The national Republican., 1862-01-08
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,.

Wiison-23. ...-,
Adjourned
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
The SPEAKER laid before the House mes.
sage from the President, transmitting copies Of
correspondence between the Secretary Of War
and the British and French authoriHes 10 rels-
tion to the capture Of Mason and Slidell.
Mr.. VALLANDIGHAM, of Ohio, rose and
said. as this question was debstable, he would
submit a few remarks. He spoke as follows:
tunity offered, TO express my utter and strong
condemnation, a. one of the representatives Of
the people, Of the act Of the Adm nistration
surrendering Mr.. Mason and Mr.. Slidell to the
British Government For six weeks, sir, they
were held In close custody as "trsitors," !" In q
fortress Of the United States, by order of the
Secretary Of Stats, aud with the approval and
applause Of the press, Of the public men, Of the
Navy Department, Of this House, and Of the
people Of the United Staten, With full know.
ledge of the manner aid ali the circumstances
Of their capture, and yet cir, In six days after the
inperious and peremptory demands Of Great
Britain, they were sbjeedy surrendered, upon the
mere rumor even Of the approach of hostile
fleet; and thus, sir, for the frst time In our ma
tional history, have We strutted insolently into
a quarrel without right, and then basely crept
out Of It without honor; and thus, too, for the
first time, has the American eagle been made
to cover before the British Hon. Sir, Q venal
or fettered and terror-stricken press, or servile
and sycopbantic politicians 10 this House, or
out OF 1t, may applaud the act, and fawn and
fatter, and lick the hand which has thus smit-
ten down our honor into the dust; but the poo
pie, now or hereafter, will demand terrible
reckoning for this most unmanly surrender
Il,,k 7 4 - n. - ,f a.
now, as l propose some day to speak, aud
rose only to put on record my emphatic pro.
test against it, and to express my deep oonvio-
ton that the very war which the other day
might have been avoided by combined 6rmness
and wisdom, is now inevitable. Sir, this sur.
render may be no fault Of the Secretary Of State,
but be has sown, fear, the dragons tseth by
this his fatal dispatch, and armed men will
spring from 1t.
In the name Of God, sir, what does Englsnd
want with Mason and Slidell! It was . sur
render of the claim Of right to seize them on
board her ships, under her flag, that she de-
mauded. And yet this is the very. thing Mr..
Seward pertinaciously refuses; and he oaly
condemns Captain wilkes because he did not
enforce this asserted right with greater severity
against the offending neutral ship. Why, sir,
upon the principles Of this dispatch, II . mer
chant vessel, ss at first intended, had been en-
ployed to carry these men out from Fort
Warren to England, she might to-day have been
arrested on the high seas, and they dragged
from her deck, provided only she were forth
with brought back to the port Of Boston for
confscation. ..EH
But more than this, England needs, do not
say wants, war, but she must and will have It,
and this Administration has acted from tho be-
ginning as II 1t was their purpose to oblige
har ;v n 10 kha inf MI
matte correspondence. Look ct your stone
fleet" But let that pass.
Who, l ask, among all the millions Of this
country, or even In this House, or the Senate,
or the Administration itself, In the midst Of
the dead calm Of stolid security which broods
now over oil, has reflected for Q moment upon
the porteutous signincancy of the events Of the
passiog hour! 4 British man-of-war to day
bears to the shsres Of England, to be received
there in triumph and with shouts Of exulta.
tion, a. martyrs and heroes, the guests Of the
people Of 1nglapd and the protsgss Of her
ministers-the very men Who, but for the rash
dorsemsnt Of the Administration and the coun-
try, would, six weeks ago, have been quietly
landed from a private ship, In quiet and OBJ.
scurity, as rebels and refugees. All Europe
echoes now with their namss-all Europe will
rise up to do them homer. And yet you sur
rendered them, to aid you to escape recognition
by England Of the Confederate States, and
your Secretary Of State, with Christian resig-
nation or stole philosophy, calmly rejoices that
"tha effectual check and warning proportions
OF the insurrection, % we'll % the " Compare
tive unimportance, when weighed disposition
ately," Of the persons concerned, happily en-
ablsd the Administration, alter six weeks Of ex-
pertinent. to "oheerfully libersts" them and
others, to remove this tstsrina oalsa bslR.
Sir, give me leave to say, that the moment
they stepped upon the deck Of this British man
of-war, your prisoners Of state, whom the other
day you would have consigned 10 felons' cells,
became, indeed, the ENJOYS and embassadors
Of a recognized Independent State. And
predict here, to-day, that in spite Of this deep
national humiliation. or rather, perhaps, be-
cause Of 1t, and In spite, too, Of the surrender,
without protest, of the Monroe doctrine" for
forty years the cherished and proud policy Of
this Government, In less than three months you
will be at war with Great Britain, or else, mean
time, will have tamely submitted also to the
recognition Of the Confederate States, and the
breaking up of your blockade-and II at war
then with hearts unstrung and hands unnerved
sir, is the first and best Of peace-makers. I
know we'll, of course, sir, that like all other
similar predictions for some years past, In re-
gard to our public affairs, you will treat this
one, also, with scofing and incredulity; but I
put II on record here, to day. "The prudent
man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but
the simple pass on, and are punished"
Mr.. HUTCHINS, Of Ohio, said he did not pro-
pose, at this time, to discuss the propriety or
improperly OF the surrender Of Aessrs. Mason
aud Slidell; but what he meant to say Is, that