Year: 1864

In the Senate April 9th, Mr.. Powell
said:


II Mr.. President, | had intended to notice
IN very brief manner the most remark
able effort Of the Senator from Massachu
btts Mr.. Sumner] this morning. hav'
Heard that Senator, ever since have beer
ID the Senate Chamber, reading his long
illogical rhapsodies upon slavery. They
ate all of them much alike all speak O.
the barbarism and cruelty Of slavery
They are filled with good deal of encyclo
pedia learning, with scraps of quotations
here and there. Without meaning any
disrespect to the Senator, must say tha,
they remind me of the rhapsodies of man
who has nightmare. Thy remind me o
an expression Of Shakespeare:


= est is a tale.


| Told by an .ot, full of sound and fury
Signitying nothing"


In the first hour of his speech to-day,
the Senator gave us a kind of rehash of the
report he made from the committee on freed.
men CT believe that is its name) touching
the repeal Of the fugitive slave law, in which
he treated Of the question Of constitutions
power. will do the Senator the justice tc
say that his language IVES excellent; he
does write good English but must also
say that his report is the most Illogical and
un-lawyer like paper ever read in my life
coming from gentleman Of such learning
and reputation. My friend from Pcnnsyl-
vania Mr.. Buckalew put the subtle knife
of truth and logic to it; he exposed its
sophistry, its want Of candor, its want OF
historical and constitutional truth in a
single charge he scattered it to the four
winds; but we have bad a rehash OF it
here to day. shall enter into no constltu,
tionol argument for the purpose Of over
throwing such kind of rhapsodies. If |
had any inclination to do 30, the report OF
my friend from Pennsylvania has relieved
me of the trouble. His very searching,
potent, though short analysis is on your
table, and it disposes Of the question:
*


But the Senator has said that the way to
preserve the Republic is to carry it back to
the principles of its baptis;nal font, beau
tiful expression, but what appropriateness
is there in it in the way in which the hon
orable Senator uses it? What did our
fathers do when they formed the Govern
ment? What was their status? W hat
was their condition. When they stood
around the baptismal font and proclaimed
the birth of the Constitution that carried
j0y and gladness to the h"arts Of libsrty.
loving men throughout the world, every
minister at that altar, save those from one
State, was q representative of a slave State,
and four. fifths of them were Shareholders.
They were the men who gave us the Con
stitution SO much vaunted to-day by the
I. 4. 20 NN.ty
could go back to those days when men
were honest and had regard for property
rights, when men were patriotic and exert
ed themselves in the cabinet and the field
for the promotion Of the best interests OF
their country. when our statesmen were
wise and philanthTopic, prudent and capa-
cious, ana took in Their broad view the
whole interests Of the country. None oi
them were led of by this miserable onc-idea
| fanaticism in regard to negro slavery or
an, other "isu' They were men of ex.
tended catholicism in all their political
views. Unfortunately for US, those wise
those good, those virluous, those great mer
have departed, and we now have succeeding
them set of men who are governed en-
tireiy by a single idea, and who would re.
nouncc any theory they had ever held in



order to carry out that idea.


have heard the Senator declare in this
Chamber that under the Constitution we
had no power to interfere with slavery in
The States. To-day he tells us that it is
constitutional to strike and crush slavery
wherever we can fad it. Il


The Senator from Massachusetts, talks as
glibly about war as if he lad all his life
had the harness on. as if nothing had ever
delighted his eyes but hacked and bruised
armor and broken blades. He has talked
about this war as being righteous and right;
he has advocated it throughout; he has
voted all the men and all the money they
wanted, and to-day he euogizes war;
| Now, what do you think has heretotoi
been the tenet of that honorable Senator
AS | before said, those who have bat one
predominant idea are not wise counselors
The Senator has changed the whole current
of his thoughts within the last few years or
this subject Of war. Let me read from {
most elaborate grafton, very handsomely
written, and replete with all the ency clope
dia learning for which that Senator is Sc
eminent, made some years ago. Let u:
see what the Senator then said Of peace
and if everybody in this Chamber who ha'
witnessed his conduct here does not say
that he has run counter to the principles
laid down by himself, | will admit that


have not capacity to see the truth or t
state it. Here is an extract from an ora
ton, made by Hon CHARLES SUMNER, en-
titled The Grandeur Of Nations, few year
ago.


Mr.. SUMNER. What is the date Of it?


Mr. POWELL. The 4th of July, 1916
and would rather have it dated back 8
tina. time than now, because it eAprcsse


the Senator's ideas when everything wa
cool and quiet, and there was not the excite


nent Of civil war have right to use
as weapon against him. He is using thi


war as an instrument to destroy slavery


That is his whole object he has none othel


and think he win sc, up and avow tn:


to be the case. am sure he will not den


it, Now, sir, let US look to what he sal


on war in that address:


I'm oar age there can be no peace that
I not honorable; there can be no war that
r not dishonorabie.'


And those words are put in capital lie
. ters. According to his own tenets, It


Senator is now urging on dishonorab


war. do not say that that is what II
Senator is doing; but say that if he II
- tered the truth when he made the speee
d from which have just read, he is now q,
y vocating dishonorable war, because
n that speech he said there can be no WI
n that is not d;shonorsble. suppose Il
e Senator in the course of his life has had tv
;, IDEAS, q war idea, and a peace idea; ar


when he was on the peace idea be thong


nothing under heaven was good but peac


| do not concur with the Senator in tn
= sentiment, for | think there are times
) the affairs of nations when it is right to !


70 war, | read it merely to show the Sc