THE RIVET OF I SOLDIERS TO
VOTE.
THE NEW JERSEY COPPERHEADS
AGAINST IT.
SPEECH OF HON• P. C. BRINK
IN FAVOR OF IT.
The - bill to, provide for authorizing the
soldiers of New Jersey to vote was de
kited in the Legislature by a strict party vote,
an the Democrats voting against it and all the
Republicans in favor of it. The following able
speech by a true Union man, Hon. P. C. Brink,
delivered in the House of Assembly, on Wed
nesday last, will be read with interest. •
Ms. SITAR= : I rise to second the motion of
The gentlemanfrom Burlington (Mr. Iricki; and as
I advocate tae adoption of the minority report, I
desire to approach this great question for so .1 re
gard it) of allowing the soldier to vote. 1 would
do it in an unimpassioned manner. You and I,
Zr; Speaker, are interested in it; each gentleman
somprising this honor' , ble boc y is interested, with
the thousands of our constituency throughout the
State, as shewn by the 25, 000 names who
have petitioned at our hands the passage of a bill
extending the right of suffrage to the soldier. We
cannot, if we would, close our eyes to the fact that
tai are Interested. I therefore propose to discuss
this question, calmly and dispassionately.
There are periods in tt.e history of a nation, when
from its centre to its circumference, in every de
• partment and class of society, from the poor man's
cot to the mansion of the rich, the high and the
low, the learned and the unlearned, the young and
the old, questions arise which agitate all alike;
and that man is not wise who attempts to hedge up
' the way, as he may have his personal objections,
and thus endeavor to prevent the free and full ex
pression of sentiment upon a subject around which
so much interest centres. If such a course, by the
opponents of a measure, can be carried through in
'Europe, it cannot in this country, of Bibles, schools,
and the teeming pre's, tutted by speech so free and.
utrameled, as frequently to run into licentious-
ness.
There is one question which has been agitating
The public mind in every porticn of our great
Northern States, including the Middle and Bor
der, for the last three years--and that is, the right
of the soldier to vote.
The principal objection which has been given is,
Its alleged unconstitutionality and their special
pleading and combat against imaginary difficul
ties which have been made for the occasion. I shall
Simply reply to the former by saying that the At
torney-General of the State (who is the legal ad
viser in all questions which arise as to the constitu
tionality of any measure), on this quest -Lon, has
decided that it is perfectly constitutional. And
here our responsibility ends, as any further gime
tions should be left for the courts to decide; and
With this single remark—that gentlemen cannot
hide themeeiv,es behind the flimsy ipse digit of such
as ate unable to give en opinion upon a much sim
pler questidn than this—l leave this part of the
subject and proceed to the main question, as I urge
the adoption of the minority report, which is very
full and complete and the reasoning conclusive.
We have the legal opinion of the constitutional
adviser of the State of New Jersey upon this ques
tion. I shall therefore proceed to argue the ques
tion in the following order:
Rid. It is but even-handed justtce to the men who
have gone out from their homes to protect us. who
have remained behind with our friends, andhave
known but little of the sorrows and hardships
borne by our noble citizen soldiers. And shall we
say to our proportion of the million of soldiers who
are thus engaged, ~y ou may as volunteers, or must
as conscripts, fight, but you shall not help to make
the laws," and so shape the policy of the nation,
you have thus far, under God's good providence,
saved—by the perils of an hundred battle•felds I
think a majority in this chamber will hardly dare
deny the soldier what they and their friends by
thousands demand at their hands.
2d. It is their right while they fight for their coun
try to save its very being, if, during the progress of
the conflict, grave and important questions arise,
which in their moral effect agitate the country to
an unparalleled degree, and are to produce a great
moral as well as physical revolution, that their will
shall be made known at the ballot box. Certainly
they have a right to participate in the great moral
combat, even to a greater extent than we who have
remained at home. Some of these questions come
-under the head of the Emancipation Policy—the
suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, the employ
ployment of colored soldiers and sailors, the Con
tacation acts, the National Currency, &c.,&c. And
who shall dare to say they shall not have the privi
lege and 'shall not be allowed to vote—either to
sustain these acts, or to blot them out—and also to
Sustain the men and measures brought forward, or to
send them back from whence - they came, and put
others in their places?
Ishall only have time to speak of some of these'
measure;; and in order to bring them fairly before
this body, in making up my argument I shall have
to look into the causes which brought out these
great questions, and the necessity which required
these measures to be put into operation. And while
I take a hasty glance at the past, I , shall endeavor
to be as brief as the circumstances will warrant.
I adopt the oft rep eatea theory, that but for the
division of sentiment among ns in the north, we
should have crushed out this rebellion more than
twelvemonths ago,w hen the hundreds of thousands
of our citizen soldiers would have returned home,
and this question never have come before as.
I desire to review the course of events since the
advert into power of the present administration as
we have seen, and marked their course, and now
that the smoke is lifted off many of its moral as
Well as physical battle fields, or, as we have left
ifs more immediate excitements. and are not now
an the midst of conflicting elements, we are able in
an unpassioneci manner to approach the question,
not as bitter partisans, but as the Representatives
Of an old and honored State of the original thirteen,
whose soil has been enriched by the b: ood of hon
ored martyrs in revolutionary days—Princeton,
Monmouth, Trenton, Red Bank, where was
obtained the Independence sought and suffered for,
and thus became part of the Great Republic, one
among the family of nations and began our march
of prosperity, which has made us the wonder of the
World,and for the preservation of which we are now
engaged, in a struggle as unparalleleci4s has been
our prosperity, and success,even so far in the con
flict. 1 say, as the honored represenynives of
such a State, though small territorially, yet in all
the elements of prosperity, added to our revolu
tionary fame, we are great, and occupy a proud
place in the national galaxy. So much by way of
parenthesis.
Ist. In this order, comes that much abused, and
slandered man, Abraham Lincoln, who in Novem
ber, 1660, was constitutionally elected to the high
andresponeible position of President of the United
States of America.
This c
fat, of his elevation in a perfectly cronsti
tutional, and therefore legitimate. manne, has
not been called into question, for a single mo-
Ment, even by the insurgents now in arms.
It has never been alleged that fraud was used, or
that violence prevented the honest expression of
the voter at the ballot box, when the several can
didates for the office were before the sovereign peo
ple of the United States for their suffrages.
We, therefore, leave this and come to the main.
point, and ask our citizen soldiers to aid us in de
ciding questions which are viewed so differently.
'Why is, and has our honored President been made
the mark, not only - for rebels and insurgents to
" hurl their poisoned shafts at Why has the en
deavor been made to lower him in the eyes•
- 41 , the other Governments of the world and even
in our very midst, by our own fellow. citizens?
why has. the very language, borrowed from the
- vilest rebel sources, *been used with such evident
gusto and pleasure, if not for the purpose of in
. juring him and his advisers at the
- very threshold of. his and their labors, when the
glory-of our beloved country appeared to be de
- parting from us, and & tlchabod' written upon the
• : pillars of our boasted Temple of Liberty; and as a
- Nation We about to become a ttby-word—ahissing
. —and. reproach" among the nations with whom
welled but recently stood up proudest and fore
most? aek - why was thds? I almost wish that
for consistency sake, and for the credit of our poor,
Weak, erring _humanity, there were reasons for
this; but there.are none; not a good legitimate rea
' eon can be brought forward, and none have been
found bold and bad enough, except when in their
own midst, to argue the question. Everything
said has been simply denunciatory of this, that
or the other act, without proposing any other plan
that was within the range of possibility or practi-
Acability.
I shall only repeat what has gone into history,
but this becomes necessary in the elucidation of
this subject, and I shall therefore crave ho indul
' .gence of this honorable body through you,
Speaker, as I hastily revert to the few plain factS
containedtherein.
Within a few days, say in December, succeeding
10 . the previous month of November, when the
' Presidential contest was decided, after Mr Lin"-
toln was announced as President elect of the
United States, South, Carolina passed an ordinance
of. Secession, followed by other States, and these
by other treasonable acts, even.weeks before his
.. inauguration, and while the political party was
yet in power who were in sympathy with the spi
sit of Secession. While a small garrison of our.
ID one of the lot tresses of the United States
were suffering for food. and an unarmed merchant
anan laden with food approached, she, was fired
into by another fort that had been already seized
by the insurgents, and the Star of the West re
' tuned without having accomplished its mission
of mercy—this vessel having been loaded and sent
out not by Mr. Lincoln, but by President pa
shanan. Days rolled shortly by—fear and appro.-
beside° was written upon every face, growing out
e this and tit hundreds of other Initiatory acts,
'upon the past t the insurgents. A financial Nude
."
THE DAILY. IDI
EVFNING ULLE
Item place and its terrible ploughshar
had 'fa e
marked deep and long furrows into the weal. h of
the eorrtmercial and manufacturtng interes,s of our
lhnd, aid mnny beantlfnl snpers.ructures that
stoodihe storms of all the ordinary and preceding.
•commercial panics, tottered and tell, and, the labor
and toil of a general. n was gone In _an hiar, and
the hapless Eufferers and thoir thornis of de-.
pendents wanted bread. Oh! the unutterable oaf
ferings of the fall, and winter, aud- spring, and
summer of 1680 and 1661
The time drew near for the President elect to
enter upon his duties, by taking upon him the
awful oath of office at, this most momentous period
in the history of, the nation.
Before proceeding further, 1 would ask each
man composing this honorable body to lay
for a short season, , every feeling but that of man
for man, and ponder upon and enter into sympa
thy with this man,Abraham Lincoln. Who, ot ail
the honored ones, from George Washingchn down,
that have occupied the Presidential chair, ever
knew or felt a tithe of the alternations of hope and
fear that roust have ffilest the breast of this man 1
Never in the world's history, as far as we have
any record, was a man called upon to fill such a
position in the governmei. t of a great nation as
this, the chosen servant of the American people,
was about to assume.
He left his Western home on his way to the city
of Washington. and in his various addresses to toe
thousands that greeted him and bade him Goa
speed. all his utterances were those ox a concilia
tory character, utterly disclaiming all intention of
interfering with the "peculiar institution'' of
American Slavery, and pledging himself tea', so
far as his acts were concerned, nothing upon hie
part should be done to impair the rights of the
South in their slave property; this was repeated
and reiterated again and again and again. He
arrives in Philadelphia and proceeds on hi,
way to Harrisburg. On the following mid day
the intelligence flashes over the wires from the ex
treme North to the farthest South, and from the
Atlantic to the Western wilds, that the Preinenl
elect of the United. States, white on his way b.
Washington, as he neared the territory when'
Slavery held its sway, had proceeded by a, Melt:
train from the capital of the State of Pennsylvania
to the capital of the' United States,disgui,ed in a
military cloak and Scotch cap hat for'? - Why
has he changed his manner of travel l It was not
because time was so precious, as It was yet tw,,
weeks before the 9th of March. Why this singuta:
and undignified mode of travel 'I
While other stains in our country's history,
brought on by bad men; were deep, no pieviou,
crime equaled this, which, So far as intention cool,:
make it, was an act of assassination of the
Pre. i
dent elect of the United States, in the. first city ii,
the region devoted to Slavery. The night trip a-.i
taken that this crime might not be added to tile
catalogue of crimes with which the • , Thisbari,ic
of Slavery" bad cursed our country. •Thr
the active vigilance of the honored Winfield Scot,
this deed was not consummated. All honor TO bi
name and patriotism, and may it be embalmed in
the hearts of the people to the latest days of ta-
Republic.
The day for the inauguration of _the Presiden ,
finally arrived—his Inaugural address is given
the nation. Re there strongly disclaims all Intel,
tion of interfering with the eculiar instlt uT len. ' •
Be aroma the quettion in ins own straigt. t-forersr.!
manner, he pleat a with the insurgents our
Beeches them as an elder brother, as a symptiL
log Sadler, not to bring ruin on themselves .Tec.
their children. bays move slowly on—treason
belches ffrth its venom—reports mite upon the
wings of ever wind et warlike preparations Ilpou
l
the part of e insurgents. The murning of var
13th of April - comes with its accustoms.' beatry,
but by mid-day the telegraph wire informs we
worla that war has commenced and Fort Sumter.
occupied by Major Anderson and his starving gar
rison of ehree-score men, has bees fatiteked
7,000 rebels, and, alter a resistance of 36 hours
the flag of our nationality is trailed In the dart.
while the rebel hordes raise a shout of victory, far
the onthern heart has been fired." and that
they humiliate the mudsills of the North. Tilt:.
was followed within a week by the murder of our
citizen soldiers, while passing through the large.:
city within the limits of slavery, on their way to
the protection of the Capital of the 'United States;
and the streets of Baltimore, are stained with lb,
blood of the martyrs of liberty, to this infernal re
bellion; next In order, the dock-yards. 'ships, awl
ship-houses of the Navy Yard at Norfolk are
flames, and $5,11,0,000 of property destroyed in an
hour. When the shout from rebeldom again goes
up, and there is great joy in the cities of South.
Here let me pause and ask—and I wi-h the
soldiers engaged in fighting to answer at the ballot
box what was to be done,
in this emergency by for
Executive of the United State, that was not dons
and as I follow him from his home, as I listen to
his words of faith and hope, as he approaches Ca
termination of his journey; as I hear him pleadin;
whenever he can obtain the public' ear, until ht.
own life is threatened by assassin beaus of
conspirators—after that immediate danger
passed, he continues to write and importune the
leaders of this rebellion not to "rash as the un
thinking horse into battle" until he addresses tor
nation in Dia inaugural. and again in that paper
avoiding every word that could be construed into
a threat, he comes before the nation, not as a sec
tional partisan ' but as the President of the Unita,.
States—as the President of all the pccptc—l agat
repeat, what could he de that he did not? Igo
fuitter—l say it with great reverence, what conk:
an angel of light, sent from above on an errand of
mercy to the rebellions, have done that was lest
undone]
I ink the soldier this question; how can I get
an answer but through his regresentativel Waat
there was left for Abraham Lincoln to do, but ca.li
for citizen soldiers to defend the national Capital
from rebel hordesl—and the facts have gone
into history that this, was only accomplished after
great labor and toil. If less had been done, We
should not have beenoccupying our places, in our
several capitals. with plenty around ns and our
Statesrepresented in the national capitol at Wasu
ington, for rebel hordes would have filled is
streets, and the middle and northern Sts es doubly
broken into fragments. Representitives of the
soldier do you doubt it]
Disaster for a time attended our arms upon land
and sea.. Conspirators were in our midst. Th..
army and navy furnished many. They were
found remaining in the Halls of Congress for over
twelve months after the war broke out. The must
secret places furnished e)es and ears to discover the
plans of our Government. Everywhere was there a
whispering gallery -re -echoi g S ate secret., un tit toe
great heart of the nation sunk within it as it iliund its
plans frustrated, and kit and labor, blood and
treasure wasted for naught. These were the dark
days of the Republic. Plans were suggested an.l
brought forward by the assembled wisdom of the
nation. The rebels were called our erring brethren,
and treated as such Soldiers, what do you think
of thisi I ask your Representatives.
Their hellish prejudices, even, were consulted,
as they were virtually askedl what they wanted,
and be:ought to return to their allegiance —e very
thing was done—or left undone according to cir
cumstances—that they might not be "alesnated,"
in the language of the remaining sympathiz,rs,
still clinging to the loaves and fist es furnished by
the general Government. Finally, the "(loads
cation Act" is brought up for consideration, and
wisely and carefully discussed—ahnist in whisper:
—but delayed and looked upon with rear, lest our
"Southern brethren" be thereby italeinated"
from us, until the defeat of the armies under
McClellan in that fatal Peninsular campaign,
where the finest army perhaps ever witnessed in
the world were driven back, and the whole cam
paign a disgraceful failure, not because of the men
but of - their leaders. Soldier, is this truth or a
fable 7 In len days after the extent of the disaster
was fully known, the Confiscation Act was passed
by CoNgresaand became the law of the land. In
that "act" It was made obligatory upon the Presl
dent, after 'giving sixty days' notice, to confiscate
the property or rebels, unless they returned to'
their allegiance. The sixty days' notice was given
by proclamation of the President. At the expira
tion of the sixty days a further period of one hun
dred days wasadded, expiring upon the first day
of January, 1863; called the Emancipation Pro
clamation," which has been the subject matter of
so much abuse and small talk about the unconsti
tutionality of the act of the President, although it
is well known that he only carried out, the act of
Congress as contained in the "Confiscation Act,'
which embodied virtually, literally, emphatically,
the "Act of Emancipation," and without which,
except to a very limited extent, the "Confiscation
Act" would have been a nuLity, and without any
of the practical results commensurate with its
importance at itat juncture. Is there a soldier
doubts this 1 The emancipation of the working
property of the rebels, not in its instantaneous re
sults in furnishing them with personal liberty,
but in its silent workings upon the thinking, reason
ing powers of the humna chattel.
Faith is one of the leading characteristics of the
f
t a
n i ttr, t fao b aom
iw e ce i t n od
s g bf
ate th h e e tisa things.
toils
b greate
hl v ios id hp e eeal n dana c wfdi e onrb o htt things not
:L a h,
o o its t
humans s t h e t Len r
p e p ' t e o tstohh that-great
n ta s : d l db s e v la o e
en
actedas
by the highest Legislative body in the land,
and orders thereby given to the highest Executive
thereof; to proclaim liberty to the slave, and that
thought working in the millions of brains. will
soon put the physical man in motion. Its eine: is
seen and feared by the so-styled owners of these
brains, and more men are required to guard them.
The men thus engaged cannot shoot down our sons
and brothers and -fathers. This is a well-known
fact to • soldiers. . If this were the only good, this
Proclamation is of priceless value,and has already
laved thousands of lives, doubtless. This, how
ever, is but a tithe of its good. It has changed the
whole sentiment of Christendom, by saying, that
although we have "tried to save the Union with
Slavery." we have now,determined to save the
Union, "Without Slavery." These are but the
lowest views to take of this great question. Its
moral aspect is its coining glory. We-have comeat
last to recognize -the right, and hasten to place our
-selves right in the eye of the Omnipotent One, and
appealing (I admit in our extremity) to the 'fudge
of all the Earth, we wipe the foul 'blot from the
other Wise fair escutcheon of our nation. Repre
sentatives of the Soldier, if you are opposed to this,
we wish to•know it.'
Oh, that was a proud day for our land, when the
. Ist of January, 1863, dawned upon us, with its
glorious Proclama , ices, and we were no' longer a
Diave nation, .and the Ring of Dahomey no longer
Lad an ally in •he I nd of Wishington. 70% that
dap ve stood b fof e. dm world and upfere Heaven,
Buve we ever stop: ed and de itherately looked at
oui selyee, as we v • Tr seen by other i.atioas in
ital. (I want beer of die smaller's friend uere.)
If we turned our ryes upon the coi_tia-mt of
Eat ope; nowle re in that centre of every .hiu..; good
as wsi l tin boo ' could we find a spot wiere st.i.ve
foot tracked the soil •
We have regarded Spain as a. sort of genii -civil-'.
]zed or bucaneering nation—and whyf Simply
because of its indirect connection with heraaa
slavery in some of its colonies; but no slave liv .d in
Spain. We min to Russia, And, regarding the
"GI eat Northern Fear" as a sort of semi-bar
barian— why,but becitu,e of its serfdom? and even
that was then giving way, to freedom of the serfs:
Notwehetanding, serfdom, in its wqrst forms and
darkest days, was..no more to be cohapared with
the accursed system of American slavery, as it
flourished with us. than the mildest apprentice
ship to the cruelty of the Algerine pirates towards
their (Animism prisoners, and for which they were
severely chastised and this piracy ended. No spot
on European soil was cursed with slavery. We
continue our search for this "sum of all villain
ies" end look into Turkey where the religion of
the false Prophet is dominant; but the slavery of
that laud is light compared with the "barbarism
of slavery as it flourishes in the middle of the
ineteenth Century, and in that land over which
the Stars and Stripes float. The dark land of
Egypt abolished slavery a quarter of a century
before. So far as any knowledge we have goes,onte
side of the continent of Africa, and a limited part
of South America, -this traffic only is found where
American slavery flourishes within the United
States of America, aided and sustained by you and
me; for I sustained it, and, before this war, as be
tween Abolitionism and pro-Slavery, I was a pro
slavery man. So strong were my sentiments is
favor of State rights, and so fearful of infringing
upon any of those rights as a Jerseyman, I took
that very convenient ground assumed by so sissy
before the outbreak of this rebellion, but held now
by softie, of conservatism, and which,rightly in
terpreted to=day, means disloyalty to our country.
When, however, it became clear that Southern
State rights meant African slavery, which, like
Lanier s vision of the Ram., with great fury gash
ing West, and North, and South,- and seeing that
it had determined to "rule or roln," / then deter
mined to wage against it a war of the bitterest has;
tility, and` expect very soon to see the day dawn
upon our noble country when its final death
struggle and burial shall be an accomplished fact.
So much by way of digression.
Let us now look at some of the results - growing
out of this much abused "Proclamation of Emus-
eipation," and now 1 would consult with the re
presentatives of the fighting man. It has been
discussed by every print in the land, and bat rem
new arguments can be used. Ido not propose to
go over that ground. My strongest arguments
are—let. That it produced such terrible consterna
tion throughout every part of rebeldom, and the
same cry was taken up by their sympathizers
scattered through the North. This has satisfied
me that if it is the "Pope's Bull against the
Comet," the "Comet's tail Is decreasing cinch
inf, length, and. the Comet itself will soon be
among the things that were. Soldier, am I correct
in my conclusions! It has produced each a revo
lution in the sentiment at Europe that even the
tebels are rapidly becoming abollitionists end pro
roisieg the slaves freedom if 0.14 will Light, and
agreeing to free their slaves 11 they can only obtain
the 'countenance of Europe. Illey are adopting
every devise and taxing their- brains far =as
method, by which they can cliennsvent us in our
glorious emancipation proclamation. I say owes,
for it has become the property of the nation, and I
glory in it. 'Witness the change that has taken
place In Europe since the commencement of Letl3.
Tne dangers that 11111111 threatened appear to have
pal sed away, and who now apprehends a. foreign
warupon the question of aiding the South ! If a
war grows out of this, or kindred questions,tt will
not he inatigurated•by aay Earopean power.
The public sentiment of the whole Christian
world is with as of the North and against that
bog - us, mongrel, abortion of a government, the
corner sums of which is slavery," in thii lan
guage of the best mar. that rebeldom can pro
duce, and that sane man, Alexander H. Stevens,
of Georgia, who lodge t spins the spirit and act
of Secession, until he wee forced into the rants,
wad: ..The South has never asked anything at the
hands of the North that has been reinsedthesa."
I again regent, the sentiment of Christendom is
with ne, and although heretofore the /corn could
point to ns as as example in justification 'of every
thing wicked and inAuswen, 'tow the lest may look
at and emulate the "Model Republic," for it is now
"The land of the free, and the home of the brave"
—and that beautiful language does not convey a
falsehood when uttered. I glory in the position we
have taken among the nations of the earth; and the
man who can say, "I am an American." bears a
nobler title .than he who said, in ancient times,
"I am aKr men citizen." A second reason would
be, and this is AV:roar one, that those parts of the
South, as fast as they are brought frOm under the
rebel rule, unite with those called Abolitionists,
and literally I .ont-lie rod-Herod" in the joy wino*
they hail all the proclamations of the President,
especially the Emancipation Proclamation. You
have heard the the language of Gen. Gaunt. of
Kansas. Again, read the proceedings of the Mary.
land Legislature, and what they have de:welly doze
—not talked about, simply. Look at the State of
Maryland in its recent Emancipation aces. •
Remember what has been done by Western Vir
ginia Anon Eaat Tennessee comes up to join with
her sister States. While Arkansas joins with the
rest, and sings with Louisiana a song of freedom,
as the smothered voice of North Carolina cries for
help.
Are we to wonder, when the poor inebriate,
who has finally reformed and is no longer a slave
to his burning appetite, having escaped from its
power, looks upon the thing that produced degra
dation,. ignominy, poverty and death. is it to be
wondered that he scorns it, and would abolish it
from the lama t And if he and his friends have
such a loathing for this, how much more, as those
of the South took upon fields of blood, towns and
cities destroyed, %%mutat:id beggary wherever man
is found, &hall they hate and acorn that terrible
cause of all their woesl and why should they not
The slave-owners of the South are only about four
per cent. of its population, viz. 300.000 of the
MO; and they 'do hate It, and all the powers
of hell and earth combined, can no more save it
than they can call back again to life the sleeptng
scores of thousands of martyred dead that enrich
the soil of a hundred battle-fields. I want the
soldier's Tote on this que,tion, and shall men be
found here battling, for what I—the cause of a
meagre four per cent. of population, who have
plunged the most beautiful land on God Almigh
ty's earth in a war, which has made its fairest
portion a vast Aceldarna, while the large ninety
six per cent. of \White men are pleading and
stretching out their hands for help, in addition to
the 4,0(10,000 of hapless blacks, whose cries have
came up into the ears of the "Lord of Sabaoth,"
who has heard their ere and came down in his
providence to deliver them. Soldiers, have you
any objection, I ask, through your representatives.l
The puny arm of man can no more stop this on
ward movement than it can pluck the sun from
the heavens, or dethrone the Almighty.
I regret '0 I end in the recent message of our Ex
ecutive, the same sentiment, so utterly void of
practicability when he says "yet wee does not be
t see that ix the emancipation policy were abandon
ed and a proclemation issued that tile sole objects of
the war were the restoration of the unity of the
nation. &c., halt a million of men would fly to
arms and conscription be a thing of the past."
I would We who does believe it I Not even
the Governor hi la Bei !
- The Emancipation Proclamation abandoned!
Without , tittering upon an arguMent, as CO its wis
dom, or justiae, or policy, or right at this mo
ncent. I ask how would you proceed to recall and
senile on it, if it were deemed best to enter upon
such a task. Perhaps our soldiers can - inform us.
The Governor at:V ; atm present p sition of affairs
is environs with difficulties, and nearly alt of
them proceed from interpolating the emancipation
policy in the conduct or the war—should not that
- policy be abandoned ? W 144 the Governor and such
as sympathize with him Indicate sonic practicable
plan of abar.doning - it 1
It is true the President could issue a counter
proclamation—am far as putting together wore, into
sentences and sentences it to paragraphs—but what
then?
I may make a deed for a certain property in due
form of law, with or without a real va.uable we
aken ation other than e t 00 in hand to me paid; it
is duty re' orded. I am induced atter a year or
more to think I did wrong in thus deeding pro
perty butt ow can that act now be recalled I I may
issue the forms necessary to call attention of the
now owner of the property to it. I think, hoWe
ever, be would pay - but little attention to
my insane efforts, anti pitying my Jolly
pass on his way; but to resume. Who are to catch
-and ;deliver back to the rebels the hundreds of
thousands who have availed themselves of their
liberty, as granted them by the highest Executive
of the land, in a law Passed by the representatives
ofihe people of the United States in Congress as
'se bled, after more than a year of delloeration,
'an two years of disaster to our arms, in so many
conflicts. Soldiers, are you willing to enter upon
- the task? How and where are they to be found?
Many thousands of them have enlisted in the mili
tary and naval service of the United States and
are engaged in putting down this rebellion, in the
place of our sons, and brothers, and fathers. Shall
you and I, Mr. Speaker, change places with them,
and disbanding them, break up our army in many
places, and 'weaken it in others; send them back
again to slavery, bondage and stripes, thus be
coming a thousandfold worse than the barbarians
of,eltrica, who only reduce to slavery
. prisoners
taken in war, or stolen from their neighbors '1
They do not disband their fighting men and reduce
them to slavery, at the instance - of a sentiment
Whicb bas its birth in perdition.
If I had a voiceof thunder that would sound in
every ear in the land, I would say to such of my
deluded teliow countrymen, as would listen—
Away from such teachers—you.have followed
them long enough.such have - led you on until
your eyes ..00k upon battle fields, the like of which
our world has neverseene you see such rich blood
flowing, as never before in such quantities en
riched battle fields ; you see an amount of desola
tion in extent, as our world never witnessed,
'because you hale listened to and followed such
IPIIILADEtpHt&, SA.TITRDAY. PRII, 9:_1864.-=-TRIPL E SIIEET.
eaclungee My soldier Ira,. ad. do I not sneak
,teeth the words of truth and soberness 7 le ask
tereenthyeur lepreseutetive. •
The war was commenced by a few badenen in
ebe Sonde aided be the few thousands of slave
owners, eho bane involved a nation of 30,000,000 in
i a b'oody Wee, fleo,ooo slavetiolders forcing in
grau natty hundreds of thoneands ofehe poor white
trash, as they call them, on the side of the rebel
lion, until we, finding that they had a. reserve of
4. Melee; of servants (engaged in feeaing and pro
viding for them. ) willing to aid Ins ii by so doing
they -could aid themselves, we. accept them after
we have Buffered much. and fled in so doing that
we have struck the main artery of rebellion, at
once a cry comes up from the friends of the rebels,
in our very midst, (only a few of them, thank God)
in our Legislative halls at Washington, our State
Capitols. and joined by one or two of the Gover
nors. of our Northern States. "Repeal this blow
which has been struck at rebellion," when they
and we know they might as well attempt to -repeal
the deluge and call back Sodom and Gomorrah,
with all their accursed tribes, or reduce to infancy
and youth the hoary headed man of three-score
and ten years ; it danuot be done, whether as a
policy; wise or unwise, it cannot be done, and the
end of the argument is with the millions of our lands
who ray in thunder tones (at the dictum of the few
remaining Southern sympathisers with rebellion in
our midst,) it shall not be done. Soldiers, I want to
know what you can say.
Like all great movements which have been inau
gurated, as we have learned our sad lessons during
the past 3je years, take as Instances: ist.
The employment of colored soldiers. A. great hae
and cry was raised, particularly by rebel scrape- -
' thizers In our midst against this system; but where
do we now find serious objections to hi all ac
knowledge the wisdom of the movement; in that,
it takes the place of so many white men, it has the
most hearty support. 2d So with the 8300 com
mutation bill; and 3d. So with the matchless
system of finance as carried forward by the most
consummate financier) of the present century.
Salmon P. Chase, whose name and fame will live
in coming generations; each satisfactory, because
meeting our vets need; and dually, so with this
matchless emancipation policy, it has passed
through its terrible baptism of otepd, and public
opinion has settled down in the great fact, that it
has, as a measure, either of military necessity. or
policy or both proved effectual, and this ends that
chapter (so far as all are concerned, except the
soldier, ) I want his vote on this question.
I no not pretend that war in its mildest form is
not to be deprecated, and entered .upon and contin
ued as the only remaining remedy for greater evils.
No foreign war could by any possibility equal
this, our civil war, in its enormity and bitterness.
But all this being forced upon us, we are to leave
nothing undone to destroy and subdue everything
that our enemy has, until he throws down his
arms and begs for mercy.
War means suffering and sorrow—it means
wounds ' and blood—it means maimed men by
thousands—i; means death and graves—it means
widows and orphans—it means, in a word, sor
row in all its forms; but to us it was the only road
left to retain our nationality and freedom. No
thing remained for us but to conquer or be conquered.
And, although the - cry now comes up from
the rebels in their extremity, "We only want
to be let alone," yet this was not their cry at the
first; but their purpose was to take in order. first
—the natipnal capital, and so follow up, after SEiz
tug all the forts, arsenals, dock yards, &c., of the
United States, and all the proeerty in shops, mer
chandle, r.stocks, money owned by or owing to
Northern men continue their march northward
until they subdued the whole North, and spread
their cursed institution over the whole land, and
Meng out slave ships at our northern ports en
gage even our navy en extending the hell-origi
nated system even in other laeds. And if James
Buchanan or his like had been in power, the.bonst
of Toombs might have been realized as he ealled
over his slaves a. the foot of Bauker Hill Monu
ment, for the plot had been thickerung for a gene
ration.
Bat by the blessing of the Almighty, through
the instrumentality ot our honored Executive and
our citizen soldiers—dare you refuse them a vote?
—we think we are almost saved Many questions
grow out of a straggle - like that In which we have
been engager] for three eters; the dire necessities of
which are many; one of thee. Is taiseman apation
policy. Why any it the North who do not own
&Wren or have any Interest In hem, should feel so
. sensitive on - this subject, 1. have not yet been able
to learn. It in iot usual for an enemy to fear that
we shoe ld be fro much harassed by them, and lest in
their zeal they should hurt us too much and curtail
uur ability to injure them, by having in their
midst, :catered arwng the people, certain men to
occupy places in their de/iberetire bodies, and to
employ the public press in endeavoring to embarrass
alt the acts of bud: its are engaged in both tail and
military oepartmena, to make the people,
Iron whom they expect to obtain
additional' men to tarry on the war,
toss conj.:inter in the authorises, and soon as ter
rain means have been dually adopted, that appear
- to have all the elements of success, etfiese men,
aided by some of the public journals of the land,
raise a hue and cry throughout the dommions of
this one enemy, that they inurt not pursue such a
course, but the contrary. lest May (e) hurt us too much
This, I think, is a novel mode ut procedure. Bat
- eversing this picture, some among ter appear to
be of ibis character, bet not oursoldi-rs: and 1 hear
in this chamber, and other places, his farce is
being enacted. 0 shame where is thy blush: 0
man where is thy 'emit:oat ' 1 again re peat the
question, why all this sympathy for a meagre four
per cent. ot Slave breer.ers ind Stare dealers, who
have drawn in hundreds of tbuneands and plunged
the nation in blood a nt dere; male widows and
orphans; desolated whole. Settee, and blighted the
beautiful, in the tatreet land upon which the sun
. ever shone!
We hear but little-sympathy upon the part of
such for the suffering in Der maiet. These are not
the Mtn who devote the,r lime and means and in-
Iltienee to alleviate the e uttering.
But, says the Inhebitant of another world, who
ha. beard what appears so very improbable —how
is this to be explained? What spirit of evil has
taken possession of the liearts of such men as are
bound, not with arms in their hands among the
ranks of the rebel enemy, but in your very midst,
and at times shouting in week tones, " Union,"
"Constitution, -, &c . and are tryine to prevent
the soldier's vote! Why are they found we h yon,
Why do they net join with those "who show their
faith (in the cause) by their works" of blood?
How do Sou reconcile these oppoeites? We have
only to reply, "We .annot uneerstan I it. Per
haps they think power will again counts from tte
South, teed they will feed Its again with G cvern
=lent pap."
- But says the stranger: are tney numerous 7 Are
they indetentes) ? Are they wealthy 1 Have they
high social relst on-? Are they wtse mad learned 1
Have they the tentieen,.e of tile er ad and gnol 1
Who austral a them ? How have they r e tained so
mach power as has sent some to tlengress ? some
to the State Legtsiettu es etected °,.e or two to
be the executives of Loyal States 1 In reply to
these very . perti. nt (pastime: 'I heir number Was
consid, re tie, rut it is becoming Ise. and lea',
daily. They are now few—they a-e not as i Lein
ennal as they - were A few Lave some means and
some had sorrel position, but now trier are looked
' upon with denbt—they are not wise but very silly;
they have been snetainea and retained by those who
hesitated to believe that men could pursue so
etrangewi course. They have used arguments
meeting the prejudices and peculiarities ot the uu.
fortunate among the hawrant and bed. They
have pandered to the vitiated tastes of many and
adopted the course learned trots their friends in
; rebeldem—they use the hallowed name of democ
racy to carry out their plans. They have refused
to acknowledge hundreds of good melt as Demo
crats, but, as a term of reproach, call them aboli
tionists They were comte_anded to do so at the
beginning of the struggle ey their slave masters
in the South, and oh! how faithful, they have
been.
• "There's a Divinity that shapes our ends rough
hew them as. we may, "and the hand of that Divi
nity is distinctly seen if we will but mark one
among the hundreds which may net have been
thought of. by many. I would ask, when, in the
history of our country ?even before our re volution - -
tionary struggle, were without a great statesman
whose influence - was powerful, even, among such
as in the main were not politically of the'satne
faith 1 But for over two years after the commence
ment of this struggle, we remained without the
man, cc whom aid could lean. In this I think I see&
the hand of Divinity. We are left without com
promises, which would allow slavery to live, and
again become a power in the land. .
It Douglas had lived, doubtless, with his giant
intellect, coupled with his vast influence, some
measure might have been adopted which would
have left -much of life in the accursed system of
American Slavery, and, after all our struggles and
bloodshed, a legacy would have been left to our
children, bringing -to them another harvest of
blood; but either, this ceases, its grave will be so
deep. that Gabriel's trump cannot resurrect it for.
ever. In the absence of ij such influence, centring
in one or more great men, we wish to call in addi
tioral conned and ask the men who have gone
over . the bloody ground—Shall we have peace
compromises, restoring the craw of our troubles,.
and shall we continue tte few remaining men in
power who axe its advocates? If at the ballot-box
they say yes, I will help sustain them in their
decision. lam willing to trust them. What say
you Legislators of the State of New Jersey in
General Assembly and Senate mete
" Every landscape is surrounded by a dim, hazy
belt in the distance, beyond which the eye cannot
penetrate," is the beautiful language of one, to
which I would add, faith then comes - in, for
sight no longer aids. So in the great events of ours
nation, sight is limited, if we have not one great
moving. living, actuating principle governing us;
but if, when clouds arise and storms continue for
nanny days, we turn back, or waver from our
course—all is jeopardized; faith in the great princi
ple involved—faith in the great work in which
we are engaged—faith in the great- God who
governs our world— must be brought into exer
cise; or, it everything is not lost, trench of trouble
Will be the result e and the final .oblect only at
tamed after a long journey through the wilderness
before we reach the land of Proxriise. 'This faith
we need. jest numbers have come to this faith, and
now to many faith lends its realizing sense; the
Shadows flee, the clouds disperse; the land of
Promise breaks upon our view, We see a land
literally abounding with milk and honey—blessed
beyond:eh cater lands. We sees territory of for
tility spreading from ocean to (Mean, and from the
frigid north.to the torrniLgone. We see the re.to
ration of all material, as well as moral good, wi
out the black curse_ of Human &awry. I would
contribute to its fullest accomplishment. Again,
I ask, will you join with me, my associates.
INDIA SHAWLS, INDIA. Saheb,
INDIA SILKS;
ELEGANT SILKS,
ELEGANT ORGANDIES,
ELEGANT GRENADINES.
choice shawls of all kinds.
Choice Dress Goode of all kinds. -
Choice Fancy Goods.
GEO, FRYER, 916 Chestnut Street
'writes the attention of the Ladies to his elegant
stack of SPRING SHAWLS and OTHER GOODS
selected with great care for best Oity trade. in L 9 lint
-.Commission Paper Warehme.
FARRELL, IRVING & 00.
510 MINOR STREET.
Mannfacturers of ROLL WRAPPERS, DOUBLE
and I-INGLE. MEDIUM; OAP and CROWN
MANILLA, on band, or made to order.
Highest price paid for gape in large or small
quantities. mii243tno
1024 CHESTNUT ST.
SPRING TRADE.
E. M. NEEDLES
Is now receiving, and offers for sale below
present market rates, many novelties in
LACE AND WHITE (}O®DS.
He would call "special attention" to his
assortment of over 20 efferent new fabrics
and styles of White Goods, suitable for
"Ladies• Bodies and Dresses." in stripes,
plaids and egared,puffed and tucked inns
line. _ .
100 pieces of figured and plain Buff and
White Piques, bought before the recent ad
vance. New invoices of Guipure and
Thread Laces, Thread and Grenadine
Veils, 'Edgings, Insertings, Flouncing..,
Broad hemstitched IiANDICERGIIIEFS
all Wien, good quality, from 25 cents up.
1024-- 013 Mi l l NUT STU r ET
PAPER HANGINGS.
JAMES C. FINN,
FOY lorvaTqY OF THE FERN OF
HOWELL MOTHERS.
Wall Paper Decorations.
SHOW BOOMS,
614 CHESTNUT STREET.
The Sunbeam Stories,
Containing the , charming, bright Stories of
TRAP TO CATCH A SUNBEAM,
CLOUD WITH SILVER LINING,
HOUSE ON THE ROCK
ONLY, OLD JOLLIFFE, MERRY Osiusrius,
DREAM CHINTZ,
STAR IN THE DESERT, &o.
Six beautiful volzunes, Illustrated, s 2 50.
W. P. HAZARD,:
1.214 Jo 3 t So nth - I.a,.TH Stet
EDWARD P. KELLY.
JOHN KELLY
TAILORS,
612 CHESTNUT ST,
LATE THIRD STREET AB. WALNUT,
Hale now & complete assortment of
SPRING GOODS.
Including BLACK, COLORED and MIXED,
PLAIN and FIGURED CLOTHS and CASSI.
MERE& CHEVIOT and tHEPRERD PLAID
LA:Sib:IEI3ES of all fashionable styles and
shades.
Terms Cash. Prices Moderate.
SPRING, 1864. SPRING 1864.
EDMUND YARD & Co.,
617 CRESTINTT STREET,
AND
Gli JAYNE STREET, PHILADELPHIA.
• Have now in store their
_SPRING IMPORTATION OF
Bilk and Fancy Dry Goods,
Consisting of DRESS GOODS of ail kinds,
Black and Fancy silks,
Satins, Gloves, Mitts, Ribbon and Dress Trim-
ALSO,
White Goods, Linens, Embroiderie4
and Laces.
A large and handsome assortment of
Spring and Summer Shawls,
BALMORAL SKIRTS,
OF ALL GRADES,
Which we offer to the trade at the lowest prices
ja3o-3ml
Ice Pitchers Castors and Plated
Ware ;
Of every description REPAIRED and BI
PLATED, AT
JARDEDPS,
S. W. earner Tenth and Race Sts'
ria2o-3m4
NEW MOURNING STORE.
The 'undersigned would respectfully announoe
that they are nog► receiving their
SPRING AND SUMMER STOOK
OF
Noturning Goods,
SUCH AS
Bareges, Mozamblques,
Crape Marais, Organdies,
Ernanis, Poplins, a ,
Grenadines, Valencias,
Ta'matinee, Lawns,
°bailie, Mohairs,
Florentine, Foulards, &c., ko.
ALSO—SHAWLS, Shetland, Grenadine, Silk,
Barege, Lace, Tissue, kc., kc.
MANTLES of the newest styles.
A splendid assortment of LIGHT SILKS
always on hand.
M. & A. MYERS & CO.,
fe27tilsw2m 926 CHESTNUT Street.
CELEBRATED
REEVE SPALE COAL.
T. W. NEILL & CO.,
S. E. corner Broad and Callowhill Bts;
ralM-3mll
STEAMSHIP NORMAN, FROM BOSTON.
oonsigneee of merchandise per above vessel will
please send for their goods, now landed on wharf
above Pine street. H'ENEAr innsou az
332 South Wharvee. apB-24
BEDDING.
MATTRESSES, !FEATHERS,
BLANKETS, iQUILTS,
COMFORTABLE% IBED TICKING%
And every other article in. the Bedding tinsinegg atl
the lowest cash prices.
AIMS BEILLEORN,
fe26.3zai TENTH. BELOW AMOR 5T t
_ _
GEITIBBURG- BATTLE
FIELD MEMORIAL.
AN APPEAL
TO LOYAL PONSYLVANLIIM
The 'GETTYSBURG BATTLE-YIELD ME.
MORIAL ASSOCIATION" was institutedforthei
purpose of securing, forever, the principal points
upon the great battle-Held of the war, in the exact.
condition in which they were left in July, 1863,
when the rebel hordes of the invader Lan were
driven back from the free soil of Pennsylvania,
and when the gallant soldiers of Ginsimict. Ids.S.DS
remained in possession of the field which they hail
won by their vaior. The Association have already
secured the purchase of Oxman= Rm., Cum.' S
HILL, Gnertpris SPun. and' Roma) Top, with the
entrenchments thrown np just upon the eve of the
great conflict which was the turning point in the
career of the rebellion. The field, with its redoubts,
wonderful stone defences, its timber breast-vt orks,
itsforest heights, with the trees torn by shells and
countless bullets, and its long line. of earthworm
defencea,'have all been preserved intact; and toss
continue to preserve them, as to be a monument
forever of the greatest of -American Battle-fields,
is the object of- the formation of the Association.
To enable a large number of persons to join in this
patriotic work, the projectors of the plan placed
the subscriptions at ten dollars each. The payment
of this sum swats EACH suisscuricra A IcsNERS
OP THE ASSOCIATION, AND PART OWNER OP THE(
GLOB One FIELD OP GETTTSBURG.
Wt at Loyal and Patriotic Citizen of Pennsylva
nia would not gladly embrace the privilege of re
cording his name upon this ro.l of honor, and of
linking himself directly with the field where the
lofty heroism of his countrymen vindicated the
integrity of the Union and the principles of Free
dom 1 And who would not desire to hand clown as
a precious heir-loom to his children- the evidence
oz his part in the good work, bearing, as the certi-
Skate will, a view of the field which will rank in
history with THICELNOPTI.D, MARATHON aged WA
ICI
Tzsa.oo
There are tacisalaried °Masts in this Association,
no: are there any objects in view in its creation
other than those already mated. The grounds were
purchased from their original owners at the exec
price to be paid for them by the Association, and
the points selected, and the prices to be paid for
them, met the unqualified approval of a committee.
of the HisTostioAm SOCIETY. Or PENNSYLVANIA,
appointed for the purpose of visiting the field.
The follewing are the names of the general offi
cers of the Association, and of the Local Con.
mittee in Philadelphia :
OFFICERS.
Hon. JOSEPH R. INGERSOLL, Chairman Pro.
visional Oominittee.
Rey. Dr. S. S. SCILIIIICKER, Vice Chairman.
Rev. J. ZIEGLER, Vice Chairman.
T. D.. 0 ARSON, Treasurer.
D. McCONAUGHT, Secretary.
LOCAL SORMITTEN —PHILADELPHIA.
HENRY C. CASEY, Chairman.
Edmund A. Souder, Henry C. Baird,
Treasurer. Secretary,.
S. A. Mercer, Prof. H. Coppee,
N. B. Browne, Dr. D. Gilbert,
J. G. Fell, George H. Boker,
Charles E. Smith, James 1.. GlaghOrd,
S. M. Felton, Ed wd_ W. Clark,
W H. Ashiturst, Rev. E. W. Butter,
Jay Cooke, Hon. William Strong,
Chas. J• FerdlnAnd J. Droer,
A. J. Drexel, Jno.A. McAllister,
Oswald Thompson, Geo. W. Childs,
George R. Ziegler, John IL Dohnert,
J. B. Lipplieott, Marton. McMichael,
Will am Bradford, W W. Harding,
Aubrey H. Smith, Gibson Peacock,
John W . . Forney. John 0 James,
Solomon W. Roberts, Morton P. Henry,
Geo. F Lee, Dan' 1 Dougherty.
Persons who are desirous of aiding in this pa
triotic work can send their subscriptions to either
of the gentlemen named above, and they will re
ceive their. Certificates of Stock.
BY ORDER OF THE FAIT. ADELPMA 00X
MITTEE. mh3
NOTICE OF REMOVAL,
The undersigned would inform their friends and
the public eenerally, that they have removedfrom
their Old Stand, 517 ARCH street, to their
SPLENDID NEW WAREROOMS,
No, 912, ARCH STREET.
Where they will continue the sale of .
GAS FIXIVAES,
CHANBEL LEES, COAL OIL BURNERS, are.
.Having associated with ortr; house Dlr. C SABLES
PAGE, (formerly the Principal Designer for Cor
nelius le Baker.) we are now prepared to execute
orders for Gas Fixtures of all grades and designs,
from the plainest to the most massive and elaborate.
VAN KIRK & CO,,
few-Sand No. 9121 ARCH STREET.
REMOVAL.
• A. N. ATWOOD,
FORMERLY OF No. 42 NORTH SECOND ST. 3 _
HAVING - REMOVED
TO THE ELEGANT
OREN AD COMMODIOUS
ST
- No. 45 South Second Street,
Respectfully Invites the trade and the public V>
' call and examine his extensive stock of
SUPERIOR MATRESSES,
BEDDING AND ,
SPRING BED&
Also. a choice assortment of all kinds of
UPHOLSTERED AND-COTTAGE MM.
mhi9-t! -
SEYMOUR, FEARLESS Sc SANDS,
IMPORTERS OP
UNION CLOTHS, MELTONS,
SUITABLE .80.8.
CLOAKMAKERS
AND •
CLOTHIERS.
• -
202 CHESTNUT ST., COME OP SECOND
ARD AT
8- M URRAY STREET, NEW YOB&
int.r2-
LONDON BROWN STOUT }
SCOTCH ALE,
By the Cask or Dozen.
ALBERT C. ROBERTS.
DR A TNR IN FINE-G=3lo MA
Oorner Eleventh and Vine Street