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 opy 1 
 
 THE NATIONAL SECURITY AND 
 THE NATIONAL FAITH; 
 
 GUARANTEES FOR THE MTIONAl FREEBIAN AND 
 THE NATIONAL CREDITOR, 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 OF 
 
 HON. CHARLES SUMNER, 
 
 AT THE 
 
 REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION, 
 
 IK WORCESTEK, 
 SEPTEMBER 14r, 1865. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 WRIGHT & POTTER, PRINTERS, 4 SPRING LANE. 
 1865. 
 

SPEECH. 
 
 Fellow-Citizens : 
 
 Called to preside over this annual Convention, where are brought 
 together the intelligence, the heart and the conscience of Massachusetts, 
 God bless her ! I begin by asking you to accept my thanks. Gladly 
 vrould I leave this post of honor to another; but I obey your will, 
 In all I have to say I must speak frankly. What has with me become 
 a habit is at this moment more than ever a duty. Who can see peril to 
 his country, and not cry out? Who can see that good ship, which 
 carries the Republic and its fortunes, driving directly upon a lee-shore, 
 and not shout to the pilot, " Mind your helm ? " Apologies or rounda- 
 bout phrases are out of place when danger threatens. 
 
 Emancipation not Complete, so long as the Black Code 
 
 EXISTS. 
 
 When last I addressed my fellow-citizens on public affairs, at the 
 close of the late Presidential election, as we were about to vote for 
 Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, I undertook to show the abso- 
 lute identity between Slavery and the Rebellion, so that one could not 
 end without the other. As I finished that address, I said to friends 
 near me, that it was " my last Anti-Slavery speech." I so thought at 
 the time; for I anticipated the speedy downfall of the RebelHon, 
 carrying with it Slavery. I was mistaken. Neither the Rebellion or 
 Slavery is yet ended. The Rebellion has been disarmed ; but that is 
 all. Slavery has been abolished in name ; but that is all. As there is 
 still a quasi Rebellion, so is there still a quasi Slavery. The work of 
 liberation is not yet completed. Nor can it be completed until the Equal 
 Rights of every person, once claimed as a slave, are placed under the 
 safeguard of irreversible guarantees. It is not enough to strike down 
 the master; you must also lift up the slave. It is not enough to 
 declare Emancipation. The whole Black Code, which is the supple- 
 ment of Slavery, must give place to that Equality before the law, 
 which is the very essence of Liberty. It is an old principle of the 
 common law, recognized by all our courts, as announced by Lord Coke, 
 that " where the law granteth anything to any one, that also is granted, 
 without which the thing itself cannot be." So also where a piece 
 of land is granted, which is shut in by the possessions of the grantor, a 
 right of xoay is implied from common justice and the necessity of the 
 
case. And then again, where the reason of a law ceases, the law itself 
 ceases. So, also, where the principal falls to the ground, the incident 
 falls also. But all these unquestionable principles are fatal to the Black 
 Code. The Liberty that has been granted " cannot be " if the Black 
 Code exists. The piece of land that has been granted, is useless with- 
 out that right of way which is stopped up by the Black Code. The 
 reason for the Black Code is Slavery ; and with the cessation of the 
 reason, the whole Black Code itself must cease also. The Black Code 
 is the incident of Slavery, and it must fall with its principal. Unless 
 this is accomplished, you will keep the word of promise to the ear and 
 break it to the sense. You will imitate those cruel quibbles, of which 
 history makes mention, where, by subtle equivocations, faith has been 
 violated. You will do little better than the Turk, who stipulated with 
 a certain person that his head should be safe, and straightway proceeded 
 to cut him in two at the middle ; or than those false Greeks who, after 
 promising to restore their captives, kept their promise by restoring them 
 dead. 
 
 Slavery begins by denying the right of a man to himself; and the 
 Black Code fortifies this denial by its cruel exclusions. Every freed- 
 man must be secured in this right by his admission to the full panoply 
 of citizenship. Slavery sets at naught the relation of husband and 
 wife. Every freedman must be able to call his wife his own. Slavery 
 sets at naught the parental relation. Every freedman must be able to 
 call his child his own. Slavery shuts the gates of knowledge. Every 
 freedman must be assured in all the privileges of education. Slavery 
 takes from its victim the hard-earned fruits of his toil. Every freed- 
 man must be protected in his industry. Slavery denies justice to the 
 colored man by cruelly rejecting his testimony. Every freedman must 
 enter the courts freely, as witness or as party. Until all this is done, 
 in every particular, and beyond possibility of question, it is vain to say 
 that Emancipation has been secured. The good work is only half done. 
 It must be continued to its assui'ed consummation, under the powerful 
 auspices of the United States. That same National authority which 
 began it must take care that the good work is maintained and com- 
 pleted, in letter and in spirit, everywhere throughout the rebel States, — 
 in conventions of the people, — in legislative assemblies, — in courts, — in 
 the city, — in the country, — in streets, — on highways, — on by-ways, — in 
 retired places, — on plantations, — in houses, — so that no man shall be 
 despoiled of any of his rights, but all shall be Equal before the law. 
 
 Lesson from Russian Emancipation. 
 There is a glorious instance in our own day, which is an example for 
 us, when the Emperor of Russia, by a Proclamation, fulfilling the aspi- 
 rations of his predecessors, set free twenty-three millions of serfs, and 
 then completed his work by supplementary provisions investing the freed- 
 men with civil and political rights, including the right to testify in court; 
 the right of suffrage ; and the right to hold office. I have in my hand 
 this immortal Proclamation, dated at St. Petersburg, 19th February, 
 1861 ; promulgated amidst prayers and thanksgivings in all the churches 
 of the national capital, and at once expedited to every part of the widely- 
 extended empire by generals and stuff officers of the Emperor himself. 
 Here it is, in an official document entitled Affranchissement des Serfs, 
 
and issued at St. Petersburpj. After reciting that the earlier measures 
 in behalf of the serfs had failed, because they had been left to " the 
 spontaneous initiative of tlie proprietors," the Emperor proceeds to 
 take the work in hand as a sacred legacy from his ancestors, and 
 declares the serfs, after an interval of two years, " entirely enfran- 
 chised." Meanwhile, that nothing might fail, "a special court" for 
 serfs was created in each province, charged with the organization of 
 local governments, the adjustment of boundaries, and generally to 
 superintend the transition from the Old to the New, with "justices 
 of the peace " in each district, to examine on the spot all questions aris- 
 ing from Emancipation. Had the work stopped here, it would have 
 been incomplete. It woidd have been only half done. But no such 
 fatal mistake was made.* 
 
 Accompanying the Proclamation, are supplementary provisums, called 
 "regulations," prepared with inlinite care, and divided into chapters and 
 sections — occupying no less than ninety-one pages in double columns and 
 small type — by which the rights of the freedmen are secured beyond ques- 
 tion. Beginning with the declaration that the freedmen " acquire the rights 
 belonging to the condition of free farmers," tliey then proceed in formal 
 words to fix and assure their rights, civil and political. By one section, 
 it is provided that " the articles of the Civil Code on the rights and obli- 
 gations of the family, are extended to the freedmen ; that consequently 
 they acquire the right, without the authorization of the proprietor, to 
 contract marriage, and to make any arrangement whatever concerning 
 their family affixirs ; that they can equally enter into all agreements 
 and obligations authorized by the laws, as well with the State as with 
 individuals, on the conditions established for free farmers ; that they can 
 inscribe themselves in the guilds, and exercise their trades in the vil- 
 lages ; and they can found and conduct factories and establishments of 
 commerce." Another section secures to the freedmen the right of acquir- 
 ing and alienating property of all kinds, according to the general law, and 
 besides, guarantees, on certain conditions, ^' the possession of their home- 
 steads," with the grounds appurtenant. Another section secures to the 
 freedmen complete Equality in the courts, with " the right of action, 
 whether civilly or criminally, to commence process, and to answer jier- 
 sonally or by attorney ; to make complaint, and to defend their rights 
 by all the means known to the law, and to appear as witnesses and as 
 bail, conformably to the common law." Other sections secure to the 
 freedmen Equality in political rights, by providing that " on the organ- 
 ization of the towns, they shall be entitled to take part in the meetings 
 and elections for the towns, and to vote on town affairs, and to exercise 
 divers functions ; " that they shall also " take part in the assemblies for 
 the district, and shall vote on district affairs, and choose the chaii'man," 
 and generally enjoy all rights to choose their local officers and to be 
 chosen in turn. And still another section authorizes the freedmen " to 
 place their children in the establishments for public education, to em- 
 brace the career of instruction, or the scientific career, or to take ser- 
 
 * At this stage of his speech Mr. Sumner called attention to M. Kapnist, a 
 Eussian gentleman belonging to the Chancery of the Emperor, who was on 
 the platforna. The allusion was received by the Convention with applause, 
 which M. Kapnist acknowledged by rising and bowing. 
 
vice in the corps of surveyors." And it is further provided, that they 
 " cannot lose their rights or be restrained in their exercise, except after 
 judgment of the town, according to fixed rules." And still further, 
 that they " cannot be subjected to any punishment, otherwise than by 
 virtue of a judgment, or according to the legal decision of the town to 
 which they belong." Such are the safeguards by which Emancipation 
 in Russia has been completed and assured. Such is the lesson of the 
 great Empire to the great Republic. 
 
 Duty of Massachusetts. 
 In asking that we shall do likewise, I follow the plain suggestions of 
 reason, whether we regard the interest of the freedman or our own. 
 But justice to the freedman is now intimately linked with the national 
 security. Be just, and the Republic will be strong. Be just, and you 
 will erect a barrier against the Rebellion. On this question Massachu- 
 setts has a duty to perform. Now, as in times past, her place is in the 
 front. You will not, I trust, be disturbed by criticism, even if it become 
 invective. Throughout the long conflict with Slavery, and the earlier 
 conflict with the mother country, Massachusetts has become accustomed 
 to hard words, and, even at a more ancient day, as far back in colonial 
 history as 1691, we find an ill-tempered critic, with a strange jumble of 
 metaphors, crying out against our fathers, " All the frame of heaven 
 moves upon one axis, and the whole of New England interest seems 
 designed to be loaden on one bottom and her particular motion to be 
 concentric to the Massachusetts tropic. You know who are wont to trot 
 after the Bay horse." If others trot after the Bay horse, it is simply 
 because Massachusetts means always to keep on the right road, and, by 
 unerring instinct, knows the way. Error proceeds oftener from igno- 
 rance than from malice. Obviously, at this moment, the great difficulty 
 is that people do not see clearly what ought to be done. 
 
 National vSecuritt. 
 Fellow-citizens, as peace seems about to smile on our country, con- 
 vulsed by most cruel and costly war, there is one simple duty on 
 which all can unite when it is understood. It is the duty expressed in 
 at least one part of the familiar saying, " Indemnity for the past and 
 security for the future." Indemnity, alas ! we can never have. Who 
 can repay the millions of lost treasure ? Who can repair the shattered 
 and mutilated forms that have been returned from the battle with 
 Slavery? Who can recall the dead ? Indemnity we renounce. There 
 are no scales on earth in which it can be weighed. There are no possible 
 accumulations of wealth which would not be exhausted before its first 
 instalment was counted out. But no such difficulty can occur in adjusting 
 our security for the future. And the very vastness of our sacrifice is 
 an irresistible reason why this should be fixed beyond question, so that 
 the terrible judgment shall not visit us again. Indemnity we renounce ; 
 but security we will have. This is the one thing needful. This is the 
 charity which embraces all other charities. This is the pivot of the 
 national Hereafter. This is at once the corner-stone and the key-stone 
 of that reconstructed Union, to which we look for tranquil peace and 
 reconciliation. There are none so high, and there are none so low, as not 
 
to be concerned in obtaining tbis security, for witliout it all tbat we bold 
 most dear will be in jeopardy. Witlioiit security agriculture and coinmcroe 
 must languisb and die ; witbout security tbe vvliole country must be 
 impoverisbed in its resources, wbile tbe ricb become poor and tbe poor 
 become poorer ; witbout security rights of property aud rigbts of person 
 will lose their value ; and witbout security the Union, justice, domestic 
 tranquillity, tbe common defence, tbe general welliire, and th(; blessings 
 of Liberty, for which tbe Constitution was ordained and established, must 
 all fail ! What is government, or country, or home, or life itself, with- 
 out security ? 
 
 National Faith. 
 There is another object, kindred to security, or, perhaps, embraced in 
 security ; and tbat is the national faith. This too must be placed beyond 
 cavil or even " sus])icion." No nation can be powerful enough to disre- 
 gard tbis sacred bond. Character, fame, and prosperity itself are all 
 dependent upon its observance. But tbe national faith is solemnly 
 engaged, first, to tbe national freedmen, and secondly, to tbe national 
 creditors. No undertaking can be more complete and inviolable because 
 it constituted the consideration for those services and supplies by which 
 tbe life of the Republic has been preserved. Tbe national faith is 
 pledged to the national freedmen, not only by tbe act of Emancipa- 
 tion, M'hich, in its very essence and fi-om the nature of the case, is a 
 " warranty of title," but also by tbe plain and positive promises of the 
 Proclamation, tbat they " are and henceforward shall be free, and that 
 tbe Executive government of the United States, including the military 
 and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom 
 of such persojis." Words could not be more binding, and the 
 history of their introduction testifies to their significance and efficacy. 
 They were not in tbe original draft by President Lincoln, "ijut were 
 inserted, at tbe suggestion of Mr. Seward, wlien the Proclamation was 
 read to tbe Cabinet; and there they stand without any limitation of 
 place or time, binding tbis Republic in its national character, through 
 its Executive, including tbe military and naval authority, not only to 
 recognize, but to maintain the freedom of tbe emancipated slave ; and 
 this is to be done, not in any special locality, but everywhere, and not 
 for a day or a year, but for all time. Our obligation to tbe national 
 creditors is of the same validity, approved by successive acts of Congress, 
 ratified by tbe popular will, and fixed beyond recall by the actual enjoy- 
 ment of those precious fruits for which tbe debt was incurred. Repudi- 
 ation of our bonds, whether to tbe national creditors or to tbe national 
 freedmen, would be a shame and a crime ; and the national faitii is 
 irrevocably plighted to the two alike. Here is tbe Proclamation, and 
 here is a Treasury Note. Look at the signatures and look at tbe 
 terms. The former is signed by the President himself, Abraham Lin- 
 coln ; the latter is signed by an unknown clerk, whose name I cannot 
 decypher. Tbe former is stronger, and more positive in its terms, than 
 the latter. The Treasury Note simply says ; " It is hereby certified 
 
 that the United States are indebted unto bearer in the sum of 
 
 $100, redeemable " after a certain date, and tbat " tbis debt is authorized 
 by Act of Congress." Tbe binding terms of the Proclamation, which 
 I have already read, are solemnly enforced by that memorable invoca- 
 
8 
 
 tion at the close : " And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of 
 justice warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke 
 the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty 
 God." Thus religion comes to confirm the pledge with sanctions of its 
 own. That pledge is as enduring as the Republic itself.* 
 
 Such are the supreme objects now at heart — the National Security 
 and the National Faith, or the two absorbed into one, Security for the 
 Future. 
 
 The Dikes of Holland. 
 And here allow me to present an illustration, which, unless I mistake, 
 will make our duty clear. You do not forget the immense and costly 
 dikes, built by Holland against the sea ; but, perhaps, you may not call 
 to mind their origin and importance. Before these embankments were 
 constructed the whole country was in constant danger. At an early 
 period there was an irruption which destroyed no less than forty-four 
 villages, followed very soon by another which destroyed eighty tliousand 
 lives. In the loth century there was still another which swept away 
 one hundred thousand persons — a terrible sacrifice, even greater in 
 proportion to the population of Holland at that time, than what we have 
 been called to bear from the bloody irruption of slavery. At last the 
 dikes were constructed as safeguards, and down to this day they are 
 preserved at a large annual cost. Precautions of all kinds are super- 
 added. A special corps of engineers, educated at Delft, is constantly 
 employed in the work of renovation. Watchmen patrol the walls, and 
 alarm bells are ready to ring. The gratitude of the people shows itself 
 even to its unconscious protectors ; and the stork, which, resting here on 
 his flight from Africa, destroys the vermin that weaken and sap the 
 dikes, is held in veneration, so that to kill a stork is looked upon as little 
 less than a crime. Such are some of the defences, by whicii Holland 
 is guarded against danger from the sea. But how petty is her danger 
 compared with ours ! We too must have our dikes, with engineers to 
 keep them strong — with watchmen to patrol them — with alarm bells to 
 ring ; and we too must have our storks to destroy the vermin that 
 weaken and sap our embankments. 
 
 Our Dikes are Guarantees. 
 What shall be our defences ? How shall we guard against destruc- 
 tive irruptions ? And where shall we establish our security for the 
 future ? Our embankments must not be of earth. Walls of stone will 
 not do. Towers, ramparts and buttresses will be impotent against our 
 vindictive tide. The security we seek must be found in organic law 
 with irreversible guarantees ; and these irreversible guarantees must be 
 co-extensive with the danger. 
 
 Elements of Danger. 
 It becomes us, then, to consider carefully the elements of danger, — 
 bearing in mind always that a danger clearly foreseen will not happen, 
 unless prudence has ceased to prevail. These elements may be consid- 
 ered in general and in detail. They may be considered in certain gen- 
 
eral influences, applicable to all our relations with the Rebellion, or in 
 certain specific points, which obviously require specific guarantees. 
 
 If we look at the rebel States generally, there is little to inspire 
 trust. They rose against a paternal government simply for the sake of 
 Slavery, plantiflg themselves upon two postulates furnished by John C. 
 Calhoun — first, State rights ; and secondly, the alleged falsehood of our 
 fathers, Avhcn, at the birth of our nation, they declared that all men are 
 born equal. Since that early war when Satan ^ in proud rebellious arras, 
 drew after him the third part of Heaven," nothing so utterly wicked 
 has occurred. And the spirit of Satan entered into the Rebellion, and 
 continued with it to the end. It was present on the battle-field. It was 
 present in the treatment of Union prisoners. It was present in the 
 piracies of the ocean. I know not that these devils have yet been cast 
 out. I know not that any swine into which they have entered have 
 rushed headlong into the sea. But I do know that, according to con- 
 curring and unimpeachable testimony, from all quarters of the rebel 
 States, — from North Carolina to Texas, — there is one sullen, defiant 
 voice, which, in the very words of Satan when driven from the skies, 
 thus speaks : — 
 
 " What though the field be lost ? 
 All is not lost ; the unconquerable will, 
 And study of revenge, immortal hate, — 
 And courage never to submit or yield. 
 Since through experience of tliis great event, 
 In arms not worse, in foresight much advanced, 
 We may with more successful hope resolve 
 To wage by force or guile eternal war, 
 Irreconcilable to our grand foe." 
 
 Such is their spirit. Grounding their arms, they now resort to other 
 means. Cunning takes the place of war. As they precipitated them- 
 selves out of the Union, they now seek to precipitate themselves back. 
 A " wooden horse " is constructed, which is stuffed with hidden foes, 
 and thus they seek to enter our Troy. Already the rattle of arms is 
 heard, and ominous voices, as the treacherous engine is advanced. But 
 beyond these sounds, there is the record of the past and the present. 
 "Who does not know that the South is full of spirits, who have sworn un- 
 dying hatred not only to the Union, but to reason itself, and whose policy 
 is a perpetual conspiracy against the principles of our government ? 
 Painful proofs come to demonstrate the prevailing frenzy. The freedmen 
 are trodden down and the land is filled with tragedies. History stands 
 aghast at the massacre of Glencoe in a retired Scotch valley, and our 
 sympathies overflow at the murder of a solitary traveller by the merci- 
 less Indians ; but these scenes are now repeated. The Barbarism of 
 Slavery rages stilL The lash and the bloodhound are at large. Life is 
 little, if it beats under a colored skin. Citizens in the national uni- 
 form are insulted, mutilated, murdered — especially if they are in 
 command of colored troops. And these criminals, besmeared with 
 blood, and boiling with concentrated rage, now strive to envelop 
 themselves in the immunities of State Independence, with two special 
 objects in view : first, that they may deal with the freedmen as they 
 please, without any check from the National authority ; and, secondly, 
 that they may send a solid representation of more than eighty votes, 
 pledged to Southern pretensions, which, in combination with treach- 
 
10 
 
 erous votes from the North, may re-assert that ancient monopoly and 
 masterdom under which the country suffered so long ; 
 
 " and once more 
 Erect the standard there of ancient night." • 
 
 Reading the proceedings of the convention in Mississippi, we seem 
 again to hear the very voice of Satan : 
 
 " To claim our just inheritance of old, 
 Whether by open war or covert guile, 
 We now debate." 
 
 One of their speakers said plainly, that " he was opposed to fighting 
 the General Government or anybody else ; that he loas ready to submit 
 to its wishes as he ivould to a higlnoay robber, ivhose poioer he was not able 
 to resist." Another speaker, less frank, thought it policy to accept the 
 present condition of affairs, until the control of the State is restored into 
 the hands of its people, and " to submit /or a time to evils which cannot 
 be remedied." And still another, much more wily, when urging a seem- 
 ing acceptance of the Union, thus lured his brother conspirators : " If 
 we act wisely we shall be joined by what is called the Copperhead party, 
 and even by many of the Black Republicans." Such is the plot, and 
 such is the disastrous alliance plainly foreshadowed. But, thank God! 
 in encouraging his comrades the conspirator has warned us. Forewarned 
 is forearmed. 
 
 The National Debt Threatened. 
 
 From all quarters comes the warning. " Trust not their presents, nor 
 admit the horse!" The voice of the Grecian Sinon was not more treach- 
 erous. From all quarters comes the testimony. Military officers return- 
 ing from the South, public functionaries, intelligent travellers, loyal 
 residents, each and all speak with one voice. By conversation and 
 by letter I have gathered the proofs which are complete. Persons 
 who have had peculiar opportunities unite in the report that the 
 rebel spirit still prevails, — that the treatment of the freedmen is 
 beastly, — and that the national debt is denounced. Two eminent 
 gentlemen, whose official positions have made them familiar with public 
 opinion in two different States, have expressed to me the conviction that 
 there was not a single ex-rebel who would vote to pay the interest on the 
 national debt. A trustworthy traveller, who has just visited Louisiana, 
 Mississippi, and Alabama, with which he was already familiar, writes 
 me : " The former masters exhibit a most cruel, remorseless, and vin- 
 dictive spii'it towards the colored people. In parts where there are no 
 Union soldiers, I saw colored women treated in the most outrageous 
 manner. They have no rights that are respected. They are killed, and 
 their bodies thiown into ponds or mud-holes. They are mutilated by 
 having ears and noses cut off." A loyalist from Texas writes : " What 
 we of the South fear is, that President Johnson's course will, by its pre- 
 cipitancy, enable the old set to re-organize themselves into place and 
 power. For Heaven's sake preserve us, if you can, from this calamity." 
 A loyal resident of North Carolina thus writes : " I tell you, sir, the only 
 difference now and one year ago is that the flag is acknowledged as 
 
11 
 
 supreme, and there is some fear manifested, and they have no arm?. 
 The sentiment is the same. If anjthing otherwise, more liatred exists 
 towards the government. I know there is more toivards Union men, both 
 hlach and lohilg" It is natural that sueh a people should already talk 
 of repudiating the national debt. Here is a bit on this vital point. A 
 young man in gray was asked, " Would it be safe to trust white men at 
 the South with the power to repudiate the national debt ? " To which 
 he replied at once: "Repudiate! I should hope they would. I'm 
 whipped, and I'll own it ; but I'm not so fond of a whipping that I'm 
 going to pay a man's expenses while he gives it to me. Of course, there 
 are not ten men in the whole South that wouldn't repudiate ! " Thus 
 spoke the rebel uniform. But here are the grave words of a candidate 
 for Congress in Virginia, in his address to the people : — 
 
 "I am opposed to the Southern States being taxed at all for the redemption 
 of this debt, either directly or indirectly; and, if elected to Congress, I will 
 oppose all such measures, and I will vote to repeal all laws that have heretofore 
 heen passed for that jjurpose ; and, in doing so, I do not consider that I violate 
 any obligation to which the Soutli was a party. We have never plighted our 
 faith for the redemption of the war debt. The people will be borne down with 
 taxes for years to come, even if the war debt is repudiated. It will be the duty 
 of the government to support the maimed and disabled soldiers, and this will 
 be a great expense ; and, if the United States Government requires the South 
 to be taxed for the support of Union soldiers, we sliould insist that all disabled 
 soldiers should be maintained by the United States Government, without regard 
 to the side they had taken in the war." 
 
 Irreversible Guarantees. 
 Again, I say, forewarned is forearmed. Surely there can be no limits 
 to our resistance when such spirits are seeking to capture the National 
 Government ; but beyond that general resistance, which must make us 
 postpone the day of surrender, and invoke the protection of Congress, 
 we must insist upon special guarantees in the organic law. 
 
 I. — The Unity of the Republic. 
 (1.) As the Rebellion began with the pretension that a State might 
 withdraw from the Union, it is plain that the Unity of the RepuUic must 
 be affirmed — not indirectly but directly ; not as in Mississippi, by simply 
 declaring the late act of secession null and void ; but, as in Missouri, where 
 the relations of the State to the Union are thus frankly stated : " That 
 this State shall ever remain a member of the American Union ; that the 
 people thereof are a part of the American Nation ; that every citizen 
 owes paramount allegiance to the Constitution and Government of the 
 United States ; and that no law or ordinance of this State, in contraven- 
 tion or subversion thereof, can have any binding force." In contrast 
 with this plain renunciation, the proceedings of Mississippi have no more 
 certainty than the common saying, " Large as a piece of chalk." As 
 security for the future, they are nothing — absolutely nothing. And per- 
 mit me to say, that the whole Convention, so far as we have been informed, 
 was little better than a rebel conspiracy to obtain political power. 
 
 II. — Enfranchisement. 
 (2.) As the Rebellion was waged in denial of the Equal Rights of the 
 colored race, it is essential not only that Slavery should be renounced, 
 
12 
 
 but also that all men should be hailecl as equal before the law, and this 
 enfranchisement must be both civil and political. Unless this is done, the 
 condition of the freedman will be most deplorable. Exposed to all man- 
 ner of brutality, he will not be heard as a witness against his oppressor. 
 Compelled to pay taxes, he will be excluded from all representation in 
 the government. Without this security, Emancipation is illusory. It is 
 a jack-a-lantern, which the poor slave will pursue in vain. Even if 
 Slavery cease to exist, it will give place to another condition hardl}'^ less 
 galling. There will be serfdom, apprenticeship, peonage or some other 
 device of Slavery. According to the poet, there are different " circles " 
 in hell, each with its own terrible torments, and the unhappy African 
 will only escape from one of these into another. And all this will be 
 beyond correction or remedy, if not at the outset guarded against by 
 organic law. 
 
 III. — The National Debt. 
 (3.) As the national debt was incurred for the suppression of the 
 Eebellion, this too must be fixed beyond repeal. Unless this is done, it 
 is evident, from reason as well as from testimony, that the representa- 
 tives of the rebel States will coalesce with others for its repudiation. 
 Mississippi, which leads in the present effort to capture the national 
 capital, is the original author of repudiation. Out of the legislative 
 halls of this State the monster sprang. There was its birth. It will be 
 simply true to its past history, as well as to its pi'esent animosities, when 
 this State leads in the repudiation of the national debt. Nothing short 
 of madness will allow it any such opportunity. No rebel State should 
 be re-admitted unless bound irrevocably to the support of the national 
 debt and the payment of the interest thereon. 
 
 IV. — Assumption of the Rebel Debt must be Forbidden. 
 (4.) The assumjytion of the rebel debt must be positively forbidden. 
 Already ex-rebels insist upon its payment. Such voices come from 
 Mississippi and Virginia. Ex-rebel newspapers, whose editors have 
 taken the oath of allegiance, uphold this debt. But Congress has already 
 led the way in denouncing it. For a State to assume this criminal 
 obligation would be oppressive to the people, and especially to the freed- 
 men. It would be a drain upon the resources of the State. It would 
 be an insult to the whole country. This debt, whether at home or 
 abroad, has been incurred for the support of the Rebellion and must be 
 treated accordingly. It is a part of the crime. Here too there must be 
 a guarantee. 
 
 V. — National Peace and Tranquillity, through Impartial 
 
 Suffrage. 
 (5.) As the national peace and tranquillity depend essentially upon 
 the overthrow of monopoly and tyranny, here is another occasion for a 
 special guarantee against the whole pretension of color. No rebel State 
 can be re-admitted with this controversy still raging, and ready to break 
 forth. So long as it continues the land will refuse its increase. Agri- 
 culture and business of all kinds will be uncertain, and the country 
 will be handed over to a fearful struggle with the terrors of St. Domingo 
 to darken the prospect. In shutting out the freedman from his equal 
 
13 
 
 rights at the ballot-box, you open the doors of discontent and insurrection. 
 Cavaignac, the patriotic President of the French Republic, met the 
 present case, when, speaking for France, he said : " I do not believe 
 repose possible, either in the present or the future, except so far as you 
 found your political condition on universal suffrage, loyally, sincerely, 
 completely accepted and observed." {Moniteur, 21 May, 18;50, p. 17G1.) 
 It is only impartial suffrage that I claim, without distinction of color, so 
 that there shall be one equal rule for all men. And this too must be 
 placed under the safeguard of constitutional law. 
 
 VI. — Education of the People. 
 
 (G.) As the Education of the people is essential to the national wel- 
 fare, and especially to the development of those principles of justice 
 and morality which constitute the only sure foundation of a " republican 
 government," and as, according to the census, an immense proportion of 
 the people of the rebel States, without distinction of color, cannot read 
 and write, it is obvious that public schools must be established for the 
 equal good of all. The example of Massachusetts must be followed, 
 which, after declaring in its Constitution that " wisdom and knowledge, 
 as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people, are 
 necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties," proceeds to 
 direct the legislature and magistrates, in all future periods, " to cherish 
 the interests of literature and the sciences," and especially " public 
 schools and grammar schools in the towns." All this must enter into 
 our work of reconstruction, and become one of our guarantees. 
 
 Necessity of these Guarantees. 
 Such are the six capital subjects of special guarantee : the unity of the 
 Republic ; the national obligations to the national freedmen ; the national 
 obligations to the national creditors ; the rejection of the rebel debt ; 
 the establishment of national peace and tranquillity, so that it cannot 
 be disturbed by any monopoly and tyranny founded on color ; and 
 'lastly, the education of the people. All these are too important, too 
 transcendent, to be left to the transient will of recent rebels, always 
 ready to be excited ; nor can they be left to any vague promise or 
 inference of any kind. They must be fixed in characters clear as the 
 sky, and firm as the earth itself. Not to require this protection is 
 unpardonable weakness. " If Philip dies," said the Athenian orator, 
 " you will soon raise another Philip ; since it is not so much by his own 
 power, as by your carelessness, that he grew to such greatness;" and 
 so do I say now, even if the Rebellion is dead, you will soon raise 
 another, unless you learn to be wise. Believe me, that man is dan- 
 gerous who does not see danger in this rebel Oligarchy, now conspiring 
 to hoist itself into power. 
 
 Power to establish Guarantees. 
 Therefore, I lay down one undeniable, essential principle — that these 
 guarantees must be established; and I appeal to my fellow-citizens 
 throughout the country to insist upon them. As they concern the 
 National Security and the National Faith, it is clear that they should 
 be established by the Nation. The object is national. The power to 
 
14 
 
 establish them Is national also. It is a part of that great, instinctive 
 right of self-defence, common to nations and to men, which has no Hmits, 
 except in the benign constraints of a Christian civilization. It is a right 
 not only from the Constitution of the United States, but also from the 
 constitution of civil society itself. There is no nation without it. In 
 the weakest it is as manifest as in the mightiest. Never before was the 
 occasion for its exercise plainer. And who shall say that the Nation 
 may defend itself on the murderous battle-field, and may not, when the 
 battle has been won, require that " Security for the Future," which is 
 the declared object of war ? 
 
 Do you ask where in the Constitution this unquestionable power is to 
 be found ? I answer, in the same clause where you find the power to 
 raise armies, and hurl them upon the rebel enemy ; in the same clause 
 where you find the power to erect fortifications, bastions, and bulwai'ks 
 for the national defence ; in the same clause where you find the power 
 to incur the national debt for the national defence ; and also in the same 
 clause where President Lincoln found the power to emancipate the 
 slave. It is a National power for the protection of the Nation, and it 
 may be exercised to any extent needed. It is idle to say that the war 
 is over, and, therefore, the power is suspended. In one sense the war 
 is over, and in another it is not. Battles have ceased ; but " Security 
 for the Futin-e " has not yet been obtained, and this security is found 
 only in irreversible guarantees. 
 
 This national power is at this moment in full operation, and as com- 
 pletely constitutional as the power to raise armies. It assumes for 
 the present purpose two forms : first, the power to hold military posses- 
 sion of the rebel States, so long as is required for security, whether 
 months or years ; and, secondly, the power to affix the terms of peace 
 and restoration. As it is idle to say that the war is over, so it is equally 
 idle to say that this power, in either of its forms, is limited by the Con- 
 stitution. This same mistake was made by James Buchanan, when, at 
 the beginning of the Rebellion, he weakly declared, that, under the 
 Constitution, he could not " coerce a State," and his Cabinet assented to 
 the fatal pretension. God forbid that now, at another moment not less 
 critical, this same pretension should triumph again. Of course all 
 patriots now see how the golden opportunity was lost at first. May no 
 such golden opportunity be lost again ! Nobody now doubts that a 
 State in rebellion may be "coerced." Nobody now doubts that the 
 victories of Grant, the march of Sherman, aud the charge of Sheridan 
 were strictly constitutional. But this " coercion " must endure just so 
 long as may be needed to obtain " Security for the Future," — it may be 
 for months or it may be for years. There is no argument for it at the 
 beginning which is not equally strong for it now. There is nothing in 
 the Constitution against it. Everything in the Constitution is for it. 
 The rules or limitations which the Constitution may establish for a 
 condition of peace are entirely in applicable to a condition of Rebellion 
 in any of its stages, whether at its beginning, its middle or its end. 
 Whatever is needed for the suppression of the Rebellion and the estab- 
 lishment of safeguards against its recurrence is constitutional. It is the 
 failure to exercise this power which is unconstitutional. 
 
 But beyond this ample power, there are two other powers in 
 the Constitution, by virtue of which all needful guarantees can be 
 
15 
 
 secured. The first is tiiat vast untried power under the clause of the 
 Constitution, declaring that " tlie United States shall guarantee to every 
 State a republican form of government." This power, long dormant, 
 sprang at once into activity with the acts of secession. Loyal govern- 
 ment being overthrown in fact, so that the whole region was like an 
 "empty slate," it became the duty of the National autliority to set up 
 loyal governments, and at the same time to see that they were " repub- 
 lican in form," which must mean at least that they are governments of 
 the majority, and not of the minority ; and I thinlv I cannot err, if I 
 add, that, according to the fundamental principles of the Declaration of 
 Independence, they must be founded on the Equal Rights of all men 
 and the " consent of the governed." It is very clear that in tliis clause 
 of guarantee there is an inexhaustible power, by virtue of which the 
 National authority can not only exact all needful guarantees, but can 
 mould these rebel communities according to the model of a Christian 
 Commonwealth. 
 
 There is still another source of power under the Constitution ; and 
 this is according to the analogies of the territories. Since all loyal 
 government has ceased to exist, the whole region, in all its divisions and 
 sub-divisions, has, from the necessltij of the case, lapsed under the 
 National jurisdiction, which is as complete for all practical purposes as 
 that same jurisdiction over the District of Columbia. 
 
 But I do not stop to dwell on these sources of power. Elsewhere I 
 have vindicated them, and I have never been answered, except by the 
 phrase that a State cannot go out of the Union, as if, in presence of the 
 fact of rehelUon, this was anything more than a phrase. It is indisputable 
 that, in point of fact, the rebel States have ceased to be, as President 
 Lincoln expressed it, " in practical relations with the Union," and still 
 further that they have long been without any government, which we 
 can recognize. Surely this is enough to open the door to the National 
 authority. When loyal government ceased, the jurisdiction of the 
 National government began, whether military or civil, and this juris- 
 diction still continues, complete in all respects, without any hindrance or 
 limitation from the Constitution. 
 
 Thus, out of three inexhaustible fountains may the National govern- 
 ment derive its authority ; first, from the War Powers, which do not 
 expire except with the establishment of " Security for the Future ; " 
 secondly, from the injunction to guarantee a Republican form of govern- 
 ment, which is at once a power and a duty ; and, thirdly, from the 
 necessity of the case, as with outlying territories, which have no other 
 government. Under each and all of these powers the guarantees can 
 be obtained. 
 
 Peactical Points. — Wats not to obtain Guarantees. 
 
 In obtaining these guarantees there are certain practical points which 
 must not be disregarded. Knowing what we need and satisfied with 
 regard to the powers of the National government, the path will be easy. 
 As there are ways to obtain guarantees, so, also, there are ways not to 
 obtain them. 
 
 And, first, of the ways not to obtain them. 
 
 (1.) Irreversible guarantees cannot be obtained by haste. No State 
 must be precipitated back to the Union. Precipitation back will be 
 
16 
 
 hardly less fatal than that original precipitation which plunged the 
 country into the abyss of war. When a State is re-admitted, it becomes 
 practically independent. Therefore prudence, care and watchfulness 
 will be needed to see that the National interests are not imperilled by 
 any sudden transformation. 
 
 (2.) Irreversible guarantees cannot be obtained merely by Executive 
 action. Something more is needed. No President can safely say, 
 " The State — it is I." He is only a part of the State, and, on this 
 account, there is a new motive to reserve. What he does is subject to 
 the correction of Congress, and therefore cannot be final. 
 
 (3.) Irreversible guarantees cannot be obtained hy yielding to the 
 'prejudice of color, and insisting upon a sejjaration of the races. A 
 voice from the West — God save the West! — revives the exploded 
 theory of colonization, partly to divert attention from the great question 
 of Equal Rights. To that voice I reply, first, you ought not to do it, 
 and, secondly, you cannot do it. You ought not to do it, because, 
 besides its intrinsic and fatal injustice, you will thus deprive the country 
 of what it most needs, which is labor. Those freedmen on the spot are 
 better even than mineral wealth. Each is a mine, out of whom riches 
 can be drawn, provided you let him share the product. And through 
 him that general industry will be established which is better than any 
 thing but virtue, and is, indeed, a form of virtue. It is vain to say that 
 this is the country of the " white man." It is the country of Man. 
 Whoever disowns any member of the Human Family as Brother, dis- 
 owns God as Father, and thus becomes impious as well as inhuman. 
 It is the glory of Republican Institutions that they give practical form 
 to this irresistible principle. If any body is to be sent away, let it be 
 the guilty, and not the innocent. The expatriation of leading rebels will 
 be a public good. As long as they continue here, they will resist the 
 establishment of guarantees; but it is little short of madness to think of 
 exiling loyal persons, whose strong arras ai"e needed, not only for the 
 cultivation of the soil, but also for the protection of the government 
 itself. 
 
 (4.) Irreversible guarantees cannot be obtained by oaths. All oaths 
 are uncertain. It has been said " the strongest oaths are straw." 
 Political oaths have become a proverb, whether in England or France. 
 They have been taken freely, and have been broken without hesitation. 
 The Milanese, in reply to the Emperor Barbarossa, said, " You had our 
 oath, but we never swore to keep it." Our rebels have been openly 
 taught the same duplicity. They have been told authoritatively, that the 
 oath was unconstitutional, and, therefore, not binding ; and so they take 
 it easily. But who can find a guarantee in such a performance ? A 
 Swedish priest lately poisoned the sacramental wine, and so these coun- 
 sellors have poisoned this sacred obligation. But if an oath be taken, it 
 must not stop with the support of the Proclamation of Emancipation. 
 It must embrace all those other objects of guarantee, including especially 
 the National freedmen and the National creditors. Each of these will 
 be a test of loyalty. But at a moment like the present, at the close of a 
 ferocious rebellion, when hatred and passion are only pent up and not 
 extinguished, an oath is little better than a cotton thread to hold a frigate 
 scourged by a north-wester. The Hollanders might as well undertake 
 to swear each individual wave that beats upon their coasts. They did 
 
17 
 
 better. They made dikes. " Gone to swear a peace," says Constance, 
 most scornfully, as she denounced an oath of pretended reconciliation. 
 And shall we be content merely when our rebels " swear a peace ? " 
 
 (5.) Irreversible guarantees cannot be obtained by pardons. It is 
 enough to state this proposition ; for all must see at once that rights will 
 be very uncertain if they have no protection except in the gratitude of 
 a pardoned rebel. A jail-delivery is not a guarantee. Such a break- 
 water would be impotent against the malignant sea. Without accepting 
 absolutely the dogma of Cardinal Mazarin, that men are governed more 
 through hope than through gratitude, it is clear that, until security is 
 won, we cannot afford to part with any influence or agency through 
 which control may be established. Mercy is a beautiful prerogative, 
 exercised always with inexpressible delight ; but on this account we 
 must guard against its fascination, and not, in the generous luxury, 
 imperil a whole community. This is very clear. A pardon is in form 
 an act of grace, but in reality a letter of license. This is all. It leaves 
 the criminal free to renew his crime, whether by force or guile. It has 
 in it no single point of security. As well defend a citadel b}^ kisses or 
 by flowers. 
 
 Ways to Obtain Guarantees. 
 
 Such are some of the modes to be rejected. And now, in the second 
 place, consider the ways in which guarantees may be obtained. 
 
 (1.) Time is necessary. There must be no precipitation. Time is the 
 gentlest, but most powerful, revolutionist. Time is the surest retbrraer. 
 Time is a peace-maker. Time is necessary to growth, and it is an ele- 
 ment of change. For thirty years and more this wickedness was maturing. 
 Who can say that the same time will not be needed now to mature the 
 conditions of permanent peace ? Who can say that a generation must 
 not elapse before these rebel communities have been so far changed as to 
 become safe associates in a common government ? Plainly, this cannot 
 be done at once. Wellington exclaimed at Waterloo, " Would that 
 night or Blucher had come ! " Time alone was a substitute for a 
 powerful ally. It was more through time than battle that La Vendee 
 was changed into loyalty. Time, therefore, we must have. Through 
 time all other guarantees may be obtained ; but time itself is a guarantee. 
 
 (2.) Meanwhile we must follow Congress in the present exclusion of 
 all rebels from •political power. They must not be voted for, and they 
 must not vote. On this principle I take my stand. Let them buy and 
 sell ; let them till the ground ; and may they be industrious and success- 
 ful. These things they may do ; but they must not be admitted at once 
 into the co-partnership of our government. As well might the respecta- 
 ble Mr. Ketchum re-instate his son at once in the firm which he has 
 betrayed, and invest him again with all the powers of a co-partner. 
 The father received his son with pai'ental affection, and forgave him ; 
 but he did not invite the criminal to resume his former desk in 
 Wall Street. And yet Edward Ketchum, who had robbed and forged 
 on an unprecedented scale, is as worthy of trust in the old banking-house 
 as our rebels in the government of the country. A long [)r()bation will 
 be needed before either can be admitted to his former fellowship. The 
 state of outlawry is the present condition of each, and this condition 
 must not be hastily relaxed. 
 
18 
 
 Congress has already set the example by excluding from " any office 
 of honor or profit under the government of the United States," and also 
 by excluding as counsellor at law, from any court of the United States, 
 every person who has given " aid or countenance " to the Rebellion, or 
 who has " sought or accepted any office whatever " under it, or who has 
 yielded to it any " voluntary support." By this act, (July 2d, 1862,) 
 and the supplementary act, all rebels are debarred from holding office 
 under the United States or from practising in the courts of the United 
 States. This exclusion, thus sanctioned by Congress, must be the pole- 
 star of our National policy. If rebels cannot he officers under our govern- 
 ment, they ought not to he voters. They should be politically disfranchised, 
 purely and simply as a measure of necessary precaution, and in order to 
 prepare the way for those guarantees which we seek. "Vipers cannot use 
 their venom in the cold." These are words of political wisdom as well as 
 of scientific truth, and a great Italian writer did not hesitate to inculcate 
 from them the same lesson that I do now. 
 
 Surely recent rebels, who led in secession and held office under the 
 Rebellion are poor engineers to rally these communities to the support 
 of the National f Veedmen and the National creditors, and generally to the 
 establishment of those guarantees which are essential to security. 
 Reason and experience warn us to postpone our trust in any such per- 
 sons. Overcome in battle, they wi'ap themselves in a mantle of loyalty, 
 tied by an oath, 
 
 " As they who, to be sure of Paradise, 
 Dying, put on the weeds of Dominic, 
 Or in Franciscan think to pass disguised." 
 
 But character is not changed in a day, and that " Southern heart," 
 which was "fired" against the Union, still preserves its vindictive vio- 
 lence. Even if for a moment controlled, who can tell how long it will 
 continue in this mood? There is an exquisite fable of La Fontaine, 
 where a cat was transformed into a beautiful woman ; but on the night 
 of her marriage, hearing the sound of a mouse on the floor, she sprang 
 from the bed with all her original feline nature ; and so a rebel, trans- 
 formed by political necromancy into a loyalist, will suddenly start in full 
 cry to run down a National freedman or a National creditor. So strong 
 is nature. Horace tells us : Drive it out with a pitch-fork and it will 
 return. Therefore, 1 insist, do not put political trust in that man who 
 has been engaged in warring upon his country. I do not ask his pun- 
 ishment. I would not be harsh. There is nothing humane which I 
 would reject. Nothing in hate. Nothing in vengeance. Nothing in 
 passion. I am for gentleness. I am for a velvet glove ; but I wish the 
 hand for awhile of iron. I confess that I have little sympathy with 
 those hypocrites of magnanimity, whose appeal for the rebel master is 
 only a barbarous indifference towards the slave ; and yet they cannot 
 desire more than I do the day of reconciliation. To this end I am with 
 them, so far as is consistent with security ; but I cannot see my country 
 sacrificed to a false idea. Pardon if you will. Nobody shall outdo me 
 in clemency. But do not trust the rebel politically. The words of Shak- 
 speare do not picture too strongly the danger of any such attempt : — 
 
 tliou might'st hold a serpent by the tongue, 
 
 A skinless lion by the mortal paw, 
 
 A fasting tiger by the tooth, 
 
 As keep in peace that hand which thou dost hold." 
 
19 
 
 (4.) In obtaining guarantees we must rely upon acts rather than 
 professions, and light our footsteps by '• the lamp of experience." Tliere- 
 fore we turn from recent rebels to constant loyalists. This is only ordi- 
 nary prudence. As those who have fought against us should be dis- 
 franchised, so those who have fought for us should be enfranchised, and 
 thus a renovated state will be built secure on an unfaltering and natural 
 loyalty. For awhile the freedman will take the place of the master, 
 thus verifying the saying that the last shall be first and the first shall be 
 last. In the pious books of the East it is declared, that the greatest 
 mortification at the day of judgment will be when the faithful slave 
 is carried to Paradise, and the wicked master is sent to hell ; and 
 this same reversal of conditions appears in the gospel when Dives 
 is exhibited as suffering the pains of damnation while the beggar of 
 other days is sheltered in Abraham's bosom. Therefore, in organizing 
 this change we follow divine justice. Surely nobody can doubt that 
 Robert Small, the heroic slave, who carried a rebel steamer to our 
 fleet and then became our pilot, deserves more of the Republic than a 
 South Carolina otRcial, occupied at that very time as Commis- 
 sioner to regulate impressments in the rebel army. To accept the 
 latter and to reject the former will be not only the height of injustice, 
 but the height of meanness. It will be a deed " to make heaven 
 weep, all earth amazed." 
 
 (5.) Still further, in obtaining guarantees we must look confidently 
 to Congress, which has plenary powers over the whole subject. Con- 
 gress can do everything needful. It has already begun by excluding 
 rebels from office. It must continue its jurisdiction ; whether, through 
 the War Powers, or the duty to guarantee a republican form of govern- 
 ment, or the necessity of the case as in territories, is a matter of little 
 importance. It is of less importance under which of its powers this is 
 done, than that it is done. Continuing its jurisdiction. Congress must 
 supervise and fix the conditions of order, so that the National Security 
 and National Faith shall not suffer. Here is a sacred obligation which 
 cannot be postponed. 
 
 (6.) All these guarantees should be completed and crowned by an 
 amendment of the Constitution of the United States, especially providing 
 that hereafter there shall be no denial of the electoral franchise or any 
 exclusion of any kind, on account of color or race, but all persons shall 
 be equal before the law. At this moment, under a just interpretation 
 of the Constitution, three-fourths of the States actually cooperating in the 
 National government, are sufficient for this change. The words of the 
 Constitution are that amendments shall be valid to all intents and pur- 
 poses, " when ratified by three-fourths of the legislatures of the several 
 States," or, according to practical sense, by three-fourths of the States that 
 have legislatures. If a State has no legislature, it cannot be counted in 
 determining this quorum, as it is not counted in determining the quorum 
 of either House of Congress, where precisely the same question occurs. 
 Any other interpretation recognizes the Rebellion and plays into its 
 hands by conceding its power, through rebellious contrivance, to prevent 
 an amendment of the Constitution, essential to the general welfare. 
 
20 
 
 Appeal to the President and Cabinet. 
 
 Such are practical points to be observed in obtaining the much-needed 
 guarantees. Congress will soon be in session, and to its courageous 
 conduct, in the exercise of unquestionable powers, we all look with hope 
 and trust. Meanwhile the President, as commander-in-chief, has large 
 military powers, which may be exercised without control until the meet- 
 ing of Congress. To him I now appeal. Speaking from this platform 
 — surrounded by this concourse of his friends — and giving voice to the 
 sentiments of my heart, in harmony with the sentiments of Massachu- 
 setts, I cannot fail in respect or honor, while I address him with that 
 plainness which belongs to Republican Institutions. 
 
 " Sir, your power is vast. A word from you may make an epoch. 
 It may advance at once the cause of Universal Civilization, or it may 
 quicken anew the Satanic energies of a fearful Barbarism. It may give 
 assurance of security and reconciliation for the future, or it may scatter 
 uncertainty and distrust, while it postpones that Truce of God, which is 
 the longing of our hearts. As your power is vast, so is your responsi- 
 bility. Act, we entreat you, so that our country may have no fresh sor- 
 row. Do not hazard Emancipation, which is the day-star of our age, and 
 the special jewel in the crown of your martyred predecessor, by any 
 concession to its enemies. Do not put in jeopardy all that we hold most 
 dear, by an untimely attempt to bring back into the copartnership of 
 the National government, any of those ancient associates, who have 
 warred upon their country. Let them wait. You have said that 
 treason is " a crime," and not merely a difference of opinion. Do not 
 let the criminals bear sway. The patriot dead cry out against such 
 surrender, and all their wounds bleed afresh. Congress has already set 
 the example, by declaring that no person engaged in the Rebellion shall 
 hold office. For the present follow Congress. Follow the Constitu- 
 tion also, which knows no distinction of color, and do not sacriice a 
 whole race by resuscitating an offensive Black Code, inconsistent with the 
 National Security and the National Faith. There also is the Declaration 
 of Independence, which now shines like the sun in the Heavens, rejoic- 
 ing to penetrate every bye-way and every cabin, if you will not stand in 
 its light. Let it shine — until the Republic has completely conquered that 
 disgusting pretension, which is at once a stupendous monopoly and an 
 impious Caste. Above all, do not take from the loyal lilack man and 
 give to the disloyal white man ; do not confiscate the political rights of 
 the freedman, who has shed his blood for us, and lavish them upon his 
 rebel master. And remember that justice to the colored race is the 
 sheet-anchor of the national credit." 
 
 Speaking always with the same frankness, I ask leave to say briefly 
 to the Secretary of War : — 
 
 " Sir,- there is room still for your energies. That region, which has 
 been won to Union and Liberty by the victory which you organized, 
 must not be allowed to lapse under its aicient masters, the perjured 
 asserters of property in man. It must not be abandoned. Let it be 
 held by arms, until it smiles with the charities of life and all its people 
 are guarded by an impenetrable shield." 
 
 And still speaking with the same frankness, I ask leave to press one 
 controlling consideration upon the Secretary of the Treasury: — 
 
 " Sir, you are the guardian of the national finances. Use the pecu- 
 
21 
 
 liar influence which belonfrs to this position, so that nothing sliall be 
 done to impair the national credit. See to it especially that no pt^rson 
 in any rebel community is admitted to political power who spurns 
 the National Faith, sacredly plighted to the national freedman as well 
 as to the national creditor. Such is the ordinance of Providence, that 
 the fortunes of the two are joined inseparably together. Credit is 
 sensitive. It needs that all the resources of the country should be 
 brought into activity — that agriculture should be fostered — that com- 
 merce should be revived — that emigration sliould be encouraged ; but 
 this cannot be done without that security which is found in equal laws 
 and a contented peo])le. The farmer, the merchant, the emigrant, must 
 each feel secure. Land, capital and labor are of little value, except 
 on this essential condition. ■ The loyal jjeople, who have contributed so 
 much, and now hold your bonds, trust that this essential condition will 
 not fail through any failure on your part, and that you will not consent 
 to open a political volcano, spouting with smoke and red-hot lava, in an 
 extended region whose first necessity is peace. There is an order in 
 all things, and any concession to the criminal enemies of our country, 
 until after the confirmation of the National Security and the National 
 Faith, is simply an illustration on a gigantic scale of the cart before 
 the horse." 
 
 For myself, fellow-citizens, pardon me if I say that my course is fixed. 
 Others may hesitate ; others may turn away from those great truths, 
 which make the far-reaching brightness of the Republic ; others may 
 seek a temporary favor by a temporary surrender. I shall not. The 
 victory of blood, which has been so painfully won, must be confirmed by 
 a greater victory of ideas, so that the renowned words of Abraham 
 Lincoln may be fulfilled, and " this Nation under God shall have a new 
 birth of Freedom, and government of the people, by the people, and for 
 the people, shall not perish from the earth." To this end I seek no 
 merely formal Union, seething with smothered curses, but a practical, 
 moral, and political Unity, founded on common rights, knit together 
 by common interests, inspired by a common faith, and throbbing with a 
 common love of country, — where our Constitution, interpreted anew, 
 shall be a covenant with life and a league with Heaven, — and Liberty 
 shall be everywhere not only a riglit but a duty. John Brown, on his 
 way to the scafibld, stooped to take up a slave child. That closing 
 example was the legacy of the dying man to his country. That bene- 
 diction we must contiflue and fulfih The last shall be first ; and so, in 
 this new order, Equality, long postponed, shall become the master prin- 
 ciple ,of our system and the very frontispiece of our Constitution. The 
 Rebellion was to beat down this principle, by founding a government on 
 the alleged " inferiority of a race." The attempt has failed, but not, 
 alas ! the insolent assumption of the conspirators. Taking up the 
 gauntlet I now insist, that this assumption shall be trampled out. A 
 righteous government cannot be founded on any exclusion of race. 
 This is not the first time that I have battled with the Barbarism of 
 Slavery. I battle still, as the bloody monster retreats to its last citadel, 
 and, God willing, I mean " to fight it out on this line, if it takes " what 
 remains to me of life. 
 
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