Year: 1861

religious freedom. | believe that no
member of that nation, or people, the
Jews, so wonderful in the world $ history,
from which the Senator from Louisiana
Mr.. Benjamin. descends, could enjoy
the rights that he enjoys here in any 9TH
er civilized country on earth. He, too,
rises here to give his counsel in favor of
the destruction of the Governmcnt-the
only one that allows freedoms of conscience
to his own people. Divide this country
between the slave States aud the free
States, and the great fear which at once
overwhcIms the religious world is that it
will then break into many fragments;
that petty despotism will be set up; that
freedom of conscience, ms well as freedom
of speech and freedom Of the press, will
be tramplcd under foot, as the latter are
now trampled under feet in the slave
States And with the fear of tho loss Of
the right to worship the Almighty under
their own vine and tig tree, where none
dare molest or make afraid are you pre-.
pared to estimate the sacrifices they will
not make to defeat your plans? You
ought to kn0w-what | know-that no
earthly consideration could turn them
from their purpose. Senators would do
: well to pause aud read again the history
Of the prosecutions and of the lnquisi
tions, if they would properly understand
what men will endure for conscience
sake You love your Government, be-
cause it guarantees civil freedom the
religious world because it is Govern
ment under whose shadow the prosecuted
from every land may secure "A safe retreat


By your mad schemes you put this mi Oh
ty interest in jeopardy, and touch
chord that will vibrate in the heart of
every intelligent Christian throughout
the world


And nov, Mr.. President, as it has be-
come fashionable IN this Chamber for
Senators to conclude their speeches with
an appeal to their political opponents to
come forward magnauimously and save
the country, on the principle, | suppose,
that it is easier to call on Hercules to lift
the load, than to put their own shoulders
to the wheel, | make an appeal to the
Democracy for manifestation of patriot.
ism. You appeal to us, rising party,
with gl,tering hopes of the future, to
come forward and surrender our princi-
Piles, and save the country. iappeal to
you, declining power, with a mention
of the lessons of the past. What are
those lessons of the past? l shall not
90 far back Eight years ago, when the
people placed you in power, we were at
peace with all the world. Our armies
lad just returned victorious from foreign
battle fields our Navy was triumphant
on every sea !; our commerce was whiten-
ing every ocean, lake, and river; our
tonnage equaled that of the greatest
maritime powers /; our people at home
xstG SuF Ss"as has placed u.s. i" The
development of the applied sciences,
among the nations Of the highest cultiva-
ton; domestic strife had been buried by
the patriots OF the times, in the adoption
Of the iinaIitics of 1880, and our stars and
strip pes commanded the respect of all the
civilized natons the hand of Industry
was receiving its highest reward, while
the Treasury was ovcrilowing with its
millions Of revenue. You, as party,
had the opportunity, not only to inausur,
ate, but to carry out your policy to COM
pleteness. You controlled the President
and the head of every Department; you
had Il majority in this body overwhelming
and large majority in the other branch
of Congress, and MAJ jority of political
friend, on the Supr me bench.


Now, what have you achieved? You
have empiod the Treasury Of the United
States and destroyed the credit of the
Govern lent, until your bonds have to 20
begging in the money markets of the
world. You have disIntegrated and de-
stroycd the old Wing party, in which so
many of the great men of the nation
were cradlc., aud in whose ranks they
served their country so we'll


What else have you done You have
divided your own party by Mason and
| Dixon line from the Atlantic to the
Pacific Ocean. You have rcsuscitated a
buried sectional controversy, aud arrayed
the people in a fratcrnal strife, and now,
as last achievement-l would that
truth would spare me the announcement
You propose to seize on the columns
that support the temple of Liberty, at
whose alters you have been administer
ing, aud drag it down as you leave its
portals. You must rule or you must ru-


in. You say to us that you distinctly
announced your purpose long ago; you
admonished the people Of the free States,
if they did not acquiesce in your policy,
and endorse your political dcgmas, you
would commit this act, which | refrain
from naming here. Yes, you would de-
stroy the Government that you had
sworn to support, and We disregarded
your threats AS men of observations,
could you have anticipated any other re-.
suit? Have you so long contemplated us
as degraded people that you have come
to think us all slaves? Ii not, then ask
you to refrain from the longer use of the
argument of the outlaw on the highway.
Dissolve your moral support of the flag
of treason-the palmetto and the snake
and return to your allegiance to the
flag under which you have lived SO long,
and prospcrcd so well. | hope that civil
war, and carnage and blood,hed, and dis
aster may never come; but the Senator
from Virginia, and his colleagues on that
side of the Chamber, may drag it on
themselves ~ violating the fundamental
policy on which all our laws rest-the
right OF majority to rule. You may
| ,,I,,,ro +h;s country into civil v,r and