the sun of liberty will go down upon this continent in a sea of blood! Perhaps, sir, I owe as little to secession as any other member on this floor. The sanctity of my hearthstone has been violated and my rights trampled under foot by these lawless men. But rising above all questions of personal feeling and party animosity, and looking alone to the safety of my country and the welfare of the whole people, I am at present opposed to any and all of these extreme measures. They cannot be adopted without doing the greatest injustice to thousands of faithful Union men to be found in every Southern State, and who, with grateful hearts, will gladly welcome the old flag, that bright "banner of beauty and of glory," and dedicate their lives to its defense whenever they may dare to do so. Our first and highest duty is to suppress the rebellion, and whatever legislation may be necessary within our constitutional power to do this, let it be had.

Further than this it is needless, nay, it is dangerous, to go now. Let us await the "tide of events," take counsel of our respective constituencies, ponder upon the "sober second thought," and in the future, with that experience which the changed circumstances of the country will bring to us, we shall be the better able to devise a system of laws that will do injustice to no one, tend to reunite the people of the whole Union, soften the asperities of the present hour, and bring about once more that kind and fraternal feeling the loss of which is so much to be deplored by every Christian heart. To the extent that the laws of the country have been violated, let the guilty leaders be punished; they must not escape; but extend to the masses who have been deluded and misled pardon and amnesty upon the condition that they will return to their loyalty and "sin no more," remembering always that the law inflicts its punishment upon the guilty citizen not so much to reform the offender as to prevent a repetition of the crime. Let it not be said, Mr. Chairman, that the policy which I indicate is too gentle in times of disaster and revolution like these. We must look to the effect which any system of laws that we may enact will have upon the country.

My motto is," Save the nation at any cost "; but believing as I do that the Constitution affords us the amplest power to do this, I am utterly opposed to its violation. Let it not be said, either, that I am governed by any purpose to shield and protect any interest which comes in contact with the safety of the Republic and the integrity of the Union. In regard to African slavery, I value far higher the permanency of the Government and the preservation of the Constitution for these are essential to our own liberties than I do any question connected with the freedom or slavery of this inferior race of men. I desire to preserve the Government as it is, and to do this I am for using all necessary powers granted in the Constitution, executive, legislative, and judicial. But, sir, I do not wish to see the public mind agitated and the nation's life still further endangered not only by the pressure

upon us of unconstitutional, but of idle humanitarian theories and abstract opinions. And least of all, if the nation must die, let there not be written upon its tomb the epitaph, "Here lies a great people, who, in their efforts to give freedom to the African slave on this continent, lost their own liberties!"

Mr. Chairman, I can hardly presume that we shall ever have again in this country, or at least for many years to come, the same pleasant and agreeable condition of things which existed before the commencement of this wicked rebellion. This war, however, cannot last always. It must terminate and, I sincerely trust, before a great while. It is a question of the greatest magnitude, and especially in those States where the rebellion exists, how matters are to be adjusted so as to produce the least possible sacrifice of the business interests of the country and the least alienation among the great masses of the people. Unless this be our object, a state of peace may be made more terrible even than a state of war. In a short time we hope under the lead of her distinguished son that Tennessee, thrust out of the Union temporarily against the wishes of a large majority of her people, will return to assume her vacant seats in this hall. And how are her representatives to be met upon their entrance into this body? Will it be as men coming from a coequal State with all its "rights and dignity unimpaired"? Shall we meet them at the threshold with manifestations of joy? Shall the "fatted calf be killed"? Or are they to be told that they have returned too late; that Tennessee is no longer a State of the American Union; that we have, under the "war power," blotted out its existence and converted it into a territorial dependency? Shall we attempt to console them with the idea that we had sent to them as their Governor some man of that extreme political school who originated the idea of destroying their State sovereignty and blotting out State lines, and that their offices of honor and of profit were to be filled by the same class of men? Shall we tell them, furthermore, that in order to preserve among them the most agreeable and harmonious state of society we had passed laws confiscating the property of one-half of their inhabitants? Shall we say to them, still further, that, acting upon the theory of the gentleman from Kansas [Mr. Conway], "that by the act of secession they had dissolved the Union," we had treated them as "belligerents " under the law of nations and, availing ourselves of these changed relations, we had broken up one of their established institutions by emancipating all their slaves, amounting to two hundred and eighty thousand in number? That in this, however, we had acted a very generous part toward them; that we do not intend to remove this servile race from among them; that they will still remain their neighbors and friends, and that when they get them thoroughly educated and Christianized they will make most agreeable members of society! And that in order most effectually to prevent them from leaving the territory the Northern States

had commenced passing laws and inserting into their respective State constitutions such amendments as these:

ART. XIII.-SEC. 1. No negro or mulatto shall come into or settle in this State after the adoption of this Constitution.

SEC. 2. All contracts made with any negro or mulatto coming into the State contrary to the provision of the foregoing section shall be void; and any person who shall employ such negro or mulatto, or otherwise encourage him to remain in the State, shall be fined in any sum not less than ten dollars nor more than $500.-Constitution of Indiana.

In the Constitution adopted by the convention lately held in Illinois we find the following provision:

ART. XVIII.-SEC. 1. No negro or mulatto shall migrate to or settle in this State after the adoption of this Constitution.

SEC. 2. No negro or mulatto shall have the right of suffrage or hold any office in this State.

SEC. 3. The General Assembly shall pass all laws necessary to carry into effect the provision of this article.

Is this your plan of reconstruction? Is this the way you expect to save the Constitution and the Union? Is this the way you expect to win, and, in the language of my good friend, Mr. Crittenden, "woo back" the people of the Southern States? What! break up their State organizations, destroy forever their domestic tranquillity, beggar them and their children, and yet expect them to return to their allegiance and become again peaceful and patriotic citizens? Sir, I ask, is not this the ne plus ultra of human folly? I beseech you to abandon these unwise and impracticable measures. You have made by law the capital of the nation free. Be content. Let there be no further Congressional agitation of the question of slavery. Leave this question for all future time to the people of the States where it exists, and to be disposed of by them as they may deem best for the welfare of all concerned. Sir, I listened with infinite satisfaction to the able argument of the learned gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Thomas] a few days since against these extreme measures. I cordially indorse almost his entire speech. With such Republicans as himself, and with my friends from Indiana [Mr. Dunn] and from New York [Mr. Diven], and many others that I could name, my constituents could live, aye, and all the reasonable people of the South could live, upon terms of the most enduring friendship. Let the wisdom of such men guide and control the action of the dominant party here and all will yet be well.

Mr. Chairman, we were treated a short time ago by the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Davis], to a disquisition upon the dignity of labor. Sir, this is a noble theme, and if he had confined himself to the subject without going out of his way to make an onslaught upon the loyal people of the

Southern States, there was much that he said to meet my hearty indorsement. Sir, I honor and respect the laboring man; to him is our country in a large degree indebted for its rapid advancement in physical, moral, and mental improvement; and there is no better specimen of manhood to be found, and no higher and more admirable illustration of the beneficent influence of our free institutions, than the man who by his own labor rises from the humbler to the higher walks of life; and I care not in what department or in what direction these beneficial results of labor may be directed. And allow me to say, sir, that these liberal sentiments are largely entertained by the people in that section of the country where I live. The gentleman from Pennsylvania, while leveling his malice at the border slave States, seemed to think that the only motive which prompted them to adhere to the Union was in order that their institution of slavery might be made more secure!

Sir, I am ready to confess that I believe slavery to be more secure in the Union than it would be out of it, and especially so if we are to have such men as the gentleman from Pennsylvania for our neighbors. But how unkind, oh! how uncharitable, to attribute a motive like this to the brave and loyal men who have risked their all in endeavoring to put down this rebellion. Is not their love of country as sincere, their motives of action as pure and honorable, as those that guide and control the citizens of other States? Such attacks at this time are out of place here. They reach back to the foundation of the Government. They are aimed equally at the memories of many of those who aided in its establishment; Washington and Jefferson, Madison, Clay, and Jackson were not only Southern men, but they were all slave-owners; while if you will trace the history of slavery on this continent you will find that the people of the Northern States were as largely instrumental, and profited as much, in the establishment of African slavery here as did the Southern people. Whatever guilt attaches to it in a moral or political point of view must be forever shared equally by the North and the South. Sir, the great men of the South need no defense at my hands. There is not a page in your country's history that is not illuminated and adorned by their wisdom, their patriotism, and their valor. From the time that the first blow was struck in the cause of American independence until the breaking out of this "accursed rebellion," there is scarcely a battlefield whose sands were not moistened by the blood of patriotic Southern men. To them the world is largely indebted for the establishment of free government on this continent. And the cause of humanity and liberty in the distant regions of the earth has had no truer and warmer advocates in this Capitol than Southern men, whose eloquent words came

So softly that, like flakes of feathered snow,
They melted as they fell.

No, sir, the Union men of the border slave States, estimating at their true value all the blessings conferred upon them by the Union, regarding the Federal Constitution and the Government established under it as the best ever instituted among men, following the teachings of the Father of his Country, and desiring to hand down to their children these priceless gifts, have risked and are now risking all that is dear to them for its preservation, and but for their action this day the Government would inevitably have been destroyed. And these croakings come with bad grace, especially from those whose action has contributed so much to the present unfortunate state of things, and who, setting aside the Constitution as their guide and rule of action, are pressing upon us daily the most absurd propositions, the success of which must at once destroy the last vestige of hope for the reconstruction and salvation of the Government.

(Here the hammer of the Chairman fell, the hour having expired.)

Mr. DUNN of Indiana: Mr. Chairman, I move that the gentleman from Missouri be allowed to proceed with his remarks, and that his time be extended.

The CHAIRMAN: If there be no objection, the gentleman from Missouri will continue his remarks.

There being no objection, Mr. Rollins said:

I will detain the committee but a short time longer. Mr. Chairman, it has been charged here that Kentucky desires to dictate the policy of the nation. Sir, I love and honor the people of that noble and proud old commonwealth. It is the land of my birth. Beneath her sacred soil rest the ashes of the immortal Clay. It is the home of Crittenden, and I trust I shall ever be as sensitive in regard to her reputation as are the brave and true men around me, who so faithfully represent her interests here. Where are the evidences of the truth of this charge? Sir, they do not exist. Kentucky does not wish to dictate the policy of the nation further than to keep the nation right. At the commencement of this rebellion Kentucky did all in her power to preserve the peace and prevent this fratricidal war. In the councils of the nation and before the assemblies of the people she pleaded with all the earnest enthusiasm of a warm-hearted patriotism; she offered to the nation, through her illustrious son, terms of conciliation and compromise which ought to have been accepted. But her voice was unheeded. Neither section would listen to her timely and generous appeals. Strife and bitterness seemed to have filled the hearts of men on every side.

Yet Kentucky did not falter; seeing the danger of their own position, and knowing that their fair fields would be the inevitable theatre upon which the heavy clash of arms would first be felt, and realizing the natural sympathies of their own people with the Southern States, and the misrepresentations by which bold leaders and crafty traitors expected to mislead the