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OriT ARMY CORRCSPOXDOCC.
Front Rotal, Virainia.
June 16, 1862. j
Friend Will:-The war, seemingly for
the cause of Abolition, is still progressing,
in a manner that must equal, if not exceed,
the most sanguine expectations of the dam
nable party. We will not excuse them, nor
hold them guiltless; we would provocate if
we were to say anything else than that the
Wades, the Wilsons, the Sumners, the
Beechers, the Greeleys, and a ho.t of oth
ers, of the same stamp, (prominent among
them stands Abraham I.) are guilty on the
part of the North, o! bringing about this
unhappy state -of affairs. While on the
other hand, almost the whole Sooth stand
branded with a Cain-like mark, which will
tick to them as long as the American con
tinent shall continue to be the boasted 'land
ol tjie free, and tr.e home ot the brave '
Perhaps Dr. John can explain what ''Old
Aba" m am when he sent the following res
olution to Congress :
"I recommend the adoption ot a joint res
olution by your honorable bodies, which is
in the following word:
"Received, That the United States onght to
co-operate with any State which nay adopt
a gradual abolisr ment of Slavery, givmg to
such State ptcuniary oid, to be used by such
Stale in it discretion to towpinsite lor the
inconveniences, public and private, pro
duced by such change of system."
Were further proofs of Abraham's aboli
tion proclivities necessary we might refer
the reader to the diguing of the Bill abolish
ing slavery in the' District of Columbia, and
the squandering! hundred of thousands
of dollars of the peoples' money, in order
to further his ends and sink the people still
deeper in a national debt, which already
exceeds ONE THOUSAND MILLIONS OF
DOLLARS ! Ai.d, what was this debt con
traced for ? The answer is, :o "reunite this
Union, to save the Constitution aud uphold
the laws.". This would be all right, and I
do not think I am saying too much, when
1 say that there is not a soldier in the Uuioir4
fcrmy but who would rather have his bloud
drench the valleys and his bones whiten
the hiils of the Confederate States than to tea
them (the Constitution and laws) violated;
but the parties 'hat are working this curse
to our shores most recollect that the soldiers
re a thinking people, and they, too, must
remember that a day of retributive venge
ance is approaching, a day when the acts
of those Republican leaders will be exposed
and themselves held up lo the world as the
most excusable and despicable wretches
and political tricksters the nineteenth cen
tury has produced. They may try to throw
the blame of this war upon the loyal dem
ocratic party, hey may tell that Jas. Buch
anan suffered the South to take ill the guns
and ammnnhion from the North ; yet these
men forget that Norfolk was still in posses
sion of the North when Abraham, was in
augurated, and that it was a month after
when the rebels scared our forces off;
leaving the rebels in peaceful possesion of
over three thocs'KD Gvss. It is well that
such things are kept on record. This hap
pened under an Abolition government, and
they must be held responsible for this act,
as well as many others, which they are try
ing to shift upon the Democratic party
But it won't work, gentlemen ; yoa have
done the business, and now yoa must father
it, although it may as it will blast your
damnable party. The hand writing on the
wall did not startle Bellshazzar as much as
does the losing of popularity by this one
horse party I
1 see they are striving to cause the tax.
payers to believe that the property of the
Southern . rebels, are to pay this war
debt; which already exceeds TWELVE
HUNDRED MILLIONS ol DOLLARS Now
i: seems to me that these sharp men are
counting chickens that are still in the shell.
We must first get hold of this property ere
it can be used by the government. And
unless this negro loving party stop their
tirade against slavery it is very evident that
the conquering of the rebels is fixed at an
indefinate period ; and should this war last
two years longer the whole South, or rather
that part of it that cow style themselves the
Confederate States of America , will not be
able to cover the debt.. So that argument
is a fallacy. Let us conquer them first and
then we can settle the property question at
oar leisure. And it would have bhown
more sound sease if these heartiest Aboli
tionists had only left the nigger question
alone ami! after the South had sued lor re
admission into the Union, which .will soon
happen,' The abolition of. slavery in the
District of Columbia the running off of
ibonsands of slaves by this nigger loving
government the feeding of them, just the
earns, atid in fact are much bettertreated than
rsany of the soldiers of Lincoln's adminis
tration, who are setting the tide of public
opinion against one of the most tyrannical
parties that ever cursed the shores of Amer-
, " .: . -:. " .
Now
et ci moralize. After fill the blood
that has been spilt all the lives that have
been lost all the treasures that have been
expended alter all ihe horrors of a civil
war in our midst, and the ruining of one of
the best forms of government that ever ex
ised, the whole thing will have to be settled
by a compromise in the end. The lament
ed Stephen A. Douglas, in his last speech
delivered, in the Senate Chamber, March
15th, 1861, said : ,
"The annals of history does not contain a
single instance where seven millions of peo
ple were snbdued."
And past experience 'goes to show that
in Ihe South, we have foemen worthy of our j
steel. The cry of these Abolitionists one
year ago was, "the war will be ended in
six month." Well, fifteen months are past
and the war is still progressing; with all
the fury that free and independent soldiers
can push it. Led on by the South, with a
blind zeal, worthy of a better cause, and on
the side of tha North by bigoted ambition,
and a determination to free the slaves
Had this Govenrmept carried out its "first
proposed principles, that the war was for
the wiping out of treason and for that only,
this retellion would now instead of being
at its heigtb, be cru-bed and peace and
harmony reign supreme. But just as soon
as they opened this Pondoras Box of the
slavery question, it was casting the fire
brands among the combustibles and the
whole thing wen: off with a tremendous ex
plosion, that not only frightened the party,
but made the "very head and front ot this
offending' tremble in his seat. This it
was that shook the pillars of ocr liberty un
til the building reeled and tottered and
nothing but the intervention ot Providence
saved it from inevitable destrucioc
But we still live in hopes that this bastard
party which was begat in sin and iniquity,
fostered an fed by treason reared by plun
dering the National treasury, is but a short
lived mushroom concern. Already are the
true friends of the constitution marshalling
for the conflict. They ccme to crush out
treason its every form they come to ce
ment tha tie that has been ruthlessly torn
asunder they come lo met out justice and
punish traitors, whether they belong to the
southern clique of treason workers,or weth
er (bey are found in the ranks of Abolition
ists, of the North. For both stand alike
guilty, and both shall alike receive the pun
bhment due their notorious crimes.
Wit5i wishes for your success, I still re
main, Toodles.
S P
E E
C H
OF
I10X. BEXJAJIIN ttOOD, of N. T.
In the House if Representatives, May 16 1862 .
Mr. Chairman: I have hitherto avoided
troubling this House. Content to be a lis
tener, without any other participation in its
proceedings than to oppose my solemn in
dividual negative against measures which
my conscience and my principles would
not approve, I have said nothing. Indeed,
sir. I have not had the heart to rise here
and speak. A glance at this Hall, of itself,
has been enoftgh to prevent. When I look
around and see one third of the Union un
represented here, and find myself in a body,
purporting to be one branch of the Congress
of the United Slates, really in fact but a
fragmentary part of it, my heart sinks with
in me. It appears to be a sectional body
a gathering of the representative- of a sec
tional party. With these feelings aud with
this spirit. I have until now avoided partici
pating in deDate.
- Besides, sir, daring the earlier period of
this session, disaster had. accompanied the
efforts ot the Federal arms. I fell that the
hour of defeat was not a fit one in which to
strive to awaKeri the great soul of the North
to thoughts ol peace ; I felt that something
was due to the sense of mortification, some
thing to the natural desire to retrieve the
shame ol discomfiture. I hoped, too, that
when victory should perch upon our ban
ners, others than myself would teize the
occasion to urge a plea in behalf of peace
able measures; aad that this gov
ernment itself, feeling secure and strong
enough to be magnanimous, would take the
lead and be the pioneer , in opening a path
for the settlement of our difficulties without
further recourse to bloodshed I even hoped
that the leaders of the now dominant party,
moved by the sore distress which has vis
ited our country, would relent from the
stern rigor of their doctrine of subjugation,
and, in the flush of triumph, would lean a
little towards a gentler policy than that
which they have heretofore championed
with so much zeal and with so little for
bearance I hoped in vain. The triumph came ; a
long train of successes has relieved the
North from its humiliation. The Govern
ment claims now to stand as a rock against
which the tempest ofopposition must waste
itself in futile efforts. The partisans of the
ultra war party laugh to1 scorn the idea
that any effectual resistance can be offered
to the onward march of our triumphant ar
mies, and yet no single effort has been
made in these congressional Halls, to stay
the effusion 61 blood. It has been left for
me, powerless as I am, to speak the first
conciliatory word in behalf ot my country
men. And I do it, sir, in the hope that
others, more capable, will not be too much
engrossed with the ' lust of conquest and the
pride of victory, to follow my example. .
Sir, it is an ineffaceable reproach to those
either deluded or wicked men, who, in the
North, by their unwearied agitation of abo-
IlliAfi vaVi A aw. y - a a, ill ajA lit a ' m KaM ' S f I
this strife; it is an eternal reproach to them '
thai, through victory and defeat, in eveiy
phase of this unhappy struggle, with tie
groans of their distressed and tortured coun
try smiling upon their. ears, they haie
clung, and still cling, with unpitying per
tinacity. and even with ferocity, to the doc
trine which has been the germ of ail tie
mischief. With the first exulting shouts of
Federal victories they set up the echoing
cry of emancipation. With all the ener
gy of fanaticism, with the subtle arts and
intrigues of scheming demagogues, with 1 11
the appliances of cunning, intellect, ai d
patronage at their command, even at this
eventful crisis, when every American bra n
should be at work to bring about a fair ai d
honorable peace, and they have no thougit
no hope, no duty but to propogate their
creed, extending its influence into every
nook and corner ot the land, poisoning tie
atmosphere of these eacred Halls with n
terminable discussion Openly and in se
cret, by ihe agency of the press, the pulrtt,
and the political rostrum, in the camp, in
the city and in the open field, they ure
spreading the contagion; they are innocula
ting the country with this moral pestilence
which has already brought us where we
are, to the very brink of the grave of our
nationality.
Sir, to these apostles of abolitionism 'rill
be traced hereafter whatever of evil has De
fallen or may befall our country. They are
building its sepulchre with the bones of
their slaughtered countrymen. 1 do believe
there are gentlemen within my vision new,
whose sworn purpose, whose first desire,
paramount even to to the preservatioi of
Republicanism, is emancipation. Tiey
and their deciples first threw the apple of
discord. They first applied the torch,- ind
are now more busy than ever with throw
ing fresh fuel to the flames. Should histo
ry ever trace which God forbid the -coord
of this country 's ruin, that page will
seem the strangest to those that read w ich
shall tell of the madness and wickedness
of the arch lanatics ot abolitionism. In the
dark recesses of the temple of infamy, the
glooraie-t niches will bear' the inscription
of their names.
Sir, I counsel none but a moral in'eifer
ence with the work of these mi hief
makers. I would not have even fanaticism
deprived ot the right of free speech ! nor
would 1 in any emergency, advocate the
slightest infringement by the Govemnent
upon the liberty of 'he press. Let them
sow the seed of their infamous dodriue
broadcast over the land. Whatever may
be the danger, 1 will not countenance the
greater danger of establishing a dictatorship
over the thought of my lellow-country
men.
But if the abominable theme mutt be
brought in tho Council Chambers of the
nation, for 'he sake of decency , if not o jus
tice.le: it be at a more suitable time. If heis
remains one Union man at the South 1st us
remember that he i unrepresented ere ;
that the subject particularly concerns him,
and that it is unjust and ungenerous if not
cowardly, to take advantage of his absence
to push forward measures in regard to the
local institutions of his section, measures
against which, were he present, he would
give his earnest opposition- It will quench
whatever remains of Union feeling in the
South, if ii has not already done so. I, will
prove that the first idea of the dom nant
party in the Nor.h is an active and tn wa
vering antagonism to slavery, and a fixed
purpose to legislate it out of the country at
all hazards. Is it thus that we are K con
quer a peace? Sir, we are flinging away
the last chances of reconciliation as reck
less as madmen cast their treasures into the
sea. The agitation of the subject has been
the country's bane at every period if its
history; its discussion at this crisis i t des
perate self destruction. Is it while the mag
azine is beneath us and about us, bursting
with the agsncies of ruin that we must
choose to sport with the flaming tor:h of
the incendiary? Sir, until our beloved coun -try
shall be saved,the word "emancipt tion"
should by com mot. consent, be bat ished
from the lasgaage of debate in this assem
blage. It is a spell which has wronghtl
enough already of desolation. It is i. hell
ish formula of incantation which ba con
jured up the fiends of discord anc civil
war, and it was never so potent in its evil
tendency as now, when it is being pissed,
like the breath of the plague from mouth to I
mouth, in the Council Chambers f the
country which it has ruined. It should be
spoken in a whisper and with a prayer
linked to it, as a thing that brings a curse
and spread a pestilence. I despair
of my country; I despair, of ever living
once more in a blessed Union of frater
nal Stales, when I hear all around tie the
utterance of that ruinbreeding word "eman
cipation," mingling with the shouts of bat
tie, the fierce huzzas of triumph over fallen
brothers, and the groans of our dying coun
trymen. Sir, i f in place of making the negro ques
tion a subject matter of debate, thin Con
gress would take into earnest, solemn con
sideration some expedient for securing
peace, 1 do believe that succesb would
crown our efforts. If they would enter up
on that task, not with hearts embitteied and
intellects swayed by sectional antipathies
and mock philanthropy, but with all their
souls devoted to that one sacred put pose
the reconstruction of the Union and our re
demption from civil war; if they would do
this in the spirit of conciliation, of hrgive
ness, of tolerance, of brotherhood, aid kind
feeling; it is my conviction that be 'ore the
close of this eventful session, the -preliminaries
of a peace would be arrangtd. Bat
while, with the obstinacy of a blind fanatic
and the instinct of a brutal gladiator, the
first object is to promulgate a party creed,
and the second lo crush an opponent and
wear the badge of victory, I see no fairer
prospect than at some distant period reach
ed through eeas of blood and heaps of car
nage, the forced submission of a crushed
and devastated section, and the equally un
happy spectacle of a government triumph
ant, but exhausted by its triumph, detested
by a moiety of those sovereignties that gave
it birth, and gazing with horror and re
morse upon the desolation it has wrought.
Sir, itis not my intention o vent reproach
es even where I believe them best deserv
ed. I have arisen to enter my protest
against the discussion, in this chamber, ot
any anti-slavery scheme whatever at this
crisis, and to offer an earnest appeal lo this
Congress that its legislation shall embrace
every means of securing an immediate
peace. If, as the government claims, the
confederate cause is hopeless, the leaders
of the secession movement cannot be igno
rant of the fact, and knowing it they will
be naturally inclined to lend a willing ear
to whatever proper overtures this Govern
ment may present. At some period of this
straggle there must be negotiation, it must
be resorted to, sooner or later; why not
now ?
Is it because pride forbids that we should
be the first to stretch out the hand of concil
iation ? Heaven forefend that thousands of
human lives and a country's welfare should
depend upon so false a principle. Is it be
cause the South has not been sufficiently
punished, humbled, and subdued ? Then
let us confess that chastisement and venge
ance are the objects of this war. Is it be
cause the anti slavery movement has not yet
received a sufficient impetus ? If so, go
tell it to the armies that havo won your
victories! Make Abolition the war cry !
Place a banner with vhat device in the van-
ward, and lure those armies on to conquest
with it if you can. Your soldiers would
rend the treacherous ensign into shreds,
and would march to their homes with the
same alacrity with which they pushed on
to the battle field.
What, then, is the cause that withholds
negotiation ? You will not parley with ar
med treason ! Cut you hav parleyeJ w'lh
armed treason if that be the word; parley
ed for the mereconvenience of an exchange
of prisoner, and other purposes to mitigate
the grievances ol war. It was your duty so
to do. And shall you not do so tn accom
plish all that your troops are fighting for
the reconstruction of the Union?
Let us suppose that the South is anxious
to embrace an opportunity of return, and is
withheld trom making fdvarces by doubts
as to the intentions of the North ; is it not
right that we should confer with them, that
those doubts may be removed ?
What do the people care for such
miserable punctilious in the hour of a na
tion's agony ? Sir, an honorable peace is
within the grasp of this Congress without
further bloodshed. This Consress knows
that it is so, and when the people shall real
ize that it is only the infamous design to
strengthen the anti-slavery movement that
prevents an effort to obtain that peace, woe
to the chiefs of the abolition party in the
land.
But, enough of them. Words are thrown
away upon their stubborn fanaticism. I
appeal with better hope to the lofti er feel
ings that should pervade homanity, and
especially pervade this august asernb!ae ;
that should, by the nature of its sacred func
tions, be far removed from the miserable
f ambition of reducing a section of our com
mon country to the extreme and therefore
dangerous condition of despair.
Sir, there may be a fascination in the
gory magnificence of war. There may be
a craving for martial glories in the hearts
of men, and an instinct of contention which
we share in commo.i with the brute crea
tion. But if ever there can be a time when
a more Christian impulse should possess
our souls, it is now ; now, when triumph
and the consciousness of strength give us
the noble priviledge of extending the hand
of conciliation without fear of degredation or
of self reproach for cowardice. If adversity
has been our eicuse for sternness, let suc
cess be our plea for magnanimity. Provi
dence has placed within the reach of the
North a greater triumph than countless ar
med legions could conquer ; the triumph of
subduing a brave enemy with a generous
and merciful policy, will disarm resentment
and rekindle the old brotherly flame that
perhaps is not totally extinct. For, after all,
they are our brothers, 6ir; and 6orae soften,
ing of the stern Roman rigor which our
rulers have assumed is due to that brother
hood, which, by untimsly severity, may be
canceled now forever. There are gentle
men who willsay that the South masv be sub
dued; every armed Southerner must throw
down his weapon and sue for mercy.
Should a freeman ask as much of his broth
er freeman ? Would they be worthy of
companionship in oar fraternity, being re
claimeda: such a sacrifice of manly feeling?
What would you have them do ? Would
yoa have them crouch and cringe and strew
their heads with ashes and kneel at your
gates for reaimission I They are Americans,
sir, and will not do it. No? though Roan
oke and Henry and Doneldson should be re
enacled from day to day through the lapse
ol bloody years, they will not do it. Give
them some chance for an honorable return,
or yoa will wipe oat every hope, and the
two sections will be twain forever. Yes,
sir yoa may link them to each other with
chains, and pin their destinies together with
bavonets; but at heart thev will be twain
forever. They are the children of the same
heroic stock, the joint inheritors with our
selves of the precious legacy of freedom;
and it is a sacrilege and an insult to the
memories of the past, that so many, sir,
should sit in your presence here to-day to
goad them on to desperate resistance, and
few alas ! so. very few to meditate and
restrain.
Of those few, I thank my God that 1 am
one. I am proud to proclaim it here be
neath the dome of the Capitol I shall pro
claim it, here and everywhere, until the
wings of peace shall be once more folded
over the bleeding bosom of my country. I
shall proclaim it aloud and honestly although
to do so would make ma the next victim of
this cruel strife.
Sir, it may be said that I speak of peace,
while its attainment, without further recourse
to arms, remains impossible. I do not be
lieve it impossible. What effort has been
made ? What door has been opened
through whirh the passions and tll-fe-lings
of the contestants might pass out and reason
ente t None. The sir.gle idea has been
forced upon the people that the sword, and
the sword alone, must decide the issue. It
has been pronounced treason to hold an
opposite opinion. Sir. if to have but little
faith in the efficacy of the sword for joining
severed friendships, if to earnestly desire
peace and deprecate the horrors of war, be
(reason, then am I a traitor; and lam proud
er of such treason than o'.hers can be of
their vindictive, flaming, and pretentious
patriotism.
I conjure this Congress, in the name of
our suffering country, in ibe name of wives
that may be widows, of children that may
be orphans, in the name of gallant men,
now strong in health, and who, to morrow,
may be stretched in death upon the gory
ground,or writhing, maimeJ, and disfigured
j with torturing wounds in the name of
i humanity, that sickens at the daily record
of thi terrible strife, I conjure this Congress
to seize at the merest chance that may
! exiel of a present termination of this tragedy.
I Let something be attempted in the spiiil of
! meditation. Sir, the people will respond
to it. They will thank this Congress for it.
They will bless this Congress for any mea-
! sure that breathes of the spirit of reconcilia
; tion. They weary of this war, weary in
i despite of the excitemeut of present victory,
i They will wake soon to the consciousness
! that such victories are purchased at a sac
I rifice terrible to contemplate; that a national
j debt is created, which, in its rapid accumu
lation, is appalling a debt, which, if ever
i paid, will press like an incubus upon fu
! tore generations, stunting the growth and
; paralyzing the vigor of our young Repub
lic ; or, it repudiated, resting a blot upon
our anna!.
If we look abroad, the spectacle tends
only to our shame. We see the weptred
hands of Europe planting their royal ban
ners upon.the soil of this Western hemis
phere, which it is our natural duty to con
secrate to republicanism, and which we
might at least have guarded from the greed
J of foreign despots. The flag of Aragon and
Bastile flaunts in the air of San Domingo and
united with the blazonries ot France and
England, is unfurled upon the walls of San
Juan d Ullou. Where may they not float a
twelve months hence, if we, the natural
guardians of this continent, should still te
busy daobling in each others gore ? Sir, if
there must be war. let it te against the na
tural enemies of republicanism ; if we must
humble our national pride to conciliate the
British lion, let us make some sacrifice to
win back in amity the South, that we may
stand once again as comrades iti arms, to
scourge these foreign interlopers within
their proper limits.
I am no advocateof bloodshed but if a
foreign war should be the alternative of
submission to foreign iusolenee, I trust
that I should be the last to fall prostrate
that the hurricane might sweep harmless
by. To subserve the schemes of a party,
we have already humiliated the American
people in-the eyes of scorfing Europe! It
will be a task hereafter to regain the caste
we have lost in the Umily of nations. No
greater evil could befall us than to be forced
from the position xe have hitherto assumed
toward foreign Powers? I would not have
my country swerve one inch from any vital
principle of her foreign ro"cy in any
emergency whatever. Above all thing? I
hold dear that national honor, which we
have ever, till of late, preserved untarnish
ed. However gloomy may be tha aspect
of things at home, I would have our flag
float as proudly as ever abroad, not deign
ing to make domestic affliction a plea for
humility, an excuse for cowardice, or a
palpation of national dishonor.
Whenever the occasion demands that a
stand should be made againt foreign ag
gression, or a rebuke' administered to fore
ign pride, or a chastisement inflicted opon
foreign insolence, I would have the gaunt-,
let thrown down upon the impulse of the
national sentiment, without reference to
domestic exigencies, or pausing to measure
the strong proportions of the loe. In the
heat of our private discord, we seem to
have forgotten that our great mission as a
people, is to republicanize Ihe world, to
advance the principle that men are capable
to self-govarnment, and to check the pro
gress of monarchy. Sir, we are losing
ground in the fulfilment of that sacred mis
sion, and monarchy has gained a new foot
bold, while we have been weakening oar
sinews with intestine strife. To what pur
pose f It it possible that gentlemen can
hope to reconstruct the Union by pursuing
a policy of unrelenting severity ? Can they
expect to re-establish concord and brotherly
love by pushing hostilities to the extreme
verge ? What is the Union worth without
mutual respect and reciprocal amity to
bind the sections ? What ! a Union of un
willing States, 'drivert into companionship
at the point of the bayonet and held there
by military power. Such a Union would
not be worth the shedding of bne brave
man's blood. We want their hearts or we
want them not at all. And we cannot con
quer hearts with bayonets, although they
should outnumber the spears of Xerxes. If
not brought back by negotiation they ate
gone from us forever. To slay their sold
iers, lay waste their lands, and burn their
cities may be within our power. But to
hold them in subjection, would, in itself, be
a final repudiation of the first principle of
Republicanism Prosecute this war until
you have accomplished the necessity of
holding a subdued section in subjection,
and the world will took in vain for a re
public on the Western Hemisphere.
Sir, I love to entertain the hope that our
Union will be restored upon the foundation
laid down by our fathers; and I desire no
changes in Ihe plan of that glorious super
structure. But 1 am not so unnatural a wor
shipper of the Union a to seek its salva
tion with the destruction of those whose
welfare it was conceived ; to bbild upon
the dead bodies of my countrymen. 1
would purchase its redemption otherwise
than by anarchy and ruin I would not
fling away the substance to perpetuate the
name. Every drop of blood that is shed in
this struggle will weaken the bond of Union
between us. One word of conciliation at
this crisis will do more lo save the coun
try than all the achievements, past and to
come, of your victorious soldiery.
Why should not that word go forth even
now, in the hour of the triumph of the
Federal arms. If there has ever been a
period in ihe histories of republics when
prolonged civil strife has failed to curtain
the liberty of the masses, 1 have not read
that history aright. Already, witn. one
year's bitter experience, we have beheld
some of the dearest privileges of American
citizenship wrested from our grasp. And
how long, H the same rate, before, upon
the convenient plea of necessity,' shaft we
be stripped of other rights which heretofore
have made us deem ourselves freemen '
How long, while personal liberty even now
depends on the nod of an official ? How
long, wtnie tree torn American citizens
can be left to languish in basti'es, beyond
the reach of the constitutional tribunals of
the land and at the mercy of the Executive
How long, while ihe press, the guardian of
liberty, the friend of the masses, is shack-
led, gagged, cowed down to sulled silence.
or wore jet, become the minion of a party?
How Ions, while voters are arrested at the
polls by military process, and legislators
are burned off to prison before they can as
sume their sacred functions ? How long
while the partizans of the Abolition party
are coining money out of the blodJ of their
countrymen, parading their showy patriot
ism and shouting "Union," with their arms
j up to the elbows in the public Treasury.1
How long, sir, will the people of the North,
I taxed beyond endurance, robbed and cbeat
j ed by an evercraving horde of political hy
enas how long wilt tney nave a caoice
between freedom and anarchy, between a
republic and despotism? Alas! we still
cling to the name of a republic, but have
we the reality ? It is entirely at the option
of one man, or of a council of men, wheth
er the citizen shall breathe in freedom the
air of Heaven. At the open aesam" of the
Executive, the gloomy portals of the Bas-
i tiles La Favette or Warren will zape to re
ceive him. And this is ihe Republic I was
lauzht to love.
I ;ir, mis is oniy a symooi oi wnai must
inevitably be, should the South be crushed
j into the Uuion You may bring the South
I to terms with your bayonets, but when you
have done so you will have made a bond
of air; a covenant whose seal will be a
military despotism, and to break it at the
first opportunity will be an aim and a par
pose on the part ol a subdued section. What
i they have attempted once they will not fail
J to attempt again, when smarting under the
t rempmlimnrft nf (lefaaf. whan rhermhina
i - - - . . . tt
the deadly hate that a war to the utterance
will engender.
For the sake of Union now and Union
hereafter not ar. enforced Union, but the
strong Union ol willing hearts let the word
of peace go forth, let the band of reconcili
ation be extended. Why, sir, I have heard
sucri words of bitter hatred expressed
against these Southerners by Northern lips,
that I fear it may already be too late ever
to renew the bonds of fraternity. Such sen
timents, I have heard of implacable resent
ment, of thirs'ing vengeance, of sectional
antipathy as Hennibal was taught lo nur
ture against Rome, as Rome in her quench
less jealousy conceived towards Carthage
to the end. And the doom of Carthage
may be accepted by the South rather than
reunion at (he bayonet's point. -
1 appeal lo this Congress lo avert that fate
as inglorious to the victor as to the van
quished Let the door of negotiation be
flung wide open, flung open now, while
we can make advances with food race,
and with laurels npoti onr brow. To the
winds with the docirine that yoa will not
treat with armed traitors. It is a sentiment
fitter for the epoch of a purpled Roman,
than for the Christian age in which we live.
It is the sentiment of one who role with a
rod ot iroc, not of a great and generous
people who assume to rule themselves
Enough has been done in proof p the vig
or of the North and the resources of the Gov
ernment. Let something be now done for
the sake of the past, for the memories of
the memories of -the Revolution, of the
struggle of 18 12, of the Battle fields of Mex
ico, for the sake of a Union whose cement
shall be forgiveness for the past, and friend
ship and forbearance for the future.
In. place of exulting over victories and
longing for new triumphs, bow much more
pleasant and more holy to draw a picture
of the joy that will pervade many a now
gloomy household when ihe glad tidings ot
peace shall be borne from city lo village,
from villape to homestead, from lip to lip,
and from heart to heart. A nation's iabilee
would well repay yon for some little yield
ing of your stern policy. How many arms
would be outstretched, how mau heart-
would bound to give a welcome home
again P to the war stained volunteer. Ob !
sir, those meetings at the cottage threshold,
those claspings at the farm-hoose porch, .
the cleaving of throbbing bosoms of wom
en, scarred and manly breasts, were worth
all the laurels that were ever snatched from
a blood-stained field. The news of our vic
tories have been hailed with peans and il
luminations, but, with the first tidings of -peace
there is not a hovel iu the land that
would not have a candle in its window, not
a palace that would not blaze with splen
dors in token ot the adveut of a blassing,
priceless beyond all earthly triumphs.
Then, sir let us lower the points of oor
victorious swords, and parley wi h the toe
while the bugle blasts of victory are yet
ringing in our ears. If we are free in an
ticipation from the peril ot future reverses ;
if we are sanguine that the Federal arms '
are henceforward gifted with ivincibility,
that is the noblest reason why we should
say to our opponents, " pause if you will ;
reflect." Let us yield them one chauce for
reconcilement before we drive them to the
resistance bf despair. There can be no
victory where kith and kin, where brothers
and fellow countrymen, whre men who
are bound lo each other by the holies: of
past association are struggling for suprem
acy. All is defeat ; all is disaster ; all is
misfortune, tears and mourning. Do not
let os efface with blood every sacied mem
ory that may yet bind thee men to us as
brothers. Give one sign of invitation be
fore the death simple is renewed.
'Sir, I have spoken freely, studying only
to mak my words an index. to my thought.
My opinions have brought me the censure
often most discorteouly expressed ot many
who differ with me, but for that I care little.
I am content to abide the hour that shall set
me right before my countrymeu. As I be
lieved the prosecution of this war to be a
widening ol the gnll that seperates the sec
tions, 1 have earnestly oppo-ed it. I have
always looked upon the subjugation of the
South as a project, whose fulfillment would
strike a heavy, perhaps a fatal blow to trie
Republicanism, and although I yield to no
man in oevoiion to the Union, although I
would make any and every personal sacri
fice to rectore its glory and integrity, I will
never consent, even for the sake of the Un
ion, to yield np my birthright as a freeman;
to sacrifice thoee principles of self-government,
those rights of free speech, free
thought, and personal liberty, wiihont
which Union is bet a mockery and a name.
It is not grandeur anJ extent of territory
that I covet as the chief attributes of the
Gavernmenl dnder which I am to live.
Were I one ot but a single community,- in
significant in numbers, but secure in a guar
antee of pure rapublican ministratioi of af
fairs, I would be proud of my citizenship.
But the Union of a thousand Slates, each
one as great and populous as the noble one
among whose Representatives 1 have the
honor to be. I would detest, yes, sir, in my
inmost heart I would detet it it the holding
together of its component pans should cre
ate a necesity for the assumption of des
potic power.
Self government is the god of my politi
cal idolatry, and the Union is but a temple
in which I have worshipped it- Should,
that temple be destroyed, I would not for
sake the creed, nor would the mighty prin
ciple be buried in the ruins. I love and
would preserve the temple, fof beneath its
roof are gathered the holy treasures of past
association ; opon its hallowed wail are
inscribed the names of patriots, from the
North and from the Sooth, whose blood has"
been its cement. Bat rather would I have
the elorious fabric crumble to the dost,
than see the Spirit of despotism enshrined
within its sacred precincts.
I have seen already the si'ect but length
ening shadow of Abolitionism creeping in
to this sacred asyluti. And when the Ex
ecutive hand, for the first lime in oor histo
ry, was interposed between the citizan and
his rights, the grm was planteJ of a dan
ger mightier than rebellion in its mist gi
gantic phase ; for I believe encroachments
by an Executive to be in ilself rebellion
against the only overeignty I acknowledge
the majesty ol the people. I believe
each step towards Abolitionism to be more
fatal to the welfare of the Republic than
any possible act within the powtr of tha
citizen to conceive and execute I wit! re
sist every grasp that may be made upon an
attribute ot sovereig-ry not heretofore ac
knowledge I ro the Chief Magistracy ; for
reason aud i.is'.inci, no less than the fearful
examples that history has furnished from
the asris ol republic, 'each roe that the
first step, unchecked, will nofc.be, the last,
bat only-the precursor of those giant strides
by which over the neck of betrayed, free-
I