St. Mary's gazette., 1866-08-09
A Sensation in Congress.

We have noticed in our exchanges many
graceful tributes to the prcsc mt representa-
tive Of this district in Congress, Mr.. iar-
ris. several of which we have already pub
lisLed, but we do not recollect to have seen
one more earnest, eloquent and graphic
than that which we give below from late
number of the New Jersey Ref7e'. Lhe
writer is speaking of MIR. Harris on the
occasion of his now famous l4th Of June
speech and the sensation produced in Con
grcss oy it. delivery.
"On the lth Of juno. man IN feeble
health arose in the hall whach Is no"
unfitly termed the House Of 'serfesclta-
tivcs of the L nite,s States, and the tcle-
Graph informs rs, that i remarkable scene
was witnessed among the members 10
anxious were they to hear the words OF
that plain, unas>uming Wan, tllat they gath
cred closely around him, and the great
nail was still rs death },sen Thad. Ste
ven, listened with Attentions, the pages
kept their places, and for once or,ter reign
ed supreme in this best representation "f
Babel cxtant. Those who have Witnessed
the everyday speech making at Washing
ton know rery we'll that speeches are, with
few exceptions, never made to Congress,
and are rarely listened to by the members
But on this occasion these conditions were
changed. There was silence, and there
we're attentive listeners. Bnt who was
the wonderful man whose words of simple
truth stiYkrs she turbulent Jacobins and
enlisted their attention. if not their SYM
pathics Perhaps some shoddy contrac-
tor. whose vast wealth and liberal contrl-
buttons to the ,Sacofan cause made HIM a
tit subject for the Worship and cnlogy OF
bis party Or, It mig ut have been SOME
valiant General o{ tire srn. Butler stamp,
who had signali1cd his devotion to the
abolitionists bv practical acts and words
of vengeance against the Southern people
Fcrchasce ~vur new and interesting pan
for excluding the Snith indefinitely rom
Congress was being presented, to which
all listened with Difference. No, It wac
none of these The ambitious delnag gogr1es
who control Congress are not the simple
tons that such suppos'tlons would involve.
They listen only TO him who says soine-
! thing :: in their hearts they respect the
man who boldly tells degenerate and cor
rupt ralcr< aud u dieeraecd. degraded pe"-
! ole their faults, III language pregnant with
truth and vitality. This man to whom the
,um, Congress listened with close Httcn-
ton was Benjamin e.. Harris. of Mary
land ON, Of natures nobcmcn, who has
never finchcd in the utterancc Of ns po-
litical sentiments. though they have even
in so called Democratic a->cmblages sub
lcct,d him 10 insult On this OCCASION
(the l4th Of June lasU Mr.. Harris rose
to sublime height aid achieved an ora
torical triumph which will live III our his
tory aud be ranked among American elias
sizes We give PORTIONS Of this speech III
another place. with the explanatory sug-
gestion. that whether secession be OF not 4
republican priuciplc. It's practical adoption
in 1861 could have been no NOR" fatal to
our Constitution than the coerclvc plan,
adopted. We then believed. and have
seen no cause for the change Of opinion,
that the adoption of a peace programme
BY President Lincoln with SilSht t"ite>
sion. to Southern sentiment, would have
rendered the secession movements abor
tive, and it. advocates ridiculous. Ia
Lincoln party held in their hands the Tor
c.s Of union and peace, or disun'on an'
war they chose the latter and the coun
t,v is still suffering from the effects Of thei
, revolutionary policy Nothing but fanat
{ icism aud civil war could have destroyc'
the Union and secession, whether con
s,itu,ional or otherwise. is = crnserva''t
element in comparison. Still We shout
be glad to discover our mistake by the &C
ton of the dominant party. in the rest'ra
E ,iou 1T the Constitutional I mon, with Il
old franchi.is and popular liberties inta'
:. though a. present we see no hope OF sue
an event save through the return to tn
= principles of Jetfersons kentucky res''u
;, tion.. and the simplihcation of the gcner'