Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1866-03-02

Datlon OF Lne people, ana WnaJ ala 1 ma !.
I found eight millions of people who
were convicted, condemned under the
law, and the penalty was death and,
through revenge and resentment, were
they all to be annihilated? Oh may
| not exclaim, how different would this
be from the example set by the Founder
of our holy religion, whose divine arch
rests its extremities on the horizon,
while its span embraces the universe
Yes, He that founded this great scheme
came into the world and saw man con.
demned under the law, and the sentence
was death. What was His example
Instead of putting world or nation
to death, He went forth on the cross
and testified with his wounds that He
would die and let the world life. Let
them repent; let them acknowledge their
rashness let them become loyal, and
let them be supporters of our glorious
stripes and stars, and the Constitution of
our country. Isay let the leaders, the
conscious. intelligent traitors, meet the
penalties of the law. But as for the great
mass who have been forced into the
rebellion in other instances
let there be clemency and kindness, and
trust and confidence in them. But,
my countrymen, after having passed
through this rebellion, and having given
as much evidence of enmity to it as some
who croak great deal about the
matter Cheers when l look back
over the battle. field and see many of
those brave men in whose company
was, in localities of the rebellion where
the contest was most difficult and doubt
full, and who yet were patient; when l
look back over these fields, and where
the smoke has scarcely passed away /;
where the blood that has been shed has
scarcely been absorbed before their
bodies have passed through the stages of
decomposition-what do | find =? The
rebellion is put down BY the strong arm
of Government, in the field. But is this
the only way in which we can have re-
bellions ? This was struggle against
a change and revolution of the Govern
ment, and before we fully get from the
battle felds-when our brave men have
scarcely returned to their homes and
renewed the ties of affection and love to
their wives and their children-we are
now almost inaugurated into anotherre-
bellion. Cheers. One rebellion was
the effort of States to secede, and the
war on the part Of Government was to
prevent them from accomplishing that,
and thereby changing the character of
our GoveFnment and weakening its
its power. When the Government has
succeeded, there is an attempt now to
concentrate all power in the hands of a
few at the Federal head, and thereby
bring about consolidation of the Re-
public which is equally Objectionable
with its dissolution Cheers We
find power assumed and attempted to
be exercised of a most extraordinary
character. We see now that Govern
ments can be revolutionized without
going into the battlefield and some
times the revolutions most distressing to
people are effected without the shedd-
ing of blood. That is, the substance of
your Government may be taken away
while there is held out to you the form
and the shadow And now, what are
the attempts and what is being pro-
posed? We find that by an irresponsible
central directory nearly all the powers
of Congress are assumed without even
consulting the legislative and executive
departments of the Government. By a
resolution reported by committee upon
whom and in whom the legislative power
of the Government has been lodged,
that great principle in the Constitution
which authorizes and empowers the legis-
lative department, the Senate and the
House of Representatives, to be the
judges of elections, returns and quail
fcations of its own members, has been
virtually taken away from the two re-
spective branches of the National Legis-
lature, and conferred upon a committee,
who must report before the body can act
on the question of the admission of
members to their seats BY this rule
they assume State is out of the Union,
and to have its practical relations restored
by that rule, before the House can Judge
of the qualifications of its own members.
What position is that? You have been
struggling for four years to put down a
rebellion. You contended at the be-
ginning of that struggle thata State had
not right to 60 out. You said it bad
neither the right nor the power, and it
has been settled that the States had
neither the right nor the power to go out
of the Union. And when you determine
by the executive, by the military, and
by the public judgment, that these States
cannot have any right to go out, this
committee turns around and assumes
that they are ont, and that they shall
not come in.
l am free to say to you as your Ex-
ecutive that | am not prepared to take
any such position. Great cheering. l
said in the Senate, in the very inception
of this rebellion, that the States had no
right to secede. That question has been
settled. Thus determined, l cannot turn
round and give the lie direct to all that
l profess to have done during the last
four years. say that when the States