  confronted  with  witnesses,  at 
any  time  ?  Has  he  even  been  allowed  to  know  so  much  as  the  names 
of  his  accusers?  Yet,  Festus  could  boast,  that  it  was  not  the  manner 
of  the  Romans,  to  punish  any  man,  "  before  that  he,  which  is  accused, 
have  the  accusers  face  to  face." 

"To  have  compulsory  process  for  obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor." 

Sir,  the  compulsory  process  will  be,  under  this  bill,  as  it  has  been 
from  the  first,  to  compel  the  absence  rather,  of  not  only  the  wit- 
nesses, but  the  friends  and  nearest  relatives  of  the  accused ;  even  the 
wife  of  his  bosom,  and  his  children — the  inmates  of  his  own  house- 


THE   CONSCRIPTION   BILL.  221 

hold.  Newspapers,  the  bible,  letters  from  home,  except  under  sur- 
veillance, a  breath  of  air,  a  sight  of  the  waves  of  the  sea,  or  of  the 
mild,  blue  sky,  the  song  of  birds,  whatever  was  denied  to  the  pris- 
oner of  Chillon,  and  more  too;  yes,  even  a  solitary  lamp  in  the  case- 
mate, where  a  dying  prisoner  struggled  with  death,  all  have  been 
refused  to  the  American  citizen  accused  of  disloyal  speech  or  opia- 
ions,  by  this  most  just  and  merciful  Administration. 
And,  finally,  says  the  Constitution  : 

"To  have  the  assistance  of  counsel  for  his  defense." 

And  yet  your  Secretary  of  State,  the  "conservative"  Seward — the 
confederate  of  Weed,  that  treacherous,  dissembling  foe  to  constitu- 
tional liberty,  and  the  true  interests  of  his  country — forbade  hia 
prisoners  to  employ  counsel,  under  penalty  of  prolonged  imprison- 
ment. Yes,  charged  with  treasonable  practices,  yet  the  demand  for 
counsel  was  to  be  dealt  with  as  equal  to  treason  itself.  Here  is  au 
order,  signed  by  a  minion  of  Mr.  Seward,  and  read  to  the  prisoners 
at  Fort  Lafayette,  on  the  3d  of  December,  1861 : 

"I  am  instructed,  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  to  inform  you,  that  the  De- 
partment of  State,  of  the  United  States,  wiU  not  recognize  any  one  as  an 
attorney  for  political  prisoners,  and  will  look  with  distrust  upon  all  applica- 
tions for  release  through  such  channels;  and  that  such  applications  will  be 
regarded  as  additional  reaso7is  for  declinhig  to  release  the  prisoners." 

And  here  is  another  order  to  the  same  eflFect,  dated  "  Department 
of  State,  Washington,  November  27,  1861,"  signed  by  William  H. 
Seward  himself,  and  read  to  the  prisoners  at  Fort  W^arren,  on  the 
29th  of  November,  1861 : 

"Discountenancing  and  repudiating  all  such  practices." 

The  disloyal  practice,  forsooth,  of  employing  counsel : 

"The  Secretary  of  State  desires  that  all  the  State  prisoners  may  understand 
that  they  are  expected  to  revoke  all  such  engagements  now  existing,  and  avoid 
any  hereafter,  as  they  can  only  lead  to  new  complications  and  embarrassments 
to  the  cases  of  prisoners,  on  whose  behalf  the  Government  might  be  disposed  to 
act  with  liberality." 

Most  magnanimous  Secretary!  Liberality  toward  men  guilty  of 
no  crime,  but  who,  though  they  had  been  murderers  or  pirates,  were 
entitled,  by  the  plain  letter  of  the  Constitution,  to  have  "  the  assist- 
ance of  counsel  for  their  defense."  Sir,  there  was  but  one  step  further 
possible,  and  that  short  step  was  taken  some  months  later,  when  tha 
prisoners  of  State  were  required  to  make  oath,  as  the  condition  of 
their  discharge,  that  they  would  not  seek  their  constitutional  and 
legal  remedy  in  Court,  for  the  wrongs  and  outrages  inflicted  upon 
them. 

Sir,  incredible  as  all  this  will  seem  some  years  hence,  it  has  hap- 
pened, all  of  it,  and  more  yet  untold,  within  the  last  twenty  months, 
in  the  United  States.  Under  executive  usurpation,  and  by  virtue  of 
presidential  proclamations  and  cabinet  orders,  it  has  been  done  with- 


222  THE   CONSCRIPTION   BILL. 

out  law  and  aprainst  Constitution  ;  and  now  it  is  proposed,  I  repeat, 
to  sanction  and  authorize  it  all,  by  an  equally  unconstitutional  and 
void  act  of  Congress.  Sir,  legislative  tyranny  is  no  more  tolerable 
than  executive  tyranny.  It  is  a  vain  thing  to  seek  to  cloak  all  this 
under  the  false  semblance  of  law.  Liberty  is  no  more  guarded  or 
secured,  and  arbitrary  power  no  more  hedged  in  and  limited  here, 
than  under  the  executive  orders  of  last  summer.  We  know  what  has 
already  been  done,  and  we  will  submit  to  it  no  longer.  Away,  then, 
with  your  vain  clamor  about  disloyalty,  your  miserable  mockery  of 
treasonable  practices.  We  have  read,  with  virtuous  indignation,  in 
history,  ages  ago,  of  an  Englishman  executed  for  treason,  in  saying 
that  he  would  make  his  son  heir  to  the  crown,  meaning  of  his  own 
tavern -house,  which  bore  the  sign  of  the  crown  ;  and  of  that  other 
Englishman,  whose  favorite  buck  the  king  had  killed,  and  who  suffered 
death  as  a  traitor,  for  wishii^g,  in  a  fit  of  vexation,  that  the  buck, 
horns  and  all,  were  emboweled  in  the  body  of  the  king.  But  what 
have  we  not  lived  to  see  in  our  own  time  ?  Sir.  not  many  months 
ago,  this  Administration,  in  its  great  and  tender  mercy  toward  the 
six  hundred  and  forty  prisoner  of  State,  confined,  for  treasonable 
practices,  at  Camp  Chase,  near  the  capital  of  Ohio,  appointed  a  com- 
missioner, an  extra-judicial  functionary,  unknown  to  the  Constitution 
and  laws,  to  hear  and  determine  the  cases  of  the  several  parties 
accused,  and  with  power  to  discharge  at  his  discretion,  or  to  banish 
to  Bull's  Island,  in  Lake  Erie.  Among  the  political  prisoners  called 
before  him,  was  a  lad  of  fifteen,  a  newsboy  upon  the  Ohio  river, 
whose  only  offense  proved,  upon  inquiry,  to  be,  that  he  owed 
fifteen  cents,  the  unpaid  balance  of  a  debt  due  to  his  washer-womaa 
— possibly  a  woman  of  color — who  had  him  arrested  by  the  provost 
marshal,  as  guilty  of  "  disloyal  practices."  And  yet,  for  four  weary 
months  the  lad  had  lain  in  that  foul  and  most  loathsome  prison,  under 
military  charge,  lest,  peradventure,  he  should  overturn  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States ;  or,  at  least,  the  Administration  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln! 

Several  Members  on  the  Democratic  side  op  the  House. 
Oh  no  :  the  case  can  not  be  possible. 

Mr.  Vallandigham.  It  is  absolutely  true,  and  it  is  one  only 
among  many  such  cases.  Why,  sir,  was  not  the  hump-back  carrier 
of  the  New  York  Daily  News,  a  paper  edited  by  a  member  of  this 
House,  arrested  in  Connecticut,  for  selling  that  paper,  and  hurried 
off  out  of  the  State,  and  imprisoned  in  Fort  Lafayette  ?  And  yet, 
Senators  and  Representatives,  catching  up  the  brutal  cry  of  a  blood- 
thirsty but  infatuated  partisan  press,  exclaim  "  the  Government  has 
been  too  lenient,  there  ought  to  have  beeu  more  arrests  !  " 

Well  did  Hamilton  remark,  that  "  arbitrary  imprisonments  have 
been,  in  all  ages,  the  favorite  and  most  formidable  instruments  of 
tyranny  ;"  and  not  less  truly,  Blackstone  declares,  that  they  are  "  a  less 
public,  a  less  striking,  and  therefore  a  more  dangerous  engine  of  arbi- 
trary government,"  than  executions  upon  the  scaffold.  And  yet,  to- 
night., you  seek  here,  under  cloak  of  an  act  of  Congress,  to  authorize 
these  arrests  and  imprisonments,  and  thus  to  renew  again  that  reign 


THE   CONSCRIPTION  BILL.  223 

of  terror  which  smote  the  hearts  of  the  stoutest  among  us,  last  sum- 
mer, as  "  the  pestilence  which  walketh  in  darkness." 
But  the  Constitution  provides  further,  that 

"The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  person?,  house?,  papers,  and 
effects,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,  shall  not  be  violated,  and 
no  warrants  shall  issue,  but  upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  oath  or  aiBrm- 
ation,  and  particularly  describing  the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the  persona 
or  things  to  be  seized." 

Sir,  every  line,  letter,  and  syllable  of  this  provision  has  been 
repeatedly  violated,  under  pretence  of  securing  evidence  of  disloyal 
or  treasonable  practices ;  and  now  you  propose,  by  this  bill,  to  sanc- 
tion the  past  violations,  and  authorize  new  and  continued  infractions 
in  future.  Your  provost  marshals,  your  captains  of  cavalry,  are  to 
"inquire  into  treasonable  practices."  How?  In  any  way,  sir,  that 
they  may  see  fit ;  and  of  course,  by  search  and  seizure  of  person, 
house,  papers  or  effects  ;  for,  sworn  and  appointed  spies  and  informers 
as  they  are,  they  will  be  and  can  be  of  no  higher  character,  and  no 
more  scrupulous  of  law,  or  right,  or  decency,  than  their  predecessors 
of  last  summer,  appointed  under  executive  proclamations  of  no  more 
or  less  validity  than  this  bill,  which  you  seek  now  to  pass  into  a  law. 
Sir,  there  is  but  one  step  further  to  take.  Put  down  the  peaceable 
assembling  of  the  people  ;  the  r;ght  of  petition  for  redress  of  griev- 
ances ;  the  "  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  ;"  and  finally, 
the  right  of  suffrage  and  elections,  and  then  these  United  States, 
this  Republic  of  ours,  will  have  ceased  to  exist.  And  that  short  step 
you  will  soon  take,  if  the  States  and  the  people  do  not  firmly  and 
speedily  check  you  in  your  headlong  plunge  into  despotism.  What 
yet  remains  ?     The  Constitution  declares  that : 

"The  enumeration  in  the  Constitution,  of  certain  rights,  shall  not  be  coa- 
Btrued  to  deny  or  disparage  others  retained  by  the  people." 

And  again  : 

"  The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor 
prohibited  by  it  to  the  IStates,  are  reserved  to  the  States  respectively,  or  to 
the  people." 

And  yet,  under  the  monstrous  doctrine,  that  in  war  the  Constitu- 
tion is  suspended,  and  that  the  President  as  commander-in-chief,  not 
of  the  military  forces  only,  but  of  the  whole  people  of  the  United 
States,  may,  under  "  the  war  power,"  do  whatever  he  shall  think 
necessary  and  proper  to  be  done,  in  any  State  or  part  of  any  State, 
however  remote  from  the  scene  of  warfare,  every  right  of  the  people 
is  violated  or  threatened,  and  every  power  of  the  States,  usurped. 
Their  last  bulwark,  the  militia,  belonging  solely  to  the  States,  when 
not  called,  as  such,  into  the  actual  service  of  the  United  States,  you 
now  deliberately  propose,  by  this  bill,  to  sweep  away,  and  to  con- 
stitute the  President  supreme  military  dictator,  with  a  standing  army 
of  three  millions  and  more  at  his  command.  And  for  what  purpose 
are  the  militia  to  be  thus  taken  from  the  power  and  custody  of  the 


224  TUE   CONSCRIPTION   BILL. 

States?  Sir,  the  opponents  of  tlic  Constitution  anticipated  all  this, 
and  were  denounced  as  raving  incendiaries  or  distempered  enthusiasts. 
The  Federal  Government,  said  Patrick  Henry,  in  the  Virginia  Con- 
vention, 

"  Squints  towards  monarchy.  Your  Prefidcnt  may  easily  become  a  king. 
If  ever  ho  violates  the  hiws,  will  ?ioi  the  recollection  of  his  crimes  teach  him 
to  make  one  bold  push  for  the  Americati  throne?  Will  not  the  immense  dif- 
ference between  beiiia;  master  of  cvcrytliing,  and  being  ignoniinioiisly  tried 
and  punished,  powerfully  excite  him  to  make  this  bold  push  ?  But,  sir,  where 
is  the  existing  force  to  punish  him?  Can  he  not,  at  the  head  of  his  army, 
beat  down  all  opposition?  What  then  will  become  of  you  and  your  rights? 
Will  not  absolute  despotism  ensue  ?  "* 

And  yet,  for  these  apprehensions,  Henry  has  been  the  subject  of 
laughter  and  pity  for  seventy  years.  Sir,  the  instinctive  luve  of 
Jiberty  is  wiser  and  more  far-seeing  than  any  philosophy. 

Hear,  now,  Alexander  Hamilton,  in  the  Federalist.  Summing  up 
what  he  calls  the  exaggerated  and  improbable  suggestions  respecting 
the  power  of  calling  for  the  services  of  the  militia,  urged  by  the 
opponents  of  the  Constitution,  whose  writings  he  compares  to  some 
ill-written  tale,  or  romance  full  of  frightful  and  distorted  shapes,  he 
says : 

"  The  militia  of  New  Hampshire  (they  allege)  is  to  be  marched  to  Georgia; 
of  Georgia  to  New  Hampshire;  of  New  York  to  Kentucky;  and  of  Ken- 
tucky to  Lake  Champlain.  Nay,  the  debts  due  to  the  French  and  Dutch, 
are  to  be  paid  in  militia-meu,  instead  of  Louis  d'ors  and  ducats.  At  one 
moment,  there  is  to  be  a  large  army  to  l.ny  prostrate  the  liberties  of  the 
people;  at  another  moment,  the  militia  of  Virginia  are  to  be  dragged  from 
their  homes,  five  or  six  hundred  miles,  to  tame  the  republican  contumacy  of 
Massachusetts  ;  a7id  that  of  Massachusetts  is  to  be  transported  an  equal  distance^ 
to  subdue  the  refractory  haughtiness  of  the  aristocratic  Virginians.  Do  persons 
who  rave  at  this  rate,  imagine  that  their  eloquence  can  impose  any  conceits 
or  absurdities  upon  the  people  of  America,  for  infallible  truths?" 

And  yet,  sir,  just  three-quarters  of  a  century  later,  we  have  lived 
to  see  these  raving  conceits  and  absurdities  practiced,  or  attempted, 
as  calmly  and  deliberately  as  though  the  power  and  the  right  had 
been  expressly  conferred. 

And  now,  sir,  listen  to  the  answer  of  Hamilton  to  all  this — him- 
self the  friend  of  a  strong  government,  a  Senate  for  life,  and  an 
Executive  for  life,  with  the  sole  and  exclusive  power  over  the  militia, 
to  be  held  by  the  National  Government ;  and  the  Executive  of  each 
State  to  be  appointed  by  that  Government: 

"  If  there  should  be  an  army  to  be  made  use  of  as  the  engine  of  despotism, 
what  need  of  the  militia  ?  If  there  should  be  no  army,  whither  would  the  mili- 
tia, irritated  at  being  required  to  undertake  a  distant  and  distressing  expedition^ 
for  the  purpose  of  riveting  tfie  chains  of  slavery  upon  a  part  of  their  countrymen, 

*  And  the  reporter,  unable  to  follow  the  vehement  orator  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, adds : 

•'  Here,  Mr.  Henry  strongly  and  pathetically  expatiated  on  the  probability 
of  the  President's  enslaving  America,  and  the  horrid  consequences  that  must 
reeult." 


THE   CONSCRIPTION  BILL.  225 

direct  their  course,  but  to  the  seats  of  the  tyrants  who  had  meditated 

BO  FOOLISH,  AS  WELL  AS  SO  WICKED,  A  PROJECT  ;  TO  CRUSH  THEM  IN  THEIR 
IMAGINED  INTRENCHMENTS  OF  POWER,  AND  MAKE  THEM  AN  EXAMPLE  OF  THE 
VENGEANCE    OF    AN    ABUSED    AND    INCENSED    PEOPLE  ?      Is    this     the    Way    in 

"Which  usurpers  stride  to  dominion  over  a  numerous  and  enlightened  nation?" 

Sir,  Mr.  Hamilton  was  an  earnest,  sincere  man,  and,  doubtless, 
wi'ote  what  he  believed  :  he  was  an  able  man  also,  and  a  philosopher ; 
and  yet  how  little  did  he  foresee,  that  just  seventy-five  years  later, 
that  same  Government,  which  he  was  striving  to  establish,  would,  in 
desperate  hands,  attempt  to  seize  the  whole  militia  of  the  Union,  and 
convert  them  into  a  standing  army,  indefinite  as  to  the  time  of  its 
service,  and  for  the  very  purpose  of  not  only  beating  down  State 
sovereignties,  but  of  abolishing  even  the  domestic  and  social  institu- 
tions of  the  States. 

Sir,  if  your  objects  are  constitutional,  you  have  power  abundantly 
under  the  Constitution,  without  infraction  or  usurpation.  The  men 
who  framed  that  instrument,  made  it  both  for  war  and  peace.  Nay, 
more,  they  expressly  provide  for  the  cases  of  insurrection  and  rebel- 
lion. You  have  ample  power  to  do  all  that  of  right  you  ought  to 
do — all  that  the  people,  your  masters,  permit  under  their  supreme 
will,  the  Constitution.  Confine,  then,  yourselves  within  these  limits, 
and  the  rising  storm  of  popular  discontent  will  be  hushed. 

But  I  return,  now,  again,  to  the  arbitrary  arrests  sanctioned  by 
this  Bill,  and  by  that  other  consummation  of  despotism,  the  Indem- 
nity and  Suspension  Bill,  now  in  the  Senate.  Sir,  this  is  the  very 
question  which,  as  I  said  a  little  while  ago,  we  made  a  chief  issue 
before  the  people  in  the  late  elections.  You  did,  then,  distinctly 
claim — and  you  found  an  Attorney-General  and  a  few  other  venal  or 
very  venerable  lawyers  to  defend  the  monstrous  claim — that  the 
President  had  the  right  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus;  and 
that  every  one  of  these  arrests  was  legal  and  justifiable.  We  went 
before  the  people  with  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  in  our  hands, 
and  the  love  of  liberty  in  our  hearts  ;  and  the  verdict  of  the  people 
was  rendered  against  you.  We  insisted  that  Congress  alone  could 
suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or 
invasion,  the  public  safety  might  require  it.  And  to-day,  sir,  that  is 
beginning  to  be  again  the  acknowledged  doctrine.  The  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  so  ruled  in  the  Merriman 
case ;  and  the  Supreme  Court  of  Wisconsin,  I  rejoice  to  say,  has 
rendered  a  like  decision  ;  and  if  the  question  be  ever  brought  before 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  undoubtedly  it  will  be  so 
decided,  finally  and  forever.  You  yourselves  now  admit  it ;  and  at 
this  moment,  your  "  Indemnity  Bill,"  a  measure  more  execrable  thaa 
even  this  Conscription,  and  liable  to  every  objection  which  I  have 
urged  against  it,  undertakes  to  authorize  the  President  to  suspend  the 
writ  all  over,  or  in  any  part  of,  the  United  States.  Sir,  I  deny  that 
you  can  thus  delegate  your  right  to  the  Executive.  Even  your  own 
power  is  conditional.  You  can  not  suspend  the  writ  except  where 
the  public  safety  requires  it,  and  then  only  in  cases  of  rebellion  or 
invasion.  A  foreign  war,  not  brought  home  by  invasion,  to  our  own 
15 


22G  THE   CONSCRIPTION   BILL. 

soil,  does  not  authorize  the  suspension,  in  any  case.  And  who  is  to 
judge  whether  and  where  there  is  rebellion  or  invasion,  and  whether 
and  when  the  public  safety  requires  that  the  writ  be  suspended  ? 
Congress  alone,  and  they  can  not  substitute  the  judgment  of  the 
President  for  their  own.  Such,  too,  is  the  opinion  of  Story  :  "  The 
right  to  judge,"  says  he,  "  whether  exigency  has  arisen,  must  exclu- 
sively belong  to  that  body."  But  not  so  under  the  bill  which  passed 
this  House  the  other  day. 

Nor  is  this  all.  Congress  alone  can  suspend  the  writ.  When  and 
where  ?  In  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion.  Where  rebellion  ?  Where 
invasion  ?  Am  I  to  be  told,  that  because  there  is  rebellion  in  South 
Carolina,  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  can  be  suspended  in  Pennsylvania 
and  Massachusetts  where  there  is  none?  Is  that  the  meaning  of  the 
Constitution?  No,  sir;  the  writ  can  be  suspended  only  where  the 
rebellion  or  invasion  exists — in  States,  or  parts  of  States  alone,  where 
the  enemy,  foreign  or  domestic,  is  found  in  arms  ;  and  moreover,  the 
public  safety  can  require  its  suspension  only  where  there  is  rebellion 
or  invasion.  Outside  of  these  conditions.  Congress  has  no  more 
authority  to  suspend  the  writ,  than  the  President — and  least  of  all, 
to  suspend  it  without  limitation  as  to  time,  and  generally  all  over  the 
Union,  and  in  States  not  invaded  or  in  rebellion.  Such  an  act  of 
Congress  is  of  no  more  validity,  and  no  more  entitled  to  obedience, 
than  an  Executive  proclamation  ;  and  in  any  just  and  impartial  court, 
I  venture  to  affirm  that  it  will  be  so  decided. 

But,  again,  sir,  even  though  the  writ  be  constitutionally  suspended, 
there  is  no  more  power  in  the  President  to  make  arbitrary  arrests 
than  without  it.  The  gentleman  from  Pthode  Island,  (Mr.  Sheffield,) 
said,  very  justly — and  I  am  sorry  to  see  him  lend  any  support  to  this 
bill — that  the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  does  not  au- 
thorize arrests,  except  upon  sworn  warrant,  charging  some  offence 
known  to  the  law,  and  dangerous  to  the  public  safety.  He  is  right. 
It  does  not ;  and  this  was  so  admitted  in  the  bill  which  passed  the 
Senate,  in  1807.  The  suspension  only  denies  release  upon  bail,  or 
a  discharge  without  trial,  to  parties  thus  arrested.  It  suspends  no 
other  right  or  privilege  under  the  Constitution — certainly  not  the 
right  to  a  speedy  public  trial,  by  jury,  in  a  civil  Court.  It  dispenses 
with  no  "due  process  of  law,"  except  only  that  particular  writ.  It 
does  not  take  away  the  claim  for  damages  to  which  a  party  illegally 
arrested,  or  legally  arrested,  but  without  probable  cause,  is  entitled. 

And  yet,  everywhere,  it  has  been  assumed,  that  a  suspension  of 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  is  a  suspension  of  the  entire  Constitution, 
and  of  all  laws,  so  far  as  the  personal  rights  of  the  citizen  are  con- 
cerned, and  that,  therefore,  the  moment  it  is  suspended,  either  by  the 
President,  as  heretofore  asserted,  or  by  Congress,  as  now  about  to  be 
authorized,  arbitrary  arrests,  without  sworn  warrant,  or  other  due 
process  of  law,  may  be  made  at  the  sole  pleasure  or  discretion  of  the 
Executive.  I  tell  you  no ;  and  that,  although  we  may  not  be  able 
to  take  the  body  of  the  party  arrested  from  the  provost  marshal  by 
writ  of  habeas  corpus,  every  other  right  and  privilege  of  the  Consti- 
tution and  of  the  common  law  remains  intact,  including  the  right  to 


THE    CONSCRIPTION   BILL.  227 

resist  the  wrong-doer  or  trespasser,  wlio,  without  clue  authority,  would 
violate  your  person,  or  enter  your  house,  which  is  your  castle ;  and, 
after  all  this,  the  right  also  to  prosecute  on  indictment,  or  for  damages, 
as  the  nature  or  aggravation  of  the  case  may  demand.  And  yet, 
as  claimed  by  you  of  the  party  in  power,  the  suspension  of  this  writ 
is  a  total  abrogation  of  the  Constitution  and  of  the  liberties  of  the 
citizen,  and  the  rights  of  the  States.  Why,  then,  sir,  stop  with  arbi- 
trary arrests  and  imi^risonments  ?  Does  any  man  believe  that  it  will 
end  here  ?  Not  so  have  I  learned  history.  The  guillotine  !  the  guil- 
lotine !  the  guillotine  follows  next. 

Sir,  when  one  of  those  earliest  confined  in  Fort  Lafayette — I  had 
it  from  his  own  lips — made  complaint  to  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the 
injustice  of  his  arrest,  and  the  severity  of  the  treatment  to  which  he 
bad  been  subjected  in  the  exercise  of  arbitrary  power,  no  offence  being 
alleged  against  him,  "Why,  sir,"  said  the  Secretary,  with  a  smilo  of 
most  significant  complacency,  "my  dear,  sir,  you  ought  not  to  com- 
plain; we  might  have  gone  further.'^  Light  flashed  upon  the  mind 
of  the  gentleman,  and  he  replied:  "Ah!  that  is  true,  sir;  you  had 
just  the  same  right  to  behead,  as  to  arrest  and  imprison  me."  And 
shall  it  come  to  this?  Then,  sir,  let  us  see  who  is  beheaded  first.  It 
is  horrible  enough  to  be  imprisoned  without  crime,  but  when  it 
becomes  a  question  of  life  or  death,  remember  the  words  of  the  book 
of  Job — "All  that  a  man  hath  will  he  give  for  his  life." 

Sir,  it  is  this  which  makes  revolutions.  A  gentleman  upon  the 
other  side  asked,  this  afternoon,  which  party  was  to  rise  now  in  revolu- 
tion. The  answer  of  the  able  and  gallant  gentleman  from  Pennsyl- 
yania,  (Mr.  Biddle,)  was  pertinent  and  just — "  No  party,  but  an 
outraged  people."  It  is  not,  let  me  tell  you,  the  leaders  of  parties 
who  begin  revolutions.  Never.  Did  any  one  of  the  distinguished 
characters  of  the  Revolution  of  1776,  participate  in  the  throwing 
of  the  tea  into  Boston  harbor  ?  Who  was  it  ?  Who,  to-day,  cau 
name  the  actors  in  that  now  historic  scene  ?  It  was  not  Hancock, 
nor  Samuel  Adams,  nor  John  Adams,  nor  Patrick  Henry,  nor 
Washington  ;  but  men  unknown  to  fame.  Good  men  agitate ;  obscure 
men  begin  real  revolutioiiis ;  great  men  finally  direct  and  control 
them.  And  if,  indeed,  we  are  about  to  pass  through  the  usual  stages 
of  revolution,  it  will  not  be  the  leaders  of  the  Democratic  party,  not 
I,  not  the  men  with  me  here,  to-night — but  some  man  among  the 
people,  now  unknown  and  unnoted,  who  will  hurl  your  tea  into  the 
harbor;  and  it  may  even  be  in  Boston  once  again;  for  the  love  of 
liberty,  I  would  fain  believe,  lingers  still  under  the  shadow  of  the 
monument  on  Bunker  Hill.  But  sir,  we  seek  no  revolution — except 
through  the  ballot-box.  The  conflict  to  which  we  challenge  you,  is 
not  of  arms  but  of  argument.  Do  you  believe  in  the  virtue  and 
intelligence  of  the  people  ?  Do  you  admit  their  capacity  for  self-gov- 
ernment ?  Have  they  not  intelligence  enough  to  understand  the  right, 
and  virtue  enough  to  pursue  it?  Come  then:  meet  us  through  the 
press,  and  with  free  speech,  and  before  the  assemblages  of  the  people, 
and  we  will  argue  these  questions,  as  we  and  our  fathers  have  done 
from  the  beginning  of  the  Government — "  Are  we  right,  or  you  right, 


228  THE   CONSCRIPTION  BILL. 

we  wrong  or  you  wrong?  "     And  by  the  judgment  of  the  people,  we 
will,  one  and  all,  abide. 

Sir,  I  have  done  now  with  my  objections  to  this  bill.  I  have 
spoken  as  though  the  Constitution  survived,  and  was  still  the  supreme 
law  of  the  land.  But  if,  indeed,  there  be  no  Constitution  any  longer, 
limiting  and  restraining  the  men  in  power,  then  there  is  none  binding 
upon  the  States  or  the  people.  God  forbid.  We  have  a  Constitution 
yet,  and  laws  yet.  To  them  I  appeal.  Give  us  our  rights  ;  give  us 
known  and  fixed  laws ;  give  us  the  judiciary  ;  arrest  us  only  upon 
due  process  of  law ;  give  us  presentment  or  indictment  by  grand 
juries  ;  speedy  and  public  trial  ;  trial  by  jury  and  at  home  ;  tell  us 
the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation ;  confront  us  with  witnesses ; 
allow  us  witnesses  in  our  behalf,  and  the  assistance  of  counsel  for 
our  defense  ;  secure  us  in  our  persons,  our  houses,  our  papers,  and 
our  effects ;  leave  us  arms,  not  for  resistance  to  law  or  against  right- 
ful authority,  but  to  defend  ourselves  from  outrage  and  violence  ;  give 
us  free  speech  and  a  free  press  ;  the  right  peaceably  to  assemble  ;  and 
above  all,  free  and  undisturbed  elections  and  the  ballot — take  our  sons, 
take  our  money,  our  property,  take  all  else,  and  we  will  wait  a  little,  till 
at  the  time  and  in  the  manner  appointed  by  Constitution  and  law, 
we  shall  eject  you  from  the  trusts  you  have  abused,  and  the  seats 
of  power  you  have  dishonored,  and  other  and  better  men  shall  reiga 
in  your  stead. 


SUPPLEMENT. 


Under  this  head,  we  add  some  passages  and  items  of  historical  value  and 
interest.  The  collection,  as  will  be  seen,  is  gathered  from  the  whole  public 
life  of  Mr.  Vallandigham.  The  design  is,  to  add  to  the  foregoing  Spkechks, 
as  much  as  our  space  will  admit  of,  matter  best  calculated  to  give  a  fair  and 
full  understanding  of  what  Mr.  Vallandigham  has  said,  written,  and  done, 
bearing  upon  "  Abolitioti,  Slavery,  and  the  Civil,  ira?'."  These  questions  are  now 
before  the  people,  and,  in  some  of  their  varied  aspects,  determine  the  estimation 
of  every  man,  who  occupies  any  public  position.  By  this  ordeal  eyery  man's 
record  must  be  tried.  And  it  helps  to  assure  us  of  the  strength  and  endurance 
of  a  man's  devotion  to  the  principles  held  to-day,  if,  on  examining  his  record, 
we  find  that  the  same  principles  have  been  consistently  held  and  advocated 
through  a  long  series  of  years. 

A  brief  statement  in  relation  to  Mr.  Vallandioham's  parentage  and  educa- 
tion, may  gratify  a  reasonable  curiosity  on  the  part  of  the  public. 

Clement  Laird  Vallandigham  was  born  in  New  Lisbon,  Columbiana 
county,  Ohio,  July  29th,  1820.  His  father,  a  presbyterian  clergyman,  was  a 
native  of  Virginia.  His  grandfather  was  also  a  Virginian,  born  near  the 
now  classic  fields  of  "  Bull  Kun."  The  name,  originally,  was  Van  Landeghem; 
the  family  came  from  French  Flanders. 

Mr.  Vallandigham  was  educated  at  Jefferson  College,  Pa.  After  leaving 
college,  he  was  for  some  time  principal  of  an  academy  on  the  Eastern  Shore  of 
Maryland.  Thence,  he  returned  to  his^native  county,  where,  in  December,  1842, 
at  the  early  age  of  twenty-two  years,  he  was  admitted  to  the  practice  of  law. 
Three  years  later,  he  was  chosen  a  representative  from  that  county,  in  the  Ohio 
Legislature  of  1845-6-7.  This  was  the  opening  of  his  political  record. 
Additions  have  been  continually  made,  and  the  record  is  not  closed.  A  few 
interesting  facts  and  items  here  follow,  numbered  for  convenience. 


No.  I.  Opposition  to  the  "Wilmot  Pp.otiso. — The  present  evil  condition 
of  the  country  began  more  directly  with  the  renewal  of  the  "Missouri  con- 
troversy," by  the  introduction  of  the  "  Wilmot  Piioviso,"  in  the  summer  of 
1846.  Mr.  Vallandigham,  while  a  member  of  the  Ohio  Legislature,  distin- 
guished himself  by  his  opposition  to  that  measure,  and  to  all  the  schemes  of 
the  Abolitionists  and  semi-abolitionists,  then  beginning  to  lift  their  hydra  head 
throughout  the  country. 

On  the  16th  of  January,  1847,  Harrison  Q-.  Blakk,  now  a  Republican 

(229) 


230  OPPOSITION   TO   THE   WILMOT   PROVISO. 

member  of  Congress,  moved  a  joint  resolution,  in  the  Ohio  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, requesting  our  Senators  and  Kepresentativcs  to  vote  for  "the  exclu- 
sion of  slavery  from  the  territory  of  Oregon,  and  also  from  any  other  territory 
that  now  is,  or  may  hereafter  be,  annexed  to  the  United  States." 

Mr.  Yallaxdigiiam  moved  the  resolution  be  laid  on  the  table,  which 
motion  prevailed.  On  the  18th  of  January,  it  came  up  again,  and,  on  motiou 
of  Mr.  Trimble,  of  Highland,  it  was  again  laid  on  the  table,  Mr.  Val- 
LANDiGHAM  voting  in  the  aflSrmative.  On  the  21st  of  January,  it  was  broun^ht 
up  again,  and  after  a  long  parliamentary  fight,  running  late  into  the  night,  it 
passed.  Mr.  Yallandigham  opposed  it  strongly.  {House  Joitrnal,  1846-7, 
pp.  241,  254,  288,  291,  295.)  During  the  struggle,  the  following  debate  took 
place,  which  we  transcribe  from  the  Ohio  Statesman,  of  January  22,  1847 : 

Mr.  Ellison,  of  Brown,  moved  to  add  these  words: 

"Excepting  in  those  cases  where  the  welfare  and  safety  of  the  L'NIOn  may 
otherwise  require." 

Mr.  Franklin  T.  Backus,  of  Cuyahoga,  [late  Republican  nominee  for 
Supreme  Judge,]  moved  to  amend,  by  inserting  after  the  word  "Union,"  the 
words  "  in  the  opinion  of  the  chivalr}-."     (A  laugh.) 

Mr.  Yallaxdigiiam  rose,  and  began  by  rebuking  the  laughter,  and  laughing 
gentlemen,  and  asked  them,  if  they  had  forgotten  the  great  Missouri  Com- 
promise ?  That  compromise  —  the  principle  of  concession  which  was  now 
(1847)  laughed  at — had  saved  the  Union  in  1820.  But  for  the  respect  which 
our  fathers  felt  for  this  principle,  and  which  was  then  manifested  by  none  more 
worthily  than  b}"  Mr.  Clay  himself,  i/iis  Union  u-ould  have  then  been  dissolved. 
Mr.  Y.  declared,  for  himself,  that  whenever  any  question  might  arise,  involving 
the  Union  in  the  alternative,  he  would  go  with  his  might  o?i  that  side — ON  TUK 
SIDE  OF  THE  Union,  " now  and  forever,  one  and  inseperable.'  "Would 
any  gentleman  relinquish  the  Union  rather  than  tolerate  the  existence  of 
slavery  in  the  South  ? 

Mr.  Backus  also  believed  the  compromise  (1820)  to  have  been  necessary  to 
the  perpetuity  of  the  Union.  But  such  an  issue  was  not  likely  again  to  occur. 
The  slaveholding  States  would  be  the  last  to  secede  and  dissolve  the  Union. 
With  what  face  could  gentlemen  give  out  their  fears  on  this  subject,  when 
they  remember  the  treatment  which  John  Quincy  Adams  received  at  their 
hands,  at  the  tiyne  when  he  stood  up  in  Congress  for  a  considerate  and  rational 
report  upon  a  petition  to  dissolve  the  Union.  What  a  bluster  they  made, 
and  they  were  going  to  expel  the  old  man  from  the  House!  Mr.  B.  affirmed 
again  that  we  had  all  been  deceived — the  slaveholders  themselves,  by  their 
acts  had  manifested  the  fiict,  that  the  very  salvation  of  their  system  depends 
upon  their  remaining  in  the  Union.  We  had  heard  enough  of  these  threats 
t©  know  how  to  regard  them. 

Mr.  Yallandigham.  The  gentleman  says  that  such  a  portentous  issue  as 
that  involved  in  the  Missouri  question  was  not  likely  again  to  arise.  Let  him 
not  lay  to  his  soul  that  flattering  unction.  But  the  gentleman  from  Cuyahoga 
seems  o'er  familiar  with  this  talk  of  dissolving  the  Union.  That  gentleman, 
(Mr.  B.,)  resided  in  a  district  claiming  that  there  7iow  existed  cause  for  dissolv- 
ing the  Union.  He  belonged  to  the  district  of  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  who 
declared  of  tliem,  (hat  they  were  dissolved  from  all  political  connection  with  the 
Southern  States,  on  account  of  the  annexation  of  Texas.  But  the  mind  of  the 
House  was  not  to  be  drawn  off  from  this  question  by  raising  a  dispute,  whether 
Mr.  Cla^'  ever  acted  as  an  honest  man.  The  question  was,  whether  such  an 
exigency  as  that  developed  in  the  Missouri  question  may  not  happen  again. 
What  had  once  happened  might  happen  again;  and  let  us  not  become  wise 
above  what  comes  to  us  as  the  lessons  of  the  past.  The  gentleman  from  Cuya- 
hoga had  not  answered  the  question,  "  If  he  were  to  decide  between  the  exclu- 
flion  of  slavery,  with  the  dissolution  of  the  Union,  and  the  perpetuation  of  the 


PETITIONS   TO   DISSOLVE   THE   UNION.  231 

Union,  in  connection  with  that  institution,  whether  he  would  prefer  to  go  for 
dissolution?  He,  (Mr.  V.,)  trusted  the  amendment  would  carry  without  the 
mutilation  proposed  by  the  gentleman  from  Cuyahoga.  If  toe  were  to  throw  a 
firebrand  toward  the  South — if  we  must  needs  throw  down  the  gauntlet  before 
them,  in  the  shape  of  these  resolutions^  they  should,  at  least,  be  shaped  so  as  Vot 
TO  ENDANGKK  THE  Union  ;  they  should,  by  all  means,  be  put  in  such  a  guarded 
form  as  not  to  endanger  our  favored  institutions.  Mr.  V.  felt  that,  perhaps, 
he  had  been  too  much  in  earnest  upon  this  question.  He  had  spoken  from 
impulse,  and,  perhaps,  with  too  much  freedom  and  feeling,  because  he  felt 
called  upon  as  a  patriot  and  citizen  to  resist  and  expose  every  measure  xohich 
might  work  incalculable  mischief,  not  only  to  ourselves,  but  to  generations  yet 
unborn. 

Mr.  Backus  moved  to  amend  the  first  resolution,  by  adding  thereto  the  fol- 
lowing: "And  strenuously  to  resist  all  attempts  that  may  hereafter  be  made 
to  introduce  into  this  Union  a7iy  new  State,  by  the  Constitution  of  tvhich  slavery 
is  not  forever  excluded  from  the  territory  of  such  State;"  which  motion  was  lost. 
Yeas  23,  nays  37.  Among  the  yeas,  Backus,  Blake,  W.  P.  Cutler,  etc.;  among 
the  nays,  Vallandigham,  etc. 


Ko.  II.  Petitions  to  Dissolve  the  Union. — At  the  same  session,  on  the 
25th  of  January,  1847,  in  the  House  of  Representatives: 

Mr.  Truesdale,  of  Trumbull,  presented  the  memorial  of  thirty-eight 
inhabitants  of  Lowell,  and  vicinitj-,  in  relation  to  the  annexation  of  Texas,  and 
asking  the  Legislature  to  declare  the  Union  DISSOLVED,  and  to  withdraw 
our  Senators  aiid  Representatives  in  Congress. 

Mr.  Truesdale  moved  that  said  petition  be  laid  upon  the  table. 

Mr.  Smith,  of  Hamilton,  moved  that  said  petition  be  rejected. 

Upon  which  motion  the  yeas  and  nays  being  demanded  and  ordered, 
resulted — yeas  41,  nays  24. — House  Jour7ial,  1846-7,  p.  321. 

Mr.  Vallandigham,  of  course,  denounced  the  petition,  and  those  who  sup- 
ported it.  He  and  every  other  Democrat  in  the  House,  except  one,  also  several 
"Whigs,  voted  to  reject  the  petition.  Those  who  voted  to  lay  it  on  the  table 
were:  Beatty,  Bennett,  Blake,  Breck,  Clark  of  Franklin,  Cotton, 
Harsh,  Hibberd,  Hogue,  Horton,  Johnston,  Kiler,  Matthews,  Moore, 
McGrew,  Owen,  Park,  Poor,  Potter,  Tallman,  Truesdale,  "White, 
"Wilson,  and  the  Speaker,  Wm.  P.  Cutler. 

We  venture  to  say  that  nearly  every  man  among  those  twenty-four,  if  alive, 
is  to-day  supporting  the  Abolition  party.  And  those  traitors  are  now  denounc- 
ing Mr.  Vallandigham  for  his  faithful  adherence  to  the  constitution  and 
laws  of  our  country.  He  is  still  standing  where  he  then  did,  contending  for 
the  Union  of  our  fathers,  while  they  are  battling  to  destroy  it. 

Again,  at  the  same  session,  on  the  1st  day  of  February,  1847,  in  the  House 
of  Representatives : 

Mr.  Hogue  presented  the  petition  of  Lot  Holmes,  and  fifty-nine  other 
citizens,  of  Fairfield  township,  Columbiana  county,  asking,  as  a  consequence  of 
the  annexation  of  Texas,  that  the  Legislature  may  declare  the  Union  dis- 
60LVED,  and  the  recall  of  our  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress. 

Mr.  Hogue  moved  to  lay  said  petition  on  the  table. 

Mr.  Smith,  of  Hamilton,  moved  that  said  petition  be  rejected! 

Upon  which  motion  the  yeas  and  nays  being  demanded  and  ordered, 
resulted — yeas  33,  nays  21. — House  Journal^  1846-7,  p.  428. 


232  AS    EDITOR    OF    THE    DAYTON   EMPIRE. 

Among  the  j-ens,  for  rojection,  were  Vallandiqiiam,  .ind  every  other 
Democrat  in  the  House,  and  several  Whigs;  among  the  nays  were  the  sarao 
niemhers  as  upon  tlie  former  vote,  with  two  or  throe  exceptions,  and  the  addi- 
tional names  of  Backus,  Franklin,  Cokwin,  Cuktiss,  and  Tkimule  of  Mus- 
kingum. 

In  that  same  Winter,  of  1847,  Massachusetts  passed  a  secession  resolution, 
■which,  to  this  day,  remains  unrescinded  upon  its  official  records. 


No.  III.  The  Mexican  War,  1846-7.— On  the  15th  of  December,  1846, 
in  the  Ohio  House  of  Representatives,  Mr.  Vallandiqham  offered  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions,  which  he  supported  in  two  speeches,  boldly  advocating 
the  -'vigorous  prosecution"  of  that  foreign  war  to  an  honorable  peace: 

That  the  war  thus  brought  about  and  commenced  by  the  aggressions  and 
act  of  Mexico  herself,  having  been  recognized  by  Congress,  according  to  the 
forms  of  the  Constitution,  is  a  (Jonstitutwnal  war,  and  a  war  of  the  whoU 
people  of  the  United  States,  begun,  (on  our  part,)  and  carried  07i  in  pursuance 
of  the  coyist'dution  and  laws  of  the  Union. 

That  this  General  Assembly  has  full  confidence  in  the  wisdom  and  the 
ability  of  the  Executive  of  the  United  States  to  prosecute  the  war  to  a.  suc- 
cessful and  speedy  termination  by  an  hoxokable  peack;  and  that  wo  hereby 
tender  the  cordial  sympathies  and  support  of  this  commonwealth,  to  the  said 
Executive,  in  the  further  prosecution  of  the  war. 

These  resolutions  were  smothered  in  committee,  and  never  received  a  single 
"Whig  vote. 


No.  IV.  As  Editor  of  the  Dayton  Empire. — At  the  conclusion  of  his 
term  in  the  Legislature  of  Ohio,  Mr.  Vallandigham  removed  to  Dayton, 
and  on  the  2d  of  September,  1847,  assumed  the  editorial  control  of  the  Day- 
ton Empire.  In  that  position,  he  distinguished  himself  as  a  vigorous  and  able 
journalist,  and  as  a  patriot,  who  sought  to  preserve  the  principles  of  constitu- 
tional liberty  which  were  born  of  our  Revolution.  He  took  a  prominent  part, 
among  the  friends  of  the  Union  in  Ohio,  in  favor  of  the  compromise  measures 
of  1850,  the  work  of  Clay  and  Webster,  and  other  true  men  and  patriots, 
■who  then  saved  the  ship  of  state  from  splitting  on  the  rock  of  Abolitionism. 

The  following,  from  his  "Introductory  Address,"  will  give  an  idea  of  the 
principles  to  whose  advocacy  and  defense  his  labors,  as  editor,  were  devoted; 

We  will  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  in  its  whole 
integrity,  as  it  came  to  us  from  "the  Fathers,"  believing  it  to  establish,  in 
principle,  the  very  best  form  of  government  which  the  wisdom  of  man  ever 
devised. 

"VVe  will  protect  and  defend,  according  to  our  opportunities  and  abilities, 
THE  Union  of  these  States,  as  in  very  deed  the  "Palladium  of  our  polit- 
ical prosperity,"  "the  only  rock  of  our  safety,"  less  sacred  only  than  Liberty 
herself;  and  we  will  pander  to  the  sectional  prejudices,  or  the  fanaticwm,  or 
wounded  pride,  or  disappointed  ambition,  of  no  man  or  set  of  men,  whereby  that 
Union  shall  be  put  in  jeopardy. 


COMPROMISE   MEASURES.  233 

To  the  present  Administration  (James  K.  Polk's)  we  will  lend  that  sup- 
port (whatever  it  is  worth)  which  an  honest  and  independent  man  may  and 
ought  to  extend  to  the  administration  of  the  party  to  which  he  belongs. 
Above  all,  and  to  the  verj-  uttermost  of  our  energy  and  abilities,  we  will 
defend  and  support  it  in  the  war  now  waged  against  Mexico,  till  it  shall  have 
been  terminated  by  an  honokable  teack. 

On  the  27th  of  June,  1849,  Mr.  Vallandigham's  connection  with  the 
E?7ipire,  terminated.  In  his  "Valedictory"  is  the  following.  Keferring  to  the 
principles  announced  by  him  in  his  Introductory,  he  says: 

We  would  stand  or  fall  by  them  now  as  then,  and  ihroiighout  life.  Of 
the  vital  importance  to  the  welfare  of  the  whole  country  in  general,  and  the 
Democratic  party  in  particular,  of  two,  in  an  especial  manner,  to  these  princi- 
ples, every  hour  has  added  to  our  deep  conviction.  And  we  would  write  them 
as  in  the  rock,  upon  the  hearts  of  our  friends  forever: 

First,  that  which  is  really  and  most  valuable  in  our  American  liberties,  de- 
pends upon  tlie  preservation  and  vigor  of  THE  Union  of  these  States  ;  and 
therefore,  all  and  every  agitation  in  one  section,  necessarily  generating  coun- 
ter-agitation in  the  other,  ought,  from  what  quarter  soever  it  may  come,  by 
every  patriot  and  well-wisher  of  his  country,  to  be  '-indignantly  frowned  upon," 
and  ai'resied  ere  it  be  "  too  late." 


No.  V.  Compromise  Measures  of  1850. — On  the  19th  of  October,  1850,  a 
public  meeting  was  held  in  the  City  Hall,  Dayton,  Ohio,  to  denounce  the 
"  Compromise  Measures"  of  1850.    The  following  is  one  of  the  resolutions: 

Resolved,  That  the  Congress  which  could  be  so  far  frightened  from  its  pro- 
priety, by  the  insolent  bluster  and  bravado  of  a  few  slaveholders,  as  to  pass  an 
act  (the  Fugitive  Slave  Act)  so  fraught  with  injustice,  and  so  odious,  deserves 
the  rebuke  of  the  people  of  these  United  States. 

From  the  official  proceedings,  we  quote  the  following: 

C.  L.  Vallandigham,  Esq.,  replied  in  opposition  to  the  resolutions,  and  in 
favor  of  the  compromise  policy  which  gave  birth  to  the  law. 

From  the  Dayton  Journal,  (Whig)  editorial,  we  quote  the  following: 

C  L.  Vallandigham,  Esq.,  followed  in  opposition  to  the  resolutions.  His 
speech  was  ingenuous  and  eloquent.  His  objection  to  the  course  proposed  by  the 
resolutions  was,  that  it  would  lead  to  further  agitation,  and  tend  to  endanger 
THE  Union. 

The  Empire  noticed  Mr.  Vallandigham's  speech  as  follows: 

C.  L.  Vallandigham,  Esq. — The  speech  of  this  gentleman,  at  the  meeting 
on  Saturday  night,  is  universally  spoken  of  as  a  most  eloquent  and  patriotic 
effort;  and  the  positions  he  took  in  favor  of  such  measures  as  would  tend  to 
restrain  undue  excitement  and  agitation,  rather  than  increase  them,  can  not  but 
receive  the  approbation  of  every  cool  and  reflecting  mind. 

His  remarks  were  earnest,  dignified,  and  appropriate.  He  strongly  deprecated 
every  new  attempt  to  inflame  the  public  mind,  while  he  enforced,  in  strains  of 
lofty  and  impassioned  eloquence,  the  duty  of  every  good  citizen  to  observe  and 
maintain  the  sanction  of  law  as  the  only  way  to  secure  the  peace,  order,  and 
happiness  of  society  anywhere.  The  sentiments  he  uttered  were  warmly  and 
enthusiastically  applauded  at  the  time,  and  are  such,  we  doubt  not,  as  will  ba 
approved  and  sustained  by  our  citizens  generally. 


234  NOMINATED  FOR  CONGRESS. 

The  Secont)  "Compromise  Meeting." — On  the  26th  of  October,  1850,  a 
very  large  meeting,  composed  of  the  first  citizens  of  Dayton,  assembled  at  the 
City  Hall.  From  the  committee,  Mr.  Vallandigham,  as  chairman,  reported 
the  following  resolutions.  In  the  first  will  be  found  the  counterpart  of  tha 
now  celebrated  motto  of  the  Democratic  party :  "  The  Constitution  as  it  is,  and 
the  Union  as  it  was." 

1.  That  we  are/or  the  Union  as  it  is,  and  the  Constitution  as  it  is,  and  that 
we  will  preserve,  maintain,  and  defend  both  at  every  hazard,  observing,  with 
scrupulous  and  uncalculating  fidelity,  every  article,  requirement,  and  com- 
promise of  the  constitutional  compact  between  these  States,  to  the  letter,  and 
in  its  utmost  spirit,  and  recognizing  no  "higher  law,"  between  which  and  the 
Constitution  we  know  of  any  conflict. 

2.  That  the  Constitution  was  "the  result  of  a  spirit  of  amity,  and  of  that 
mutual  deference  and  concession  which  the  peculiarity  of  our  politicj^l  situa- 
tion rendered  indispensable,"  that  by  amity,  conciliation  and  compromise 
alone  can  it,  and  the  Union  which  it  established,  be  preserved;  and  tliat  it  is 
the  duty  of  all  good  citizens  to  frown  indignantly  upon  every  attempt,  where- 
soever or  by  whomsoever  made,  to  array  one  section  of  the  Union  against  the 
other;  to  foment  jealousies  and  heart-burnings  between  them,  by  s\-.~tcmatic 
and  organized  misrepresentation,  denunciation  and  calumnj',  and  thereby,  to 
render  them  in  feeling  and  aflection  the  inheritors  of  so  noble  a  common  patri- 
mony purchased  by  our  fathers  at  so  great  expense  of  blood  and  treasure. 

3.  That  as  the  friends  of  peace  and  concord — as  lovers  of  the  Union,  and 
foes,  sworn  upon  the  horns  of  the  altar  of  our  common  countrj',  to  all  who  seek, 
and  all  that  tends  to  its  dissolution,  we  have  viewed  with  anxiety  and  alarm 
the  perilous  crisis  brought  upon  us  b}'  j-ears  of  ceaseless  and  persevering  agita- 
tion of  the  slavery  question  in  its  various  forms;  and  that  the  Executive  and 
Congress  of  the  United  States  have  deserved  well  of  the  Kepublic,  for  their  patri- 
otic efforts  so  to  compromise  and  adjust  this  vexed  question,  as  to  leave  no  good 
cause  for  clamor  or  offense  by  any  portion  of  the  Union. 

4.  That  a  strict  adherence  in  all  its  parts,  to  the  compromise  thus  deliberately 
and  solemnl}^  affected,  is  essential  to  the  restoration  and  maintenance  of  peace, 
harmony,  and  fraternal  affection  between  the  diflerent  sections  of  the  Union, 
and  thereby  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union  itself;  and  that  good  faith 
imperatively  demands  that  adherence  at  the  hands  of  all  good  citizens,  whether 
of  the  North  or  of  the  South. 

5.  That,  believing  this  compromise  the  very  best  which,  in  view  of  the  cir- 
cumstances and  temper  of  the  times,  could  have  been  attained,  we  are  for  it  as 
it  is,  and  opposed  to  all  agitation,  looking  to  a  repeal  or  essential  modification  of 
any  of  its  parts,  and  that  we  will  lend  no  aid  or  comfort  to  those  who,  for  any 
purpose,  seek  further  to  agitate  and  embroil  the  country  upon  these  questions. 

6.  That  "all  obstructions  to  the  execution  of  the  laws,  all  combinations  and 
associations,  under  whatever  plausible  character,  with  the  real  design  to  direct, 
control,  counteract,  or  awe  the  regular  deliberation  and  action  of  the  constituted 
authorities,  are  destructive  of  the  fundamental  principle  of  our  institutions 
and  of  fatal  tendency  ;  that  all  such  efforts,  wherever  made  or  by  whomsoever 
advised,  find  no  answering  sympathy  in  our  breast — nothing  but  loathing  and 
contempt — and  that  we  hereby  pledge  ourselves  to  the  country,  that,  so  far  as 
in  us  lies,  the  Ukion,  tue  Constitution  and  tue  Laws,  must  and  shall  be 
maintained." 


No.  VI.  Nominated  for  Congress. — In  1852,  Mr.  Yallandiqham  waa 
first  put  in  nomination,  by  the  Democracy  of  the  Third  District  of  Ohio,  com- 
posed of  the  counties  of  3Iontgomcry,  Butler,  and  Preble.  His  competitor 
was  Hon.  Lewis  D.  Campbell,  the  candidate  of  the  anti-compromiso  or 


ELECTION   TO   CONGRESS.  235 

Abolition  party.  Mr.  Campbell  was  elected,  which  so  reioiced  the  old  "Lib- 
erty party"  of  Ohio,  which  run  John  P.  Hale,  for  President,  and  Georgk 
W.  Julian,  for  Vice-President,  that  their  State  committee  issued  a  circular, 
in  which  they  said  of  Mr.  Vallandigham  : 

In  opposition  to  ifr.  Campbell,  the  Democratic  party  had  nominated  C.  L. 
Vallandigham,  a  lawj-er  of  high  standing,  an  eloquent  and  ready  debater,  of 
gentlemanly  deportment  and  unblemished  private  character,  and  untiring 
industry  and  energy.  But  he  was  known,  to  all,  to  be  an  ultra  pro-slavery 
man,  (anti-Abolitionist;)  he  undertook,  with  a  relish,  to  carry  the  load  of  the 
Compromise  Measures,  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law  included,  and  he  broke 
down  under  the  burden. 


No.  VII.  Election  to  Congress — Commencement  op  Congressional 
LABORS. — In  1854,  Mr  Vallandigham  was  unanimously  renominated  by  the 
democracy  against  Mr.  Campbell,  but  was  beaten  by  two  thousand  five  hundred 
and  sixty-five  votes,  his  competitor  being  carried  triumphantly  through  on 
the  "Know  Nothing"  flood. 

In  1856,  Mr.  Vallandigham  was  again,  by  acclamation,  the  democratic 
candidate  against  Mr.  Campbell.  His  friends  went  into  the  canvas  with 
"Vall  and  the  Union"  on  their  banners,  while  his  opponents  bore  flags, 
•with  only  sixteen  stars  on  them — ensigns  of  disunion.  The  canvas  was 
intensely  exciting — a  hand  to  hand  struggle.  Scarcely  a  voter  in  the  district 
but  was  secured  by  one  party  or  the  other.  The  returns  showed  jiineteen 
majority  against  Mr  Vallandigham.  He  contested  the  election  on  the 
ground  that  the  majority  was  made  up  of  negro  votes,  and,  after  a  tedious 
and  annoying  contest,  obtained  the  seat.  On  the  22d  of  May,  1858,  arguing 
the  contest  before  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  speaking  of  negro  suf- 
frage and  equality,  Mr.  Vallandigham  said: 

It  is  enough  to  know  that  Ohio  has  chosen  to  make  citizenship  of  the 
Utiited  States  a  qualification  for  her  electors.  The  language  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  1851  is:  "Every  white  male  citizen  of  the  United  States."  Two 
qualifications  are  here  prescribed — color  and  citizenship  of  the  United  States. 
Were  these  mulattoes  and  persons  of  color  "white,''  within  the  meaning  of 
the  Constitution?  That,  sir,  is  a  term  of  ancient  and  established  signification, 
in  constitutional  language.  It  needs  no  gloss;  it  has  no  synonym;  it  admits 
of  no  definition.  It  means  white— pure  tvhite !  and  not  any  shade,  or  any 
variety  of  shades,  between  white  and  black.  Such  it  is  in  philologj',  and  in 
the  arts.  White  and  black  are  the  two  extremes,  between  which  there  is  a 
large  variety  of  colors.  No  artist  ever  confounds  these  terms ;  no  man  in 
ordinary  conversation  confounds  them.  He  may  speak  of  a  dark  blue,  or  a 
light  brown,  or  a  bright  yellow ;  but  never  of  a  dark  white,  or  a  light  black. 

But  the  term  "white,"  in  constitutions,  is  a  designation  of  race  rather  than 
color;  and  it  is  used  in  this  country  to  distinguish  primarily  between  the 
African  race  and  all  others — between  a  servile  race  and  races  which  are  free. 
Strictly,  indeed,  it  may  refer  to  the  several  varieties  of  the  Caucasian  race. 
But  in  constitutions,  and  in  popular  language  in  the  United  States,  it  is  a 
word  of  exclusion  against  the  whole  negro  race,  in  ever}'  degree.  Whoever 
has  a  distinct  and  visible  admixture  of  the  blood  of  that  race  is  not  white; 
and  it  is  an  utter  confusion  of  language  to  call  him  white.  Sir,  it  is  a  question 
of  vision,  of  autopsy;  it  is  to  be  resolved  upon  actual  view,  and  by  personal 
inspection  rather  than  by  pedigree.  And  the  Almighty  has  marked  the  dis- 
tinguishing characteristics  of  the  race  so  strong,  he  has  furrowed  them  so 


236  COMMENCEMENT   OF  CONGRESSIONAL   LABORS. 

deep,  that  they  arc  not  eradicated  in  several  generations.  The  Constitution 
of  North  Carolina  has  fixed  the  degree  at  tlie  sixteenth;  and  this  corresponds, 
in  fact,  with  the  rule  adopted  generally  by  courts,  North  and  South,  that  jv 
distinct  and  visible  admixture  of  negro  blood,  without  reference  to  the  exact 
proportions,  degrades  to  the  class  of  persons  of  color. 

But,  apart  from  all  this,  the  reason  of  the  rule  applies,  equally,  to  all  of 
the  African  race,  no  matter  how  they  may  have  come  to  our  shores.  No 
negro  emigrant  could  be  naturalized.  CIt  is  not  alone  his  descent  from  slaves, 
in  this  country,  that  degrades  him  in  the  scale  of  social  and  political  being. 
It  is  his  color  and  his  blood.  It  is  because  he  is  the  descendant  of  a  servile 
and  degraded  race  almost  from  the  beginning  of  time.  The  curse  of  Ham 
pursues  him  in  every  age,  and  all  over  the  globe.  Bayard  Taylor — no 
apologi.-t  for  slavery — spejiks  but  the  testimony  of  history,  when  he  writes 
from  Nubia,  in  upper  Egypt,  that — 

"The  only  negro  features  represented  in  Egyptian  sculpture  are  those  of 
slaves  and  captives  taken  in  Ethiopian  wars  of  the  Pharaohs ;  and  that  the 
temples  and  pyramids  throughout  Nubia,  as  far  as  Daref  and  Abyssinia,  all 
bear  the  hierogh-phy  of  monarchs;  and  that  there  is  no  evidence,  in  all  the 
valley  of  the  Nile,  that  the  negro  race  ever  attained  a  higher  degree  of  civil- 
ization than  is  at  present  exhibited  in  Congo  and  .A.shantee." 

Sir,  no  wise  people  will  ever,  in  any  manner,  encourage  the  attempt  to 
elevate  such  a  race  to  social  and  political  equality.  And  if  the  question  of 
law  were  here  doubtful,  I  might  well  demand,  upon  those  high  motives  of 
public  policy,  that  the  doubt  should  be  resolved  against  the  race.  Above  all, 
I  would  urge  these  great  considerations  now,  and  in  future,  against  this  same 
spurious  and  mongrel  issue,  in  whose  behalf  a  relaxation  of  the  policy  is 
demanded.  Look  to  Spanish  America.  Look  at  Mexico.  The  blood  of  the 
conquerors  was  lost  in  the  veins  of  inferior  and  outcast  races,  and  Mexico 
has  no  "people"  to-day.  With  no  tyrant  strong  enough  to  bind  her  down, 
and  no  yeomanry  fit  for  self-government,  she  is  the  sport  of  faction,  and  the 
prey  of  anarchy  and  bloodshed ;  and,  to-day,  the  spirit  of  the  murdered 
Guatemozin,  wandering  three  centuries  through  the  halls  of  the  Montezumaa, 
gluts  itself  with  revenge. 

Sir,  it  is  this  same  spurious  and  mongrel  race  who  constitute  your  "  free 
negroes,"  North  and  South.  They  will  not  be  slaves,  and  they  are  not  fit  for 
freemen.  And  when  this  Government  shall  be  broken  up,  and  the  fanaticism 
of  the  age  shall  have  culminated  in  the  North  in  red  liepublicanism  and 
negro  equality,  and  the  South  shall  have  driven  out  her  free  negroes  upon 
you,  and  j-ou  shall  have  stolen  away  her  slaves,  then  your  troubles  with  this 
race,  which  already  has  plagued  America  for  a  century,  will  but  have  begun. 
They  are  your  petty  thieves  now;  they  rob  your  larders  and  your  sheep- 
cotes;  they  do  fill  up  your  penitentiaries,  and  they  would  fill  up  your  hos- 
pitals and  your  alms-houses,  if  you  would  let  them.  Then  they  will  be  your 
highwaymen,  your  banditti;  they  will  make  up  your  mobs.  With  just 
enough  of  intelligence,  derived  from  a  white  ancestry,  to  know,  and  enough 
of  brutishness,  inherited  from  the  old  African  stock,  to  avenge,  in  any  form, 
the  ignominy  and  degradations  of  four  thousand  years;  with  fetish  ideas  of 
religion,  and  fanatic  notions  of  politics,  they  are  the  sayis  culotte,  who,  led  on 
by  the  worst  of  white  men,  will  make  your  revolutions,  and  overturn  your 
governments.  Sir,  such  things  have  already  occurred  in  history.  They  are 
not  the  baseless  fabrics  of  a  vision.  No  wonder  the  States  of  the  Northwest 
have  begun  to  erect  Constitutioiuil  barriers,  stronger  than  ever,  against  a 
negro  population.  In  all  this  there  is  eminent  wisdom,  and  a  statesmanlike 
foresight. 

Mr.  Vallandiqiiam  was  admitted  to  a  seat,  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
•on  the  25th  of  May,  1858,  and  soon  after.  Congress  adjourned.  At  the  subse- 
quent session,  of  1858-9,  he  replied  to,  and  refuted,  a  charge  made  by  a  southern 
member,  of  having  voted  for  the  repeal  of  the  "Black  Laws"  of  Ohio.  He 
spoke,  also,  upon  the  tariff,  on  the  24th  of  February,  1859. 


THE   OHIO    REBELLION — JOHN  BROWN   RAID.  237 

No.  VIII.  The  Ohio  Kebellion — 1857. — In  the  year  1857,  the  deputies 
of  the  United  States  Marshal  for  the  Southern  District  of  Ohio  were  resisted 
in  the  execution  of  regular  judicial  writs  issued  under  the  Fugitive-Slave  Act. 
They  were  pursued  by  a  body  of  armed  men,  more  than  fifty  in  number,  from 
Champaign  county,  through  Clarke,  into  Greene,  and  there  overpowered,  and 
their  prisoners  rescued.  They  were,  also,  themselves  arrested  on  State  process. 
To  discharge  them  from  imprisonment,  a  habeas  corpxis  was  issued  by  Judge 
Leavitt,  of  the  United  States  District  Court.  It  was  heard  at  Cincinnati,  on 
the  25th  of  June,  1857.  Salmon  P.  Chase,  now  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
but  then  the  Governor  of  Ohio,  sent  the  Attorney- General  of  the  State,  C.  P. 
WoLCOTT,  now  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  to  argue  against  their  discharge. 
Mr.  Vallandigham,  along  with  Mr.  Pugh  and  Mr.  Stanley  Matthews, 
argued  the  case  for  the  Marshals.  Maintaining  the  vital  doctrine  of  State 
Rights  to  their  fullest  extent,  Mr.  V.  asserted  and  upheld  the  absolute  suprem- 
acy of  the  Federal  authority,  within  its  Constitutional  limits.  He  also 
denounced  Abolitionism  and  "  personal  liberty  bills,"  in  language  severe 
indeed,  but  most  just.     The  following  are  extracts  from  his  argument: 

For  sixty-eight  years,  also,  the  people  of  Ohio  lived  happily,  freely,  pros- 
perously, and  in  neighborly  intercourse  with  her  sister  States  and  Territories. 
Without  slavery  in  her  own  limits,  she  yet  had  no  quarrel,  and  waged  no 
war,  with  those  who  had.  Slaves  repeatedly  escaped  into  her  territory,  and 
were  always  peaceably  and  quietly,  and  oftentimes  without  ofiicer  or  warrant, 
recaptured  and  remanded.  Ohio  herself,  not  many  years  ago,  volunteered  to 
enact  a  "Fugitive-Slave  Law,"  not  less  stringent,  and  certainly  more  odious,  than 
the  now  accursed  Act  of  1850.  But  times  have  changed,  and  we  are  changed  with 
them.  Men,  wise  above  what  is  written — wiser  than  the  fathers,  men  of  more 
capacity,  and  a  wisdom  and  sagacity  more  than  ordinary — more  than  human, 
or  of  intellects  narrowed  and  beclouded  by  ignorance,  and  fanaticism,  or 
seduced  by  a  corrupt  and  most  wicked  ambition,  have  discovered  that  the 
Constitution  is  all  wrong,  and  its  compacts  all  wrong,  or,  rather,  that  there 
is  a  higher  law  than  the  Constitution,  and  that  discord  is  piety,  and  sedition 
patriotism.  They  have  resolved  to  annul,  and  set  at  naught,  an  important 
and  most  essential  part  of  the  Constitution  and  its  compacts,  and  to  compel 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  to  succumb  to  their  resolves,  or  to  bring 
the  authorities  of  the  State  and  of  the  Union  into  deadly  and  most  destructive 
conflict. 

I  concur  with  the  Attorney-General  in  all  that  he  has  said,  of  the  vast 
importance  of  the  case  now  and  hereafter,  and  the  more  especially,  if  the 
menaces  which  he,  the  law  officer  of  the  State,  and  her  representative  in  this 
forum,  has  seen  fit  to  more  than  insinuate,  in  case  of  an  adverse  decision  by 
this  tribunal,  are,  in  the  hour  of  madness,  to  be  carried  out  by  her  authorities, 
as  they  are  now  constituted.  But  I  am  confident  that  this  Court  is  prepared 
-that  the  whole  Government  of  the  United  States  is  prepared ;  and  I  tell 
Mr.  Attorney-General,  and  through  him  the  Executive  of  the  State,  whose  vain 
defiance  he  has  this  day  borne  here  to  this  presence,  that  it  is  not  to  be  awed 
by  threats,  not  to  be  put  down  by  denunciation,  nor  to  be  turned  aside  from 
Its  firm  purpose  to  enforce  its  laws,  and  the  process  of  its  courts,  in  any  event, 
at  all  hazards,  and  without  respect  to  persons  or  to  States,  whether  those 
States  be  Rhode  Island  or  Ohio. 

The  writ  was  sustained  and  the  defendants  discharged. 


No.  IX.     The  "John  Brown  Raid" — 1859. — Returning  from  a  visit  to 
Washington  City,  in  October,  1859,  it  was  Mr.  Vallandiqham's  ill-fortuno 


238  CAMPAIGN   OF   I860. 

to  witness  the  first  shedding  of  blood  in  the  great  quarrel  between  the  North 
and  the  South.  Passing  through  Harper's  Ferry  a  few  hours  after  the  cap- 
ture of  "old  Ossawattaniio  Brown,"  he  saw  that  "first  martyr,"  and  asked 
him  a  few  questions  about  the  raid  and  its  purpose,  which,  being  duly  reported, 
•with  the  answers,  in  the  New  York  Herald,  Mr.  V.  was  persistently  and 
bitterly  assailed  and  abused  for  it,  by  the  Abolition  orators  and  press.  Tho 
abuse  was  of  the  same  quality,  and  came  from  the  same  dark  fountain  with 
that  which  has  been  poured  upon  him  for  the  last  two  years. 


No.  X.  Stjppressinq  Newspapers  in  the  Post-Office. — In  December, 
1859,  a  postmaster,  in  Hardy  county,  Virginia,  having  suppressed  tho 
Religious  Telescope,  of  Dayton,  O.,  at  his  office,  as  an  Abolition  paper,  Mr. 
Vallandigiiam,  at  the  request  of  the  editor,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Post- 
Office  Department  remonstrating  against  the  act.  The  Virginia  postmaster 
was  immediately  commanded  to  obey  the  law,  and  the  Telescope  had  no  further 
trouble.     The  following  is  an  extract  from  Mr.  V.'s  letter  : 

They,  at  least,  whom  I  have  the  honor  to  represent,  have  always  obeyed 

and  respected,  and  ever  will  respect  and  obey,  every  requirement  and  obliga- 
tion of  tlie  Constitutional  compact.  The  vast  majority  of  them,  certainly, 
regard  none  of  its  obligations  and  requirements  as  either  odious  or  onerous; 
and  they  ask  only  that  their  rights  also,  under  that  compact,  shall  be,  iu  like 
manner  and  fully,  protected  and  enjoyed. 

Publishing  the  correspondence,  the  Telescope  said : 

We  thank  Mr.  Vallandigham,  and  our  readers,  especially  those  in  Vir- 
ginia, Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  other  slave  States,  will  thank  him,  for  the 
prompt  attention  which  he  has  given  to  this  matter. 


No.  XL  Campaign  of  I860.— On  the  19th  of  May,  1860,  Mr.  Vallandio- 
MAM  returned  home,  on  a  brief  visit,  from  Washington,  and  addressed  the  peo- 
ple in  front  of  the  Daj'ton  Court-House.  The  following  are  extracts  from 
a  condensed  report  of  the  speech : 

He  was  not  for  the  North,  nor  for  the  South,  hut  for  ihe  whole  country ; 
and  j^et,  in  a  conflict  of  sectional  interests,  he  was  for  the  West  all  the  time. 
In  a  little  while — even  after  the  present  j'ear,  men  east  of  the  mountains 
would  learn  that  there  was  a  West,  which  to  them  has  heretofore  been  an 
"undiscovered  country."  He  hoped  fervently  to  see  the  day  when  we  should 
hear  no  inore  of  sectio7is;  but  as  long  as  men  elsewhere  demanded  a  "united 
North,"  and  a  "united  South,"  he  wanted  to  see  a  "united  West."  Still  the 
"United  States"  was  a  better  term,  more  patriotic,  more  constitutional,  and 
more  glorious  than  any  of  them. 

Ecferring  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  "irrepressible  conflict"  speech  of  1858, 

Mr.  Vallandigham  proceeded  for  some  time  to  denounce  the  sentiment  of 
the  speech  in  a  vehement  and  impassionate  manner,  as  revolutionary,  disorgan- 
izing, subversive  of  the  government,  and  ending  jiecessarily  in  disunion.  Our 
fathers  had  founded  a  government  expressly  upon  the  compatibility  and 
harmony  of  a  Union  of  States,  "  part  slave,  and  part  free,"  and  whoever 
aflirmed  the  contrary,  laid  the  ax  at  the  very  root  of  the  Union. 


CAMPAIGN   OF    1860.  239 

On  the  30tli  of  June,  1860,  Mr.  Vallandigham  returned  home  from  Con- 
gress, and  again  addressed  the  people  in  front  of  the  Court-House.  The 
following  is  an  extract  from  the  speech  : 

There  are  now  two  extreme  sectional  parties.  Six  years  ago  the  Abolition 
sentiments  of  the  free  States  culminated  in  the  Eepublican  organization.  In 
the  couise  of  time  it  has  brought  forth  its  inevitable  fruit,  in  the  organ- 
ization, especially  in  the  Gulf  or  Cotton  States,  of  an  'extreme  Southern  or 
pro-slavery  party,  the  offspring,  but  the  very  antipode  of  the  RepubLican  party. 
If  either  of  these  is  suflered  to  prevail,  the  Union  is  at  an  end.  Even  now 
it  is  in  peril  from  mere  conflict  between  them.  But  the  death  of  the  parent 
■will  be  the  death  of  the  child.  Kill  the  Northern  and  Western  anti-slavery 
organization,  the  Eepublican  party,  and  the  extreme  Southern  pro-slavery, 
"tire-eating"  organization  of  the  Cotton  States,  will  expire  in  three  months. 
Continue  the  Eepublican  party — above  all,  put  it  in  power,  and  the  antago- 
nism, vnll  grow  till  the  whole  South  will  become  a  unit.  It  is  our  mission  here 
in  Ohio,  as  one  of  the  free  States,  to  conquer  and  crush  out  Northern  and 
Western  sectionalism,  as  this  is  the  especial  enemy  in  our  midst. 

On  the  1st  of  August,  18 GO,  Mr.  Vallandigham  addressed  the  Democracy 
of  Detroit,  Michigan.     The  following  is  an  extract : 

For  twenty  years  the  country  has  been  agitated  by  this  subject  of  slavery. 
Men  of  the  North  and  West  have  been  taught  to  hate  the  men  of  the  South, 
and  Southerners  have  been  taught  to  hate  the  men  of  the  North  and  West. 
This  Northern  sectionalism  and  fanaticism  has  been  approaching  nearer  and 
nearer  to  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  while  the  Southern  fanaticism,  starting  in 
the  Cotton  States,  has  been  creeping  northwardly,  until  the  two  factions  have 
nearly  met.  What  will  be  the  inevitable  result  of  the  conflict  that  must 
ensue?  They  must  meet,  if  the  floods  of  fanaticism  be  not  checked.  When 
they  meet  on  the  plains  of  southern  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Ohio,  how  long,  in 
God's  name,  can  the  country  endure?  Human  nature  has  been  misread,  froin 
the  time  of  Cain  to  this  day,  if  blood,  blood,  human  blood  is  not  the  result.  But, 
thank  God,  between  the  two  sections  there  is  a  band  of  national  men,  patriots, 
■who  love  their  countrj^  more  than  ^sectionalism,  ready  to  stay  this  conflict. 
Our  mission  is  to  drive  this  sectionalism  of  the  North  back  to  Canada,  whence 
it  sprung ;  and  that  of  the  South  back  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 


No.  XTI.  After  the  Election  of  1860. — On  the  10th  of  November, 
1860,  four  days  after  the  Presidential  election,  Mr.  Vallandigham  published 
the  card  in  reply  to  an  attack  by  a  Eepublican  paper,  which  see  on  page  91, 

On  the  22d  of  December,  1860,  at  a  serenade  in  Washington,  at  which  the 
Hon.  John  J.  Crittenden  spoke — also,  given  to  Senator  Pugh,  of  Ohio,  for 
bis  noble  anti-coercion  and  compromise  speech  in  the  Senate — Mr.  Vallan- 
digham, among  other  similar  things,  said ; 

To-night  you  are  here  to  indorse  the  great  policy  of  conciliation,  not  force  ; 
peace,  not  civil  war.  The  desire  nearest  the  heart  of  every  patriot,  in  this 
crisis,  is  the  preservation  of  the  Union  of  these  States,  as  our  fathers  made  it. 
(Applause.)  But  the  Union  can  be  preserved  only  by  nuiintaining  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  constitutional  rights,  and  above  all,  the  perfect  equality  of 
every  State  and  every  section  of  this  Confederacy.  (Cheers.)  That  Constitu- 
tion was  made  in  peace  ;  it  has,  for  now  more  than  seventy  years,  been  pre- 
served by  the  policy  of  peace  at  home,  and  it  can  alone  be  maintained  for  our 
children,  and  their  children  after  them,  by  that  same  peace  policy. 


240      ANTI-COMPROMISE   AND    SECESSION   WINTER   OP   1860-61. 

Wo  mean  to  stand  by  it.  Public  sentiment  may,  indeed,  at  first  be  against 
us;  the  tide  ma}'  run  heavily  the  other  way  for  a  little  while;  but,  thank  God, 
vre  all  have  nerve  enough,  and  will  enough,  and  faith  enough  in  the  people,  to 
know  that,  at  last,  it  will  turn  for  peace;  and  though  we  may  be  prostrated 
for  a  time  by  the  storm,  yet,  upon  the  gravestone  of  every  patriot  who  shall 
die  now  in  the  cause  of  peace  and  humanity  and  the  country,  shall  be  written: 
" Re/turrfom" — I  shall  rise  again.  And  it  will  be  a  glorious  resurrection, 
(Loud  and  continued  applause). 

Fellow-citizens,  /  owi  all  over,  and  altogether  a  Union  man.  I  would  pre- 
serve the  Union  in  all  its  integrity  and  worth.  But,  I  repeat  that  this  can  not 
be  done  by  coercion — by  the  sword. 


No.  XIII.  The  Anti-Compromise  and  Secession  "Winter  of  1860-61. 
— The  Presidential  election  of  1860,  having  resulted  in  the  choice  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  the  whole  South  was,  forthwith,  stirred  with  the  most  violent 
excitement.  Secession  of  some — if  not  all — of  the  Southern  States,  became 
imminent.  Immediately  upon  the  assembling  of  Congress,  on  the  3d  of  De- 
cember, 1860,  various  propositions  looking  to  compromise  and  settlement,  were 
introduced.  One  of  those  propositions  was  the  measure  introduced  by  Mr. 
BoTELER,  of  Virginia,  who  proposed  "  That  so  much  of  the  Message  as  relates 
to  the  peculiar  condition  of  the  country,  be  referred  to  a  Special  Committee  of 
One  from  each  State."  The  resolution  was  adopted;  and,  two  days  after,  the 
Committee  was  appointed.  Mr.  Boteler  having  expressed  a  desire  to  be 
omitted  from  the  Committee — of  which  he  would,  by  courtesy,  have  been 
chairman — his  request  was  granted,  and  Mr.  Corwin,  of  Ohio,  appointed  to 
that  place.  The  Committee  being  filled  and  named,  the  member  appointed  for 
Florida  (Mr.  Hawkins)  asked  to  be  excused  from  serving,  saying  he  "be- 
lieved the  time  for  compromise  had  passed  forever." 

On  the  question  of  excusing  Mr.  Hawkins,  an  animated  discussion  arose,  in 
which  Mr.  Vallandigham  participated.  His  remarks  on  this  question,  made 
on  the  10th  of  December,  contain  the  following  incidental  but  important 
defense  of  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  West.     He  said : 

But,  I  repeat,  sir,  there  is  not,  upon  your  Committee,  one  solitary  Eepresent- 
ative  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  of  that  mighty  host,  numbering  one 
million  six  hundred  thousand  men,  which,  for  so  many  years,  has  stood  as  a 
vast  breakwater  against  the  winds  and  waves  of  sectionalism;  and  upon 
whose  constituent  elements,  at  least,  this  country  must  still  so  much  depend  in 
the  great  events  which  are  thronging  thick  upon  us,  for  all  hope  of  preserva- 
tion now  or  of  restoration  hereafter.  Sir,  is  any  man  here  insane  enough  to 
imagine,  for  a  moment,  that  this  great  Northern  and  Western  Democracy — 
constituting  an  essential  part,  and  by  far  the  most  numerous  part,  of  that  great 
Democratic  party  which,  for  half  a  centurj',  molded  the  policy  and  con- 
trolled the  destinies  of  this  Pvepublic;  that  party  which  gave  to  the  country 
some  of  the  brightest  jewels  of  which  she  boasts;  that  party  which  placed 
upon  your  statute-books  every  important  measure  of  enduring  legislation  from 
the  beginning  of  the  Government  to  this  day — that  such  a  section  of  such  a  party 
is  to  be  thus  utterly  ignored,  insulted,  and  thrust  aside  as  of  no  value?  I  tell 
you,  you  mistake  the  character  of  the  men  you  have  to  deal  with.  We  are  in 
a  minority,  indeed,  to-day  at  the  ballot-box,  and  we  bow  quietly,  now,  to  the 
popular  will  thus  expressed.  We  are  defeated,  but  not  conquered;  and  he  is  a 
fool  in  the  wisdom  of  this  world,  who  thinks  that  in  the  midst  of  the  stirring 


NOTES   UPON  THE   VARIOUS   COMPROMISE   MEASURES.        241 

and  revolutionary  times  which  are  upon  us,  these  sixteen  hundred  thousand 
men,  born  free  and  now  the  equals  of  their  brethren — men  whose  every  pulse 
throbs  with  the  spirit  of  liberty — will  tamely  submit  to  be  degraded  to  inferior- 
ity and  reduced  to  political  servitude.  Never — never — while  there  is  but  one 
man  left  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  oppressor. 

Sir,  we  love  this  Union  ;  and  more  than  that,  we  obey  the  Constitution.  We 
are,  here,  a  gallant  little  band  of  less  than  thirty  men,  but  representing  more 
than  a  millioa  and  a  half  of  freemen.  We  are  here  to  maintain  the  Constitu- 
tion, which  makes  the  Union,  and  to  exact  and  yield  that  equality  of  rights 
•which  makes  the  Constitution  worth  maintaining.  We  are  ready  to  do  all 
and  to  suffer  all  in  the  cause  of  our — thank  God !  — yet  common  country ;  and 
by  no  vote  or  speech  or  act  of  ours,  here  or  elsewhere,  shall  any  thing  be  done 
to  defile  or  impair  or  to  overthrow  this  the  grandest  temple  of  human  liberty 
ever  erected  in  any  age.  But  we  demand  to  worship  at  the  very  foot  of  the 
altar;  and  not,  as  servants  and  inferiors,  in  the  outer  courts  of  the  edifice. 

Sij;  we  of  the  North-ioest  have  a  deeper  interest  in  the  preseTvation  of  this 
Governmeyit  in  its  present  form  than  any  other  section  of  the  Union.  Hemmed 
in,  isolated,  cut  off  from  the  sea-board,  upon  every  side ;  a  thousand  miles  and 
more  from  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  the  free  navigation  of  which,  under  the 
law  of  nations,  we  demand,  and  will  have  at  every  cost;  with  nothing  else  but 
our  great  inland  seas,  the  lakes — and  their  outlet,  too,  through  a  foreign 
country — what  is  to  be  our  destiny  ?  Sir,  we  have  fifteen  hundred  miles  of 
southern  frontier,  and  but  a  little  strip  of  eighty  miles  or  less,  from  Virginia 
to  Lake  Erie,  bounding  us  upon  the  east.  Ohio  is  the  isthmus  that  connects 
the  South  with  the  British  Possessions,  and  the  East  with  the  West.  The 
Kocky  Mountains  separate  us  from  the  Pacific.  Where  is  to  be  our  outlet? 
What  are  ive  to  do  when  you  shall  have  broken  up  and  destroyed  this  Govern- 
ment? We  are  seven  States  now,  with  fourteen  Senators  and  fifty-one  Eepre- 
sentatives,  and  a  population  of  nine  millions.  We  have  an  empire  equal  in 
area  to  the  third  of  all  Europe,  and  we  do  not  mean  to  he  a  dependency  or 
province  either  of  the  East  or  of  the  South;  nor  yet  an  inferior  or  second-rate 
power  upon  this  continent;  and  if  we  can  not  secure  a  maritime  boundary 
upon  other  terms,  we  will  cleave  our  way  to  the  sea-coast  with  the  sword.  A 
nation  of  warriors  we  may  be ;  a  tribe  of  shepherds  never. 


No.  XIV.      VOTKS   UPON   THE  VARIOUS   COMPROMISE   MEASURES. — On   the 

27th  of  February,  1861,  the  House  proceeded  to  vote  on  the  various  Compro- 
mise Propositions  before  it. 

Mr.  Kellogg,  of  Illinois,  had  submitted  a  proposition  similar  to  the  Mis- 
souri Compromise  of  1820,  but  to  be  embodied  in  the  Constitution.  It  was 
rejected — yeas  33,  nays  158.  All  the  yeas  were  Democrats  and  Constitutional- 
Union  men,  except  Mr.  Kellogg  himself.  Mr.  VALLANDIGHAM  voted 
for  the  Proposition. —  Congressional  Globe,  p.  1260. 

The  question  then  recurred  on  the  "  Crittenden  Propositions,"  offered  in  the 
House  by  Mr.  Clement,  of  Virginia,  in  the  form  of  a  motion  to  submit  them 
to  the  people  of  the  United  States.  It  was  these  propositions  which  Mr. 
Davis  and  Mr.  Toombs  both  declared  would  be  satisfactory  to  the  South  and 
avert  secession — (^Douglas'  speech,  January  13,  1861.  Ajypendix  to  Congressional 
Globe,  p.  41.)  And,  as  in  the  Senate,  so  also  in  the  House,  they  were  rejected, 
and  by  a  vote  of  yeas  80,  nays  113,  every  Democrat  and  Southern  man,  except 
HiNDMAN,  of  Arkansas,  voting  for  them,  and  every  Republican,  without  one 
single  exception,  voting  against  them.  Mr.  Vallanijigham  voted  aye.  The 
following  is  a  list  of  the  yeas  and  nays : 

Teas — Messrs.  Adrain,  William  C.  Anderson,  Avery,  Barr,  Barrett,  Bocock, 
16 


242  THE  AFFAIR  AT  CAMP  UPTON. 

Bolder,  Bonligny,  Brnbson,  Branch,  Briggs,  Bristow,  Brown,  Buroh,  Burnett, 
Horace  F.  Clark,  John  B.  Clark,  John  Cochrane,  Cox,  James  Craig,  Burton 
Craige,  John  G.  Davis,  De  Jarnette,  Diniinick,  Edmundson,  English,  Flor- 
ence, Fouko,  Garnett,  Gilmer,  Hamilton,  J.  Morrison  Harris,  John  T.  Harris, 
Hatton,  Hoi  man,  William  Howard,  Hughes,  Jenkins,  Kunklo,  Larabee,  Jamea 
M.  Leach,  Leake,  Logan,  Maclaj-,  Mallory,  Charles  D.  Martin,  Elbert  S.  Mar- 
tin, Maynard,  McClernand,  McKenty,  Millson,  Montgomery,  Laban  T.  Moore, 
Isaac  N.  Morris,  Nelson,  Niblack,  Noell,  Peyton,  Phelps,  Pryor,  Quarles, 
Riggs,  James  C.  Eobinson,  Rust,  Sickles,  Simms,  William  Smith,  William  N. 
H.  Smith,  Stevenson,  James  A.  Slewai-t,  Stokes,  Stout,  Thomas,  Vallandiq- 
HAM,  Vance,  Webster,  Whitely,  Winslow,  Woodson,  and  Wright — 80. 

Nays — Messrs.  Charles  F.  Adams,  Aldrich,  Alley,  Ashley,  Babbitt,  Boale, 
Bingham,  Blair,  Blake,  Brayton,  Buffinton,  Burlingame,  Burnhara,  Butter- 
field,  Campbell,  Carey,  Carter,  Case,  Coburn,  Clark  B.  Cochrane,  Colfax, 
Conkling,  Conway,  Corwin,  Covode,  H.  Winter  Davis,  Dawes,  Delano,  Duell, 
Dunn,  Edgcrton,  Edwards,  Elliot,  Ely,  Etheridge,  Farnsworth,  Fenton,  Ferry, 
Foster,  Frank,  French,  Gooch,  Graham,  Grow,  Hale,  Hall,  Helmick,  Hick- 
man, Hindman,  Hoard,  William  A.  Howard,  Humphrey,  Hutchins,  Irvine, 
Junkin,  Francis  W.  Kellogg,  William  Kellogg,  Kenyon,  Kilgore,  Killinger, 
DeWitt  C.  Leach,  Lee,  Longneckcr,  Loornis,  Lovejoy,  Marston,  McKean, 
McKnight,  McPherson,  Moorhead,  Morrill,  Morse,  Nixon,  Olin,  Palmer, 
Perry,  Pettit,  Porter,  Potter,  Pottle,  Edwin  R.  Reynolds,  Rice,  Christopher 
Robinson,  Royce,  Scranton,  Sedgwick,  Sherman,  Somes,  Spaulding,  Spinner, 
Stanton,  Stevens,  William  Stewart,  Stratton,  Tappan,  Thayer,  Thoaker, 
Tomkins,  Train,  Trimble,  Vandever,  Van  Wyck,  Verrec,  Wade,  Waldron, 
Walton,  Cadwalader  C.  Washburne,  Eliha  B.  Washburne,  Wells,  Wilson, 
Windom,  Wood  and  Woodruff — 113. — Congressional  Globe,  p.  1261. 

Of  the  eighty  who  voted  for  compromise,  nineteen  are  in  either  the  Federal 
or  Confederate  army,  while  of  the  one  hundred  and  thirteen  who  voted 
against  compromise,  only  six  ;  one  of  them  being  Hindman,  now  a  Confederate 
general.    The  other  five  are  in  the  Federal  army. 


No.  XV.  The  Affair  at  Camp  UrroK. — A  story  to  the  effect  that  Mr. 
Vallandigham,  when  visiting  a  camp  of  Ohio  soldiers,  near  Washington, 
■was  indignantly  repelled,  and  driven  from  their  lines,  has  been  widely  circu- 
lated. The  telegraphic  dispatch,  from  the  agent  of  the  Associated  Press,  relat- 
ing to  that  disturbance,  was  substantially  correct,  except  that  the  "  disposi- 
tion "  referred  to,  was  limited  to  a  single  company  from  Cleveland.  But  the 
dispatch  appeared  only  in  the  papers  of  Washington,  Baltimore  and  Phila- 
delphia. It  was  suppressed  beyond,  eastward  and  westward.  Many  papers, 
unfriendly  to  Mr.  Vallandigham,  supplied  the  omission,  not  by  copying 
the  dispatch  from  newspapers  that  received  it,  but  by  giving  their  own  version 
for  popular  use.  Hence  the  perverted  and  exaggerated  form  the  story  assumed. 
The  dispatch  was  as  follows : 

Alexandria,  July  7,  1861.  Mr.  Vallandigham,  member  of  Congress 
from  Ohio,  visited  the  Ohio  regiments  to-day.  While  in  the  camp  of  the 
first  regiment,  a  disposition  was  shown  by  many  to  oust  him,  and,  notwith- 
standing the  nerve  and  courage  shown  by  Mr.  Vallandigham,  it  is  prob- 
able they  would  have  succeeded,  but  for  the  protection  afforded  him  by  the 
Dayton  companies,  and  a  pass  from  General  Scott.  He  finally  retired  to  the 
camp  of  the  second  regiment,  after  declaring  himself  as  good  a  Union  man 
a^  any  of  them,  and  expressing  his  scorn  for  the  mob  spirit  shown  by  his 
fellow-citizens. 


PEACE   RESOLUTIONS.  243 

No.  XVI.  Peace  for  the  Sake  of  the  Union. — On  the  20th  of 
August,  1861,  in  reply  to  the  charge  that  he  had  said  that  "he  was  for  peace 
before  the  Union,"  Mr.  Vallandiqham  published  a  card  denying  it,  in 
which  the  following  statements  occur: 

I  never,  either  in  my  place  in  the  House  of  Kepresentatives,  or  any-where 
elfse,  said  any  thing  of  the  kind. 

It  is  a  part  of  that  mass  of  falsehood  created  and  set  afloat  so  persistently 
for  the  last  few  j'ears,  in  regard  to  all  that  concerns  me;  and  is  of  the  same 
coinage  as  that  other  falsehood,  that  I  once  said  that  "  Federal  troops  must  pass 
over  my  dead  body  on  their  way  South  " — a  speech  of  intense  stupidity,  which 
I  never,  at  any  time,  in  any  place,  in  any  shape  or  form,  uttered  in  my  life. 

But  now,  allow  me,  also,  to  say  that  I  om  for  peace — speedy  and  honorable 
peace — bccanse  I  am  for  the  Union,  and  know,  or  think  I  know,  that  every 
hour  of  warfare  by  so  much  diminishes  the  hopes  and  chances  of  its  restoration. 
I  repeat  with  Douglas:  "War  is  disunion.  War  is  final,  eternal  separation;" 
and  with  Chatham :  "  My  Lords,  j'ou  can  not  conquer  America." 


No.  XVII.  Slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. — On  the  11th  of 
April,  1862,  Mr.  Vallandiqham  spoke  and  voted  against  the  bill  to  abolish 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  his 
remarks : 

Had  I  no  other  reason,  I  am  opposed  to  it,  because  I  regard  all  this  class  of 
legislation  as  tending  to  prevent  a  restoration  of  the  Union  of  these  States  as 
it  was,  and  that  is  the  grand  object  to  which  I  look.  1  know  well,  that  in  a 
very  little  while  the  question  will  be  between  the  old  Union  of  these  States — 
the  Union  as  our  fathers  made  it — or  some  new  one,  or  some  new  unity  of 
government,  or  eternal  separation — disunion.  To  both  these  latter  I  am 
unalterably  and  unconditionally  opposed.  It  is  to  the  restoration  of  the  Union 
as  it  was,  in  1789,  and  continued  for  over  seventy  years,  that  I  am  bound  to 
the  last  hour  of  my  political  and  personal  existence,  if  it  be  within  the  limits 
of  possibilit}-,  to  restore  and  maintain  that  Union. 


No.  XVIII.  Peace  Eesolxjtions. — On  the  16th  of  December,  1862,  Mr. 
Vallandiqham  introduced  the  following  resolutions  into  the  House  of 
Kepresentatives;  they  were  postponed  for  debate: 

Resohed,  1.  That  the  Union  as  it  was  must  be  restored  and  maintained 
furever,  under  the  Constitution  as  it  is — the  fifth  article,  providing  for 
amendments,  included. 

2.  That  no  final  treaty  of  peace,  ending  the  present  civil  war,  can  be  per- 
mitted to  be  made  by  the  Executive,  or  any  other  person  in  the  civil  or 
militarj'  service  of  the  United  States,  on  any  other  basis  than  the  integrity 
and  entirety  of  the  Federal  Union,  and  of  the  States  composing  the  same 
as  at  the  beginning  of  hostilities,  and  upon  that  basis  peace  ought  immediately 
to  be  made. 

3.  That  the  Government  can  never  permit  armed  or  hostile  intervention  by 
any  foreign  power,  in  regard  to  the  present  civil  war. 

4.  That  the  unhappy  civil  war  in  which  we  are  engaged  was  waged,  in  the 
beginning,  professedlj',  "not  in  any  spirit  of  oppression,  or  for  any  purpose 
of  conquest  or  subjugation,  or  purpose  of  overthrowing  or  interfering  with 
the  rights  or  established  institutions  of  the  States,  but  to  defend  and  maintain 
the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution,  and  to  preserve  the  Union,  with  all  the 
dignity,  equality,  and  rights  of  the  several  States  unimpaired,"  and  was  so 


244  PEACE   RESOLUTIONS. 

understood  and  accepted  by  the  people,  and  especially  by  the  army  and  navy 
of  the  United  Suites;  and  that,  therefore,  whoever  sliall  pervert,  or  attempt 
to  pervert,  the  same  to  a  war  of  conquest  and  siiljusation,  or  fur  the  over- 
throwing or  interfering  with  the  rights  or  established  institutions  of  any  of 
the  States,  and  to  abolish  slavery  therein,  or  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  or 
impairing  the  dignity,  equality,  or  rights  of  any  of  the  IStates,  will  be  guilty 
of  a  flagrant  breach  of  public  faith,  and  of  a  high  crime  against  the  Constitu- 
tion and  the  Union.  ; 

5.  That  whoever  shall  propose,  by  Federal  authority,  to  extinguish  any  of 
the  States  of  the  Union,  or  to  declare  any  of  them  extinguished,  and  to  estab- 
lish territorial  governments,  or  permanent  military  governments  within  the 
same,  will  be  deserving  of  the  censure  of  this  House  and  of  the  countrj'. 

6.  That  whoever  shall  attempt  to  establish  a  dictatorship  in  the  United 
States,  thereby  superseding  or  suspending  the  constitutional  authorities  of  the 
Union,  or  to  clothe  the  President,  or  any  other  officer,  civil  or  military,  with 
dictatorial  or  arbitrary  power,  will  be  guilty  of  a  high  crime  against  the  Con- 
Btitution  and  the  Union,  and  public  liberty. 

On  the  2 2d  of  the  same  month,  Mr,  Vallakdioham  offered  the  following, 
•which,  also,  went  over  for  debate : 

Resolved,  That  this  House  earnestly  desire  that  the  most  speedy  and  effectual 
measures  be  taken  for  restoring  peace  in  America,  and  that  no  time  may  be 
lost  in  proposing  an  immediate  cessation  of  hostilities,  in  order  to  the  speedy 
settlement  of  the  unhappy  controversies  which  brought  about  this  unnecessary 
and  injurious  civil  war,  by  just  and  adequate  security  against  the  return  of 
like  calamities  in  time  to  come ;  and  this  House  desire  to  otfer  the  most  earnest 
assurances  to  the  country,  that  they  will  in  due  time  cheerfully  co-operate  with 
the  Executive  and  the  States  for  the  restoration  of  the  Union,  by  such  explicit 
and  most  solemn  amendments  and  provisions  of  the  Constitution  as  may  be 
found  necessary  for  securing  the  rights  of  the  several  States  and  sections 
■within  the  Union,  under  the  Constitution. 

On  the  next  day,  Mr.  Y.  briefly  referred  to  the  foregoing  resolution,  as  fol- 
lows: 

The  resolution  which  I  offered  yesterday,  and  which  lies  over  for  debate, 
•was  originally  part  of  the  series  submitted  by  me  some  time  since,  and  which, 
as  afterward  modified,  were  postponed  till  the  6th  of  January.  I  did  not 
oflfer  it  at  the  same  time  with  the  others,  because  I  desired  a  separate  vote  upon 
them;  and,  through  the  kindness  of  the  member  from  Illinois  (Mr.  Lovejoy) 
and  his  friends  upon  the  other  side  of  the  House,  my  desire  was  promptly 
gratified,  just  as  I  anticipated.  The  resolutions  were  laid  upon  the  table  by  a 
strict  party  vote,  and  thus  the  record  for  that  great  iiereafteu  made  up, 
and  I  am  content. 

And  now  let  me  add  that  the  resolution  of  yesterday  is  but  an  almost  exact 
transcript  of  an  amendment  to  the  address  in  answer  to  the  King's  speech, 
proposed  in  the  House  of  Commons,  on  the  18th  of  November,  1777,  by  the 
Marquis  of  Granbj',  and  supported  by  Lord  John  Cavendish,  Mr.  Burke,  and 
the  other  British  patriots  of  that  day.  Had  I  pressed  it  to  a  vote,  its  fate 
■would,  I  doubt  not,  have  been  just  the  same  as  that  of  the  amendment  itself, 
■which  was  rejected  by  the  followers  of  Lord  North,  h\  a  vote  of  243  to  86,  in 
the  third  year  of  the  American  war.  That  war,  sir,  as  we  all  know,  went  on 
for  four  years  longer,  and  ended  at  last  in  the  eternal  separation  of  the  Thir- 
teen Colonies  from  the  British  Crown.  So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  no  similar 
result  shall  be  the  issue  of  our  present  unhappy  war. 

But  by  speedy,  honorable  peace,  conciliation,  and  adjustment  alone,  in  my 
deliberate  and  most  solemn  judgment,  now,  as  from  the  very  first,  can  that 
calamity  be  averted. 


i 


"dead-body"  falsehood.  245 

No.  XIX.  The  "  Dead-Body  "  Falsehood.  —  An  apology  would  be 
Deeded  for  alluding  to  so  contemptible  a  matter  as  "  the  dead-body  lie,"  were 
it  not  for  its  late  revival  in  Congress. 

3Ir.  Yallandigham  is  charged  with  having  said  at  an  Ohio  caucus,  in 
"Washington,  December,  1860,  that  "  before  Federal  troops  should  be  permitted 
to  pass  through  the  Miami  Valley,  they  must  march  over  his  dead  body," 
Soon  after  the  charge  was  first  made,  he  denied  it,  saying  in  a  published 
card,  "It  is  a  speech  of  intense  stupidity,  which  I  never,  at  any  time,  in  any 
place,  in  any  shape  or  form,  uttered  in  my  life."  An  attempt  has  since  been 
made  to  prove  the  charge  by  the  certificates  of  Abolition  members  of  Con- 
gress, who  were  at  the  caucus.  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Pendletox  and  Mr, 
Cox  declared  in  the  House,  on  the  28th  of  February',  1863,  that  they  heard 
Mr.  Vallandigham's  remarks,  on  the  occasion  referred  to,  and  that  he  used 
no  such  language.  Mr.  V.  himself  explained,  in  the  same  debate,  that  similar 
language  was  used  about  the  same  time  in  the  Senate,  by  a  Senator,  whose 
remarks  and  his  own  were  some  months  afterward  confounded. — See  Con- 
gressional Globe,  1860-61,  p.  144. 

We  now  add  conclusive  proof  of  the  falsity  of  the  charge  from  Abolition 
authority.  The  Washington  correspondent  of  the  Cincinnati  Commercial, 
W.  D.  BiCKHAM,  on  the  18th  of  December,  the  day  after  the  caucus,  telegraphed 
the  following  to  that  paper.  Mr.  B.,  it  should  be  observed,  was  not  at  the 
caucus;  he  received  his  information  only  from  those  who  have  since  certified  to 
the  lie.    The  heading  is : 

"  Vallandigham  re-defines  and  modifies  his  position.  He  is  anxioiis  that  the 
Miami  Valley  shall  not  be  the  battle-ground  between  the  North  and  the  South." 

The  correspondent  says : 

"  Vallandigham  said,  if  South  Carolina  assailed  the  Government  forts  and 
killed  troops,  he  would  treat  her  as  he  would  treat  any  other  foreign  nation 
under  similar  circumstances.  But  if  war  was  waged  on  her  merely  to  keep  her 
in  the  Union,  Kepublicans  might  fight  the  battle,  but  should  not  make  the 
Miami  Valley  the  battle-grounds 

The  next  day,  the  same  correspondent  wrote  a  report  of  the  caucus  debate, 
which  appeared  in  the  Commercial,  of  December  22,  1860.  He  says,  his 
information  was  "  carefully  collated  from  both  sides ;"  and  it  is  substantially 
correct,  except  that  Mr.  Vallandigham  declined  to  discuss  the  abstract  right 
of  secession.     He  says: 

Our  friend  Gurley  took  occasion  to  run  a  tilt  in  warlike  vein,  and  our 
frank  friend  Vallandigham,  who  detests  any  thing  like  an  unfair  advantage  in 
politics,  went  to  work  with  the  sword,  with  which  the  North-west  proposes 
"  to  cleave  her  way  to  the  sea-shore  " — under  certain  important  conditions. 
"Vail"  took  his  peculiar  views  of  the  case,  and,  according  to  his  colleagues, 
on  the  Democratic  side  of  the  House,  quite  dispassionately  reviewed  the  pre- 
mises, and  concluded  that  a  State  has  a  right  to  secede,  and  what  is  com- 
monly called  "  coercing  a  State  "  is  not  exactly  the  thing.  If  South  Car- 
olina murdered  our  troops  at  Fort  Moultrie,  he  would  treat  her  as  a  foreign 
enemy,  but  unless  she  committed  some  "  overt  act,"  he  would  not  countenance 
war  upon  her  [nobody  proposed  to  do  so];  and  he  gave  notice  that  if  there 
was  war  upon  such  conditions,  the  Kepublicans  might  fight  the  battle.  They 
might  have  transit  through  the  Miami  Valley,  provided  they  would  not  disturb 
any  body;  but  they  should  not  make  the  Miami  Valley  their  battle-ground." 


246  RECEPTION   AT   HOME. 

And  yet,  Edgkrton,  Gurley,  Blake,  Tueakkr,  Ashley,  Hutchins, 
and  BiNfiiiAM,  two  years  afterward,  have  assumed  to  "certify"  to  the  false- 
hood. They  forgot  the  old  saying,  that  a  certain  class  of  men  ought  to  have 
good  memories. 


No.  XX.  Keception  at  Home.— On  the  13th  of  March,  1863,  Mr. 
Vallandigham  returned  to  his  home,  in  Dayton,  Ohio.  An  immense 
crowd  mot  and  welcomed  him  at  the  depot.  It  seemed  as  if  every  man, 
woman  and  child  in  the  district  had  come  out  to  do  honor  to  this  champion 
advocate  of  Constitutional  rights.  A  reception  speech  was  made  by  Hon. 
David  A.  Houk,  in  which,  addressing  Mr.  Vallandiquam,  he  said: 

You,  sir,  have  been  a  faithful  sentinel  upon  the  watch-tower  of  public  lib- 
erty, and  in  the  darkest  hour  of  the  night,  and  when  the  storms  of  popular 
fury  raged  most  tiercel_y,  have  kept  the  light  of  hope  burning,  and  have 
promptly,  fearlessly,  and  resolutely,  sounded  the  alarm  upon  every  approach 
to  danger. 

An  ancient  Jewish  King,  upon  a  memorable  occasion,  called  all  the  Princes 
of  Israel,  the  captains,  the  stewards  of  all  the  substance  of  his  household,  and 
of  his  children,  and  all  the  valiant  men  unto  Jerusalem. 

And  when  he  had  assembled  them  about  him,  he  stood  up  and  said :  "Hear  me, 
my  brethren  and  my  people;  as  for  me,  I  had  it  in  my  heart  to  build  a  house 
of  rest,  for  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord,  and  for  the  footstool  of  our  God, 
and  had  made  ready  for  the  building — but  God  said  unto  me,  'Thou  shalt  not 
build  a  house  for  my  name,  because  thou  hast  been  a  man  of  war,  and  hast 
shed  blood.' " 

When  the  shattered  temple  of  Constitutional  liberty  shall  be  recojistructed  in 
this  country,  it  \olll  not  be  done  by  the  men  of  blood. 

You,  sir,  have  not  been  unmindful  of  those  divine  admonitions,  and  of  the 
promises  of  the  gospel  of  peace,  as  uttered  by  Him  who  said:  "Blessed  are  the 
pe.'ice-makers,  for  they  shall  be  called  the  children  of  God." 

It  is  the  determination  of  the  Democratic  party  to  maintain  free  speech,  a 
free  press,  and  a  free  ballot,  at  all  hazards.  I  am  for  obedience  to  all  laws, 
and  for  requiring  the  men  in  power  to  obey  them.  I  would  try  all  questions 
of  Constitution  and  law  before  the  Courts,  and  then  enforce  the  decrees  of  the 
Courts.  I  am  for  trj-ing  all  political  questions  by  the  ballot.  I  would  resist 
no  law  by  force,  but  would  endure  almost  every  other  wrong  as  long  as  free 
discussion,  free  assemblages  of  the  people,  and  a  free  ballot  remain,  but  the 
moment  they  are  attacked,  I  would  resist.  We  have  a  right  to  change 
Administrations,  policies,  and  parties,  not  by  forcible  revolution,  but  by  the 
ballot-box;  and  this  right  must  be  maintained  at  all  hazards. 

Keferring  to  the  Conscription  Bill,  he  said : 

The  three-hundred-dollar  provision  is  a  most  unjust  discrimination  against 
the  poor.  1  propose  that  the  City  Council  of  Dayton  appropriate  money  enough, 
and  vote  a  tax  for  it,  to  release  the  city  from  the  draft,  and  thus  spare  the 
lives  and  limbs  of  those  citizens  who  are  too  poor  to  pay.  I  would  recommend 
the  same  measure  to  Cincinnati,  Chicago,  and  other  cities  of  the  Xorlh.  The 
tax  will  equalize  the  burden,  and  make  the  rich  pay  some  part  of  that  "last 
dollar."  Three  hundred  dollars,  too,  is  just  the  price  fixed,  by  an  Abolition 
Congress,  for  the  emancipated  negroes  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  It  is  7iow 
the  price  of  blood.  The  Admi?iistration  says  to  every  mayi  between  twenty  ayid 
forty-five,  three  hundred  dollars  or  your  life.  A  tax  by  every  city, 
township  and  county  is  just  the  way  to  meet  and  equalize  the  demand. 


RIGHT  TO   KEEP  AND   BEAR  ARMS.  247 

No.  XXI.  Eight  to  Keep  and  Bear  Arms.  —  On  the  21st  of  March, 
1863,  a  very  large  Democratic  meeting  was  held  at  Hamilton,  Ohio.  Mr. 
Vallandigham  was  one  of  the  speakers,  and  in  the  course  of  his  remarks, 
commented,  in  the  following  terms,  upon  a  military  order  recently  issued  at 
Indianapolis.     He  said: 

I  will  not  speak  disrespectfully  of  Colonel  Carrington.  He  and  I  served 
pleasantly  together  in  the  militia  of  Ohio,  on  the  peace  establishment  (laughter,) 
and  I  found  him  always  gentlemanly  in  his  deportment.  I  am  glad  to  learn 
that  he  is  still  so  regarded  at  Indianapolis.  How  could  he  have  issued  such 
an  order?  I  know  he  is  "great"  on  general  orders;  but  such  a  one  passes 
my  comprehension.  I  am  sure  he  can  not  want  to  do  wrong,  for  he  must 
know  that  two  years  hence,  under  the  legislation  of  the  late  Congress,  a 
Democratic  President  or  Secretary  of  War — and  who  knows  but  I  may  be 
Secretary  myself?  (laughter  and  cheers) — can  strike  his  name  from  the  roll 
without  even  a  why  or  wherefore.  It  should  be  well  for  all  ambitious 
military  gentlemen  just  now  to  recollect  this  small  fact,  and  confine  them- 
selves strictly  to  their  legal  and  Constitutional  military  duties,  and  to  allow 
others  to  enjoy  their  opinions  and  civil  rights  unmolested.  But  to  the  order. 
Here  it  is: 

"  Headquarters  United  States  Torces,  "t 
Indianapolis,  Ind.,  March  17,  1863.      / 

"  General  Order  No.  15. 

"I.  The  habit  of  carrying  arms  upon  the  person  has  greatly  increased" — 

Well,  60  it  has,  and  in  times  of  threats  and  danger  like  these,  it  ought  to, 
and  in  spite  of  all  "orders,"  it  will  increase — 

"And  is  prejudicial  to  peace  and  good  order" — 

Sir,  restore  to  us  peace  and  good  order,  and  we  will  lay  aside  all  arms,  and 
be  glad  of  the  chance.     (Great  applause.) 

"As  well  as  a  violation  of  civil  law  " — 

I  deny  it ;  but,  if  so,  who  gave  authority  to  this  gentleman  to  lecture  on 
civil  law  in  a  military  order? — 

"  Especially  at  this  time,  it  is  unnecessary,  impolitic,  and  dangerous." 

Was  ever  the  like  heard  or  read  of  before?  "At  this  time" — at  a  time 
when  Democrats  are  threatened  with  violence  everywhere;  when  mobs  are 
happening  every  day,  and  Democratic  presses  destroyed ;  when  secret  societies 
are  being  formed  all  over  the  country  to  stimulate  to  violence;  when,  at  hotels 
and  in  depots,  and  in  railroad  cars  and  on  the  street  corners,  Democrats  are 
scowled  at  and  menaced,  a  military  order  coolly  announces  that  it  is  unneces- 
sary, impolitic,  and  dangerous  to  carry  arms !  And  who  signs  this  order  ? 
"Henry  B.  Carrington,  Colonel  18th  U.  S.  Infantry,  Comma ndi7ig  " — 

Commanding  what?  The  18th  U.  S.  Infantry,  or  at  most  the  United  States 
forces  of  Indiana — but  not  the  people,  the  free  white  American  citizens  of 
American  descent,  not  in  the  military  service.  That  is  the  extent  of  his 
authority,  and  no  more.  And  now,  sir,  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  general  order 
also— an  order  binding  on  all  military  men  and  all  civilians  alike — on  colonels 
and  generals  and  commanders-in-chief— State  and  Federal.  (Applause.) 
Hear  it : 

"  The  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  shall  not  be  infringed" 
By  order  of  the  States  and  people  of  the  United  States.  George  Washington, 
commanding.     (Great  cheering.) 

That,  sir,  is  General  Order  No.  1 — the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
(Loud  cheers.)     Who  now  is  to  be  obej^ed — Carrington  or  Washington? 

But  I  have  another  "  order  "  yet. 

"  The  people  have  a  right  to  bear  aryns  for  their  defense  and  sectcrity,  and 
the  military  shall  be  in  strict  subordination  to  the  civil  power."  (Kenewed 
cheering.) 

That,  sir,  is  General  Order  No.  2— the  Constitution  of  Ohio,  by  order  of  tho 


248  KIGIIT   TO   KEEP   AND   BEAR  ARMS. 

people  of  Ohio.  Here,  sir,  Jire  our  warrants  for  keeping  and  bearing  arms, 
and  by  the  blessing  of  God,  we  mean  to  do  it ;  and  if  the  men  in  power 
undertake  in  an  evil  hour  to  demand  them  of  us,  we  will  return  the  ISpartau 
answer,  "Come  and  take  them." 

But  Colonel  Cnrrington's  order  proceeds: 

"The  Major-Gineral  commanding  the  Department  of  the  Ohio." 

Commanding  whom,  again  I  ask?  Only  the  military  forces  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Ohio,  but  not  a  single  citizen  in  it — 

"  Having  ordered  that  all  sales  of  arms,  powder,  lead  and  percussion  caps 
be  prohibited  until  .further  orders." 

AVhere,  sir,  is  the  law  for  all  that?  Are  we  a  conquered  province  governed 
by  a  military  proconsul?  And  so  then  it  has  come  to  this,  that  the  Constitu- 
tion is  now  su.spended  by  a  military  General  Order,  No.  15!  8ir,  the  Consti- 
tutional right  to  keep  and  bear  arms  carries  with  it  the  right  to  buy  and  sell 
arms ;  and  tire-arms  are  useless  without  powder,  lead  and  percussion  caps.  It 
is  our  right  to  have  them,  and  we  mean  to  obey  Greneral  Orders  Nos.  1  and  2, 
instead  of  No.  15.     (Loud  applause.) 

But  I  read  further — "and  that  any  violation  of  said  order  will  bo  followed 
by  the  confiscation  of  the  goods  sold,  and  the  seizure  of  the  stock  of  the 
vender." 

Is  the  man  deranged  ?  Omfiscation,  indeed  1  "Why,  sir,  the  men  who  are 
clothed  now  with  a  little  brief  authority  seem  to  think  of  nothing  except 
taxation,  emancipation,  confiscation,  conscription,  and  every  other  word  ending 
in  t-i-o-n.  (Laughter.)  But  General  Order  No.  1  says,  "No  man  shall  be 
deprived  of  property  without  due  process  of  law|"  and  General  Order  No.  1 
says,  "  Private  property  shall  ever  be  held  inviolate,  and  every  person,  for  an 
injury  done  him  in  his  land,  goods,  person,  or  reputation,  shall  have  remedy 
by  due  course  of  law."  And  though  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  may  be  sus- 
pended, the  writs  of  replevin  and  injunction  can  not  be.  (Cries  of  "  Good, 
good.') 

But  Order  No.  15  proceeds:  "And  said  order  having  been  extended,  by  the 
Major-General,  to  cover  the  entire  department,  is  hereby  promulged." 

Yes,  promulged — "  for  immediate  observance  throughout  the  State." 

Can  military  insolence  go  further?  Is  this  the  way  the  military  is  to  be  in 
strict  subordination  to  the  civil  power?  And  does  the  colonel  commanding  the 
18th  U.  S.  Infantry  thus  undertake  to  "promulge"  a  general  order  suspending 
or  abrogating  the  Constitution  of  the  United  iStates  and  of  Indiana?  Are  we 
living  in  America  or  Austria? 

And  now  the  fitting  commentary  on  all  this  attempt  to  disarm  the  white 
man,  while  public  arms  are  being  put  into  the  hands  of  the  negro,  is  in  the 
second  section  of  this  General  Order  No.  15,  alluding  to  the  recent  destruction 
of  a  Democratic  printing  press,  by  what  the  colonel  commanding  the  18th  U. 
S.  Infantry,  drawing  it  mild  after  the  fashion  of  Sarey  Gamp,  calls  a  "popular 
demonstration ;"  and  yet  nut  one  of  the  perpetrators  of  this  outrage,  although 
soldiers,  and  under  military  law,  have  been  punished,  nor  ever  will  be.  Yet  at 
just  such  a  time  of  lawless  violence,  it  is  proposed  that  the  people  shall  be  dis- 
armed.    Never.     (Loud  cheers.) 

Sir,  I  repeat  now  what  I  believe  to  be  the  true  programme  for  these  times: 
Try  every  question  of  law  in  your  Courts,  and  every  question  of  politics  before 
tlie  people,  and  through  the  ballot-box;  maintain  your  Constitutional  civil 
rights,  at  all  hazards,  against  military  usurpation.  Let  there  be  no  resistance 
to  law,  but  meet  and  repel  all  mobs  and  mob  violence  by  force  and  arms  on 
the  spot.     (Great  and  continued  cheering.) 


THE    ItECORO 


HON.  C.  L.  VALLANDIGHAM, 


ABOLITION,  THE  UNION,  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAE. 


This  work  has  been  carefully  edited,  and  presents  fairly  and  correctly  the  political  record  and 
position  of  a  man  whose  views  in  regard  to  the  causes  of  our  National  troubles,  and  the  right 
remedies  for  them,  are  attracting  an  extraordinary  amount  of  public  attention.  It  contains  full 
and  accurate  copies  of  Mr.  Vail.4.ndigii.vm's  principal  speeches  on  Abolition,  the  Union,  and 
THE  Civil  Wae,  also  parts  of  many  other  speeches,  ■with  Letters,  Incidents,  Votes,  etc. 

THE   CONTENTS  ARE: 

No.  I.— HISTORY  OF  THE  ABOLITION  MOVEMENT.  Speech  at  a  Democratic  Meeting 
in  Dayton,  Ohio,  October  29th,  1805. 

No.  II.— THERE  IS  A  WEST:  FOR  THE  UNION  FOREVER;  OUTSIDE  OF  THE  UNION, 
FOR  HERSELF.     Speech  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  December  15th,  1859. 

No.  III.— HOW  SHALL  THE  UNION  BE  PRESERVED  ?  Speech  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, February  20th,  18G1. 

No.  IV.— EXECUTIVE   USURPATION.     Speech  in  House  of  Representatives,  July  10th,  18C1. 

No.  v.— CHARGES  OF  DISLOYALTY  TRIUMPHANTLY  REPELLED. 

No.  VI.— SPEECH  BEFORE  THE  DE.MOCRATIC  CONVENTION,  at  Columbus,  .Tuly  4th,  18C2. 

No.  VII.— STATE   OF  THE   COUNTRY.     Speech  in  Dayton,  August  2d,  1862. 

No.  VIII.— POLITICAL   CAMPAIGN   OF   18G2. 

No.  IX.— DEMOCRATIC  JUBILEES   IN   THE   FALL   OF  1SC2. 

No.  X.— THE  GREAT  CIVIL  WAR  IN  AMERICA.  Speech  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, January  14th,  1S03. 

No.  XI.— THE  CONSCRIPTION  BILL.    Speech  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  I'eb.  23d,  1863. 

SUPPLEMENT. 

1.— Opposition  to  the  Wilmot  Proviso.  2.— Petitions  to  dissolve  the  Union.  3.— The  Mexican 
War,  1846-7.  4. — As  Editor  of  the  Dayton  Empire.  5.— Compromise  Me.isures  of  1850. 
The  Second  Compromise  Meetins.  fi. — Nominated  for  Conpress.  7. — Election  to  Congress- 
Commencement  of  Congressional  L;ibois.  8.— The  Ohio  Rebellion— 1857.  9.— The  "John 
Brown  Raid  "—1850.  10.— Suj)pre8sing  Newsjiapers  in  the  Post-ofRee.  11.— Campaign  of 
1860.  12.— After  the  Election  of  18(iO.  l.i.—Tlie  Anti-Compromise  and  Secession  Winter  of 
1860-1.  14. — Votes  upon  tlie  Various  Compromise  3leasures  15. — The  Affair  nt  Camp  Upton. 
16. — Peace  for  the  sake  of  tlie  Union.  17.— Slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  18.— Peace 
Resolutions.  19.— The  "  Dead-Body"  Falsehood.  20.— Reception  at  Home.  21.— Right  to 
Keep  and  Bear  Arms. 


The  work  is  on  good,  stibstantial  paper,  248  pages,  large  8vo.,  and  contains  a  very  finely  execu- 
ted steel-engraved  likeness  of  Mr.  Vallandiqham. 

Price,  retail,  paper  covers,  60  cts.      Cloth,  $1  00. 

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Published  and  sold  by 

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And  of  Booksellers  and  Periodical  Agents  generally. 


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