The same National authority that struck down Slavery must see that this other pretension is not permitted to survive; nor can there be any doubt that the authority which struck down Slavery is competent to this kindred duty. Each is a part of that great policy of justice through which alone can peace be made permanent and immutable. Nor can the Republic shirk this remaining duty, without leaving Emancipation unfinished and the early promises of the Republic unfulfilled. Vain is the gift of Liberty, if you surrender the rights of the freedman to be judged by the recent assertors of property in man. Burke, in his day, saw the flagrant inconsistency and denounced it, saying, that, whatever such people did on this subject was "arrant trifling," and, notwithstanding its plausible form, always wanted what he aptly called "the executive principle." These words of warning have been adopted and repeated by two later statesmen, George Canning and Henry Brougham; but they are so plain as not to need the support of names. The infant must not be handed over to be suckled by the wolf, but carefully nursed by its parent; and since the Republic is the parent of Emancipation, the Republic must nurse the immortal infant into maturity and strength. It is the Republic which at the beginning took up this great work. The Republic must finish what it began; and it cannot err on this occasion, if, in anxious care, it holds nothing done so long as anything remains undone. It is the Republic, which, with matchless energy, hurled forward its armies until it conquered. The Republic must exact that "security for the future," without which this unparalleled war will have been waged in vain. It is the Republic, which to-day, with one consenting voice, commemorates the murdered dead. The same Republic, prompt to honor him, must require that his promises to an oppressed race be maintained in all their integrity and completeness, in letter and in spirit, so that the great cause for which he became a sacrifice, may not fail. His martyrdom was a new pledge beyond any even in life. There can be no question here, whether a State is in the Union or out of it. This is but a phrase on which discussion is useless. Look at the actual fact. Here all will agree. The old governments are vacated, and this is enough. Until the whole body of loyal people have set up a government, all is under the National authority, acting by the Executive or by Congress; and, since the Constitution, even without the injunction of the Declaration of Independence, knows nothing of color, it is the obvious duty of the National authority to protect the whole body of loyal people against any denial of rights on this pretension. Already it has undertaken to say that certain persons shall not vote. Surely the same authority which may limit the electoral law of Slavery, may enlarge it. If the National authority can do anything about elections; if it can order an election; if it can regulate an election; if it can exclude a traitor who is still at large, it can admit a loyalist, whose only incapacity is his skin. The colored suffrage is now a necessity. But beyond this, in making it an essential condition of the restoration of rebel States to the Union, we follow, first, the law of reason and of nature, and secondly the Constitution, not only in its text, but as read in the light of the Declaration of Independence. By reason and nature there can be no denial of rights on account of color; and we can do nothing which is thus irrational and unnatural. By the Constitution it is stipulated that the "United States shall guarantee to every State a republican form of government; but the meaning of this guaranty must be found in the birthday Declaration of the Republic, which is the controling preamble of the Constitution. Beyond all question the United States, when called to enforce this guaranty, must insist on the Equality of all men before the law, and the consent of the governed. Such is the true idea of a Republican government according to American institutions. The slave-masters, driven from their first intrenchments, already occupy inner defences. Property in man is abandoned; but they now insist that colored persons shall not enjoy political rights. Liberty has been won. The battle for Equality is still pending. And now a new compromise is proposed, by which colored persons are to be sacrificed in the name of State Rights. It is sad that it should be so. But I do not despair. The cause may be delayed; but it cannot be lost; and all who set themselves against it will be overborne; for it is the cause of Humanity. Not the rich and proud, but the poor and lowly, will be the favorites of an enfranchised Republic. The words of the prophet will be fulfilled; "and I will punish the people for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity, and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I WILL MAKE A MAN MORE PRECIOUS THAN FINE GOLD, EVEN A MAN, THAN THE GOLDEN WEDGE OF OPHIR." I catch these sublime promises, and echo them back as the assurance of triumph. Then will the Republic be all that heart can desire or imagination can paint-"Supremely lovely and serenely great, Majestic mother" of a free, happy, and united people, with Slavery and all its tyranny beaten down under foot, so that no man shall call another master, and all shall be equal before the law. Mourn not the Rejoice as you Fellow-citizens, your task is before you. dead, but rejoice in his life and example. point to this child of the people who was lifted so high, that Republican Institutions became manifest in him. Rejoice that through him Emancipation was proclaimed. Rejoice that under him "government of the people, by the people and for the people," has obtained a final verdict which can never be set aside or questioned. Above all, see to it that his constant vows are performed, and that the promises of the Fathers are maintained, so that no person in the upright form of man can be shut out from their protection. Do this, and the Unity of the Republic will be fixed on a foundation that cannot fail. The cornerstone of National Independence is already in its place, and on it is inscribed the name of GEORGE WASHINGTON. |