The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1868-02-17
Mr.. BURR'S SPEECH
Concluded.

l Lct ulG t0ltOW OUT Tue AM
0 aaon.ed NV INV friend from Massachuses's
TMr. Dawes whose ability and can ~.
equally admire. He says that THESE 1900
by rebellion, lost their republican ,o'm
~ar.-ar,.,t admit il. Hncn the stat
gcse.ni ona T name that as one of th'
s.;nai ,h;rtaen states, when tina
om .ssnrnaa by an act Of legislative usur
s'a:e - rass the ordinance of secession
p" ornant the state ceased to be in har
,non;ous relation with the government OF the
tied States and with her sister states un'
der the constitution. But had not Virginia
; been before that time in possession OF gov
eminent republican in form? Most assured
ly it had, or our fathers were greatly IN or
ror. When the result of battle and the tide
| Of war brought period of reflection to the
minds of the people, and they, in the exer
else of the same power and acting by tue
same volition, repealed that act OF secsss,on
did AWAY voluntarily with all their offensive
legislation, and assumed again the functions
and powers oil q state subject to the author
| ;tr nj the constitution, resumed the position
a. a state organization which they had pos
sessed before the period when mad fanatic
i,m passed upon their minds, did they moi
then come again into possession Of a govern
ment republican in form, as they were IN
| 1853, before their attempted secession from
| the Union? IF their framework of govern
ment was republican in form in 1856, 1887,
| 1858, or 1859, why does the same form OF
| government, in the hands of the same por-
| ton of the people of the United States, and
| moved in the same channels, cease to be re-
publican in form in 1862 If by rebellion
| they lost their republican form of govern
ment, then, by renewed allegiance to the
Union, that republican form of government
was restored, else our fathers were greatly
error.
But, sir, it was stated the other day by my
eloquent friend from Ohio Mr.. Bingham
| that this is contest between the friends and
enemies of republican constitutional gov
eminent. Sir. in the discussion of constr
tutional or political question, or any question
| affecting the interests of us all, l dislike to
hear any gentleman of any class denounce
| anybody as an enemy of his country, But,
| sir, when denunciation comes,-when either
| by express terms or by way of implication I
am forced to the conclusion that opprebrious
| epithets are to be applied to one class in
contradistinetien from another, propose to
examine where such terms may correctly be
applied. What is friend of a constitutional
| form Of government? One who adheres to
| that constitution in its letter and spirit. My
| friends on the other side need not point me
to the rebellion In the south. They need
not point me to the treason of Davis, to
the efforts of Lee, or to the mad fanaticism
of the masses of the people of the south.
The rebellion has ceased. Members upon
this floor have never been engaged in that
rebellion. Gentlemen may use whatever
language their own sense of propriety may
dictate upon that subject. Bat sir, for one,
can say that have never sympathized in
any manner with the rebellion, nor have my
political associates ON this floor. / could
not, SIR, when in 1860 l saw its first deadly
shaft AIMED at our own honored Douglas,
the idol of Illinois. And when / saw the
| blow aimed at the institutions of my country,
| and tae effort to strike down the flag of my
| fathers, ] could not do otherwise than de-
| nounee and repudiate every man standing in
active cooperation with the rebellion. Yet
/ sir, / adhere to the constitution of our com.
| mon country, and resist the unconstitutional
legislation as did unconstitutional seces
| sion and he who would willingly and viii
/ fully strike down one clause of that consti
| tation is to that extent as much traitor to
his country as though the same effort were
made upon the bloody field of battle, The
| man who is in favor of adhering to the con
| stitution, preserving it in its purity, obeying
4 II
| Of a constitutional form of government
and whoever is willing to depart from the
| ancient landmarks, to abrogate one clause oil
| the constitution, to take away powers ex,
pressly delegated to one branch of the gov.
| eminent and vest them, against the provi
sions OF the constitution, In another,-tha,
man Is perhaps unwlttingly, but yet, in point
4 OF Tact, to that extent actually, an enemy to
| the institutions of his country.
| Now, sir, L wish to renew a point which
has been already made on this side of the
| house, and which was attempted to be an
swered by my colleague Mr.. Farnsworth /
The war upon the field has ceased. We are
to-day in a state of peace, so far at least as
regards the movements of hostile armies
What was the promise upon which the wal
was prosecuted? Ny colleague said that the
Crittenden resolution to which now refer
was tub thrown to the whale of secession
/ A tub thrown to the whale That, sir, was
not the language used when in the most sol
emn hour of our nation history every mem
Der on this floor, with but two exceptions
| voted for a resolution declaring that the wal
was not waged in any spirit of oppression
nor for any purpose of conquest or subiuga
ton, nor for the purpose of overthrowing or
interfering with the rights or established in.
situations of the states" There are the ne.
gatives. There is a statement of what the
war was not waged for.
Here is what it was waged for: "To
maintain and defend the constitution For
that and something else. What? "To pre-.
serve the Union" How? 'With the dig
nifty, equality and rights of the several states
unimpaired." Where are the rights of the
old state of Virginia, the mother of Presi
dents, to-day? What has become of her
dignity and equality as one of the original
thirteen whose wisdom created the constitu-
ton and organized under it our glorious
framework of government9 Our friends
say her dignity, rights and eqmIty" were
submitted to wager of battle and staked ON
the fortunes of war, with adverse results.
But, sir, the resolution to which I have re.
ferred, pledged the government to sustain
| that state and preserve her dignity, rights
and equality unimpaired. The act of at
tempted secession disturbed her harmonious
relations, - if you please, interrupted her re.
publican form of government,-and the oh.
ject of the war on the part of the govern.
J ment was to restore that harmony and pre.
serve her dignity as state in the Union,-
not district outside the Union; to maintain
her equality as state under the constitu-
tion,-not military department, or a dead
state outside the constitution" In other
words, sir, the avowed object of the war was
to guarantee to Virginia, in common with
otner soutnern states, a republican form OF