PEECH ■o^ JUDGE BUEBANK, ;. ^•• m THE SENATE OF CALIFORNIA. •OH THE UNIOlSr KESOLUTIONS. ^ACSIAMSINTO: J. ANTHONY & CO., PBINTBKS, tJNION BOOK ANB JOB OFFlCB, 1^61 V^^PvK f SPEECH Mr. Burbank — Mr. President, when I first saw the sun of this beautiful morning, shedding its light over the world, and its genial influences upon all mankind, I thought, sir, that it would be very ]v.oper to consider its origin and its purposes, and it seems to me, Mr. President, that the more any man considers the origin of that luminary and its purposes, the more he will honor its author and appreciate his blessings. The light of that luminary lights up the world, and its genial influences give life, and health, and vigor to all living things. It was observed, yesterday, by the Senator from Mariposa (Mr. Merritt), that this was not the time, nor the occasion, for the con- sideration of the Constitution, or its purposes, or the rights that spring up under it — I do not give the exact language of the honorable Senator ; I give the sentiment that his language conveyed. I do not mean to misrepresent a word, or a thought, of any Senatoi' of this body ; but it struck me at the time that the Senator so said, that he was entirely mistaken in the object of this discussion. How can we properly consider the resolutions before us unless we consider the Constitution itself, and its purposes ? The very object of this discussion has a direct leference to the Constitu- tion itself, and the Union of these States, and the rights and the privileges that have grown up under it, and also the abuses of the Constitution which are sup]:)osed to exist. If there was nothing, Mr. President, upon this occasion about which we sliould be concerned, why are we here to-day discussing anything ? If there is noth- ing wi'ong, why should we spend our time so needlessly, and without a purpose, in discussing resolutions of this nature? I disagree with the Senator from Mariposa. I think that it is of the first importance to consider the origin of the Constitution and the Union, and its purposes, in order to know how to feel and how to act in relation to that sacred instrument. I think that it is well to consider what the influences of this Union and Constitution have been upon a nation of freemen. I think it is wel) to consider, when that instrument is in danger, how much would be lost if it was broken asunder. How is it possible that we can consider its value without taking into consideration these matters — its importance of itself, its consequences, its bene- fits, its injury if lost? When the Senator from Mariposa says that King George HI. made a mistake when he said that the thirteen Colonies must be coerced into subor- dination, what are we to understand by that ? I suppose the Senator from Mariposa wishes this Senate to understand that he conceives there is a parallel between the relations of King George III. and the Colonies in 1776, upon one hand, and the Government of the United States and South Carolina on the other. If the Senator from Mariposa means that I understand him ; if he means anything else than that, I do not understand him. What, Mr. President, did the Colonies complain of? What does South Carolina complain of as against the General Govei'ument of this country ? Where are the complaints ? Who has published them ? Who has known them ? Who has felt the wrong of this Government upon any portion of the Union ? If so, what are these wrongs ? Who has held them up for the examination of man- kind ? Let us see for one moment what the condition of the thirteen Colonies wa.s [i^] in 1776, and see if we can find any pandlel between their relations to liie crown of England, and the rehuion of South Carolina to this Goveinment. Mr. President, we must look into tliis matter, and see, if there is any, what that lelation is. The peo- ple, sir, of the thirteen colonies, had good causes of complaint, and they made them known to the world. They published them, and wliile these causes "of complaint existed, no human power could coerce the people to submit. What did King GeoiQ-e do? What were those complaints ? Let facts speak for themselves, and^ve shall learn the relations Avhich existed between the crown of England and the colonies of America : " The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, ali having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States," Does this Government undertake to exert an absolute tyranny over any portion of this Union ? " He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome, and necessary for the public good." lias the Goverum((nt of this country, of this Union, done any such thing as that? "He has forbidden his Gov- ernors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation until his a-^sent should be obtained, and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them." Eas this Government done any such thincr as that towards South Carolina or any other State ? " He has refused "to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless these people would relinquish the right of representation in the Legislature — a right inestimabie to theni, and for- midable to tyrants only." Where has this Government been guilty of any such wrong from its beginning to the present day ? "He has called together legislative bodies at i)laces unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of their pub- lic records, for the sole purpo.se of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures." Look abroad upon our (government, from iU origin to the present dav, and say if anv- thiug like this can be charged upon it. " He has dissolved Kepresentative Houses repeatedly for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the peo})le at large for their exercise, the State remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without and convulsions within." Is there, I ask, anything like this in this country? Has this (xovernment exercised any such unwarianted authority ? If so. where has it been exhibited ? " He has endeavored to j>revent the population of these States; for that purpose obsti-Jcting the laws of natuialization of foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their Miigration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. He has obstiucted the administiation of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciaiy powers. He has made Judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their t)i}ices, and the amount and payment of their salaries." Has any such thing as that been done toward South Carolina, or North Carolina, or any other State ?" " lie has erected a multitude of new oflices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass oui- people and eat out their substance. He has kept among us. in time of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our Legislatures. He has affected to render the military inde- pendent of, and sujterior to, the civil power." These, Mi-. President, are some" of the causes, soTne of the reasons why the Colonies rose up as one man and declared to the world that no power existed among men by which they could be compelled to bear these evils, and submit to this oppression. Are these causes similar to any action taken by the General Government toward South Carolina, or any other State? And yet the Senator from Mariposa says that King (Jeorge made a mistake when he re- fused concession. Why, sir, these abuses, these insults, were continued for years, and a generous and noble people objecited over and over again, for years. Why is King George brought into this issue, except to show that he stoo<.l in the same rela- m tion to the Thirteen Colonies that this General Government stands in towards South Carolina ? We may as well meet the fallacies presented in this issue, first as last. No man need come here and pretend to discuss the sense of these resolutions, and then fly ofl' at a tang-ent and discuss something else. The time has come when that kind of dodging- wont do. The people of this country call upon their public men for firmness, and call upon the Senator from Mariposa to stand up like a man and vindicate the Constitution of his country against every wrong, and every invasion, and every insurrection, and every treason, let it come from where it may. If a man, Mr. President, is a Union man when the Union needs no help from his hand, and then is no Union man when the Union is in danger, let such men be few and far be- tween. The time has come, and now is, when he that is for the Union of his coun- try is for the Union of that country when that country is in peiil. The Senator from Maiiposa has told us, Mr. President, that we are in the midst of a revolution. He says, too, perhaps with great truth, that that revolution is going on ; it is marching onward. What doos he propose to do to stop that revolution? What does he pio- pose to do to stop treason, if it exists ? What does he propose to do to resist rebel- lion, and to maintain, Miope, the supremacy of the law of the laud ? Has he made any proposition to do this ? If he has, I have had the misfortune not to understand him. I would not pay so much attention to what that Senator said if indeed I had not some i-espect for him, and if indeed I had not some respect for the country that he and I both live in. That Senator says, with emphasis, that the way to meet this present difficulty — the way to meet this threatening attitude of aft'airs — is clear to his mind. He says, and I think he distinctly recommends, that the way for the Gov- ernment to proceed is to proceed not at all. And it is fairly to be inferred from what he says, that if any State, or any portion of a »State, should attempt to tear down the National Capitol while the Stars and Stripes wave over it, his voice would be the same ; that the same protective power that he invokes now — in action and supineness — he would invoke then. That is the Senator's position. Now, if that is reasonable, if that is right, let us all embrace that position, and let that Senator be the champion of the Constitution upon that ground. Let him have the honor and the name of suggesting the right mode of preserving the Union in the midst of peril. But, Mr. President, if that Senator will run the hazard of taking ground against the Union by his argument, let me say to him that he sleeps his last deep politically, that he has fought his last battle, and no sound can aivake him to glory again. [Laughter.] Any man who on this occasion, in this crisis, in this extraordinary condition of things, takes ground by argument or position against the Union and the Constitution, may read his political destiny in the setting, sun. But, Mr. President, let me not abuse or raisiepresent one word that that Senator said, or one hair of his head. There is no beauty in discussion, there is no honor in argument, if we are to leave the truth of the argument and plead to what it does not contain. I mean to hold the Senator to the record. I mean that he shall come upon and abide by his record. I say his argument is an apology for what has been done against this Government. Let me not misrepresent the Senator. When a man makes an argument in this country, or in this body, he must be bound by that ai'gument. The words it contains must ex- plain themselves. So stands that Senator's argument, and if it has strength in it, if it has patriotism iu it, let it live forever ; but if it has neither, let it die its death. Suppose, Mr, President, that any patriotic man was tired of this Union. Suppose that he did not believe in i'ts virtue or its strength. Would lie say so at this partic- ular junctuie ? Would he be prepared in the present condition of things, and the present feeling of the country to say that he was opposed to this Union and this Government? Not at all. What would he say? He would probably instead of saying that, find an apology for its overthrow, find an excuse for rebellion, an excuse [^ for treason. Is tlic Senator aware, of what has taken place in tliis country witliin a recent period ? He has not referred to tlie acts that have been done against his own country. lie lias not intimated that anything wiong has been done.'' He has not told this Senate tliat he disapproves of a single act of South Carolina. And at tliis particular junctuie, if he did disapprove of the acts done there, wliy not say so boldly ? If there is anything wrong in one part of the country, why not let the sen- timent of the country rebuke the -Anong ? Is not that right ? ' Is not that tlie way to let a wholesome public sentiment beVelt ? Certainly, "that is the advantage of the intelligence, and that means of intelligence, which a representative government has over all others. " ' Whilst 1 refer to South Carolina, I may be addressing men from the Palmetto State, and I mean to do it with respect for those men and with proper lespect for that State. I base these remaiks upon, and I couple this argument with, the idea that S(>utli Carolina this day is one of the sister States of this sisterhood of States. I base it also upon the idea that the people of Soutli Carolina are the peo])le of thi.s Union upon this lovely morning. I also am i'vae to acknowledge, free to say, that the people of South .C-rolina a;e bone of our bone and fles>of our flesh. Itis with this idea that I address my remarks to the Senate upon these resolutions, and if I did not have that senliinent and that feeling I would let the resolutions all go to the shades; they should not occupy a moment of my time. When T speak of the act.s of South Carolina, I speak of tliem as her own' acts. When it shall appear that those acts are wrong, let South Carolina know that we think ho, and if South Caro- lina has any regard for our oiiinions she may profit by it. I^ut whilst we, like the Senator from Mariposa, say nothing in relation to those acts at all, neither condemn- ing them nor approving them, liow can the Palmetto State know how we regard her acts? I can tell the Senator that I hive brothers in the SiMitli, and that I have rela- tions in the South ; and as a national man, I know no difterence between the sunny plains of the Soutii and the bleak mountains of the North, and never will I know any ditference when 1 am discussing a national (juestion of right or policy. Hew could these resolutions have been introduced with any jiropriety at all, unless it were true that somebody, at some time and under some circumstances, in this nation, had done some wrong to the Government ? AVliat sense, what reason, what philusophy, what anything, could be found in the resolutions, unless something wrong had been .suppose*! to be done? Now let us consider what has been done, and wlm has done it. If it is right, let us commend it ; if it is wrong, we will (jondenin it. Is it true that South Caroliiui, within the last six months, has been colhu-ting arms anil ammu- nition, the implements of death, to be used against somebody 'i Is that true ? I so understand the Senator in substance. Why is all tliis done in a time of peace, when there sits at the head of the Government the very man that South Carolina put there ? It is against her own Government and the Administration of her own choice that she has acted. Is it true that South Carolina has bid defiance to the power of this nation ? Is it true that South Carolina has iired her cannon upon an Ameiican ship, over which the Stars and Stripes floated, a ship over which the ensign of our country was unfurled to the breeze? Has she done that? Has she repeatedly Iired upon that shij), when it was under the direction of the Piesident of the United States, and for purposes lawful and proper ? The Senator from M.-vriposa has not referred to it. I supj)ose these are the facts which we have come here to discuss, to see what they should lead to, antl what should be done to avert the coming storm. If we did not come for some such purpose as thai, we had better dismiss the resolutions. Now, so far as that Senator is concerned, or his motives are concerned, let it be understood that I charge him with no improper design. I charge him with a mistake. I chaige him with taking a position unwarranted by the present state of the country and uu- IJ ] warranted by the circumstances of the time. But that Senator was pleased to say, and he did say, that it was an extraordinary thing to his mind, that some men who now hold up their hands high for order and union and the supremacy of the law, were found a little Avhile ago ti'ampliug upon that very law. He says that is extra- ordinary to }iim. It may be so. If that Senator says that in San Francisco the law of the country was violated, I shall not dispute him. If he says that he found me among six thousand men acting in opposition to the law of the country, I will not dispute him. If he says that I was found there, with those six thousand men, without my name upon the record, I will not dispute that. If he says, further, which may not be the case, that my name is upon the record, I will not deny it. And if it will ■suit the Senator any better to say that he wishes my name put upon the record, I say to him let him put it on to-day, and it shall stand the same as if it had been put on in 1856 ; I will never dispute the date of its being put there. But when that Sen- ator turns to San Francisco, and the six thousand men collected there at the time doing acts contrary to the laws of their country, I ask him to look at the circum- ■stauees. Does not that Senator well remember that those six thousand men of San Francisco did not propose to secede from tiie State of California ? The six thousand men of San Francisco never proposed to leave the Union or to leave the State. They never proposed to resist the Government because the Government had injured San Francisco. What did th«y propose to do ? Those six thousand men proposed to do ■this ; When the law of the country was fouild insufficient to protect life and prop- erty in that city, when blood staineon to put down that rebellion ? Does he deny that ? Is it true that he recommended that Commis- sioners should be sent from this State to the City of Washington, to see the Presi- dent and get the forces of the United States to come down and see whether'they could not put an end to that rebellion — to see if there was force enough in this State and the United States wliich could be gathei'eon the same footing as to the matter of right ? Can that Senator, with all his wisdom, and philosophy, and argumient, show to me, and show to the satisfaction of the j^ople, that a rule which would justify a movement in opposition to San Francisco would uphold South Carolina in fi'vino- into a United States ship ? How will the Senator answer that ? That is a matter for him to take care of. I say it is not words alone by which we judge men ; and a man, when there is no danger to the country, no dang-er to the Union or the Constitution, may say " Union" — ^he may Vf-rite a book in which there sliall be no other word than "Union" — and what will it amount to at a time when the Government stands in no need of help? If, when the Government does stand in need of help, the same man writes a book in which the word "Union" does not appear within its lids, what kind of a Union man would that be ? I hope there will be very few such in this country. Now, if tlie Senator will pardon me, I will pay my respects to another Senator. What I have said with regard to the Senator from Marij)osa (Mr. Merritt) has been said in no unkindness to him. I give my opinion of his record, and that, I think, is fair debate. I regret that the honorable Senator from El Dorado (Mr. Crittenden) is not here. That Senator, the other day, in discussing these resolutions, gave one important piece of information to this Senate. He said that he loved South Carolina, that he was born there ; that there he saw the first sunlight ; that there he breathed his fii'st breath of air ; that he loved that State, and would always love it, and always defend it. In the expression of that sentiment, that noble feeling, the galleries caught the sympathy, and gave a responsive applause. My own heart felt it when than Sen- ator said he loved his State, and loved his mother, and loved his native hind — and 1 responded that is right, the same everywhere. But after he liad said all that, I could not help asking myself what, upon the whole, it proved. Why, sir, it proved this : that if the Senator spoke his sentiments, it was really true that he was born in South Carolina; that it was absolutely true that he loved that State, and that it was also ti'ue that he would defend her — that is what it proved. But how much did it prove on this question, whether South Carolina was right or wrong? 'J'hat is tlie (juestion. How much proof did that Senator give of his opinion upon whether that State was right or wrong? I might say that 1 loved the State of Maine, and I do. I was born there. I was born where the sun rises, and I live near where it sets. [Ijaiighter.] It has been said that where I lived was so far East that the people had to hitch a tackle to the sun to get it up in the morning. [Laughter.] l^eitso; be it so. Could I help where I was born? Had I anything to do with the place? A man is born, and he finds himself thei'e before he knows it. [(Jreat laughter.] A man can no more help being born in Maine than he can help being born in South Carolina or Virginia. It is all the same. Charge it upon no man that he was born in any par- ticular place. If he says he was born all along the coast, how in the world can we help it or blame him ? [Laughter.] So much for the Senator from El Dorado (Mr,. Crittenden), a youthful Senator, a Senator that loves his country, that loves the Pal- metto State, and loves his mother, loves his father, loves the place whore he first diew breatli, and loves the place where he first saw the light of the sun. He has given us that information, and I thank him. But he has given us no information as to the State of South Carolina, and what she has done, or whether he apjiroves her acts or not. He sim{)ly says he will defend her. How will he defend her ? Wo come here to inquire whether South Carolina is to blame or not; and if a man comes here to argue anything else, that argument is hardly pertinent to the issue. The Senator from El Dorado himself, who was born in South Carolina, in the Palmetto Slate, did not say that he approved of her act in firing upon a United States ship. [9] The PRESIDENT pro tern. — The Chair hopes the Senator will address his remarks to the Chair. Mr. BuRBANK — Mr.-President, I am happy to address the Chair. I mean to ad- dress the Chair in the language of truth and soberness. Once in a while, Mr. Pres- ident, it is a little relief to turn from the President and look upon my countrymen. [Lauijhter.] The President himself is one of our good citizens of the country ; but he isnot all the country, [Laughter.] I shall be entirely under the direction of the President, and entii'ely obedient to his suggestion. I have a word or two to say to another honorable Senator whom I see here. I have a gieat deal of respect for that Senator — the honoi'able Senator from Napa (Mr. Edgerton). He interested a large audience the other day, as I am not able to do, and about matters and things upon some of which I would not undertake to interest any audience. I will be a free man, and discuss the subjects which I think ought to be discussed. I will say in relation to that Senator, however, that he made an argument creditable to himself — creditable to his genius and industry. He discussed, however — it is not improper for me to say so, perhaps — those questions and subjects which I supposed had been absolutely settled twenty-nine years ago. The necessity of discussing those particu- lar things which have been settled so long was a matter of taste for that gentleman. I will say, that the Senator may not misunderstand my motives, that I am an older man than he, not a wiser. I was twenty-one when the subjects of nullification and secession were discussed in our country twenty-eight or twenty-nine years ago. I took an interest in that discussion — in what General Jackson said, in what Mr. Web- ster, Mr. Clay, Mr. Benton, and all the great men of that day said on those subjects. It is all fiimiiiar to my mind at the present day, and I had supposed that if any ques- tion could be settled by mortal man or by human power, that the question of seces- sion and nullification was then settled in the minds of the whole American people. Therefore, as to this question I have no discussion to make. I take it for granted it has been settled long ago — a long time ago. [Laughter.] But that is not what I will particularly call the Senator's attention to at this time. I hold the Senator to bis record, and I will bind him to the record, and he must stand by the record or fall by it. It is not allowed a man in this body to make a record and not stand up to the record. He must stand up to it here; he must stand up to it in the presence of his constituents, and must be responsible by it to his country. When I said I did not intend to enter into a political party debate in discussing this question, I said what I meant ; I did not intend to let party issues come in here. Whether Douglas was right or wrong — whether Buchanan is the greatest, wisest, best man in the world, or not — I did not mean to discuss ; for, in view of the elevated subject we are discussing — a subject in which the whole country takes an interest — I did not intend to enter upon any questions of mere party considerations. But, sir, the Senator from Napa was pleased to say certain things to which I take exception. Travehng out of the line of argument, he says that the Republican party is in the last agonies of death ; he says that the Republican party has the Greeleyisms in it, and the Sewai disms, and the Sunmerisms, and that they are as poisonous as the upas ti'ee to the prosper- ity of the party and the country. He says, too, that the Republican party has against it the Supreme Court of the United States. He says that the Senate of the United States is against it. He says that the House of Representatives of the Uni- ted States is against the party, and that it is in the last expiring agonies of death. Who, I ask, told the Senator all this? What book has he found it in — what alma- nac — what spelling-book ? Not Webster's, for I read that myself [Laughter.] What testament, new or old, contains any such idea as to the weakness of the Re- publican pai'ty, and proclaims, as the Senator thinks, that it is in the last expiring agonies of death ? But, Mr. President, there is one thing to be considered. When im I, or you, or any Senator, has made a proposition, after it is made it stands there to his credit or discredit, as the case may be, and he must stand upon the record. How, I ask, does the Senator fi'om Napa estimate power ? How does he estimate weakuess? How does he estimate agony ? [Loud huighter.] Perhaps he can tell ns. But he says that the Republican party is so weak that it did not get but a little over a quarter of a million majority in the Northern States. But a little more than a quarter of a million — is it possible ? Is that an indication of weakness ? Is that an indication of sudden death? Is that any indication of the last agony? How much majority did Douglas get over the same ground ? I never heard of any. Perhaps the Senator from Napa has heard that Douglas is elected President of the United States. I never heard of it, and if the Senator from Napa should say that he is elected, while I should not doubt his sincenty, I should doubt the coriectness of his history. Perhaps the Senator from Napa has a rule for estimating the strength and weakness of a party, and if he says that a majority is an indication of weakness, and a minority an indication of strength, then I say to the Senator, by that rule he •will probably, in a short time, have the strongest party in the land. [Laughter.] Now, I ask the Senator what kind of agony the Douglas party is in ? Is it a dying- agony or a living agony? And, as the question may put the Senator in a little di- lemma, I will help him out. The condition of his party is this : The Douglas party has been ailing and in a bad state of health for a long time, and is getting no better very fast [laughter] ; and if it is true that the party is to be restored to health, it will be an extraordinary instance of recovery under circumstances indicating constitu- tional debility and rapid decline. Mr. President, I object to this declaration made by the Stjnator from Napa in relation to this supposed weakness of the Republican party. And I call the Senator's attention to another circumstance : When he says the Supreme Court of the United States is against the Republican party, let me tell the Senator that the Republican party has something on its side. When he says that the Senate of the United States is against the party, let me remind the Senator that the Republican party has something on its own side. Why, sir, it has sound political pnnciples. It has a President of the United States and a Vice President in a few days, in a few days. [Laughter.] And it has something more upon its side — it has the people. Is the party very weak ? Is it a very inconsiderable party ? Is it in the last agonies of death ? Does the Senator suppose the paily is starving ? Does not the Senator see, as is usual after Presidential elections, a host of good men inarching up to the public crib — do you think they are going to starve ? Is the Re|iublican party made up of such weak men, so modest, so I'etiring, so diffident in their manners they can't march up to the public crib ? Sir, they are not going to die of starvation. And there is another thing to be considered in this charge against my pai'ty — I am a Re[)ublican. 1 never meant to ask that Senator what paity he belonged to ; but he forces me into it, and requires me to say what I think of that party. He has told the country what he thinks of it. I notify that Senator that six months ago the Republican party raised its banner to the breeze with no disunion on it. It unrolled its platform of principles and exposed them to thirty millions of free- men, and those principles were considered alongside of the Douglas platform of prin- ciples, and by the side of the Breckinridge platform of principles, and by the side of the Ix'll principles, if they had any. [Laughter.] Thirty millions of people consid- \ered all these platforms — not in one day alone, but in half a year of days. Every .stump, every field, almost every church and school house in the land was a forum of debate upon those principles that were spread out before the people for their consid- eration. They were all debated fairly, for certainly the Douglas party is not wanting in talent — thei'e is a wonderful evidence of what I say [pointing towards the Senatoi- from Napa, Mr. Edgerton]. It is not wanting in philosophy of a certain kind. It is nij not wanting in history. It is not wanting in eloquence. Why didn't you advocate those principles better ? Why did you not make the people believe — these thirty millions of people, whose interests are dear to them — interests which concern them as a nation and as men — why did you not mahe them believe that your principles were right 1 Ha ! you tiied it ! and after a fair consideration of a great and gener- ous people, after all arguments the people decided — the free people of this country made a decision. What was it ? They decided, after looking over the Douglas principles carefully, coolly, deliberately, honestly, that they could not accv?pt them. They were compelled, they say, to reject them. That is the decision on that point. They looked at the Breckinridge principles with equal care, with equal solicitude, with the Administration and the money on its side, and with the high prestige of the name of Democracy. Still the people said upon the whole they would be veiy glad to support the old Democracy if they could see it ; but they could not support its principles, and they rejected that platform, too. So it was with Mr. Bell — not that Senator Bell [pointing to the ex-Senator of Alameda, who was sitting near], be- cause that Senator always rings out a better sound. What did these people say ? Has that Senator (from Napa)torgotten ? Only on the sixth of November it hap- pened. What did the people say ? Thirty millions of people said that they would take the Republican platform and its principles, and would acknowledge them to be the ruling principles of this country for four years. That is the verdict. Now does that Senator (Mr. Edgertou) suppose that he has power enough to convince the Re- publican party to-day that that is not a good verdict ? Does he suppose, because he raises his voice here and proclaims weakness in advance, that it is weak, therefore ? Not at all. It is not weak, sir. [The President in the chair.] The Senator from Napa (Mr. Edgerton) has been pleased to say that Sewardism, G-reeleyisra and Sum- nerism ai-e a poison to the party, of which the party must die. Such is the sentiment of that Senator. These isms, he says, are to sting the party to its death ; and he says, substantially, that they are enough to crowd a party down and put it in the last expiring agonies of death. Is that true philosophy ? What has Senator Seward done that he should poison any party or any country ? Does that Senator (Mr. Ed- gerton) point out anything against Senator Seward? Does not Senator Seward this day stand up among thirty millions of freemen, the tallest of them all perhaps ? What has he done to hurt this country I What has he done to hurt any party ? The gentleman is silent on that subject. What has Horace Greeley done that he should be an incubus on the party ? Where is there a man of more intelligence, except the Senator from Napa (Mr. Edgerton) ? [Laughter.] Where is there a man of more extensive information and broader ideas, and more patriotic sentiments than Greeley, except the Senator from ^[ariposa (Mr. Merrilt) ? And what has he against Sumner, the man of Massachusetts ? Why he says Sumnerism is a poison. What has Sumner done ? Is not he a statesman of the highest order ? When that Senator from Napa can meet the arguments of Charles Sumner, and refute them — then what he says will be of some consequence. [Laughter.] When he will make a record of his own, showing that the principles of Charles Sumner cannot be supported, and must be refuted, and that he can refute them, he will be the tallest man in California, perhaps in the United States. I would go for him for the next President, if he will do it, and if he will do other things as well. It is a little remarkable that the Senator from Napa should select three per- haps of the most distinguished men of the Republican party, perhaps the ablest men, everything considered, in America at this day ; men of high principles, sound intelli- gence, undoubted integrity, the deepest loyalty to the Government, and the most un- alloyed patriotism — and say that these three men are an incubus to a party and rank poison to its success. When the Senator from Napa (Mr. Edgerton) will produce I^12J from the Douglas party three as good and as able men, then he might have some reason to say that there are better men th^iu those three, if those that he selected were better. When he produces three men from any party in this country that are more able, that are wiser, that are more patriotic, more respected, higher in the order of intel- lect — when he'll do that, I should like to be introduced to them. This country would like to have their services. Any party would be proud of them. But while those men I have referi'ed to stand high in the nation's eye and in the nation's heart, it takes more than the mere assertion even of the Senator from Napa (Mr. Edgerton) to blast their fame or their reputation. Now, Mr. President, perhaps it is true that I have said as unich in answer to the Senators as I ought, and as nmc-h, perhaps, as the nature of the case re