St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1864-05-26
THE REBELI4IOUS
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HON. IGNArIUs D0NNELLY,
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Delivered ii, tho House OF Represcnta-
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this present Congress of Irescribing the
shapes into which the Institutions Of the
rebellious States shall mold themselves
when the mighty 'agitations of the civil
war have subsidized and peace is once more
restored to society," It. is not possible to
avoid the responsibility Of this task. We
must meet it, in all its magnitude. The
necessities of the. t,me-the time itself
require it of us. ~,
Surely, Mr.. Speaker, the human min
never addressed itself to the solution Of any
problem more Grave or more momentous
than this. The immediate consequences to
ourselves of, any, course we may see fit to
! adopt are great enough to give US pause !;
but when we look down the long vista of
the worlds future we cannot but perceive
that the results of our present action will
stretch away through all the. coming ages,
and act and react upon human society So
long as our race continues to inhabit the
globe. ,a .,...
The great struggles Of European politics
hitherto the chief subjects Of history.
dwarf and shrink into insiRniicancc beside
this mighty problem; the destiny ST e. hem
isphere, and in that destiny the fate of
mankind.
The past history of the struggle in which
we are now engaged has been comparative
ly simple. It was not difficult to foresee
that the mass OF the people, Influenced by
all those ties which bind men to their flag
and their country, would gather to the de-
fense Of the nation against destruction:
Even about the condition of war itself there
is = certain degree of simplicity. 1t is but
physical force contendihg against rrescrib-
ed obstacles, and it goes forward with all
the directness and precision of purely
physica! power. But when the war IS end
ed, when physical force has played its part,
when the sword is sheathed in the scab-
bard and the face Of the soldier is turned
homeward, when the country is restored to
that condition Of things out of which the
var arose. then, and not till then, will
come the true difficulties Of our position.
The struggle will pass from the field of
battle to the arena of politics to that ter
rible arena where death can be inflicted
and no sword be lifted, where nation can
perish and no blood mark the spot where
it fell. '1''.,
i is easy to say that the fate of this re-
belllon Win Preveut ar, .--.--a,.~----
This has been struggle in which insur-
gent populations struck at constituted au-
thorisy: the next may be waged by the
forces Of evil clothed in all the sanctities of
Office against the liberty of the nation
We cannot draw prccedents out of revolu
tions. It's not given TO the cunning Of
man 10 conceive the thousand hues which
the warp and woof of circumstances will
assume under the shifting hand of time.
We have already had upon this Continent
many instances wherein republican iusti
tutions have given birth to a long sutces-
sion OF anarchical revolutions not one
where the dreadful progeny has stopped
with the FIRST birth. and where an appeased
SIR raggle has been followed by perpetual
peace. 1t would seem to be rule Of ma
ture That these monsters of the political
world should proereate .heir species and
it will require upon the part Of the Amer
lcan people the broadest wisdom, the wis,
est statesltiahship toreot out from the soil
of the country forever the spirit OF anarchy
which has obtained saeh d Strong foothold
upon it: So +: -,..s -. =. :. F..
Surely, Mr.. Speaker, xwe Should approa,cl,
this grave and solemn question with none
of the bitter sentiments Of partisans. Ages
after the froth of our declamations has dis
appeared in that oblivion which swallows
up so much of human toll and enleavor,
the consequences Of our present action will
remain, massive and momentous in the
midst Of the world, working misery or con-
ferring happiness upon untold millions Of
men. In the presence of that august fu-
ture the language Of reproach and recrimi:
nation should die upon our lips, and we
should address ourselves to the problem be
fore US with but one absorbing thought
the safely Of the nation.
This, after oil. Mr., Speaker, must be the
central core Of all that can be said on the
question. The safety of the nation! Be-
side this what can be counted important
Laws, constitutions, governments, are but
means to this end, and this end includes all
for which laws, constitutions, and govern
ments are valuable. 49,, - Il .
The mass Of the people should under
stand that they are the stake involved in
this contest. The rich and The great float
above = the reach Of Enlightenment and
thrive even upon the surface Of despotism :;
but as we descend the scale Of society the
consequences Of misgoSernment become
more and more appa, ent, ind when at last
we reach the basis of, the social structure
they stand o4t III characters never to be
mistaken; The contrast between the pros
porous labofers Of America, the peasantry
of France, and the lazzaroni of Italy. marks
with precision the difference between the
three Governments. 1t is upon the poor
man, after all, the base Of the column, that
the whole weight of the superintendent
mass must rest. Let ro man think, there
fore, that his poverty or obsclrity will
screen him from the results of On unwise
adjustment OF our present troubles; those
results will be as universal and as ineyita
bleI as death itself they will follow him to
his hovel; they will track him as he flies
out into the painless wildernessi - 80
What, then, will insure the safety of the
nation? There is but one answer; the
prevention Of that state of things out of
which the rebellion arose. ~
Ipeed not stop to discuss the fight Of the
| nation to take all fieasures necessary for
its own existence. When human being
enters into the dreadful vortex Of death the
hand Of the law is withdrawn from him.
To save that life which God has given him,
his first great right, he may commit all the
crimes in the calendar. The sinking mari
ner has . right to shake of into the jaws
Of tho tempest the drowning wretch who
clings to the plank beside hiht. The claim
to life stands higher than any Known law.
| Shall less be said Of q nation, which is
an association ofmen. with life as dear to
all - the life Of any one man 10 to himself ?
Who shall assume that among the very
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