Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1863-03-25
Abolition Ssaas.. si:s.s,... P9sag:,sssrsorypsa

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Congress Consequently may not be so f
Inillsr with the rules that obtain among meI
GERS OF deliberstivs bodies as others who hal
had more experience. But I must confess, N
j Speaker, that, with my limited experience,
have observed the course of this debate Wi
smazement, and with some degree Of honest il
dignatol.
This debate was opened by the gentlema
rom New York Mr.. Olin) with a lecture to th
side OF the house, informing us how be desire
we should discuss this question. He expecte
US to observe certain rules and maxims lei
down By him for the government of our mind
and our tongues. He informed Us Whist we WeI
70 say, and IN what spirit We were to say
Oar department. was his especial care. He CAV
as that kind Of warning beforehand that school
masters sometimes indulge in when their pupil
are about 10 be paraded on exhibition before tb
public We were desired to behave ourselve
and 70 pursue certain line Of conduct marke
out for as in advance by his magisterial author
! ity The air Of a testy, domineeTing pedagogu
pervaded the style and substance Of AL his re
marks.
Now, sir, with all the respect that I have for
| the position which the gentleman from NeN
| York occupies as chairman of the military com
/ nittee, allow me to inform him plainly to BIZ
face that know Of nothing in his position
nothing IN his principles, nothing in his talents
nothing in his character that entities him tC
make, or justifes him in attempting to msk'
for me, or for any member Of the minority OF
| this side of the house any rule Of conduct on
any Bubjeet whaseYer, Those which he has
! laid down to govern this discussion viii net
lind respectful consideration at my hands, much
less adoption.
After him comes the strap and button from
Pennsylyanis, Mr CamPbsll,) who howled
forsh his threats on this floor ike some angry
animal in pursuit of prey He tells US what
viii happen to us All, benevolently and ehsrit-
ably, to eternal condemnation and special dam
nation. That is very kind Of him Possibly
It has affected somebody's nerves. Doubtless It
did not affect his own. I must say, however that
it not affect mine at all, except as a gust Of
harsh and diseoTdant sound is always more or
less Jarring TO my nervous system. It passed
by this side of the house as mere wind, some.
what unpleasant and disgusting, but entirely
harmless. I submit that the military and ms
hcious gentleman from Pennsylvania has no
right thus to sfliet and annoy the prosecuted
minority of this house.
After him, in the order Of debsts, On the
other side, comes that strange and eccentric
gentleman from Ohio, Mr.. Bingham who so
often holds this house and these galleries Ia
listening aud pOndering suspense and attention.
In his private intercourse he is one Of the kind
est and most smiable gentlemen whom ever
had the good fortune to mset but on the floor a
stranger would take him to be, not merely
Cato, the censor, for, believe, Cato was very
dignihed, and certainly the gentleman from
Ohio hardly ever Is, laughter but some furi-
GUS actor in play, whose part required him TO
scold and, rave at every human being who was
SO unfortunate IS TO fall beneath his dreadful
scowL be IS stormy and terrible to those who
know him not, but 70 those who know him we'll
ffo rv,Ia a.
who woes bis mate. l am spOlOgizing for his
manner 10 those who do not understand him.
His terrific outbreaks here against the minority
mey be regarded as g sort of pleasant episode
to the grave procesdizgs of this house, a htsle
ridiculous, but perfectly innocent It is only his
manner that is severe, not his matter. He tells
Us what viii be tolerated, and what viii not be
tolerated, how We shall behave, what we shall
say, what viii ba worthy of us, and what uu
worthy Of us, He starts out by telling US that
the language of the distinguished gentleman
from Ohio, { Mr.. Vsllandighan( who held spell
bound this house from the position in which
stand, with one of the abeBt arguments I
ever heard, was al unworthy Of a member Of
this body. Who constituted him judge Of his
colleegaesl Where does he find the authority to
arraign Vorhsers on this hooTl Sir, there is bu.
one reply to language aud conduct like this
We reject with scOrn your unasked advice we
spurn your offensive lectures; we despise your
purile threats we defy the malice which actu-
stes them we hold you and your outrageous in /
sOlesee IN sovereign and most unmitigated con-
tempt. While you keep within the rules Of
proprietY and of duty, ell viii be we'll but /
whenever you step out Of them, as you have to |
night, you have my answer
Sir, it i'll becomes gentlemen who have met |
with reputation st the hands of their people |
who, for their policy and conduct on this floor, |
have been rejected by their own constituents, !
and who stand condemned before the country, |
10 come here aud lecture Democratic members |
In common deeency you ought to keep silent, |
IS mere eumberers Of the ground, whose days |
IRE numbered. Popular majOrities have been /
piled up against you BY thousands and tens of
thousands Loyal people have spoken your
political graves by patriotic hands the grass is 1
growing green on the sod which covers you. I
And yet yoU daTe come here 90 lecture living 1
nen We bear in our bodies political vitality 1
,ou are political ghosts, specteTs from political
7raYeyards, where the people buried you last
al, and wrote on your tombstones, . No resur-
schon." How dare you lecture the living, who
ret stand on the shores of time, and who have
omethiug 70 do with earthly affairs. Laughter.
invoke the spell of deeency and Of regard for
roprieiy, and in the name Of that spsll I exor-
ise these spirits, and tell them, Down, down
0 whence you cana" Laughter The old
nan whom Dsnte saw IN his vision of hell,
hosry white with ED, sitting
BESIDE the wOeful tide Of Acheron.7
5 waiting for yOu below
Crying. woe TO you, wicked spirits hope not
Ever 20 he sky again. come
To take you 10 the other shore across,
Into eternal darkness there 10 dwell
IN fierce heat and ice. And thou who there
Stsndsst live spirits stand apart and leave
These who are dead ~
You talk about what is worthy and unworthy
ball I accept gibbsriDg and squeaking political
osts, who will troop home on the 4th of March
D the vast chsnel house Of repudiated polit-
ians, as my masters oWn but one master
4 this govsrnment-it is theasovereign people
represent loyal aud magnificent constitu-
ncy. They know me we'll
They arc to ny faults little blind,
Butte my virtues very kind
We live somewhat according to the Scriptures,
u We love enc another. What I fail IN works,
5 their representative, they credit to good in
lntions. To. them, in grateful memory of The
asst. I acknowledge my responsibility tonight.
{ is their right to approve or condemn ac-
spt 40 verdict, however, on my principles or
" conduct at the hands Of the fossil remains
{ dead party, which, when alive, was not
yen respectable. Before my constituents
and ready 10 be judged. They have alresdy
ldged me They have judged my democratic
lends, too, who sit around me. They have
Idged my democratic colleagues from the
tate Of Indiana We have passed the popular
-deal as you havei and while you have been
lade te feT5 the melancholy dood-the river
tyx-with ths gFim ferrymsn, which poets
rite Of, unto the kingdom Of perpetual night
return to the living land no more IN the hesh
q stand here renewed and strengthened by the
power of popular approval--the EN-
odimsnt Of the popular viii. ]
And we return here not as we FIST came
Then first entered this hall, eighteen months
20, 4 came with small majority compared to
lat which sends ma to the next Congress
COX At the smiling faces of Democratic mem /
ers around me. They have all told the increase
their majorities by thousands. Not one bat
hat met approval at the hands Of those whom
. represented. The ono or two defeats over
hich we mourn were accomplished by a change
districts. Are men who come here SO in
orsed to sit quietly and allow you, whom the |
sople utterly Tepediate, TO shake yeur fingers