The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1870-01-26

6dKPOIk lit aAeO4 NoAS ~
deny to Virginia the rights Of repre-.
sentation en- this hoor2
Is it not evident, Mr.. Speaker, that
Congress made a grave mistake in the
year 1867, in driving the Senators
and Representatives of Virginia from
the floors of Congress?- And will we
not commend ourselves to the indulg-
ent Judgment and good opinion of
the world by frankly correcting the
error committed, and by an honest
endeavor to remedy the grave wrong
which has been done?
1t is not pretendedLand / now ap-
proach that branch of the subject to
which gentlemen upon the other side
particularly address themselves in the
discussion of the bill before the House
it is not pretended by any gentleman
upon the other side who particularly
address themselves in the discussion
of the bill before the House tits not
pretended by any gentleman on the
Committee on Reconstruction, and /
presume that it will not be. pretended
by any gentleman upon this floor,
that Virginia has, not complied in
every particular with the reqnirment-
of what are are called the acts. Of re-
constructions" Then, if the Cohstitui
ton is 10 lie thrown aside, fifi is to
be disrcgarded Ey this body ina SOL
emn act of legislation, still common
manhood and common honesty die
tate that we should at least adhere to
our own proposition, that we should
stand by our own act in reference to
the admission of that State.
l have said, sir, and 1 repeat it,
that anxious as l am to see Virginia
restored to her constitutional rights in
this Union, to see her Representa-
tives once more upon this floor, still l
am o willing, and / will not vote for
any measure which proposes to drag
that great old Commonwealth into
the presence of this House and of the
country in manacles and in chains.
MASSACHUSETTS AND VIRGINIA.
Sir, when I think of the present and
compare it with the past, when 1 view
to-day the position occupied by the
members in this honorable body from
the old Commonwealth of Massachu-
sets, when | see the hands of Massa-
chusetts fastened upon the throat of
PROSTATE Virginia, Lean but compare
the position of Massachusetts toward
Virginia now with the conduct of Vir-
ginia toward Massachusetts in the ear
lier and more glorious days of our
country's history. / speak of the time
when the town of Boston was occupied
by British troops, when the people of
Massachusetts had arisen in response
to the soul-stirring appeals Of james
Otis and Samuel Adams, when Massa-
chusetts called upon her sister Colonies
for assistance, and a citizen of Virgin
ia arose in his place in the House of
and declared that he was
prepared to raise a regiment at his own
expense to march to the relief of the
town of Boston. q
l need not say to this honorable
body, l need not say to gentlemen of
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts,,
hat that citizen of Virginia was
named George Washington! / need
lot remind them that afterward that
anne citizen of Virginia did go to the
of Massachusetts,, and that it
vas while he was In command of the
American troops, in which Virginians
md New Englanders fought shoulder
o shoulder In a common cause, that
he British were driven from Boston.
Let me refer to an event a little ear
Ter In our history. When the ques-
ion of British domination and British
oppression was agitated in the Colo
lies, when the question was put to the
whether they would submit to
axation without representation, which
of the Colonies stood in the ad-
'ance ground in favor of American in
dependence? Massachusetts and Vir-
-inia. In Massachusetts Samuel AID
ms and Otis by their eloquence and
y their dauntless courage aroused the
of Massachusetts to proclaim in
avor of American Independence
What colony stood side by side with
Massachusetts, The colony of Vir-
inia; and while the voice OF Otis and
he voice Of Samuel{Adams wereheard
n the colony of Massachusetts, the
oulstiring appeals of Patrick Henry
eseundedf from the mountain-tops, and
mid the wales of old Virginia; and
came forward sustaining and
Massachusetts, in the de-
to achieve American in
dependence.
A Congress of the Colonies was
allied. A Congress Of the Confeder-
ted States of America was formed;
md a citizen of Virginia, Thomas
Jefferson, penned that great ;nstru
nent known as the Declaration of
American Independence. Who, sir.
irst and foremost upon the floors of
Congress in urging the adoption OIL
hat declaration John Adams, of
Massachusetts. In fact sir, through
I'll those hours of trial in our early
Massachusetts and Virginia
twin sisters. John Adams has
been justly called the colossus of the
while Jefferson, the son
Virginia, was recognized as its gen.
us. And again, when a general was
% be chosen AZ commander of the ar
mics of the C~onfederated States, it was
Upon the motion OF Adams, a son of
Massachusetts,, that Washington, a son
if Virgingia, was made Commanders
in-Chief. And 1 ask gentlemen from
Massachusetts, whether the hearts of
her people have grown as hard and
cold as her granite hills that she can
these memories? 1 appeal to-
them by the sacred ~recollections ofthe
past, I appeal to them by all that is
to be hoped for in the future, 1 ap-