Year: 1863

the indemnihcation bill The latitude Of
general debate, however, cOngressionslly,
permits a discussion Of everything else
under the sun and within the four seal" /"
and I shall avail myself Of this permission
to say very little Of the measure nominally
before the House, with the design Of say
ing some last words, before take leave Of
the public service with which I have been
identified on this floor


The times themselves are exceptional
and We must resort to exceptional Feme-
dies. This measure, under any other cir
cumstanees, would be the most extraordi-
nary ever considered in Congress. 1t is
nothing more than to indemnify the Ex-
ecutiye and his agents for doing acts that
not only find no warrant in our statutes
but are in opposition to the whole spirit Of
our laws Whoever has listened to the
speeches Of gentlemen in opposition; might
suppose that the President was the most
unscrupulous usurper that ever oppressed
6 people, and that the majority on this floor
were in conspiracy 70 betray into his
hands the last shadow Of human rights
Nobody would learn from them that we
were in the midst Of any remarkable con-
Vulsions. They are brutal in their assaults
upon the Executive, and fierce in denoune-
ing Us. The House resounds constantly
with their mourning eloquence as they de-
piet the sufferings Of the few whom the
Government, for its own safety, has some
what rudely dealt with; but what mortal
has heard them denounce the rebels, or
what voice Of theirs has Joined the great
anthem Of anguish that swells through the
land over our own lost in battle, or who
have persisted in hospitals, or who now
sit in mourning darkness in 6esolated
homes. And it seems almost necessary to
remind gentlemen who dwell on the indi-
vidual griefs Of their faVorites, that our
great mother is torn with life-throes, and
that these Yisitations Of which they com
plain are reluctantly, regretfully made,
that she may live; that these lesser ills,
some Of which are doubtless in themselves
unmerited, must, never sheless be endured
for the safety Of the whole; and that, in
any event, the openly declared loyal, have
not, will not, and cannot suffer by these
summary acts that in the opinion and
judgment Of the governing majority these
acts were and are necessary and wise
and that it is expedient TO make that dec
laration in the potent form of law.


It is IDLE TO mine back into the buried
lore Of old, rude times, and dig up prece-
dents for our observance and guidance
now OF to nicely regard tie rights Of per-
sons and things, whether they grow out Of
mems natural rights or owe their being to
civil polity When the great source of the
protection of sll rights is threatened with
destruction, of what avail would be the
writ Of ha6eas corpus and trial by jury If
the great fountain of remedial justice was
to perish2 These rights, so inestimable,
are only suspended by the hand Of inexor-
able danger, to be restored in full Tigor
when that passes by. No sir; we are in
the midst Of an era in which we make
precedentsj we cannot now follow old
onea And yet these examples from our
old British history are most valuable; for
they show Us our ancestors, in the midst
Of new and great perils, calmly and wise
ly judging Ct their own needs, and who
boldly and unhesitatingly applied to them
such remedies as they found at hand, with
out reference to precedents. These rich
examples will be lost on u5 if, in these
fearful times, we do not reach forth cur
hands and pluck from earth, sea, and
heaven, the readiest means for our deliver
snce.


OF course this measure, like every other
war nGd1uErs - pEu6H4 W klo OtLuOGEdtb
on this floor and yet they assure US that
they are not opposed to the war. I pray
gentlemen to examine with a little care
their actual position. 1 call no names de-
nounce nobody as disloyal have learned
the difference between strength and coarse
expressions, and facts are more pungent
than abuse. These gentlemen assure Us
atthey are not opposed TO the war but only
to our policy Of the war. They do not
oppose the Government, but only the
administration Of the Government The
Government is one thing, and its ad-
ministration another. The rule has
changed. In General Jackson's time be
was the Government. I think can un-
derstand the difference between the Gov
ernmeut and the administration Of it. In
the abstract, the one is machine standing
stir, and the other the same machine in
melton; and how you can oppose the mo-
ton OF the machine without opposing the
machinery, is a question for Democratic
caEaists.


Not opposed to the war itself2 How
comes it, then, that these gentlemen, as a
parry, invariably oppose every measure
for us prosecution In favor Of the war
How, then, does it happen that they can
never ind anything in any measure to
carry it on that they can support We
are unfortunate indeed, that in these two
years, amid the variety Of our measures,
Ws have never yet stumbled on one that
could command their support as q party
And still more strange is it, that as they
sre ardently in favor of vigorous prose
cutiOn Of the war, and as we have never
yet brought forward the right measures
for that purpose, that no one Of them has
ever in all these dubious times proposed a
single measure to promote the war not
one. This is amazing. They are for the
war, but they have no plan, no policy, no
scheme, no measure, no anything to push
it forward; and If we had acted with them,
Mr.. Davis would have made a CONQUEST Of
the whole United States months ago.


Another equally remarkable thing is,
that as party these gentlemen find every
one Of our proposed measures unconstitu-
ional- Strange, is it not that we never
can be constitutional2 But we are not,
and We never shall be 50 long as we urge
forward this war. Is ii, indeed, true
that the Constitution was SO ingsniOUsly
framed that every measure for the common
safety finds no warrant in that instru-
ment pray these constitutional doctors
to rsnsaek their vast learning On this sub
jeot and show as one way, only one, in
which we can ruin the rebels and save
ourselves. No, sir; gentlemen are deeeiv-
ing themselves and many Of their people
they mean to be loyal and serve the eoun-
try; they think they do. They think they
are only opposed to our policy and means
for carrying on the war, when they are
really, heart and soul, opposed to the Wal
itself This was the logical consequence oi
their position at the commencement Of the
war. All history shows, ancient audmod-
ern, especislly British and American his
tory, that the party in opposition to The