Year: 1862

i .
Sumter had fallen. The nation was armiug.
Soldiers were wanted. Kentucky was to be
saved ana language like this was more potent
with the lovers of the Constitution and the friends
of the old Union than all the bounty land or
monthly paw which the Government had with
which TO enlist recruits There il stands. and
there it will stand forever, to the honor of him
VINO wrote it, and to the eternal shame and dis
grace of those who shall turn their backs upon
its teachings and render false and deceptive its
deliberate and solemn promises.


do not assume to speak for the affairs of Ken
lucky; she does not need nv humble voice on
this floor. Her own experienced and eloquent
Representatives are here to speak for her. But
this | NAV be allowed, as her neighbor and friend
and lineal offspring. to AZ, that if the pledge
that has been given to her ON the subject of her
domestic institutions is now to be broken, and
the abolition of slavery declared. the treachery
involved in the act will be so dark, the fraud so
monstrous, that it will pollute every succeeding
page of American history and crimson the cheeks
of our children with shame as they read it.


Sir, one more name l will add. 1t belongs
now to the dead. Ii is name which will live
long in American history. oppose it to the mad
fanaticism which reigns in this hall, and by and in
its authority denounce the wicked purposes of abo-
litiOnism. ] read from the last speech of the
great popular tribune, Stephen A. Douglas:


"we must not invade constitutional rights The nno-
cent must not suffer- and children be the vic
! Tins Savages must not be let loose"


How pregnant and full of meaning are these
three short sentences. The Constitution must be
maintained at all hazards, and the rights of the
South under it must not be invaded. "Savages
must not be let loose" This was spoken in June
The fell measure of the rebellion was before him,
yet almost with his dying words be spoke for the
preservation of the constitutional rights of the
States and as if with prophetic eve foreseeing the
evil designs which were then cherished in secret,
he lifted up his voice in behalf of the innocent
the women and the children of the Southland
warned his countrymen against abolitionism in
that short but powerful sentence "Savages must
not be let loose" Sir, there was a magnetic
power in his voice while living; and though he
sleeps now from the warfare of life, and shall
awake no more. vet from the dread precincts uf
the grave is still ringing over all the land, in
the tones of a monarch among men, his lofty and
solemn iniuncton5 that the Constitution as il was
then, must remain for the North, for the South,
and for all future time. This Injunction NAV
now be despised and discarded in this Hall by
those who so recently for the first time have Ia
ken his name upon their lips to praise. They nav
reject and spurn it, they do, and they will: but
when that is done the cries of deceived an indg-
nant and an outraged people will arise from the
plans Ofthe Northwest, and from all sections of
the country, like the mighty sound of rushing wat
ers, calling for vengeance those who have fatal
ly stabbed the Constitution under the smiling and
hypocrtical guise of false and assumed friend
ship. | may not live long, Mr.. Chairman. Ny
life is perhaps bounded by narrow limits but
trust that | may live till the sun rises on the day
of a popular reckoning on this subject. / fear
not its Judgment. | invoke with confidence its
DEGREES on the humble record of nv brief term
of public life. Otners, and not mot those who
take the Constitution as the measure of their au-
thOrty TO act here and elSewhere-will be found
calling ON the mountains to hide them from the
wrath of their constituents. To that day | take
my appeal; before that tribunal ! lodge my cause


But, sir, once more, and finally, to the re
corded pledges of the Government. have Civ
en- you the pledges OfthOsein authority in whom
the people were entitled to confde. | will give
you now the voice of the people themselves, as
assembled here in both branches of Congress,
through their Representatives.


On the llth DAY of February. 1861, in view of
the gathering storm which has since broken upon
the country, Mr.. Sherman, of Ohio, then Rep
resentative, now Senator, in Congress, introdu-
ced into this body the following resolution:


THAT neither the Congress of the United States nor
the people governments of the nOn-saveholding
States have the constitutional right legslae upon
interfere with slavery in any Of the savehoding States
in the Unon.'


The resolution passed this House unanimously
upon vote taken by yeas and nays many of the
present champions of Abotionsm being present
and voting for it. OF course, this will be met by
them now with the new doctrine that a state of
war enables Us TO legislate on forbidden sub
jects, and changes the express, written letter of
the Constitution; that we were at peace when
this resolution was passed, and that we are at war
now. We have heard much of this doctrine 1t
has been ably and vehemently urged But, to
my mind, it is the most dangerous dogma ever
promulgated in a free country. Ii puts us out far
from shore in the open sea, with the polar star
obScured, without chart or compass to guide our
course Estate necessity is to be substituted
for the well-knOwn provisions of the Constitu
tiO8 Strange and alarming doctrine in the
American COngreSsi 1t calls up before the mind
the bloOdiest and darkest pages in history. 1t is
the plea by which martyrs have been chained to
the stake, and have ascended the scaffold in all
ages. 1t erected the guiotine and held a car
nival of horror in France during the reign of
terror. 1t is the founder of bastiles and inqui-
sitions. Ii is of no kin to freedom. 1t is foe
TO liberty. 1t is the mostrous engine of oppress-
ion by which the accidental majority OF to day,
unchecked, unlimited, and uncontrolled by law.
may crush, plumber and murder the minority. IL
is the bloody, dripping sword of irresponsible
power. State necessity / know no Estate ne
ceSSity" equal to that which our oaths, register
ed in heaven, impose upon us to support the Con
stitution IN all its parts our santed fathers
made it.


Such is the "State necessity" sir, which ac-
knowledge, and none other. In peace or in war,
the written Constitution gives us all the power
we have, and, OH this point, content myself
with referring, authority, to the speech made
at the late extra session by the distinguished gen
tleman from Kentucky, Mr.. Crittenden. We
all remember it. 1t has never been answered 1t
never will be. According 20 his construction of
the Constitution, there was n total absence of all
power in Congress over the subject of slavery in
the States, in well in peace. / will
balance the weight of his honored name against
the advocates of different construction. 1t is a
name that belongs to history. 1t is the name of
profound lawyer and an experienced statesman,
and will live long and gratefully in the hearts OF
his countrymen


Sir, Congress, however, spoke again on this
important subject Who will ever forget the
scene who witnessed it? Who will forget the 22d
day of last July in this Halll 1t was the dark
est day in all the calendar of American history.
Dismay or gloom sat every face. A routed
army was pouring into the CITY, and triumphant
enemy was at the gates of the capital. In that
hour of extremity and peril, when a new army
was to be raised and the old one encouraged and
reinvigorated, Congress announced TO the country
and to the whole world, the policy which should
govern the future conduct of the On mo-
ton of the distinguished gentleman from Ken
lucky. Mr.. Crittenden,l Congress said:


THAT this waged their part any spirit
ofoppresson for any purpose of conquest suhu
gation purpose Of overthrowng interfering with
the rights established institutions Of those States but
TO defend and maintain the supremacy Of 64Consttu
tion and 10 preserve the Union with all the dignity,
equality and rights Of the several States unmpaired and
that soon these objects accomplished, the war
ought TO cease"


The nation heard this, and loyal men, trusting
and con6ding. again poured with military tread
from the loyal States to the banks of the Poto-