ip^ 
 
 
 
 
 ^ ^ V 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 * " ° A 
 
 <V . < • 
 
 M 
 
"..--i-'r- 
 
 
 
 A 9 ^ 
 
 
 
THE WAR A REACTIONARY AGENT. 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 HON. M. F. CONWAY, 
 
 OF KANSAS, 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JANUARY 27, 1803. 
 
 Mr. Chairman : I had the honor to submit to this House, several weeks 
 ago, a series of resolutions, asserting, among other things, that it was inexpe- 
 dient to wage this war for the purpose of restoring the Union ; that the resto- 
 ration of the Union as it existed prior to the rebellion, would be a greater 
 calamity than the rebellion itself; that the seceded States could not be sub- 
 dued but by being assailed upon principles of ordinary warfare as between 
 separate nations; and that it was a matter for serious reflection whether the 
 rightful authority of the nation could be re-established without a chano-e in the 
 personnel of the Executive Department. Members of the House, on both sides 
 were exceedingly swift to testify their opposition to such views, and my resolu- 
 tions were laid on the table by a vote of 132 to 1. 
 
 I may here remark that these propositions were not designed to be imme- 
 diately put to a vote of the House. I requested and expected them to be 
 placed with similar resolutions offered by other gentlemen, in order that 
 they might come up at the proper time for discussion. I made no question of 
 the justice of the House, nor of its courtesy. If my opinions were peculiarly 
 my own, this only rendered it the more necessary that I should explain them 
 before action was taken. Nevertheless, I make no complaint. The House is 
 the best judge of what most befits it in such a case. I have only to observe 
 and regulate my own conduct, and leave others to look out for their's. But it 
 may not be amiss to remember that one man, with the Almighty on his side, 
 is in a majority ; and though unanimously voted down by Houses of Repre- 
 sentatives never so often, comes up each time again and again with renewed 
 power, until finally he rises triumphant over all opposition. 
 
 My faith is not shaken in the slightest degree by the disapprobation of this 
 House, nor am I deterred from an elaborate repetition of my views. 
 
 Sir, in my judgment, this war has not been conducted with any purpose of 
 securing triumph to the national arms, or the subjugation of the public enemy. 
 At no stage of its progress has the Executive sought the conquest of the South. 
 
 His exclusive aim has been to restore the constitutional relations of the 
 people of the seceded States to the Government of the Union; and this he has 
 endeavored to accomplish rather by holding back than marching forward the 
 armies of the Republic into the enemy's country and putting him n down. 
 
 The President has not seemed to regard himself authorized to make war on 
 the slaveholders, if, by other methods, he could induce them to return to their 
 allegiance. He has, therefore, sought to exhaust every other agency before 
 showing even a disposition to resort to vigorous action in the field. 
 
 e 
 
. CiS 2 
 
 Even for his late proclamation of emancipation he seeks justification on the 
 exclusive ground of its absolute necessity to the end of restoring the Union. 
 
 The country has recently been shocked by a disclosure of the fact that the 
 visit of M. Mercier, the French minister, to Richmond, last summer, supposed 
 at that time to have reference to tobacco, was really an embassy from the Fed- 
 eral Government, designed to bring about a resumption of the Union by the 
 slaveholders. M. Mercier, in writing to his Government on the subject, under 
 date of 13th April, 18G2, says that he was authorized by our Secretary ot State 
 to tell the slaveholders, that, in his opinion, the North was animated by no 
 sentiment of vengeance, and that, for himself, he should with pleasure find 
 himself agam in the Senate in the presence of those whom the South thought 
 it fit to send thither." 
 
 To this policy I have been strenuously opposed from the commencement ot 
 this war. I have regarded it as utterly unsound in principle, and calculated to 
 produce consequences the most disastrous. ^ _ 
 
 I have not regarded the seceded States, during the period ot civil war, as 
 having auy constitutional relations whatever; nor have I regarded the leniency 
 and procrastination of the Executive as calculated to have any other effect than 
 defeat to us and ultimate triumph to them. 
 
 Sir 1 am not in favor of restoring the constitutional relations of the slave- 
 holders to the Union, nor of the war to that end. On the contrary, I am 
 utterly and forever opposed to both. I am in favor of the Union as it exists 
 to-day. I am in favor of recognising the loyal States as the American nation, 
 based as they are on the principle of freedom for all, without distinction ot 
 race, color, or condition. I believe it to be the manifest destiny of the Ameri- 
 can nation to ultimately control the American continent on this principle. 
 
 I conceive, therefore, that the true object of this war is to revolutionize the 
 national Government by resolving the North into the nation, and the bouth 
 into a distinct public body, leaving us in a position to pursue the latter as a 
 separate State. 1 believe that the direction of the war to any other end is a 
 perversion of it, calculated to subvert the very object it was designed to etiect. 
 To my apprehension, this war is a manifestation of northern power, impelled 
 by natural forces, seeking embodiment in a national form, and aspiring to the 
 dominion of this continent. It is the result of an idea, and of northern growth 
 and character. It seeks to create anew. " North" and " South' are primarily 
 geographical terms, but with us they are likewise political words, denoting 
 political systems developed through the operation of our Federal Constitution 
 and founded on differeut social organizations. Until recently, the iNorth had 
 never possessed any other than a merely subordinate political existence. It 
 consisted of fifteen States, with a population of twenty millions— all the ele- 
 ments of a ruling nationality— a soil and climate adapted to the production ot 
 boundless wealth— all the refinements of a high civilization in abundant meas- 
 ure—schools, colleges, churches, sciences, literature, art— besides immense re- 
 sources and capacities for war. Nevertheless, it had no distinctive political 
 character. It was more southern than northern ; nay, it was altogether south- 
 ern. The idea of the South was slavery, and the existence ot slavery required 
 it to subordinate all parts of the nation to its own will and purpose. And so 
 the North was overruled and assimilated by the South. • 
 
 But this fact eventually precipitated a revolution. It furnished the Worth 
 \Mth the motive, the justification, and the instrumentality ot selt-development. 
 
 National organization proceeds on an idea which forms the basis ot a nation 
 and determines its character. Common justice and self-defence are usually the 
 simple ends of government; but a loftier impulse will likewise produce its ap- 
 propriate organ. A great people, impelled by a strong, deep, and abiding pur- 
 pose, will effect an external form to correspond therewith in spite ot all imped- 
 iments. 
 
Freedom for the American continent became the idea of the North — a grand, 
 inspiring idea, and utterly incompatible with the existence of the South as a 
 political system. It became the basis of a great party, and soon expanded into 
 a vast movement. It went on conquering and to conquer. 
 
 This necessitated a revolution and a new order. This involved war as an 
 instrument of revolution and regeneration. 
 
 The honorable member from Ohio [Mr. Vallandioiiam] ascribes to this 
 movemeut a Puritanic origin. He is mistaken. The Puritan may have done 
 many good things, and some bad ones; but it is highly unjust to give him the 
 credit of this. Massachusetts, it is true, has taken the lead of late years in 
 anti-slavery agitation, and has done much— altogether n\,,e than anj other 
 State. I enter into no discussion with the gentleman as to the merits of the 
 Pilgrim fathers. That is not in the way of "my purpose. Put whatever the 
 settlers of New England may have done or left undone to justify the gentle- 
 man's vituperation, they have certainly not failed to do that which entitles 
 them to honor and respect from all mankind, to wit : transmit to their posterity 
 an abiding love of justice, and eternal hostility to any form of tyranny. 
 
 But, sir, I claim for this idea of continental freedom a southern origin. 
 Virginia was. its birth-place ; Thomas Jefferson its author. In the days of 
 Jefferson, the Old Dominion was the foremost State in America, and entitled 
 to take the lead in shaping the destinies of the continent. It was Jefferson 
 who first charged it as a crime upon the British king, his attempt to fasten 
 slavery on the virgin soil of the New World. It was Jefferson who proclaim- 
 ed, with the rest, through the immortal Declaration. of Independence, the ina- 
 lienable rights of human nature. It was Jefferson and Virginia who gave up 
 the vast territory of the Northwest, and, under the glorious ordinance of 1787, 
 dedicated it to freedom forever. 
 
 Sir, this was the system of the revolutionary fathers of the South ; and it 
 will not do for gentlemen to attempt to stigmatize it by referring it to any 
 narrow or sectarian source. 
 
 The work of the North to-day is to organize the nation on the identical 
 principle of the Jeffersonian ordinance of 1787, to the end of ultimately bring- 
 ing the whole continent under its beneficent sway. 
 
 The first step, therefore, which should have been taken in the progress of 
 the war, was to acknowledge a revolution, to recognize the South in "its new 
 character, to assume the North to be exclusively the nation, aud then to pursue 
 the war for conquest, or not pursue it at all, as might have seemed most expe- 
 dient and proper for the time being. 
 
 But, unfortunately, those to whom the conduct of this great transition was* 
 committed, have not seemed to comprehend their work. They have disowned 
 the revolution. They have used the war as far as possible to defeat it, and 
 restore the old system. 
 
 It is evident to me that this policy will prove disastrous. The war 
 in ^ the hands of those now in authority has an inevitable tendency to 
 defeat the North, to remand it back to its former subserviency to the South. 
 Its manifest effect is to produce a reaction through which a new party will 
 come into power, pledged not to northern nationality, but to the old Union at 
 any price. The war seems to be supported not only by the Opposition, but 
 also by the Administration, for the most part, with reference to this result. 
 
 In this view I may be mistaken. I shall rejoice if my error be demonstrated 
 by events. But I shall endeavor, in this speech, to set forth the reasons tor 
 the faith that is in me. In the event that I am correct, however, I say to 
 gentlemen of the Republican party, that they will be compelled to change 
 their base of operations. Public opinion will demand a new programme. I 
 am now in a minority of one in this House ; but after the 4th of March next, 
 
unless my judgment be sadly at fault, I shall stand with the great body of the 
 people of the North, insisting upon a cessation of hostilities. 
 
 The slaveholders inhabit the country extending south from Mason and 
 Dixon's line to the Rio Grande, and from the Atlantic ocean west to the Rocky 
 mountains. This area is divided into fifteen parts, and the inhabitants of each 
 are organized into a political body called "a State," making in all fifteen 
 "States." Left to themselves, these "States" have power simply within their 
 own limits, and over their own resources. But in the Union they are invest- 
 ed with power enough to govern the whole country fiom the Rio Grande to 
 the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
 
 The Constitution is the instrument in which the conditions of the Union are 
 laid down ; and the Constitution provides that these "States" shall each have 
 two votes in the natioual Senate, a certain number of votes in the national 
 House of Representatives, and votes in the choice of President equal to their 
 combined votes in the Senate and House. 
 
 Accordingly, something like five thousand slaveholders, more or less, living 
 on a few acres of land near the mouth of the Delaware river, organized into and 
 denominated the "State of Delaware," are entitled to one vote in the House, 
 two votes in the Senate, and three in the electoral college. About forty thou- 
 sand on the Chesapeake Bay, . organized into the "State of Maryland," are 
 entitled to six votes in the House, two in the Senate, and eight in the electoral 
 college. Those organized as ''Virginia" are entitled to thirteen in the House, 
 two in the Senate, and fifteen in the electoral college ; those as "North Caro- 
 lina," eight in the House, two in the Senate, ten in the electoral college; as 
 "South Carolina," six in the House, two in the Senate, eight in the electoral 
 college; as "Georgia," eight in the House, two in the Senate, ten in the elec- 
 toral college ; as "Florida," one in the House, two in the Seuate, three in the 
 electoral college ; as "Alabama," seven iu the House, two in the Senate, nine 
 in the electoral college ; as "Mississippi," five in the House, two in the Senate, 
 seven in the electoral college ; as "Louisiana," four in the House, two in the 
 Senate, six iu the electoral college ; as "Texas," two in the House, two in the 
 Senate, four in the electoral college; as "Arkansas," two in the House, two 
 in the Senate, four in the electoral college ; as "Tennessee," ten in the House, 
 two in the Senate, twelve in the electoral college; as "Kentucky," ten in the 
 House, two in the Senate, twelve in the electoral college; as "Missouri," seven 
 in the House, two in the Senate, nine in the electoral college. 
 
 Now, these votes rolled up into one solid body, constitute the slave power. 
 They are the elements of that power. They exhibit slavery in its character of 
 a political force; and, as Wendell Phillips says, have kept New York and 
 Boston mortgaged to secure title to field-hands in South Carolina, They have 
 elected our Presidents, controlled our legislation, inspired our whole system. 
 Through this voting power, slavery has assimilated the nation ; developed it 
 into its own form and substance ; made it to obey its impulse and represent its 
 character. 
 
 This is the old Union. This is what the war is to restore. It is to reinvest 
 the slaveholders with power to dominate the nation under the forms of a com- 
 mon <io\ eminent. If the Constitution had never been adopted by the slave- 
 holders, this power would never have existed. Since they have repudiated it, 
 it has ceased to exist. And unless we compel them to accept it again, the 
 slave power is dead and gone forever in America. 
 
 I cannot conscientiously give ray support to a policy that proposes to enforce 
 such a resumption. On the contrary, I insist that that policy shall be aban- 
 doned, and future action proceed upon the fact of the independent nationality 
 of the North in the Union. 
 
 But the honorable gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Maynard] says that this 
 
is a proposition to dissolve the Union. In this the honorable gentleman will 
 permit me to say that he does not fairly represent the proposition. 
 
 It may not he out of place to say that, notwithstanding my hostility to the 
 slave power, I am not now, nor have I ever been, a disunionist. It is true, I 
 have never allowed myself to indulge in that superstitious idolatry of the 
 Union so prevalent among simple but honest peo de, nor that political cant 
 about the Union so prevalent among dishonest ones. I have simply regarded 
 it as a form of Government, to be valued in proportion to its merits as an in- 
 strument of national prosperity and power. 
 
 In my opinion the Union, at the time of its formation, was well adapted to 
 the condition of the country, and was a wise and noble work. The advance- 
 ment of the several States, however, in population, pursuits, resources and 
 power — the multiplication of Slates — the rise of special inteiests — the growth 
 and spread of slavery — and the profound sectional antagonism which sprang 
 up between the North and South, wrought an immense change — a change in it 
 foreseen by the founders of the Union — rendering their system far less benefi- 
 cial than in the earlier years of its existence. Nevertheless, as the lawfully ex- 
 isting form of national organization, I ever rendered it due allegiance. W hen 
 the southern rebellion arose and menaced the Union, I stood, in perfect faith, 
 with the Union and against .the rebellion. My record as a member of this 
 House will so attest. In August, 1861, I voted to place at the disposal of the 
 Executive five hundred thousand men and five hundred million dollars, to make 
 the Union good against insurrection. 
 
 But the honorable gentleman, I imagine, belongs to that numerous but 
 steadily decreasing class who thiuk, or profess to think, that the old Union is 
 still in existence — a class of persons who continually suggest the remark made 
 of the Bourbons, that they "never learned anything or forgot anything." 
 
 Sir, it would be absurd for any one to suppose that the former or tn« exist- 
 ing Union, or any description of government ever known among men, could 
 be dissolved by any action proceeding from within itself. The honorable mem- 
 ber from Ohio, [Mr. Cox,] in his able speech of December 12, truly said that 
 there was no power in any department of this Government, to effect a separa- 
 tion of the States. The Government of the Union, "like all well-regulated sys- 
 tems, provides for its own amendment, but in no manner whatever contem- 
 plates its own destruction. The charge of the gentleman from Tennessee 
 implies that either he or I supposes that the Union might be dissolved by a 
 resolution of this House. I will not intimate such a reflection upon his good 
 sense, and can only repel any such upon mine. 
 
 Sir, the single power adequate to a disruption of this or any other Govern- 
 ment is that of revolution. Revolution is the highest law among men, because 
 it is the law of force — of the inevitable. It makes and unmakes nations; it 
 is the sanction of all Governments. It is perfectly legitimate, because ii is an 
 appeal to that ultimate power of a State, of which the State itself is but the 
 organ and representative. The success of the appeal proves the validity ol the 
 result, because it expresses elementary force. Accordingly, a revolution accom- 
 plished is recognized by publicists as settling all questions of authority or juris 
 diction. Now, the war which has come in between the North and South for 
 the past two years has made a revolution. It has substitute,! in the South an 
 other Government for that of the Union. This is the fact, and the fact in such 
 a matter is the important thing. It settles the law. No technicality in a ques- 
 tion of this kind can stand. The war has utterly dissolved the connection be- 
 tween the North and South, and rendered them separate and indep ndent 
 Powers in the world. This is the necessary legal effect of civil war anywhere. 
 It makes the belligerent parties independent for the time being, and, unless the 
 one succumbs to the other, they continue independent of each other forever. 
 The principle is laid down by Yattel as follows : 
 
6 
 
 " When a nation- becomes divided into two parties, absolutely independent, and no 
 longer acknowledging a common superior, the State is dissolved, and the war between 
 the two parties stands upon the same ground, in every respect, as a public war between 
 two different nations." — Book III, chap. 17, c. 428. 
 
 It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that so learned and profound a jurist 
 as the honorable member from Pennsylvania [Mr. Stevens] .should express 
 the same opinion. 
 
 A belligerent Power is an independent State for belligerent purposes, or pur- 
 poses of war; and being an independent State is no part of any other State. 
 The South has not, therefore, been any part of this Union since first it became 
 a military power, and set its formidable armies in the field to approve its right 
 to continue a nation. There are three steps to be taken by any body of peo- 
 ple proceeding from a state of dependence to one of independence in their pub- 
 lic relations. These three steps are : first, insurrection, which implies no na- 
 tional development, but only the preliminary unsettling of the old order. This 
 may he put down by reading the riot act, and invoking the posse comitatus. 
 Second, belligerency, which implies a complete military organization, and such 
 civil functions as may be necessary to a nation in time of war. During this 
 stage, a people are as entirely independent as they can ever be. But the ques- 
 tion of their independence is in dispute. They may maintain it, or nit ; but for 
 the time it is an indubitable fact. They at once assume their proper place in the 
 world, and rank with nations of the oldest date. Their intercourse with all 
 mankind, including those with whom they are at war, is such as nations hold 
 — an intercourse regulated only by that high code known as the law of nations. 
 The third and last form of this progressive development is that of absolute na- 
 tionality, when the war is at an end. The question is settled. The national 
 existence is no longer disputed, because its power to be is vindicated and estab- 
 lished. It then becomes a nation for peace, as it was before a nation for war, 
 and this simply because it necessarily falls into a state of peace, since war is no 
 longer its business. 
 
 Tiie fait accompli of the diplomats, it is true, signifies that period at which 
 absolute and undisputed nationality is achieved by the determination of war in 
 favor of the new belligerent ; nevertheless, the fact of revolution and a new or- 
 der is indubitable and undeniable from the moment insurrection ehrystalizes 
 into a military and civil organization, and the rights and responsibilities of the 
 parties are defined and regulated by the law of nations instead of the local 
 law. 
 
 When, therefore, the South became a belligerent power, and was so recog- 
 nized and treated by all the world, including ourselves, it m cessarily lost its 
 place in the Union and became a separate body. It could notpetform a double 
 i nations ; it was a physical impossibility for it to exist in two 
 forms. It could not be in part the American Union, and at the same time be 
 the confederate States of America. As it was acknowledged the latter it was 
 ied the former charac er. In securing : lliger- 
 
 ( nt ; wei tiie South therefore accomplished a revolution, and was turned over 
 under tin; law of nations to its own individual direction and destiny. 
 
 The appplication ^i' the law of nations to the circumstances of the case de- 
 termine - he fact, and leaves us no alternative. The law of nations is part of 
 our ov litution. It is a part of every nation's constitution. It is the 
 
 law of each and of all, and the law of all because the lavv of each. 
 
 The ign act which, in adopting the Constitution, created the people of 
 
 nation, simultaneously constituted the law of nations their law. 
 it i i or ov n Constitution, therefore, which makes the revoluti n the effect of 
 civil war, affixes ihe character of nationality to the consequence ■ f revolution, 
 and put? the seceded States out of constitutional relations with the Union' 
 Consequently, it is impossible for us to act on the assumption that these States 
 
are in the Union without violating the very Constitution which we profess so 
 much to respect. 
 
 Mr. MAYNARD. The gentleman has ieferred to a remark I made when I 
 moved to lay on the table certain resolutions introduced by him some weeks 
 since, and which were laid on the table with remarkable unanimity. Tit 
 tleman did not understand my remarks, or he would not have repri 
 as saying that the Union would be or cou'd be dissolved by any resolution of 
 this House ; or that the southern confederacy could be established in thai way. 
 That was not the purport of my statement. As 1 recollect the remark, it was 
 that that was the first occasion in this House of formal action proposed which 
 recognized the Union as dissolved, and recognized a southern confed ra sy — re- 
 cognized it as a fact existing ; a fact which I then denied, and which 1 still 
 deny, all hough it may be more than Bourbon stupidity so to regard it. 'I rea- 
 son has not yet dissolved the Union, and, God willing, ir shall never do so. 
 
 Mr. CONWAY. I know the honorable member from Tennessee has a dif- 
 ferent theory. The people of the border S>ates, from motives which are ap- 
 parent, and which I will not question, have throughout insisted that the Union 
 was incapable of infraction, and that no earthly power could divest the slave- 
 holders of their constitutional rights 
 
 The President has adopted this idea, and done his best to impress it upon 
 the public mind as the inexorable law of the case. His object was t de\ elop a 
 Union party in the South which should support his administration. He wanted 
 a base of operations for a pro-slavery Republican party, after the manner of the 
 Democracy. He repelled the idea of northern nationality as suggesting a " re- 
 morseless revolutionary struggle," and sought to restore southern nationality on 
 his own platform and under his own leadership. 
 
 Even as late as last November Federal officers were still permitted to issue 
 such official orders as this of General Boyle, in Kentucky : 
 
 " All commanding officers serving in this district are ordered not to permit any negroes 
 or slaves to enter the camps ; and all officers or privates are forbid to interfere or inter- 
 meddle with the slaves in any way." 
 
 Well may the London Spectator remark, that "this is one of those innumer- 
 able little facls that show us that statesmanship does not exist at the North." 
 
 This is the reason the war is a failure. The President has disowned the rev- 
 olution. He has perverted the war, as far as possible, to defeat it and r 
 the old system. In spite of inevitable results', he clings with insane tenacity to 
 the idea that the old Union still lives; and endeavors to fill the Halls of * on- 
 gress and all the Departments of Government with the representation of the 
 slave power. 
 
 As I stated at the outset, he has not made war in any singlene-- of urpose 
 to effect the object of a war, to wit, conquest. But he has employed the armies 
 of the nation as auxiliary in a scheme of political proselytism. He has held 
 up the physical power of the nation in terrwem over the rebellious 
 ers, seeking only to induce them to return to their allegiance. In all Depart- 
 ments of 'lie Government, civil and military, but especially in the military, his 
 chief appointments were made to effect this object. With Seward in the 
 inet, with McClellan on the Potomac, and Buell in the West, with the mass of 
 subordinate officials to correspond, an effectual check was insured t<> any 
 so precipitous as to defeat his exclusive and paramount end. The superior re- 
 sources and power of the North, and its entire ability to overcome th South 
 do not, in my mind, admit of a question. The difficulty has no', been in our 
 want of means, but in the manner of their use. All our strength ha been re- 
 quired to pass through executive hands to reach iis point of attack, and in so 
 doing has been frittered away and brought to naught. This is the secret of our 
 failure. 
 
8 
 
 In forming a judgment at the outset of the probable result of the war, our 
 mistake was in not giving sufficient attention to the character of our chief Ex- 
 ecutive Magistrate. We surveyed our immense superiority in the mere material 
 of war, and triumphantly jumped to the conclusion that we should at once 
 prove irresistible. We forgot that, notwithstanding our merits or capacities, 
 the issue turned upon a single pivot. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln is evidently not the man for this occasion. There is not in Amer- 
 ica at this time a solid foundation for anything'not based on the idea of North or 
 South, and Mr. Lincoln stands on neither the one nor the other. I say this out 
 of no ill will to him. He cannot help himself. His system is deficient. The 
 revolution which he is required to conduct is contrary to the laws which gov- 
 ern him — to his whole organization, his physical and moral constitution, his 
 training, his process of thought, his temperament. He cannot comprehend or 
 appreciate it. He is not a northern man in any sense ; neither by birth, edu- 
 cation, political or personal sympathies, or by any belief in the superiority of 
 northern civilization, or its right to rule this continent. The idea of northern 
 nationality and dominion is hateful to him. He calls it radical abolitionism, 
 seeking to inaugurate " a remorseless revolutionary struggle." Mr. Lincoln is 
 a politician of a past age. He belongs to the old Whig party, and will never 
 belong to any other. He is anti-slavery, but of a genial southern type. His 
 emancipation is that of Henry Clay, aud will never be sincerely any other. It 
 is of a gradual and " compensatory " character. All this was, of course, well 
 enough in its day and generation. And so was Mr. Lincoln. But we are now 
 in a new world ; and all such politicians as he are a hinderance and a ca- 
 lamity. 
 
 But the effect of this war in the hands of Mr. Lincoln is not alone to restore 
 the Uuion on the terms of the Constitution as it is; but, if this cannot be ac- 
 complished, to amend the Constitution in a manner to satisfy the slaveholders, 
 and make the Constitution so amended the basis of a settlement. The concil- 
 iation by which the Democrats are willing to purchase a reunion goes fo the 
 full extent of securing to the South, by constitutional provision, the principle, 
 in some form, of a negative or veto power on the action of the Government. 
 " Settle the Union," says the honorable member from Ohio, [Mr. Vallandig- 
 ham,] " on the original basis of the Constitution, and give to each section the 
 pow( r to 'protect itself within the Union, and now, after the terrible lesson of 
 the past two years, the Union will be stronger than before, and, indeed, endure 
 for ages. 
 
 This is the most alarming feature of the case. The particular form of com- 
 promise, however, is not the important matter. The tendency of the war is to 
 keep the issue of this great struggle in suspense, and throw it for final decision 
 into -the hands of political leaders in the next election. 
 
 It is not to be denied that the dominion of the American continent is the 
 fundamental idea of the American system. It has been at the foundation of 
 our political existence from the beginning. It is an idea lodged at the bottom 
 of the mind of every American whether he knows it or riot, and it cannot be 
 eradicated. Ours is a Union of States, calculated to embrace all American 
 communities in one grand circle. The principle laid down by President Mon- 
 roe, that no European Power should establish or uphold any nationality on this 
 continent without our consent, proceeds on the same idea. We are the Amer- 
 ican people, and must control the American continent. But the question of 
 slavery has interposed itself between the Union and a portion of the States and 
 broken them olf, and we are now struggling to restore them. 
 
 There are three methods of again uniting the nation : one is, to crush out the 
 slaveholders by force; the other, to surrender to them on the matter in issue; 
 and the third is temporary separation aud final reunion on au anti-slavery basis. 
 There is a party in the country in favor of each of these methods. The Re- 
 
9 
 
 publican party are for force ; the Democratic for conciliation. The Republican 
 party consists of those who are opposed, in principle, to slavery ; the Demo- 
 cratic, to those who are not. They are equally, however, for restoring the in- 
 tegrity of the nation. Indeed, the instinct of' union and territorial empire is 
 so dominant that (he party of conciliation would adopt force, or the party of 
 force, conciliation, rather than give np the effort for dominion. 
 
 The President was elected by the Republicans, and seems to be their repre- 
 sentative. His course, however, has not been such as to promote their end. 
 When he came into power the expectation and logical inference was, that the 
 slaveholders would be crushed out. The tendency among the Democrats was 
 then to temporary separation. But since that time things have undergone a 
 change. The Executive has not made war upon the South in any proper sense, 
 and the South has not been crushed out. But, on the contrary', it Ids boldly 
 held its own; and the prospect of its speedy extinction is not' now very bril- 
 liant; consequently the Democrats have turned round. They think the Union 
 niay yet be restored through conciliation and compromise. They are not now 
 in favor of any separation, not for an hour. How emphatically the honorable 
 member from Ohio answered the question put by himself, "shall we separate ? 
 No! No! No!" The President has played into the hands of these gentlemen 
 most completely; and his proposition that the Union is indivisible, and that 
 the war must be waged only to restore the constitutional relations between the 
 Government and the people of the revolted States, is entirely in their interest. 
 He has held the issue open. It is now evident that force, as a controlling element 
 in the strife, has spent itself; and that either conciliation or temporary separa- 
 tion must settle the dispute. The Democrats will not, of coursr, listen to sep- 
 aration tor an instant. Such a suggestion in their eyes, now, is treason — a 
 proposition to dissolve the Union — for which one ought to be hanged. They 
 expect the question whether the Union shall be restored by force or compro- 
 mise to be. submitted to the people in the next election ; and upon that to carry 
 the country. Their plan is to oppose the Administration simply on its anti- 
 slavery policy. They put in issue the confiscation act, the Missouri emancipation 
 act, and the President's proclamation of emancipation. These measures thev pro- 
 nounce unconstitutional, deny their validity, and that of everything done or to 
 be done in pursuance of them. In addition to this, they attack the Administra- 
 tion on account of its suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, false imprison- 
 ment, corruption, imbecility, &c, and a thousand other incidents. But on the 
 war aud the integrity of the Union, they are like adamant itself. They claim 
 to favor the war for the sake of the Union, but to be for compromise rather 
 than war. They say very truthfully that the Republicans have tried force for 
 two years, and exhausted the country, and upon this claim the adoption of 
 their method as all that is left to be done. This is the manner in which the 
 politicians of the country propose to terminate this great conflict. 
 
 It is true that the honorable member from Ohio [Mr. Vallandigham] sug- 
 gests an armistice at the present time; but I do not see that, in this respect, he 
 concurs with the rest of his party. I need only refer to the position of the 
 gentleman's colleague, [Mr. Cox,J and also to that of the recently inaugurated 
 Governor Seymour, of New York ; likewise that of the honorable member from 
 Pennsylvania, [Mr. Wright,] whose impassioned speech the other day in favor 
 of the war attracted such signal attention; and also to the utterances of the 
 various Democratic newspapers, and the several recent Democratic conventions 
 and mass meetings in different parts of the country. But even thi object of 
 the proposed armistice is not to end the war, but only to suspend it. Tt is to 
 have pace, and at the same time to preserve the, technical constitutional I'liion 
 preliminary to a settlement based on compromise. 
 
 An alliance seems recently to have been effected to this end 1». tween certain 
 elements heretofore hostile. The border State politicians are the remnant of 
 
10 
 
 the old Whig and Know-Nothing parties, who, all their lives ^rishe^ an in- 
 tens, hatred of the Democracy. They now unite with .hat pa.l^ to to 
 object. The Republican of the Albany school under the saga^oa, le^le sli p 
 of M Weed, who, for long years, fought the Van Buran regency and ^nnaHj 
 Sok it down through the agency of uve-soil, are also hand '^ 'X >^ 
 
 old 01 hents. Thus .he army of the Democracy takes .he field foi the next 
 
 gltTolitical battle, support ou ^^^WvZviZT ^ 
 tenden, and on th right by the special inends ot William ,H Reward i.*w» 
 a hosl may well feel confident. It is a combination for victory. The eh merits 
 have I. Z w 1 draped. Not in vain have the border State politician thronged 
 thThal Of t i'nsidental Mansion. Not in vaip has the discreet Sjawlg 
 of State incurh ! the reputation of having become imbecile Not in vain has 
 Sol Adnums.ration suffered the pdium of drifting w^h the rtetek* 
 of a They could well afford to dispense with bh? applause oi the lad. 
 
 clu while thev silently directed that under current which was to refer the 
 jjLt queS^th which they would not grapple, to the decision of another 
 
 F Scht^iletnt in the accomplishment of th,s reactionary movement is 
 th Tw r w 1 id I Administration ^conducting for the restoration of the Union. 
 The wa indeed the trump card of the Democracy ; not war for emanc^r 
 
 5 not wa,- for conquest -'hut Mr. Lincoln's war for the Union. cy *£ 
 no fear that it will serve the end of abolition. _ IUias passed that stage^ Its 
 results are now in their keeping. A I they wish is its pro ong atmn. In the 
 first place, it holds the nation pledged to the principle hat the I nmn is m act. 
 a-,1 the Constitution open to amendment through southern votes. ^In he next 
 rvlaee the responsibility of it being with the Republicans, it weakens them 
 
 6 'in he Section. ^And in the third place, its effect is to wear away an* 
 depL the slaveholders, and dispose them n*™^™^* 1^ 
 in whatever aspect it may be presented, is an admirable ^stmmen or *em. 
 If it should happen to meet with unexpected "^"^^^"H 
 the slaveholders will be brought back just in time to join hem - - action 
 If it should lag and accomplish no results, as now seems likely, this *m.mev 
 
 tab v msm e them a triumph in the popular vote. Their theory is-andii a 
 sound one-that the two forces, abolition and secession, ''^ » ' t vl r ea4 
 have only to be permitted tQ continue the fight long enough to v>uir eacn 
 o5 er oil" and can e the political waters to subside to then- former level. 
 
 Thue, on the basis of the war, they have a complete mastery ot the situation, 
 nnd no oarth'v power can prevent their success. . 
 
 Neve.th lels without reference to the result of the war I consider their chance 
 in the election far superior to that of the party ot the Adm.ms. atmn , G eat 
 reliance is placed by the latter on the vote ot the soldiers. But in my opinion 
 this is delusive. The soldier will be affected, m like manner with he rest 
 the people; and, moreover, will be tired of military service and ™™**£* 
 turn honn' Thev will be dissatisfied from a thousand causes jjdgy 
 change. The suffering and indignation yet to be engendered bj the unbtn te4 
 issue of an irredeemable paper currency will of itself overwhelm t h. Ad. u a 
 tratio, party and sink it deeper than plummet ever sounded. But i he Demo 
 judgment, safely calculate that they can take issue on any one oi 
 
 a , hu ' ndr ed necefsary incidents of the war, and defeat their opponents by a 
 
 ^iacTTetnt would, of course, invole a reversal of all that ha, been done 
 to the interest of freedom. But its crowning result would be i co otionto 
 amend the Constitution as already suggested. Thus, after tour yeai of ^ 
 vouchsafed to us by Providence,: as an opportunity ol deliverance n fie 
 domination of slavery we will return to our thraldom on terms more rrrevoca 
 ble and oppressive than ever existed before. 
 
11 
 
 We treat with supreme contempt the proposition of amending the Constitu- 
 tion in a manner to leave the New England' States to them* vef Jut be 
 no doubt whatever that if the South should n,ake this an indispen able • i- 
 tion of reumon, it would be promptly agreed to by this reaSr^party It 
 requires a vote o three-fourths to amend the Constitution al III- but If this 
 can be obtained for one form of compromise, I see m-t I h v 1 not beS 
 
 m^Snotl ] f mHy ; e ^^^'-"^lavorvtiu-ou,,,,^ ,,,::'■;;,:, ; 
 
 may .t not be for cutong fi offensive members, and aLpting the nan on to 
 that condition ? Countmg the fifteen slave States, it is Lhh probable tl. i 
 the requite vote may be secured tor "compromise" in the very ,, 
 which it can be presented. 
 
 But the simple Republicans seem to imagine that the game is still in their 
 hands hey scout the idea that the next election is tohaveanyhn 
 with it, and profess to think it all settled by the Resident's pro 
 Stff ? 7 th n ] l' ° ther i 2*?*«y «*■"•■ They seem to 
 tl^etenZ r- hCU :r d *■**?***■ rebuilt upon new 
 befoie the next election; hat our armies will advance victorious , the 
 enemy s country capture Richmond, sweep through the Mississippi valley^ 
 
 :;J takc fi Cl r ,e f 01 ?' ^° bi,e ' Savannah ' aDd °^ strongholds, She 
 slaves free, confiscate the lands, and settle the whole difficulty in the most 
 
 22to?w iey have aireadj i introdU( ' ed bilIs into ^ ,1 -- to 
 
 ol sha^hoht P t C1 f anC,pat,0n a T nd , f ° r parCel,,i S *«* Ae confiscated la'nds 
 
 ot s avchol-ie.s Lnt, for my part, I do not see any signs whatever of this 
 
 w ft consummatmn. I have been waiting two years for something Idee it, but 
 
 t seems farther off now than ever. The President, in my opinion, i« a guaran- 
 
 tee against any such result. * l .» 
 
 i«ta£ t !'r° 1''° ^J^Sbrillhuit prospect entirely overlook, among other 
 U on n Ttl t'l *?^ 1 * H**»t *rt that the war is to restore the 
 foder :. f 11 d Ule nat '° nal ai " mS bG ~«*«fal, ^d the Southern con- 
 
 federacy fall to pieces to-morrow, the slaveholders would a, once throw away 
 
 t h, ITI r S,gn,a ' an ] d f^ aroun ' 1 the fla « of °* r tt&m. This would 
 would belt, ^ War ' ^ al f u he end ° f the Re P^'icans. The slaveholders 
 Zl 1 > . co-vinced of their error, and would gratify the beart of our 
 amiable I resident by accepting his invitation, and returni B g to their allegiance 
 UnLT u,d 1 H 1 7 ,,K ' tIl0 , n F h ; s g««*tied to them by the Constitution Mr. 
 2 WOnI ; ,1,; '; , ;' , ^ ! th ^ Resident, instead of Mr. Davis, and would be re- 
 qi ned to sus am them in their constitutional rights, which, of course, he would 
 do, as m duty bound and they, in return, would sustain him. They would, 
 fSJT ?!?*"*», f theil> f '™' Naders, who might be banged for the mat- 
 te o that; it would not affect the vital point wir!, them, to%i1 ' v, on 
 
 m ined 2$ Ti . more ^ ™" *"**** more j „,. deter- 
 
 SS?.Sfc^S" T bef ° re - , Theild ^ » the field rendering them 
 timid and fearful, their cohesion would be in proportion to their alarm. ' Their 
 tendency to unity would be hke the spring of a keel trap. From an irresisti- 
 We instinct every slaveholder in the land would grapple himself with n.ulti- 
 
 P bed ho ( ,,s to even- other So that in a speedy and triumph,! elusion of 
 
 the™, the Republicans have no grain of comfort. It is early, inevitable 
 overthrow to them. Such a result would fill these Halls with a class of men 
 who would sweep the confiscation and emancipation ads from the statute- 
 books with wild shrieks of execration. 
 
 Many- suppose that the effect of* the proclamation of emancipation will 
 De to so thoroughly, speedily, and co„,pl,te!y annihilate slaverj that the 
 slaveholders wi I have no longer a motive to act together. This is an 
 egreg.ous mistake. The proclamation will hnve no sue!, effect. It cannot 
 Have any such effect. Its constitutionality is denied.. It is still unexecuted, 
 and its validity undetermined. The whole subject is yet open to debate and 
 
12 
 
 final settlement. The judiciary department is to render its decision upon it ; 
 and, in the meantime, it is to be the controlling issue in a popular election for 
 President. This state of things will undoubtedly inspire the slaveholders with 
 a more resolute purpose than ever. Their effort will not, as heretofore, be to 
 prevent the abolitionist from freeing the slave, as a distant and speculative 
 proposition, but to rescue him from the grasp of the enemy already actually 
 laid upon him. It will redouble their will, and bring out eve>y latent energy. 
 
 But it is thought that Congress might take the ground that the seceded 
 States had committed suicide, and were not States at all, but Tciritories, and 
 had no right to resume constitutional relations with the Union. This would, 
 of coui>e, be a violation of the object of the war, and is not to be presumed. 
 This object has been declared over and over again by the executive depart- 
 ment. It has been set forth in every message of the President to Congress, 
 from t' e first to the last, inclusive; in divers of his proclamations and orders, 
 palticts iriy in his last great proclamation of emancipation ; in the reports and 
 correspondence of his Secretaries; and also by the two Houses of Congress in 
 formal resolves. It has been officially communicated, through the Secretary of 
 State, to all the courts of Europe; and has been made known to the rebels 
 themselves. It therefore stands in the nature of a formal pledge to all man- 
 kind. It will not probably be changed. A proposition to declare the seceded 
 States politically outside, but territorially inside, of the Union, was brought for- 
 ward in the Senate last winter, under the high sanction of the distinguished 
 Senator from Massachusetts, [Mr. Sumner,] but was not favorably entertained, 
 for the very reason that it implied an infraction of the principle upon which the 
 war was being waged. The same suggestion has been repeatedly made in this 
 House, in various forms, by the honorable chairman of the Committee on Ter- 
 ritories, [Mr. Ashley,] with no better success. 
 
 But even if this expedient should be resorted to by the Republicans, it would 
 only be a temporary effect, as this, with all other questions involved, would be 
 submitted to the issue of the election. But it would also, in the meantime, 
 have been reversed by the Congress which will come into existence after the 
 4th of March next. 
 
 I cannot, therefore, see how this war can go on without producing conse- 
 quences the most injurious and melancholy to the nation. 
 
 Yet, if the President should enact an immediate and radical reform, should 
 proclaim a different principle and purpose, and follow it up by concentrated 
 and powerful attacks upon the enemy, the present tendency might be counter- 
 acted, and the event, after all, be good. But of this there is no probability. 
 
 It is thus evident that all the forces of the country — civil, military, political, 
 diplomatic, and other — have been manipulated in a way to defeat the legitimate 
 result of this great progressive movement of the North. The Administration 
 has seemed to endeavor first to restore the Union on the terms of the Consti- 
 tution as it is ; and, failing in this, to so dispose the elements as to insure the 
 ascendency of a Democratic fusion party in the next election, maintaining the 
 question undetermined long enough to be able to deliver it over to the new 
 Administration for settlement on the basis of compromise; thus making the 
 power of the slaveholders in the nation and over the continent supreme and 
 permanent. 
 
 I attatch in blame to the person who fills the executive office; I only de- 
 plore the fate which has afflicted us with the wrong man in that place at this 
 momentous period. We are told of a philosopher who undertook to demon- 
 strate the inevitability of the Reformation in a few statistics about Luther's 
 family and early surroundings. He collected certain geographical and other 
 facts, such as the kind of soil, climate, and productions of his birthplace ;' the 
 kind of people among whom the great reformer was brought up; the character 
 of his parents and associates ; and thus formed the basis of a philosophical 
 
13 
 
 analysis, resolving Luther into an invincible law from the operation of which 
 the Reformation must necessarily ensue. I should think that such an analysis 
 of Mr. Lincoln would show him to be utterly incapable of anything else than 
 just what he has performed. He has been an instrument. The transition of 
 great bodies through the progress of ideas, does not take place by rapid and 
 unbroken marches. Its advance is slow and by degrees. At the time Mr. 
 Lincoln was elected President, the nation had not yet been delivered. The 
 North had just realized its identity, but had not become independent. The old 
 system had just begun to give way and let in the new. Mr. Lincoln was the 
 legitimate representative of that indefinite and uncertain period. The South 
 had seceded ; but the North had not entered. A vision of the Union hovered 
 over the land, and dwelt in the minds of men. Mr. Lincoln was neither north- 
 ern or southern, but an embodiment of that shadow, which, rising up from the 
 expiring form of the old order, lingered over its remains, reluctant to depart. 
 
 I am sure that no other person than Mr. Lincoln, or some one of the same 
 mold, could have been elected President at that time. The nation, though not 
 southern as before, was yet not fully northern, and the southern element was a 
 necessary ingredient in the character of the President. The reason Mr. Seward 
 was not chosen instead of Mr. Lincoln is that the former was the representative 
 of the North in its absolute character, and that character had not yet been fully 
 developed. Mr. Seward was defeated, but not by the North. He was defeated 
 by the southern connection. Let him not now endeavor to strangle the North. 
 He was a worthy, an illustrious exponent of that movement which was the 
 germ of a new nationality ; and had his splendid genius been given to its ser- 
 vice in the hour of its birth, as it ought to have been, gratefully would it now 
 hail him its deliverer and benefactor, and proudly would it crown him with its 
 highest honors. 
 
 It does not become me to say what should be done by the Representatives 
 of the people to secure the nation from such a calamity as this presages. I 
 have no policy to propound; no measure to advance. My service in the pub- 
 lic councils wid expire with this short session of Congress. I am not, for the 
 future, one of the accredited agents of the North, upon whom properly devolves 
 this responsibility. I do not, therefore, put myself forward as its guide. 
 
 There are others in these Halls better fitted in this juncture to propose the 
 measure it would become us to adopt. I defer to them. 
 
 The Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Sumner] who has lately been re-elect- 
 ed to serve another term of six years in the body he has so long adorned, 
 should, in this crisis, point us to the proper action. His purely northern char- 
 acter, his great abilities, his lofty aspirations, his sacrifices for freedom, the entire 
 confidence of his State, so spontaneously bestowed upon him — and that State 
 the noblest in America — all single him out as one authorized and required to 
 speak with a decisive voice on this great occasion. 
 
 There are also in this House gentlemen whose words on this momentous 
 theme the country will listen to with intense interest. The honorable member 
 from Pennsylvania, [Mr. Thaddeus Stevens,] one of the truly great men of 
 America — full of learning and wisdom — tried by long years of arduous service 
 in this cause, who has never faltered, and is now re-elected in his district by 
 overwhelming numbers, stands foremost among those of whom the nation will 
 expect deliverance from the dangers which encompass it. 
 
 Let these men, and such as these, speak, and tell the country what to do in 
 this hour of transcendent peril. 
 
 Nevertheless, I cannot refrain from expressing my individual opinion that the 
 true policy of the North is to terminate this war at once. The longer it con- 
 tinues, the worse our situatiou becomes. Let the two Houses of Congress adopt 
 the following resolutions : 
 
14 
 
 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives, dee., That the Executive be, and he 
 is hereby, requested to issue a general order to all commanders of forces in the several 
 military departments of the United States to discontinue offensive operations against the 
 enemy, and to act for the future entirely on the defensive. 
 
 Resolved, That the Executive be, and he is hereby, further requested to enter into ne- 
 gotiate, ns with the authorities of the confederate States with reference to a cessation of 
 hostilities, based on the following propositions: 1. Recognition of the independence of 
 the confederate States. 2. A uniform system of duties upon imports. 3. Free trade be- 
 tween the two States. 4. Free navigation of the Mississippi river. 5. "Mutual adoption 
 of the Monroe doctrine. 
 
 I am aware that this may be said to be giviqg up the contest. In one re- 
 spect it undoubtedly is. It is an abandonment, for the time being, of the 
 attempt to bring the South under the sway of the Union by force of arms. 
 But it cannot be denied that in this object we are already defeated ; we have 
 defeated ourselves. But it also protects us from the insiduous designs of do- 
 mestic foes, uow plotting within our own bosom. This action would, of course, 
 imply a distinct political jurisdiction between the North and South. But that 
 is now an existing fact. 
 
 I entirely disagree with those who assert that this is impossible, because 
 there are no natural boundaries between the two, such as the Rocky mountains J 
 or the Atlantic ocean. This is a bugbear with which we impose upon ourselves. \ 
 The people of the North and South can never become foreign nations to each 
 other, in the sense in which the Freuch and English or Russian are. They are 
 sprung from the same origin, speak the same language, possess a common liter- 
 ature, inherit similar political and religious views, aud inhabit regions closely 
 connected by natural and aitificial ties. They will therefore, both be always 
 American. The only gi eat difference between them is a social aud political 
 nature, namely, that which arises from the existence of African slavery in one, 
 and the absence of it in the other. 
 
 This fact, however, offers no obstacle whatever to such a separation as is in- 
 volved in independent political jurisdictions ; on the contrary, it greatly facili- 
 tates it. 
 
 Before the Federal Union was established all the States were independent, 
 and associated under Articles of Confederation in the nature of a treaty. The 
 arguments now adduced to show the impracticability of present separation be- 
 tween North and South, go with equal force to prove the impossibility of what 
 then actually existed aud was accepted in the case of the thirteen original 
 States of the Union. The latter stood toward each other precisely as the 
 North and South would stand should they stop the war and enter into treaty. 
 It would simply be resolving the North and South into confederate States, re- 
 suming, as to then), the old basis of the Confederation. This would be the 
 whole of it. It is, therefore, a very simple operation. 
 
 I do not suggest this however, on the idea that shonld it ever be adopted 
 the separation it implies would be permanent. I believe that it would insure— 
 an ultimate reunion on an anti-slavery basis. W 
 
 I have confidence in the inherent vitality of northern civilization. 1 have no 
 fears to set it in competition with that of the South. Let them proceed side 
 by side in the race of empire, and we shall see which will triumph. 
 
 The South has no coherence; no solid basis, it is built upon a foundation 
 of sand. The principle of secession is one of disintegration. Its system is 
 unstable from foundation to turret. Slavery will inevitably rend it asunder. 
 This of all things is the most potent cause of disunion. It develops a perpetual 
 warfare between conscience and interest. Wherever the former outweighs the 
 latter, separation begins. Let the South become independent, and we shall 
 one of these days see a "North" and "South" in the South. The irrepres- 
 sible conflict will be transferred to the other side of Mason aud Dixon's. Auti- 
 slavery will break out in Richmond. The doctrines of Jefferson, Mason, and 
 
15 
 
 Madison will again be spoken. The eloquent voice of some southern Phillips 
 or Beecher will be heard denouncing the evil that blights the land. 
 
 I cannot doubt that the States ol the confederacy along the northern line 
 will speedily become free, and eager to reunite with the North. Such slaves 
 as can escape across the line will do so, and the rest will be conveyed by their 
 owners to the distant South ; and as these States become lice, th euome 
 
 antagonistic to their confederates and reconciled to the old Onion, and no ob- 
 stacle can prevent their return. 
 
 Thus the southern line of the United States will be brought down to the 
 next tier of slave States, upon which the same effect will be wrought ; and so 
 the process continued, until the national ensign agaiu flouts unchallenged ou 
 the breezes of the Gulf. 
 
 In the mean time, we will conquer our domestic: enemy. We will be no 
 longer endangered with a resumption of shareholding supremacy through the 
 forms of the Union. The effect of Democratic triumph will be comparatively 
 harmless. The power of the slaveholders in the Government being gone, that 
 wretched spawn of our previous politics known as the doughfaci will also be 
 departed forever. The Democrats, heretofore the most ready, for the sake of 
 power, to do the bidding of the South, would, now that the South scorned 
 their alliance, be the most hostile and determined against it. Separation would 
 set the Democracy of the free States and the slaveholders of the South in op- 
 position, and it is the only thing that ever will. The Democrats would chauge 
 their base of operations. They would, as usual, look to the source of power. 
 
 There are many philanthropic persons, however, win. deprecate separation 
 on the ground of its infidelity to the slave. Hut. if separation be the best 
 means, under the circumstances, of promoting the cause of freedom, how can 
 it be infidelity to the slave? The stronger the claim of the slave upon us, the 
 more firmly are we bound to that measure which will enable us to continue 
 effectively our efforts in his behalf. A resumption of the Union by the 
 holders in the manner I have described would set on the slave a doom oi e er- 
 nal despair. If 1 were myself a fugitive bondman seeking security and cher- 
 ishing the hope of ultimately redeeming wife, children, home, country, and 
 friends, 1 should implore the nation with all my heart and soul to pause in its 
 present career. 
 
 The Republicans depend on force — now or never; the Democrats rely on 
 conciliation and compromise. 
 
 I put these suggestions forward in behalf of tieedom and the North, i pre- 
 sume I shall have no second for them in this House. But 1 do not doubt they 
 will find approval in the hearts of millions of sincere and devot d men and 
 women thioughout the country, and in the unerring judgment of the future. 
 
 I have thus endeavored to set forth the cause of our defeat in tins war, and 
 the dangers .vhich uo.v impend over us, and to glance at the means by which 
 we may mitigate the former and avert the latter. I have done this from an 
 earnest sense of pubiic duty, and am now content to rest, and aw dl 
 ments. 1 am no party politician. 1 am aa anti-slavery man. 1 have no other 
 politics. 
 
 In taking ground against the further prosecution of this war, 1 am, there- 
 fore, acting in the iiuerest of Freedom, and to no other intent or purpose 
 whatever. 1 believe with all the intensity of the profoundest conviction that 
 Freedom in America demands a cessation of hostilities and formal recognition 
 of the independence of the Confederate States. In this I may be mistaken; 
 but until 1 am convinced of my error 1 shall pursue this one object without 
 disguse, reserve, or qualification. 
 
 "Better to dwell iu Freedom's Hall 
 
 With a cold damp floor and mouldering wall, 
 
 Than bow the head and bend the knee 
 
 Iu the proudest palace of slavery" 
 
V 
 
%,<** .' 
 
 A 
 
 ^ ^ .w 
 
 '%. 
 
 
 #«4 
 
 7 X 
 
 
■ V 
 
 .