THE DAILY EVENING TELKGRAPIL PHILADELPHIA, FKlliAY, MAKCII 22, 18G7. 6 THE TIURTY-Xmil CONGRESS Lecture of non. William D. Keller, at National Hall, last Evening;, lie fore the Nodal, Civil, and Statistical Association. fSPItriAL PIIONOOBAFUIO BKrORT TOR TUB KVKN IWO TKLK1KAP1J.1 My FpIIow-CiKzoiib: Thank Goil thoso words to-mgbt are hill of meaning. Alj ix'llow-cilly.ens, 1 come with. Iush pleas ure hetoro you to addict jou to-nieht, thun I have done any time since 1840, and that tor the rcation that you, who during all that time wero uothiuir, were between persona and tliincrs, are to-diiy a political rower in the country (applause) hirI nia.V, ere loup, reward the men who served you. (Applause.) lie who defends your cause henec Jorth must prove by other moans than mere words his devotion to tho cause of right and justice. When Wade Hampton courts thefreed bi en of South Carolina, and compromise! with tbem, and they pat him on tho back and pro mise that it be will only do as well m the future as he was dointf on that day, they will have bin disabilities removed, then the lktrkcy ia power intbo land. (Applause and lauahter.) And yet the alternoon papers tell me tnat that th'tnir happened two or three days ago in Peuth Caroli un. Yes, before ton yearn, you will find the blue-eyed, lipht-baired, red-cheeked politicians swrnrVnir that there is a large infu sion of African blood in their veins. (Ap plause.) That point has already been reached. The Tblrty-niutli CouereBs and that is my theme was elected chieily in the full of lui. The members from our own trrand old state pram! iu her resources, and grand in the part which, under Piovidence, she has been able to play in the recent political contests ot the. country the representatives of our Stuie were circled in October, 1804, by tho terms of the Constitution of the United States. That Onprops could not meet until the lirst Monday in December, 15, unless summoned in special session by the l'resident of the United States. A brief period 1 It must terminate on tlie 4th of March, I8t;7. From October, 1SG1, to March, 1807, a period of about twenty-niue mouths, how brief a period iu the life oi a nation ! Aud yet, my lrieuds, if it be, as Tennyson has it, "that fifty years ot Kurope was better than a cycle of Cartfiatre," we have enjoyed and endured, during that brief period, aires ot ordinary life. More of political influence has oeen embodied and quickened iu that brief period than you find iu in any ae or history that you may con. For the worli we have done here is not finished. Nor is the destiny ot our country complete, tor, ample a arc its dimensions, countless as are to bo its people and their generation upon a theatre broad enoupli lor the action of the principles that have been quickened into life. These principles rock the Kritisli monarchy lo-dny, and they will surely traverse and be accepted in all the nations of Kurope, or they will swell the population of the free republic of America, by the emigration of the best citizens ot every land. i I Twenty-nine months ! I cannot do justice to the subject I have indicated, nor will it soon be tloue. Statesmen will con it, orators will dis cuss it. Historians will narrate it, and God's providence, as it rolls on, will develope the work to ihe view of men. 1 come rather io en tertain you for an hour by refreshing your memories than to impart to you any special knowledge, or to point a moral by what I am to fay. When the election for the Thirty-ninth Con gress occurred in Pennsylvania, Ohio. Indiana, and two more Western States, the work of re construction was not the subject ot political consideration. The issues in this election were: "Has the war been a failure'" "Can the South toe conquered ?'' "Is is not the duty of the North ibrthwith to pram an armistice, the conse quence of which must be the establishment of a military confederacy upou our Southern bor der, and ' thf conviction that the hundreds of thousands hbin and maimed in our cause have toeen victims to delusion or fanaticism ?" These were the questions upon which I went into the campaign. Tnese were the questions that enpasred the minds ot you voters, and that ensaged more intensely tlie minds of you tax payincr but uon-votiner citizens, who, with a ;dd-given instinct, taw that your riplits, and the rights of humanity in some way or other uuderlaid the issue, imijruiticant as it seemed to he upon its surface. Upon these issues the Thlrty-niuth Cor.pre6ii was elected. Abraham Lincoln name ever to be blessed ! (applause) was elected President, and was esta blished simply, to our view, to preside over the destinies of the country, aud to inllueLCe them lor weal or woe by hi ?ieat cLaracter, aud the iuimense palrouage belonging to his ollk-e, with the councils ol that Congress, lie was inaugurated. He exercised bi hich oiiiee. iu Lis second term for a period but little over a month: and, you know the story he was jiucceeded by Andrew Johnsoa. It would be curious to speculate upon what would have been the course of events had not the assassin's hand removed Abraham Lincoln. It would, however, be idle. That hand did remove him, and Andrew Johnson became President, and ere a little wee,w had closed those long used to read the designs of Provi dence iu tlie occurrences of the day, said Abraham Lincoln had fitly closed his immortal career. It was for him to bring the war to a nuccesslul conclusion. But with his gentle liand, we would not have been stern enough in enforcing iust measures against peni'eut liebels, and in his successoi we have one schooled in the iniquities and the hardness of the nature of the people of the South, familiar with their ways, fumiliar with their social life i'amilar with the great powers they cxercNe and the source of that power iu their lar-'o' landed .estates, in their niaiutainauce of imio rance as the law lor the multitudes, mid with all the other great powers which they exercised and by which they maintain their power ' His utterauees justified such conclusions Loyal men were to reoreanixc the Southern States, if a lew such could be louud, treason was to be made odious, and traitors were to be punished. They were. unJeriull circunistauces to be made 1o take back seats. Their lands were to be confiscated, and divided anion? tue sol diers of our army and the poor whites whom they had oppressed. There was no conception of a Northern mind which deina idcd a puamn tec for the future punishment ol the wron gdoer Which his language did not fulfil. Members of Congress who had been leaders of opinion before, telt that their duty was to put down this Intense radical, this man who Bight perchance degrade the nation by the violence of the punishments he was disposed to indict upou wrong-doors. Wendell Phiiiina early took a stand against punishment, and for wise reconstruction. Horace Greeley echoed ma liooie ana puuaniuropic utterances, and the bravest ol the member of either House of Con gress, who had come over lrom the Thirty eighth, said m answer We may have to bridle this man somewhat, but his impulses are right, and his motives, fwithiu proper restraints, are the ones that will give ultimate and perpetual peace to the country. 1 will not detain you, for it is not within the purview of my subject, at least at the present time, to take even a rapid glance of what took place from the date of his inaneuration to the assembling of Congress. You know them all you know as well as 1 do that by brief ullcr unces, he summoned the radicals tojhis support. With Wade, row Vice-President of the United States (applause) j with Sumner.lof Massachu setts (applause); with greater than either of them, glorious old Thad. Stevens. (Uproarious laughter.) The grandest man and the grandest statesman it has ever been my privilege to know (applause), rallied to the support of Andrew Johnson, and hoped there should be a name linked with that of Lincoln, no less illus- v triotUJ than his. That as Lincoln had been tho ' ." enfranchlser of the people, It would have been lis honor to protect their homes, and let tho ulave go free. That Andrew Johnson should be the man. to so organize the political society of America, that forever thereatter men thould k men wherever iw prevails. (Applause) You may not know that at a very early dav. whilo his words were commanding the con'ti drnce of tho radicals o tho country, In Con gress and out, he was secretly treating wiih the leaJeisO' Ihe Rebellion; that ere he had been two weeks In the office, he wbh writing or super vising editorials, announcing that Andrew Johnson had never been anything rise tb.au a Democrat, and they who elected him would tind he had adhered to his early faith. You remember the progress of the quarrel; flat while the radicals were praismg him and swearing by him, he was saying to others that his policy was to cause the radical to Blough oil'; that he meant to organize a party out of Ihcmoderato men of both parties, nna he did not expect the support of these verv men with whom lie wits holding confidential Intercourse, and whom he was requesting to go forth and proclaim nis view. The hrst Monday in December came, and that Congress which had been elected upon tho issues indicated, met. As it entered the hall it jostled, snd was jostled, bv Senators elected and members elected from all the Rebel States, from all save one. How came they there f They were there at the bidding of Andrew Johnson. My Ir ends, let ns look tho facts fully In the face. Misled by Andrew Johnson's words, we had in town meeting, In county meeting, in htale convention, and in our political organiza tions, rcolved that we approved and endorsed the policy of President Johnson. The members elected to Contrress in the elec tions that were held in the spriug of lHti.i were all elected on platforms indorsing the policy of Andrew Johnson; and as he had Instructed these Southern men to organize States and con stitutions, and, moreover, as tho political or ganizations of the North professed to approve of that policy, these men came, not doubting their admission, and not doubling that ty that admis sion t ho chieftains of the Rebellion would, even iu the Thirty-ninth Congress, rule tho entire republic, and rule u to its ruin. They did not come as supplicants for their places: they came demanding it. 'J ney came sayine, Here is the Constitution, for instance, of North Carolina. We niade it, in obedience to the dictates of the (Jovcninieiit, and if you do not admit us we will back Andrew Johnson in his threatened apneal to the people, ulU ut the coming elections hurl jou from power. Mark the position, will you? There was not an honest member of the Republican party that did not believe that tho future weliare of our country, interlaced withlluitof the world, de pended upon the continued predominance of the Republican party. What were the real issues belore the people? llow far did the people, in endorsing Andrew Johnson's policy, nnd in still hoping to induce him to do what was ricbt in livinir up to his own promise, how lardid the people accept that policy? How tar might Congress go without overwhelming the party? These were questions that pressed themselves upon every member of the Thirty-Liiith Con gress when ii assembled iu Washington. Mr. Johnson had control ot tne patronage of the (iovernment, nnd when you speak of the ofliees of the Government in their pecuniary value. you make but a small estimate ot the patronage ot the Oovernment. lieuicmbcr with much pleasure, and so do ninny ol the people ot Philadelpuia, our humble nnd brave soldiers humble not becuiie they were not wealthy, humble not, because th'-y had not tine social relations, but humble because, having got these, they had strapped their knapsacks on their backs, and shouldered the musket, and died, audjlaid, if need be, in the unknown trench, tuat the AiLericuu Union and freedom might tie pre served. (Applause.) Tlie President's patronage cousi'ts largely in his iiiiluence in pleasant social intercourse. our laws are otten made iu the Executive chamber, or in the ante-ioom adjoining it. Not because tlie President uses undue influence there, but because the President and the heads of Departments, and the Members of the two Houses ot CongrcsF, meeting separately in their proper official functions, meet socially there, nnd meet also with distinguished citizens from dill'erent States, from their own and others, and thus the views of men naturally apart lrom each other are brought together, and much of your legislation is really moulued and modified by the pleasant intercourse of the Kxecutive man sion and the ante-rooms ot the Departments. This is wise and well. Thus to separate from the President of the United States was to lorego all this, nnd to see the olliccs with their power and their emolu ments go into the hands of the party that had been arrayed against the country during the whole war, and' were then, even after the war was over, arrayed against freedom, and aeainst the men who had fought in the war, and the civilians who had sustained them. It was no light question for Coueress to consider, Shall we still try to woo this man? Shall we miiKe concessions to him, if he and those around him will m the form of concessions so as agree not to do quite so badly as tfley seem to be intent upon ? The question had to be met at once and firmly, and by resolution, and by those who determined that if (iod would sustain them in the erlort, they would control the Thirty-ninth Congress, and so change the aspect of atl'airs. (Applause.) What.my own humble position was I need not tell you. I sought an early opportu nity to come to my home, and among the people ot my native Slate to sound the alarm, by speaking; of the duties and the dangers ot the hour. (Applause.) I notified the countrv that Andrew JoUuson contemplated a coup V edit, in which the Constitution should be overthrown, and the representatives of the people expelled or excluded from its capital, and a government ol naitors from the South, and those lrom the North who sympathized with him, inaugurated in its stead. Men said Trash. There are times when to pause is to lose all, and the majority of the Union paity m Congress never saw the hour that they were not guided by the faith, "That to pause was to abandon the country !" The first ifssue that engaged tho attention of Congress was, Who has the power to recon struct the Rebel States? They speedily de cided that it was Congrcs; and on tho first dav of business they appointed a committee of lltteeu, fousisting of nine members of the lower House and six of the upper House, to tuke testimony as to the condition of the country and to report a bill. They settled the question that no person should be admitted as a member to either House from the Rebel Mates till that coiiiuiittceBhould huve reported, and this report have. been aeied upou. This was point No. 1. Now, my fellow-citizens, do you know how near we were io losing tuis point number one ? One ot our American story-writer has written a story to illustrate how near we come to dauger aud to dtath without knowing it. And the country does not yet know how near it came to , danger aud to death upon that very question. You knew that there were meetiues beiug held of members of our party who sympathized wnuine rresiuem. iou Know that motions were continually made ou the floor to admit the Representatives ot Tennessee and the Repre sentatives troui Arkansas. But you do not know that an arrangement had been made which came within seven, of giving those who favored the admission of these Stales the control of your Congress. Pour changes from our ranks, and lenuessee aud Arkansas would have been ad mitted early in the long session of theThirty nuith Congress; and, with the addition of the members lrom those two States, there would uave been Bu eu,i 0f the possibility of two-thirds on the radical side in the House. would, then, as a necessary couse n,int ,b1Te bpeu made the successtul argu wnntH . tUe admission of every State that C d ;snu,"e tue mask of loyalty iv electing a ne I W.u fl0m tty Coneresslonal district, for t1enr,U?,,?.i'I?U,"t'nt WeQt "P this:-'ThcSO K R k nelocted loyal men, and jou have no o asBfm ,T',a.9l th('yfcave electei loyal men, Lnf Zn, ,fctJ.b? disloyal, or to exclude Yet beTorp !tTTlrty-rinth Congress." let, belore it closed, the very men who came om ArkanMis claiming membership to the H?m.eM bkPin thankimV Congress and the Almighty that they had been kept out. for they and their trlends were being hunted from their homea by the Johnson RebeJs ot Arkansas. (Applause And Colonel Stokes, in speaking b, t,,lr)fwith resrard to Tennessee, ode in Connecticut, b "Wtre I iaiiaD ot the Thirty-ninth Conprewi, I would fight to deth in my seat before I would vole to admit Tennecsee as she now ta." (Applause.) Yet, as I say, the combinations made with the President, or "to carry out he President' view, mustered strength enough to be within seven votes to fflect thst traiioroul purpce. Trai torous, do you say? Oh, no 1 not traitorous at all. 1 admit tnat some went that way for the sake of the President's influence and power, but there were others among them as honest in their views as were Thad. Stevens and Charles Humncr. 1 instance one the Hon. Columbus Delano, of Onio I No one ever doubted the patriotism and the couratreof the Hon. Colum bus Delano. He had not beeu elected upon the Issue "that Confess, and not the President, had the rieht to reconstruct the States." That was not the question in the contest, lor he was elected on the fame day that I was. He had been fleeted on issues which had terminated with the surrender of the armies of Lee nnd Johnston. SS3 And there were other men us honest and as h'ph-toned ns himself. Por look at tho New York delegation (and I poirt these things out to show you the terrible influences that were ot crating in the secret councils of that Con gress.) There were Henry J. Raymond, of New York city: his intimate triend from boyhood, Wil.iam II. Darling, of New York city; there was Judge Davis, from one of the interior dis tricts; there was Mr. Marvin, a private clcrgy mnn, an unpiolesoional man, and a true man, but largely influenced by these more cultivated men, who had tilled larger places before tho public gaze. There was Mr. Humphreys, who died during Contrress, from the Brooklyn dis trict, and these men had all been trained, as it were, at the ieet of that once great and glorious, but now lallen statesman, William H. Seward. They had followed his lortunes through good and evil report, from boyhood fill they were upon the downhill of life. They had counselled with that other arch apostate, whose crratetul heart overflowed with gratitude lor Andre Johnson lor having saved the country by his 2'2d of February speech, Thurlow Weed. (Laughter.) There was another man from the editorial chair of that widely-circulated journal the New York Times. "Tiiere were questions of doubt and difliculty before these men, and it was asking them to be more than men to ask thi m boldly to turn aud denounce those whoso lead they had followed, and with whom they had taken counsel lrom the time they had en teied into the political arena or hud understood political subjects. I could point you to United States Senators all ihrough the upper House, upon whose proper decision ot that one question, "Who shall reconstruct the States, and who has the power 1" depended as 1 have, 1 think, already stated the entire future welfare of the coun try. Do you afik me where you can tind tuo philosophy that guided the House? whose teachings they followed ? Yd, I can tell you where you can find the philosoohy embodied, but I cannot tell whose tcacuiu'gs they tol lowed. A great book is a thing of a century. We don't get many great books, thoug-h we get a great many booss. In 1.NC2 Sidney Ueorco Fisher, L'sq., ot Philadelphia, puoltshed one of tl.e most remarkable books ol our country. Sidney George Fisher, Ksq , a lawyer of Phila delphia, who made no pretension to practise at the bar, published iu 18(i2 a book called "The Trial ot the Constitution." He who will read the book will find embodied in it the philosophy which pervaded all the final action ot the Thirty-ninth Congress. No man has studied the highest expo.-dtioo. of the Constitution of the land who has not read this work. In it are the theories w hich controlled Coagrcss, and I say to you with solemn truth that until within the last two months 1 know no single member of Coneresa, save myself, who has carefully read that book. Mr. Fusher em bodied in elegant style, though marked by some evidence of haste, all the theories which enabled Congress to grasp and grapple with the great subjects before it, w hich brought it and the country through. (Applause.) Congress having assumed that it was its duty to rtcoustruct the Mates, went quietly on with its outy, and that was to protect tue Uuiou men of both colors in the South. Murk the position. Andrew Johnson and the Democracy of the North claimed that there were States there, but Congress quietly said, "JVo ! There is only conquered territory." It did not agree upon its terms, tor men who voted with us every time protested that it was not conquered territory, aud would run into an angry discussion on the question w hether the Stales were in or out of the Union, but, as if Piovidence had thorn by the hand, though their theories would lead them otherwise, w hen they came to vote tue majoiity always voted practically for tho Terri torial bill. You may scan all the votes of the Thirty ninth Congress, and jou may find in the dis cussions of those who voted, that they often vctea m harmony with the theory that taey w ere couquered territory and must be governed by the military arm oi the country. (Applause.) It was K.nicrson, 1 think, who said, "Thev builded belore they knew how." They developed a theory by executing it m advance. "The Freedmens Bureau was an agency by which they could protect the Southern people. A bill was passed for its enlargement; it had beeu my pn ih-ge to be a member of the com mittee to frame the original bill, and to stand second on the committee oi the Thirty-ninth. Congress. Well, the Dill came to the President lor signature. It was vetoed, and you remem ber how the heart ot the country'sank. on its entering the Senate again, this bill became a law, notwithstanding the objections of the President. Meanwhile the sentiment flew from the extremity of the couutry into the centre. The constituencies spoke no longer endorsing his policy, but demanding that Congress should protect every man born of woman iu the South, and the moral lorce of the country flowed Into Congress, and flowed into the Senate, and when the President vetoed the Civil Rights bill, and it came belore Congress again, it passed with out consideration by more than two-thirds in both HousC3, and the heart and hopes of the country were reassured. (Applause.) The Freedman's Bureau bill was then taken up and modified slightly, so that it should not be the same bill, but another, and sent again to the President. It was vetoed, and the heart and voice of the couutry spoke through the Senate, and It became the law of the land. (Applause.) But it did nothing to subdue Andrew Johnson. Itdidnothlnc to subdue tho people of the South. They went on persecuting wnne im men. Northern imen, and negroes. Why, the game laws of England arTord better protection to the hunted hare than the laws ot these so, called Southern States gave to the free Ain en can cltizeus enfranchised by the Civil Rignts Governor Hamilton came to us from Texas, tellmg us ot hundreds of murders. Men would write write to us, usinir slips of paper, wuue men who hud not been kDowu during tne war as Unionists would write to us, using slips ot paper, and bury theui in an old newspaper, and direct them to us. Postmasters were even airaid of their own clerks, afraid to let uo people know that they were corresponding w tu a radical in Congress. (Applause.) And that illustrates the freedom and security that was given to the Union men and the negroes, who felt the throb of American hearts m their bosoms when they heard their country's call. (AI!Xw' Johnson swung around the circle. (Laughter.) He had no doubt but tnat Cou cress had ruined Itself. He had no doubt that hS thi Thirty-ninth Congress came together he would bo sustained by tho people of the NorTh, m union with the people of the South, lu driving Confess from Its halls. It maybe said that that is a statement which annot bo sustained, if the trial ol Andrew Johnson on the charges ot high crimes preferred against him ever takes place. (Great applause.) If it does not take place, it will be beeauso thre jg B p0Wer that cau suborn witnesses, thoug-h it could not suborn the people and the Congress ot the United States. As there are many views known to each one of ns which we cannot prove, so I know many things which 1 cannot prove as absolutely as I know those things which I can demonstrate; and it may be that, while a majority ot Congress know that Andrew Johnson has been guilty of higb tind impeachable crimes, that they jcay not proceed to try him, because ho tans power to Mi born those who Could testily as to fact-, fjet me go to our own cHv. On the bint elec tion day In October, or rather the morning after election, the Daily Jicwa contained an ai tide which was to bo the first of a series, entitled, "Can the Prenident prorogue Con ereis?" It wss evidently wntten belore the election news came in. VeJI, it admitted that the President had no strict constitutional right to prorogue Conarcss; but it assertal that Abraham Lincoln had several times saved the nation by doing that which wa not wntten in the Constitution, and that, if the President cl ally saw that if he could not save the Union with Congress acting, it would be his duty to save the Union by driving Conirress out, and saving the Union without Congress, and he pro mised that the next article should show now it would be done, but that uext article never appealed. (Applause.) On the October night that we gathered in such numbers in front of tho Union League, to hear what the people of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Iudiana bad been doinc. Andrew Johnson was in the Executive Chamber, at the White nouse, nearingonty lrom his parasites and satel. litcs. lie was hearinc that tho maiorit.v in Berks county was largely swollen ; and he was hearing tnm me f irst Congressional District In Philadelphia was rolling up a majority which was ternlyihgto Union men; and when hp re tired for the night, he congratulated his friends upon the endorsement or his policy by the leo(!i. In that same spirit this article saw dnvli.rht as c:id the one in the Boston Mercury, a paper then just established lor the sustenance ot the John son cause; and m that same spirit hnd Andrew Johnson prepared those Interrogatories to his Attorney-General which appealed in the l'ublic iAUnr, and wnicn were subsequently denounced as the Lnlqrr hoax. These nuestions were nre. pared in the White House, and were meant to be put, and would nave been nut it the election in question had sustained Andrew Johnson ami his policy. They weru in harmony with every utteiance he made lrom the platform of a car wuiie swinging around the circle from wash mgion ro m. j,oms and irotn St. Louis buck to ashineton. Iheywerein unison with all the utterances made to southern men. They were in accordance with the shrewd editorial of the Jjaily A'eus of Philadelphia, on the morning alter election, w hich was but the first of a series ine second ana third ot which i hope to see, at least in manuscript, ns partof the secret hii- tory of a conspiracy to overthrow the Govern. mentofthe United States. (Applause.) The Committee appointed to devie means of reconstruction had not completed its work at the end ot six months, ajid when it reported a measure, it was not a measure of reconstruc tion; it was the preliminary measure of recon struction; it was to guard the country against the repudiation of the public debt, and it was to guard the country against the assumption of the Conlederate debt; it was to protect that broad, beautiiul, aud tertile territory stretch ing from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, which had been drenched in patriot and Rebel b'ood, from double taxation first, for the payment of the national debt ; second, for the paymeut of the Conlederate debt. For it provided that no State should ever pay the debt it had con tracted m aid of the Confederacy. It was to secure equal civil rights and equal political power, and it received the sympathy and cor dial support of every true man. ' When that Fection was read which cives the Southern States, when they should be recon structed, the right to exclude their colored people. I expressed my irrevecable hostility to the proposition, and others did the same. (Applause.) Yet when the final test came I voted for that measure; I sent it before the country, and 1 spoke to the people of the couutry on the political condition; aud why did 1 revoke that which I regarded as irrevocable, and advocate that which I loathed lrom my inmost nature, the doctrine that the United Statea could embody in its fundamental law a dfcree that a State might disiranchise any por tion of its citizens? Why? because I saw, as others bad seen, that in the Republican party, let the past be what it may, tuat it was the great party ot our country tor the future; and because I saw in the risiug tide of public senti ment through the couutry, that no States could be organized in the South on any other basis thun that of human equality, recognizing man as man, and investing every man with the full enjoyment of all civil and political rights. (Appluuse.) Thus w hen the session of Congress adjourned, it had asserted its control over the question of reconstruction. It has passed two laws, one tor providing the people of the South with food, seed, employment, andschools; another assert ing the equal civil rights of all; and had sub mitted to the country, as an amendment to the Constitution, a provision which opened the way for jud icious icconstruction. Now let meehowjoti something of the pro gress of the country. The lirst bill submitted to the Thirty-ninth Congress was submitted oy the representative of the Fourth District of Pennsylvania, upon the Bubject of suffrage in tue Distiict of Columbia. (Applause.) Audit proposed simply to stiike out the word "white" lrom any law, whether of Maryland or Virgi nia, or of any ordluance ot the cities of Wash ington aud Georgetown, that regulated suffrage; in other word", it proposed to give every colored man iu the District the right to vote, it was lelerredto the Judiciary Committee, and was referred back without modification, and when it came into the House there were motions to mouity it. Some gentlemen wanted to admit all who could read the Constitution. Some wanted to admit only those who could read and write, while some wanted the property qualifi cation. There was nearly one-half of the Republican party who shrank from their own principles, and were afraid to apply thm, by emphatically declaring that, under the flag that waved over the dome of our Capitol, every man was a five citizen, eligible to all the rnrbu and all the honors ot the country. (Applause.) And it wi.s adroitly moved to refer the bill to a com mittee, with instructions to put in some of these qualifications. Now, my iellow-citizen, like David Downs, we were veiy near to danger, even to death. Yet we did not seem to know it. If the Demo crats had voled to recommit that bill, it would have been recommitted. They held the oalauco of power between the two wings of the Repub lican party, und they wanted to do the worst thing they could. There is a power that resem bles alike the wrath .and lolly of man for his glory. And they said, We will make this bill so dlstastelul to the Republicans that they shall themselves vote it down. We won't recommit it. We will vote for absolute, unqualitied negro suffrage. (Applause.) On the question, "Shall the bill be recom mitted, with instructions ?" there were a few radicals on the Democratic side eneaged iu conversation. I remember I was engaged with an eminent poet and statesman, Jack Rogers, of New Jersey. (Applause.) My old friend Stevens had put his cane under his arm, aud was engaged with two or three gentlemen. The vote being by tellers, when they reported it a small number passed over, but when the other side passed over you would have thought it was the August Convention. The Democrats defeated the recommitment of the bill. There you have It, gentlemen, simply, Shall every citizen vote irrespective oi color ? Is man a man ? Do you entertain the republican faith ? It you do, go it. If you don't, political damna tion awaits you. (Tremendous applause.) When the ayes aud nays were called, every man on that side said aye. (App!aus.) Then, they said, "You have got us there !" Others shook their lists at the Democrats, and said, "You made us do right, and we will let our constituents know wo would not have done right had you net made us I" You ask me, Who was In that Congress that compared with Webster or with Clay iu debate? I ask you, who was in the opposition to pro voke diseusBiou at its hands? There was not a single speaker of marked ability on the Deal o cratic side; and to wrangle among ourselves would have been rather unworthy work, when other matters were pressing upon or attention. I know not that any man in the Hou6e or in tbe Senate could have compared with either; and on the other hand, 1 know not that either of them could have made the admirable report of William Pitt Ptsttndei), in submitting the re port on PectitiHtrtielion. Kach star has its own tlorv, and start rtitler to dory. 1 know thi', that had tho Kiatesmnn or in,u. nnd from ttat time till 18.r(i, looked to tho futiire, and when a measure was proposed, aked what will be the eomeqicnce of this measure, and then bren governed by right and O'", as were the men of the Thirty-niuth Con MCi k, we should not have had this war, and fieetiom would lona ago have been tho law of the land. (Applause.) For thirty years our legislation did but re rcho tlie d, c ation of the seltish politicians of the land but in the Thirty-ninth Congrc-s there was a picponderating power of men who saw duty, who saw justice, who teciunlzed a great duty find, to the country and then to God, and who remembeied that there was nothing so tisciul to the country as men, and nothing so dear to God as llis children boldly legisla ting for the weliare of men and Justtce was on all questions the controlling test. In the Thirty-ninth Congress was what will be se en and acknowledged as the moral effect of thiB law, and I challenge the record of ihp Thirty-ninth Congress in comparison with any other in that behalf. I sav that Congress had in it more men ot far-reaching insight and judg ment, more men of trained courage that conr aee which enables a man to conquer, not his adversary ouly, but himself, to yield his own convictions, to yield his own aspirations, to bury himself, as it were, and as tlie common sol dier does, as one of a great army, achie.vlug a nieastirt than auy other convocation ot which 1 have ever rend. Its great difliculty was not In the courage that it showed in dom?, but the courage that it showed in hearing tkrouirh this long session of tne 1 hirty-ninth, when every paper that came in to any ot us contained no word of praise, but niHny words ot censure. e were slow, we were wa-ting our time in idle talk, when we ought to be up and doing. e were not impeaching, we were l.ot overthrowing the Governors. But we were at work gathering information from the freed ni en, from persons who were native i nionists, irom every source trom winch in lormation could be drawn, and our doings and reports have been carried to the country. The Fortieth Congress enters upon compara tively easy work a President restrained, and the powerful enemy vanquished the second time, aud cheerfully accepting tho conditions imposed upon it. It is a great and hh able body ot men. it win make its own marlc; and had the Thirty-ninth Congress decided the point. that under the Constitution the President should reconstruct the States, the story of the Fortieth Congress would not have been what it was, or what it will be; and I doubt whether there would ever again beeu an assembling of the ortietn congress. (Applause.) NEW PUBLICATIONS. AGENTS WANTED FOR THE MOST EXCITIXOJ AND ISTEUESTINU BOOK Oi' THE DAY. (iCSKBAL Jj. C. RAKFR'N ItlSTOKY OF tiik nk(ki:t skiiyui; ' This history wbh Bnnounced one year uko, but owln:; to the Hltcuii'lH of tho Uuveriiment to suppress ii, lia publication was deluyen. It will now he ixsued, un altered and unubriiiKed, under the supervision of General Hhkct. It contains a lull unit oiheml expose ot tlie intricate iiiachmulioua of the sectet enemies ot the Union. i- or siartlliiK developments and thrilling adventures, this hook eclipses Ihe lumous ex uei lenceH ol i'OlX'lUs mid YIDOIU. The marvellous narratives ot Gene ral linker are nil attested by the highest odlclal autho rity, it will contain tlie ouly lltcial history or the Assassination conspiracy. A full history of this great, sturtllnK, aud terrible crime, , FKOM ITS CONCEPTION IN THE HAUNTS OF VILLANY TO THE BUItlAL TlACE OF BOOTH, hns never yet been placed before the public The work also fully exposes the nelarions system by which Presidential pardons were and are so readily ohtuiuud at Waxhincton. The moralB of the National Capital are thoroughly ventilated, and there ure Home strange revelations concerning heads of departments, member of C'on gresH, lemale pardon brokers, and dlsliiiKuitdied mili tary characters. For full descriptive circulars, terms, and all particu lars, address P. GAKRETT A. CO.. 3 21iu No. 702 CHESS UT Street. Philadelphia. HOOP SKIRTS. f)Q HOOP SKIRT?. f)Q UZO JjAtest ktyle, just out. DZo LE PETIT TKA II., lor the Promenade, 2'i yards round, the CHAMPION TKAIL, lor the Drawing room. 3 yards round. '1 hene Skirts are lu every way the most desirable that we have heretofore ull'ered to the public; also, complete Hues of Ladies', Misses', and Children's Plain and Trail Hoop Skirts from ti to 4 yards in cir cumlen nee, of every lenxth, all of"our own make," wholesale and retail, and warranted to give Bulisluo tion. Constantly on hand low-priced New York niBde Skirts. 1'lhiu and Trail, 'ill sprinns, Wj eeuts; ioapriugs, fl: HO springs, l'lu; and 10 springs. 1T5. Skirts made to order, altered. ana repaired. Call or Bend lor Circular of style, siieu, and prices Wanuluclory and Salesrooms, No. (KM AliCH Street 1263m WILLIAM T. HOPKINS. COAL. rpiIK GENUINE EAGLE VEIN, THE CELE- uraieu i-ivi'.iuiN, ana tue pure naru tiKr.liiA WOOD COAL, i:gg and Siove. sent lo all parts ol the city at f ,-6o per ton; superior LEHKiJl at fi-75. Each of the above articles ure warranted to give per feet satisactlou in every rspect. Orders received at No. 1M S. Till KD Street; Emporium, No. 114 WASH INGTON Aveuue. 4 QOALI COALl COAL! J. A. WILSON'S (Successor to W. L. Fculk.) I.EmcUt AND fclllUX JLKII.L. FAMILY COAL YARD KM. 1517 CALLOWIIILL NT., P1IIJLA. Attention Is called to nay HONEY BROOK LEIUUII and RK-liUOKEN SCH V VLXILL. both superior and unsurpassed Coal, Coal aud Preparations beat lu the city, 9 250m QARLOY'S INDIGO BLUE, PUT IP AT AVILTBEKGEH'S lHU'G STOKE, KO. CU3 KOBT1I KK OM .STKEET, PHILADELPHIA, Will fr,nr tnnran n.- .1 - .. ..... -,.. niuu iour times the same amount or ordinary ludfgo. IT 18 WARRANTED TO GIVE SATISFACTION, It Is retailed at the sameCprlce as the Imitation and interior nicies. , 3m H A S T I N C ' S COMPOUND SYHUP OP N APT II A CURES CONSUMPTION. SOLD BY ALL DRUGGIbTS. i DTOTT A CO. AGENT, 1m No. 339 North SECOND Slrttt. r'llhttiht, bEDDING, ETC TO II O U SEKEEriillS. 1 have Urge Btock of very variety ol FURNITURE, v Which I will sell at reduced prices, constwlriff of PLAIN AMI MA RULE TOP coll AuE ftCiTS. WALNUT CHAMHEIl SlillB, OV11U, PAHL.H SCIlt IN Yn.LVh1' PLUSH. PARLOR SC11S IN JiAlRCLOIML PARLOR Sl'lTH IN REUS. SlilelMmrils. Extension Tallies, Wwdrobe. Book, cases, MatlresHes, Lounges, etc. etc, P. P. UVNTIXE, 1 N. E. corner SECOND and RACE Street ESTABLISHED 1705. A. S. ROBINSON, French Plate Lonklns-Classes, ENGKAVJSC8, PAINTINGS, LRAWISG3 ETC. Kanufecturer ot all kindj oi LOOKESG-GLASS, F0K1KA1T, AND PICTTBX FRAZLE3 10 0KDE3. No. OlO CIIESNUT STREET, THIRD DOOR A ROVE TUE CONTINENTAL, I'UILAIlKl.l'UIA. 316 LUlVibth, 1867rAL?Nl,IITE riNK B0A8 choice panel and ii com mon, ia feet lonr. .n,...V; M. t, 1!, 8, and 4-iucll " T. H H fc PI N E. p a N PATTERN PLANK. LA ROE AM) MLPER1UK STOCK ON HAND.1 . 1867 -ftF, IhR 1 K G 1 BUILDING LUMBER I LUMBER! LUMBER; IM CAROLINA ELOOR1NU. 4-4 HELAVVA RK FLOORING. 6-4 1)1 LA WARE I'LOORINli WIlilEPlNE H.OORLNU. A!H l l.OUKlNli. WALNUT ELOORINO, bPRUCK FLOOR I SU. bTEP RO J)jj. RAIL PLaNK. PLAK1ERINO LATH. 1867, -CEDAR Kit I 'l ilk M AND CYPKEb l.ON'H I'I,'!IA"R. kniwriTfa (SHORT CKliAK eHlNOLES, COOPER 511 INOLES. FINE ASMjRTMENT I-OK BALE LOW. No. 1 CEDAR LOO AND Pool si. 1 R(V7 -LFJIBER FOR UNDERTAKERS J-VJU I . LUMBER FOR UNDERTAKER! RED CEDAR, WALNUT, AND PINE "I Rfi7 ALBANY LUMBER OF ALLKINDt XUU I ALBANY LLMRER OF ALL KINDS, hEAf-ONED WALNUT. CRY POPLAR. CHERRY, AND A8H. OAK PLANK AMI BOARDS, MA1K UAN Y, ROSEWOOD. AN I) WALNUT VENEER9. 1 R(K7 -CiGAR-EOX MANUFACTURERS lOUl . CTOAR-ROX. MANUFACTURERS. M'ANIH CEDAR BOX ROARDfc). 1 Rf V7 -STRUCE JOIST! SrRUCE JOIST -LOU I . SPRUCE JOlhT! FROM 14 TO $ FEET LONG. SUPERIOR NORWAY HC'ANTLING. MA I'LE, BROTH Kit CO.. 1122fimrp No. 2o0 SOUTH bTREET. pp H. WILLIAMS, LUMBER MERCHANT, SEVENTEENTH AND Sl'IUNG GARDEN STREETS OFFERS A Sl'PERIOK STOCK OF MJLDLNG LUMBER AND HAKD WOODS, 3 81inwlm Snitulile for the Spring Trade. J, C. P E K K I N S, LUMBER MERCHANT, Successor to R Clark, Jr., NO. 324 CHRISTIAN STREET. CcrstuEllv un baud, a laigo and varied aetortuient RuUuInk Lumber. ROOFING. OLD SHINGLE ROOFS (FLAT OR MTEKP) COVER ED W ITH JOHN'S ENOLLSH ROOFINO CLOTH, ' And coated with LIQUID GUTTA PKRCHA PAINT, milking them ticrtectlv water-proof. LKAKY GRAVF;L ROOFS repaired with Outta Percha faint, and wurrunted for live yearn. LEAKY KLATil ROOF8 coated with liquid whioh becomes as hard a slute. TIN, COPPER, ZINC, or IRON coated with Llauid Guttapercha at siuall expense. Costrani?lu from oue to two cents per square loot. Old Hoard 01 Shingle Roots teu cents per square foot, aU complete Materials constantly on Land and lor sale bv th PHILADELPHIA AND PENNSYLVANIA ROOFi 1NO COMPANY'. GEORGE HOHART, 11 2 m No. 230 N. FOURTH btreet. XL O O I IX & . OI.n KII!VOI.E FOOTS, FLAT OR STEEP I Hl'lll (U I T.4 1'I K( II4 K4MF l;- .'! II, Hixl coaled with I.lti ll 4JUTT4 I'KltlUA I'AINT, inukiug them perleutly watoi proof. LKAKY CRATFE, ROOFR repaired with GutK Perrlitt Pinnt, aud warranted lor live years, LUKV KLA'Ii; K4HI1M coated with LlqaM Gntiu I'lTi'lm Paint, which bironies as hard as slute. ' For T1N, l"l'i;iC,Z.l.NC,und IKOM ItOOFt this Paint is the ur jlu ultra of all otner protection. It forms a perfectly impervious covering, completely reslms the action of the weather, aud constitutes thorough protection against leaks by rust or other wise. Price only from one to two cenia per square f"xix and GRAVEL BOOFISIO done ot the Shortest notice. Material constantly on hand and for sale by the JMASlIiOTJut JKOOt'l.VU OMIANY. ltl.CUI.t .V H I KETT, I 21 6m No. 80 GREEN Street. No. 1101 CHKSNUT Srreet. E. 111. NEEDLES & CO., In opening their NEW STORE at this loca tion, will add acompletelludif 110LTE -FURNISHING URV GOODS- If MUlt A CI N 9 mm:n, NAPKIXN, TABLE CLOTHS. KTO. LTC, OF THEIR OWN IMPORTATION. yHE NEW BANKRUPT LAW E. II. TIIARP, ATTORNEY AND COUNS ELLOR-AT-LA W, No. 82 B. THIRD Street, J Will devote special attention to the prosecution ol IV?.J -1?, ,Vr"UJ COMPULSORY proceeding lu BANKRlrlCl. AGENCIES In all the large cities In the United Bttttes. 3lia T. STEWART BROWN, 8.X. Corner of FOUETH nnd 0HE8TNUT BT3.- MtNurACTUHUB Or TRUNKS, VALISES, and BAGS auitabU for EujopB Travol. (Formerly tt 708 CHESTNUT ST.) . M Mi JOB timiV .SL&La.J SO t
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