Year: 1863

tratiOn stands condemned by the people
in every essential particular. fCno iUogvr
possesses the public confidence. 1t is wa.
ging war which it is no longer pretended
is to restore the Union as our fathers made
it. The constitutional rights Of the States
have been abolished by proclamation, and
that portion Of the slaves which are not
to be liberated by the sword are to be paid
for by direct taxation. A war thus con-
Quoted is a fraud on millions Of voters
who have hitherto sustained it. It's failure
Us a remedy for our national calamities is
palpable and absolute, even ifTar, under
any circumstances, could have brought Us
a restoration of the Union. These and
kindred questions we're decided in certain
and distinct tones, at the ballot box in
October and November but can do no
more than give them allusion on this oc-
caSion.


But on the question of the integrity Of
the Constitution and the protection which
it affords to the citizen, the voice of the
people comes to our ears with a sound
equally plain and clear. 1t rang out from
the cities and plains the mountains and
the prairies, in stern denunciation Of every
infringement which this Administration
has made Of that holy instrument, and in
favor of the preservation of civil liberty,
whatever else might perish. 1t demanded
not only that the prison doors should roll
back and the victims Of deSpotiSm be
yielded up to the guardianship Of the law,
but it demanded, also, in the sovereign
and imperious tone OF free people, that
the audaciouS and dangerous principle on
Shich arbitrary arrests have been made,
and speedy and public trials denied, shall
lie at once and forever abandoned in the
most open and explicit manner. Nor. sir,
will the people give any second warning
on this subject. They intend to be obey.
ed. They know themselves 10 be masters
and not slaves.


IL the peaceful admonition Of the ballot
box goes unheeded; if the unreasonable
and earnest remonstrances of an enlight-
ened and patriotic people is lost on those
who seem drunken and mad with power;
if the insane wickedneSs which has ruled
this Congress and launched the present
Administration on its schemes of ruin,
cannot be reached and restrained in its de-
structive career by the popular voice COM
ing up here in all its impressive grandeur;
the sword, the sword, sir, must once more
in the annals of the world determine the
ancient issue SO often baptized in blood,
between the absolute power Of one man,
and the inaienablc, indestructible rights
of the masses.


| speak plainly. The time for words
without meaning has gone by. You may
pass this bill to protect the Executive and
his agents in the exercise Of arbitrary
power from the consequences Of their own
acts. You may place them above all re-
sponsibility. You may elevate them above
the law, and say that il shall have no
claims on them for the violations it has
suffered. You may say that the victims
of their barbarUus oppression shall be
dumb in their presence. You may say
that the citizen sha! have no legal redress
for his wrongs. You may sanctiy power
and outlaw liberty. Sir, no such law can
be enforced. 1t will not, for one moment,
be obryed. They courts will obey the
Constitution, and so will the peupIe, but
they Will treat such law as this as an in
trudrr and a misci cant on the statute
book, and bid it d tiance. Sir, we must
look the reality in the face, though We
shudder at its terrible features. We are
trading on the thin crust Of flaming
volcano. There is coming woe and dlsas-
ter in the very air around US. The trenOr
Of the approaching earthquake is visible
in the ground on which we tread. The
signs OF the devastating whirlwind are
gathering in the angry sky over our heads.
Already the deep mutt rings Of its wrath
can be heard in the distance. Will you
stand still IN stubborn mutiny against the
raging elements of popular Indignation
which injustice and political dcbauchery
have aroused, and be crushed? There is
but one pathway of escape and safety. 1t
is the pathway on which the light of the
Constitution is shining in all its original
lustre. 1t is the pathway of the fathers,
in which the footprints Of Washington
and the snges Of that hallowed period are
yet plainly visible. 1t is the pathway of
Justice, of truth, and Of honor. 1t is the
pathway of constitutional freedom, and
leads to national life, Union, prosperity
and peace.


Mr.. Speaker, am done. l take leave
Of this subject. A greater or more i'm
portant one to every generation of men, in
my judgment, was never submitted to the
consideration of a legislative body. |
have confined myself to the discussion Of
a single issue; but the principles which
govern it are Observation-Disclosures with
eternal life, clothed with Immortality
The proudeSt works of human hands de-
cay the brightest models of human Wis
dom grow old.and give place to others !;
governments are rocked to and fro by
fierce revolutions, and fall TO the earth to
rise again in some new form; we all hasten
on in our brief journey, SION to take up
our abode in the silent Metropolis
city OF the dead but liberty, liberty
that divine emanation from the bosom of
God to the soul Of man-will survive eve
ry mutation, every shock, every change.
But if we expect to retain the illumina-
tion and glory Of its presence on these
shores; if we expect to transmit to Cur
poSterity the exalted and priceless bless
ings which it beStowS; if we expect to
escape the reproach of being false to the
great trust which our fathers reposed in
our hands for present and for future ages;
if we would avoid the utter and absolute
overthrow of every principle which has
signalized the government as Republic,
and not deSpotiSm; if we, standing here
on this narrow isthmus of time, which
divides the living and the dead, with the
graves of our ancestors stretching back
into the past, and the advancing footsteps
of rising generations coming up in the
future, would flee from the just and awful
condemnation of both, we must return
return without delay-to the plain, the
safe, and the immutable precepts Of the
Constitution. Let those who control the