Year: 1862

ton expressly reserving the right to appo;n,


the officers to the States respectively from


which they are called. Has not the Presi.


dent treated the people Of these rebel dis.


tricts in al these respects precisely as ifthey


were Territories of the United States ? Is il


possible fr him to administer the laws ol


the United States within their limits in any


other manner?


1t is therefore manifest that you are com.


PEELED, in your official action, to hold and


govern them as organized Territories, or to


acknowledge their independence. In what,


then, does any one Of these rebel States diff


fer from Nebraska. from Washington, from


Dakota, from Colorado, or any other Terri
tory of the Union. In nothing whatever ex-
cept the naked pretense that State govern.
ment once existing can never cease to exist,


in violation Of the historice! fact that they
have ceased, and do cease to exist, either
through the madness Of their own people, or
IN consequence Of the superior strength of
their enemies Your President has elected
to consider the State governments within
these old State boundaries extinct. For all
practical purposes they are dead. All the
State laws lie as a dead letter on the statute.
books, unless you choose to,revive them
But ifyou have power to revive them and


give them vitality, you may enact other laws
as you would enact laws for any other Ter
ritory. The people are citizens Of the Uni
ted States they have right to claim the
protection of the laws of the United States :;
and your President, with your sanction, is
proceeding to recognize provisional local
governments within the limits Of those
States as rapidly as they are overrun by
your armies. 1t is true that he expects, and
we expect, that when this rebellion shall
have been suppressed, these people will re-,
organize their State governments, and be.
come members Of the Union. But while
this practical death continues, Congress and
the President are responsible for the charac-
ter Of their civil governments and their local
institutions, as in any other Territory of the
United States. 80


In my opinion you have not only the
right to govern the people of t.ese rebel
States as Territories, but it is:your duty to
do so. And, moreover. that you can never
suppress the rebellion in any other manner.
Civilized people cannot live with each other
IN large numbers without civil government.
Property must be bought and sold, wills
must be made, deaths will occur, estates
must be administered, marriages must be
solemnized, debts must be collected, and
criminals must be punished If you do not
furnish them the necessary legal means for
the transaction Of all this business, even
loyal men must adopt the rebel government.
Every civilized community soon learns that
a bad government is better than none
hence they will submit to an Legitimate
prince to avoid anarchy. 477i isi.l


But if you have the right, and it is your
duty to organize temporary governments
for those districts as you do for other Terri
tories, you have the right to extend all gen.
eral laws enacted for the people of the Ter
rltories. You have the same discretion in
the one case that you have in the other
As to these rebel States, you are no longer
restrained by the Constitution from liberia
ting the slaves il the interests of the coun.
try and the perpetuity of the Union require
it. That they will be liberated before the
war is concluded, have not the slightest
doubt; and l may as we'll state that this
conviction is derived in part from what is
known to be the will and wish and prayer
ful expectation Of the slaves themselves.
think one of the most conclusive evidences
of the immortality Of the human soul is the
existence throughout the whole human fam
lily of a desire for immortality; and believe
it is the opinion of theologians who have
written on this subject. that an all.wise
Being ofinfinite mercy and wisdom and
omnipotent power would not implant in the
mind of all people of all ages longing,
thirsting desire to live forever, and intend
to thwart that wish. He could not be q
good Being and implant that desire, and at
the same time intend to thwart it. 1t is in
consistent with all the ideas we have Of His
perfection. Well, sir, we know that these
people-and there are four millions of them
have been anxiously looking forward to
the time when they, shall be liberated
They have been praying for it, and they
now hail your troops as they enter the rebel
States as the messenger of their liberation,
and it is only by thrusting them from your,
ranks at the point Of the bayonet that you
can prevent them from uniting with you to
suppress the enemies of the country. / do
not believe that the Almighty Being who
rules the world, Being of infinite wisdom
and goodness, will thwart the wish of this
great multitude Of His children. Their an.
cestors were brought here in very degrad-
ed condition. BY their associations with
civilized communities they have been great
ly improved. They have attained that con-
dition in the scale of existence which re-
quires change in their relations. have
no doubt the time has arrived when the
Almighty intends that they shall be free,
and men read events very hRndly, as blind
ly as did the Pharaohs Of Egypt, who can
look at this great subject in any other light.
You may delay the fnlfillment of this pur-
pose of Providence until all the plaques that