Year: 1864

regiment that / was arrested. ETEw
Think OF IL! You charge me with dis
couraging enlistments by my speeches
when those very speeches enabled me to
raise regiment for the service in shorter
time than any regiment was ever raised
before in the State Of Kentucky. Speak
ing for recruits, aud obtaining them with
unprecedented rapidity, and yet discourag-
ing enlistments 6Jara 3.


But your frienls say did not ask the
negro to join me. 1t is true, did not.
told the people that wanted white men,
brave men, and honest men; and that |
would not receive, if knew it, negro, a
coward, or thief-as desired to associate
with my men, and did not wish to associate
with negroes; as | desired to whip the reb
els, and wanted brave men with whom to
do it |; as desired to cultivate good feel
ings between the citizens and the soldiers,
and therefore wanted honest men, who had
q high appreciation Of private rights, and
who would remember that the dwelling OF
every American citizen Is sacred, because it
is the castle Of 0 ireeman's defence and the
home Of sovereign. .a


In relation to snlisting slaves, did say
that was opposed to the policy Of the act
of Congress authorizing it, and doubted its
cons stitutionality but that it was the duty
of the people to make no opposition to it,
except legal opposition; that they had
right to bring suits, and lot the judiciary
decide the question.


Those speeches were made to white men,
not for the purpose Of preventing the en-
listment of negroes but one purpose was
to allay the excitement Of the citizens,
and keep down forcible resistance to your
measures, and know that they did much
good in that way. ....Ia.. a a,


And now, Mr.. President, l propose for
every negro that any OF your agents can
find that has been directly or indirectly in
6uenced BY any OF my speeches not to join
the army, to find you one hundred white
men who have been kept out OF the army
by your proclsmations. You have the
power, but truth and justice are with me.


thank you for the printed copy Of your
letter to Mr.. Hodges, which you sent to me
with the protfered parole. have read it
carefully, and find in it this remarkable state
ment: n. a.iI..


"By general law, life and limb must be
protected, yet often limb must be ampu-
tated to save life but life is never wise
ly given to save a limb. felt that meas
ures otherwise unconstitutional might be.
come lawful by becoming Indispensable to
the preservation Of the Constitution through
the preservation of the nation. Right or
wrong, assumed this ground and now
avow it.p ...H.


Unless / have been strangely misin-
structed, Mr.. President. the Constitution ia
not limb attached to the Government,
but is the life Of the Government. In de-
stroying it you destroy the bond by which
the Union is held together, and take the
life Of the Government. The idea OF an
unconstitutional policy becoming necessary
to preserve the Government and save the
Constitution, is like the idea Of killing
man to save bis life and keep him from dy-
ing of disease. You annul the law to make
the rebels obey it-disregard the Oonstitu
ton to make them respect it-break your
oath to keep from breaking it, Tho fra
mers of the Constitution surely never in
tended that President should tamper with
his solemn oath and with that sacred in
strument in such manner. So .c
Again, you say: -tgl..


81 was, in my best Judgment, driven to
the alternative of either surrendering the
Union, and with it the Constitution, or Of
laying strong hand upon the colored Gle
ment. | chose the latter" .l


Do You really mean to say that the white
citizen soldiers could not whip tho rebels
and that, after exhausting all the wisdom
strength, resources, power, aud valor Of tho
white men, you failed to save the Union /;
that, with two millions of able bodied
white men still in reserve, you had to force
the negroes to fight in order to save the
country IL you do, Mr. President, what
a compliment you pay to white men in and
out Of the army! One negro, according to
this doctrine, is worth in the army much
more than dozen white men. Do you
believe it, sir You claim q gain by this
policy Of one hundred and thirty thousand
oolored soldiers to the army. Would not
two hundred thousand white men have done
as we'll You add


snow, let any Union man who complains
Of this measure test himself by writing
down in one line that be is for subduing
the rebellion by force of arms, and in the
next that be is for taking one hundred and
thirty thousand men from the Union side
and placing them where they would be but
for the measure be condemns If be CAM
not face bis case SO stated, it is only be.
cause he cannot face the truth" 'i


lam that Union man, and thus face the
case To place your one hundred and thirty
thousand colored n en- where they would be
but for the measure in question would be
to place most of them back into the cor n
/ fields to raise supplies for our army, and to
return the remainder Of them to their le-
gal owners, making them monument oil
the justice, msgnanimity, and good faith Of
our Government, being, as they would be
40 many living witnesses that you had KEEP,
your pledges, while their places in the ar


my would be ten times more than filed by
FIVE hundred thousand white men, who
but for this measure would have svolun
teered. sx~ aa
Nom Nc proaiJont uill ,,n,, tast go.