V.

MR. PRESIDENT, such is the testimony of history, authority, and

Constitution, binding the judgment, and leaving no alternative. Thus

far I have done little but bring together the diversified testimony and

weave it into one body. It is not I who speak. I am nothing. It is the

cause, whose voice I am, that addresses you. But there are yet other

things, even at this late hour, craving utterance. And here, after this

long review, I am brought back to more general considerations, and end

as I began, by showing the necessity of Enfranchisement for the sake of

public security and public faith. I plead now for the ballot, as the

great guaranty, and _the only sufficient guaranty_,--being in itself

peacemaker, reconciler, schoolmaster, and protector,--to which we are

bound by every necessity and every reason; and I speak also for the

good of the States lately in rebellion, as well as for the glory and

safety of the Republic, that it may be an example to mankind.

Let me be understood. What I ask especially is impartial suffrage,

which is, of course, embraced in universal suffrage. What is universal

is necessarily impartial. For the present, I simply insist that all

shall be equal before the law, so that in the enjoyment of this

right there shall be no restriction not equally applicable to all.

Any further question in the nature of “qualification” belongs to

another stage of the debate. And yet I have no hesitation in saying

that universal suffrage is a universal right, subject only to such

regulations as the safety of society may require. These may concern

(1.) age, (2.) character, (3.) registration, (4.) residence. In ancient

Greece there was what is called a Timocracy, where a certain amount

of property was required; and this condition has modern example,

even among us. But it is entirely out of place now. Nobody doubts

that minors may be excluded, and so also persons of infamous life.

Registration and residence are both prudential requirements for the

safeguard of the ballot-box against the Nomads and Bohemians of

politics, and to compel the exercise of this franchise among neighbors

and friends, where a person is known. Education also, under certain

circumstances, may be a requirement of prudence, particularly valuable

in a republic, where so much depends on the intelligence of the people;

but it is of doubtful value, especially where patriotic votes are

needed to crush treason or counteract fraud. There is something worse

than inability to read and write. These temporary restrictions do not

in any way interfere with the right of suffrage, for they leave it

_absolutely accessible to all_. Even if impediments, they are easily

overcome. At all events, they are not in any sense insurmountable;

and this is the essential requirement of republican institutions. No

matter under what depression of poverty, in what depth of obscurity,

or with what diversity of complexion a man has been born, he is

nevertheless a citizen, the peer of every other citizen, and the ballot

is his inalienable right.

* * * * *

The ballot is _peacemaker_; and is it not said, “Blessed are the

peacemakers”? High among the Beatitudes let it be placed, for there

it belongs. Deny it, and the freedman will be the victim of perpetual

warfare. Ceasing to be a slave, he only becomes a sacrifice. Grant it,

and he is admitted to those equal rights which allow no sacrifice.

Plutarch records that the wise man of Athens charmed the people by

saying that _Equality causes no War_, and this “pleased both the

rich and the poor.”[188] In another place the same ancient records

the wise man as declaring it “that which would occasion no tumult or

faction.”[189] But this is peace. How god-like in transforming power

alike on master and slave! The master will recognize the new citizen.

The slave will stand with tranquil self-respect in presence of the

master. Brute force disappears. Distrust is at an end. The master is no

longer tyrant. The freedman is no longer dependant. The ballot comes to

him in his depression, and says, “Use me, and be elevated.” It comes to

him in his passion, and says, “Use me, and do not fight.” It comes to

him in his daily thoughts, filling him with the strength and glory of

manhood.

* * * * *

The ballot is _reconciler_. Next after peace is reconciliation. But

reconciliation is more than peace. It is concord. Parties long

estranged are brought into harmony. They learn to live together. They

learn to work together. They are kind to each other, even if only as

the Arab and his horse; and this mutual kindness is mutual advantage.

Unquestionably the ballot promises this great boon, because it brings

all into natural relations of justice, without which reconciliation

is a vain thing. Do you wish to see harmony truly prevail, so that

industry, society, government, civilization may all prosper, and the

Republic wear a crown of true greatness? Then do not neglect the ballot.

* * * * *

The ballot is _schoolmaster_. Reading and writing are of inestimable

value, but the ballot teaches what these cannot teach. It teaches

manhood. Especially is it important to a race whose manhood has been

denied. The work of redemption cannot be complete, if the ballot is

left in doubt. The freedman already knows his friend by the unerring

instinct of the heart. Give him the ballot, and he will be educated

into the principles of government. Deny him the ballot, and he will

continue alien in knowledge as in rights. His claim is exceptional, as

your injustice is exceptional. For generations you have shut him out

from all education, making it a crime to teach him to read the Book of

Life. Let not the tyranny of the past be apology for further exclusion.

Prisoners long immured in a dungeon are sometimes blinded, as they come

forth into day; but this is no reason for continued imprisonment. To

every freedman the ballot is the light of day.

* * * * *

The ballot is _protector_. Perhaps, at the present moment, this is

its highest function. Slavery has ceased in name; but this is all.

The old master still asserts an inhuman power, and now by positive

statutes seeks to bind his victim in new chains. Let this conspiracy

proceed unchecked, and the freedman will be more unhappy than the early

Puritan, who, seeking liberty of conscience, escaped from the “lords

bishops” only to fall under the “lords elders.” The master will still

be master, under another name,--as, according to Milton,

“New presbyter is but old priest writ large.”

Serfdom or apprenticeship is slavery in another guise. To save the

freedman from this tyranny, with all its accumulated outrage, is a

solemn duty. For this we are now devising guaranties; but, believe me,

the only sufficient guaranty is the ballot. Let the freedman vote,

and he will have in himself under the law a constant, ever-present,

self-protecting power. The armor of citizenship will be his best

security. The ballot will be to him sword and buckler,--sword with

which to pierce his enemies, and buckler on which to receive their

assault. Its possession will be a terror and a defence. The law, which

is the highest reason, boasts that every man’s house is his castle; but

the freedman can have no castle without the ballot. When the master

knows that he may be voted down, he will know that he must be just, and

everything is contained in justice. The ballot is like charity, which

never faileth, and without which man is only as sounding brass or a

tinkling cymbal. The ballot is the one thing needful, wanting which,

rights of testimony and all other rights are no better than cobwebs,

which the master will break through with impunity. To him who has the

ballot all other things shall be given,--protection, opportunity,

education, a homestead. The ballot is the Horn of Abundance, out of

which overflow rights of every kind, with corn, cotton, rice, and

all the fruits of the earth. Or, better still, it is like the hand

of the body, without which, man, who is now only a little lower than

the angels, must have continued only a little above the brutes. We

are fearfully and wonderfully made; but as is the hand in the work of

civilization, so is the ballot in the work of government. “Give me

the ballot and I will move the world” may be the exclamation of the

race despoiled of this right. There is nothing it cannot open with

almost fabulous power, like that golden bough which in the hands of the

classical adventurer unclosed the regions of another world, while, like

that magic rod, it is renewed as in the verse,--

“One plucked away, a second branch you see

Shoot forth in gold and glitter through the tree.”[190]

If I crowd these illustrations, it is only that I may bring home

that supreme efficacy which cannot be exaggerated. Though simple in

character, there is nothing the ballot may not accomplish,--like

the homely household lamp in Arabian story, which, at call of its

possessor, evoked a spirit that did all things, from the building

of a palace to the rocking of a cradle, and filled the air with an

invisible presence. As protector it is of immeasurable power,--like a

fifteen-inch Columbiad pointed from a Monitor. Ay, Sir, the ballot is

the Columbiad of our political life, and every citizen who has it is a

full-armed Monitor.

* * * * *

Having pleaded for the freedman, I now plead for the Republic; for

to each alike the ballot is a _necessity_. It is idle to expect

any true peace while the freedman is robbed of this transcendent

right, and left a prey to a vengeance too ready to wreak upon him

the disappointment of defeat. The country, sympathetic with him,

will be in perpetual unrest. With him it will suffer; with him alone

can it cease to suffer. Only through him can you redress the balance

of our political system and assure the safety of patriot citizens.

Only through him can you save the national debt from the inevitable

repudiation awaiting it, when recent Rebels in conjunction with

Northern allies once more bear sway. He is our best guaranty. Use him.

He was once your fellow-soldier; he has always been your fellow-man.

If he was willing to die for the Republic, he is surely good enough to

vote. And now that he is ready to uphold the Republic, it is madness

to reject him. Had he voted originally, the Acts of Secession must

have failed, treason would have been voted down. You owe this tragical

war, and the debt now fastened upon the country, to the denial of this

right. Vacant chairs in once happy homes, innumerable graves, saddened

hearts, mothers, fathers, wives, sisters, brothers, all mourning lost

ones, the poor ground by taxation never known before, all testify

against the injustice by which the present freedman was not allowed to

vote. Had he voted, there would have been peace. If he votes now, there

will be peace. Without this you must have a standing army, which is a

sorry substitute for justice. Before you is the plain alternative of

the ballot-box or the cartridge-box: choose ye between them.

* * * * *

_Reason_, too, in every way and with every voice, cries out in unison

with necessity. All policies, all expediencies, all economies take

up the cry. Nothing so impolitic as wrong; nothing so inexpedient

as tyranny; nothing so little economical as the spirit of caste.

Justice is the highest policy, the truest expediency, and the most

comprehensive economy. In this inspiration act. Do you wish to save the

national credit, still imperilled by fatal injustice, and to secure

gold as the national currency? Then do not let the question of Equal

Rights disturb the country with volcanic throes. You complain that

labor is unorganized, and that the cotton crop fails. Do you wish labor

to smile and cotton to grow? Then sow the land with Human Rights, and

encircle it round about with Justice. The freedman will not, cannot

work, while you deny his rights. Cotton will not, cannot grow in such

an atmosphere. Absurd to expect it. Using the freedman as you now

do, you imitate those barbarous Irish who insisted upon ploughing by

the horse’s tail, until an Act of Parliament interfered to require

ploughing by harness. The infinite folly must be corrected, if for no

higher reason than because it is unprofitable. But it is contrary to

Nature, and on this account renders the whole social system insecure.

Where Human Rights are set at nought, there can be no tranquillity

except that of force, which is despotism. The philosophy of history,

speaking by one of its oracles, the great Italian Vico, confirms this

lesson, when it says, most sententiously, that “nothing out of its

natural state can either easily subsist or last long.” Truer words were

never uttered, as statement of philosophy, or warning to injustice

enacted into law.

* * * * *

_Gratitude_, in unison with necessity and reason, takes up the cry,

insisting that we shall not fail in duty to benefactors. It is

difficult to measure the extent of this obligation, which is vast in

proportion to regard for Human Rights and the value set upon the Union.

By their strong arms and patriot example the national strength was

aggrandized. As Freedom stamped her foot, black armies sprang from the

ground. To save the Republic they toiled, digging trenches and making

of their bodies breastworks; for the Republic they bled. Toiling and

fighting, they became copartners in the government. And shall we now

disown the copartnership? Receiving them into our embattled lines, the

Republic is estopped against all denial of their Equal Rights. Acts

stronger than words created the unimpeachable estoppel. They aided

the victories by which the Republic was assured in unity. Is there no

assurance for them also?

If that “more perfect union” proclaimed in the National Constitution

as a primary object has been obtained at last, it is through them.

If the terrible crime of Slavery, for which the Republic suffered in

strength and good name, is ended, and the Republic thereby exalted,

it is through them. They helped our deliverance. To them, therefore,

are we bound as debtor to creditor, as just man to benefactor. By

their undoubted service we are under perpetual obligation of doing to

them as they did to us. We must deliver them. Here justice commands;

but another sentiment, proceeding from the heart, lends persuasive

influence. Failing in present duty, the Republic will lose a precious

possession, as full of sweetness as of strength.

“Sweet is the breath of vernal shower,

The bee’s collected treasures sweet,

Sweet music’s melting fall; but sweeter yet

The still, small voice of Gratitude.”[191]

Mr. President, already I have taken too much time, and still the great

theme, in various and multitudinous relations, continues to open before

us. At each step it rises in some new aspect, assuming every shape of

interest and of duty,--now with voice of command, and then with voice

of persuasion. The national security, the national faith, the good of

the freedman, the concerns of business, agriculture, justice, peace,

reconciliation, obedience to God,--these are among the forms it takes.

In the name of all these I speak to-day, hoping to do something for

my country, and especially for that unhappy portion which has been

arrayed in arms against us. The people there are my fellow-citizens,

and gladly would I hail them, if they would permit, as no longer a

“section,” no longer “the South,” but an integral part of the Republic,

under a Constitution which, knowing no North and no South, cannot

tolerate “sectional” pretension. Gladly, in all sincerity, do I offer

my best effort for their welfare. But I see clearly that there is

nothing in the compass of mortal power so important to them in every

respect, morally, politically, and economically, that there is nothing

with such certain promise to them of beneficent result, that there is

nothing so sure to make their land smile with industry and fertility,

as the decree of Equal Rights I now invoke. Let the judgment go forth

to cover them with blessings, sure to descend upon their children in

successive generations. They have given us war: we offer them peace.

They have raged against us in the name of Slavery: we send them back

the benediction of justice for all. They menace hate: we ask them to

accept in return all the sacred charities of country, together with

oblivion of the past. This is our “Measure for Measure.” This is our

retaliation. This is our only revenge.

All omens are with the Republic, destined yet to win its sublimest

triumphs. Timid or perverse counsels may postpone the gladsome

consummation; but the contest now begun can end only when Slavery

is completely transformed by a metamorphosis which shall substitute

justice for injustice, riches for poverty, and beauty for deformity.

From history we learn not only the past, but the future. By the study

of what has been we know what must be, according to unerring law.

Call it, if you please, the logic of events, and infer the inevitable

conclusion. Or call it, if you please, the Rule of Three, and from

the result of certain forces determine the proportionate result of

increased forces. There can be no mistake in the answer. And so it

is plain that the Equal Rights of All will be established. Amid

all seeming vicissitudes the work proceeds. Soon or late the final

victory will be won,--I believe soon. Speeches cannot stop it; crafty

machinations cannot change it. Against its irresistible movement

politicians are as impotent as those old conjurers who imagined that

“By rhymes they could pull down full soon

From lofty sky the wandering moon.”[192]

These verses, which shine on the black-letter page of the great

lawyer, Sir Edward Coke, aptly describe the incantations of our day

to pull down Justice from her lofty sky. It cannot be done. In this

conviction I observe what comes to pass without losing faith. I listen

with composure to arguments which ought not to be made, and I see with

equal composure how individual opinions swing between Congress and

the President. It is not to the oscillations of the pendulum that we

look for the measure of time, but to the face of the public clock and

the striking of the church bell. The indications of that clock and the

striking of that bell leave little room for doubt.

In the fearful tragedy drawing to a close there is a destiny, stern

and irresistible as that of the Greek drama, which seems to master all

that is done, hurrying on the death of Slavery and its whole brood of

sin. There is also a Christian Providence which watches this battle

for right, caring especially for the poor and downtrodden who have no

helper. The freedman, still writhing under cruel oppression, lifts his

voice to God the Avenger. It is for us to save ourselves from righteous

judgment. Never with impunity can you outrage human nature. Our

country, which is guilty still, is paying still the grievous penalty.

Therefore by every motive of self-preservation we are summoned to be

just. And thus is the cause associated indissolubly with the national

life.

But, saving the Republic, we elevate it. Overthrowing an oppressive

injustice, we give full scope to the principles of the National

Government, and fulfil the “idea of a perfect commonwealth” which has

charmed the visions of philosophy and poetry. “I am all that has been,

that is, and that shall be, and none among mortals has hitherto lifted

my veil”: such was the enigma cut on the pavement of the Temple of the

Egyptian Minerva.[193] For ages it remained unanswered; but the answer

is at hand. The Republic is all that has been, that is, and that shall

be; and it is your duty to lift the veil. To do less were failure; for

such was the aspiration and promise of the Fathers, assuming their

first vows in the family of nations. To do this will fix the example of

American institutions. So long as Slavery endured, it was impossible;

so long as the Black Code, wretched counterpart of Slavery, endures

in any form, it is impossible. To attain this idea we must proclaim

the rule of justice. Slavery thus far has been the very pivot round

which the Republic revolved, while all its policy at home and abroad

has radiated from this terrible centre. Hereafter the Equal Rights of

All will take the place of Slavery, and the Republic will revolve on

this glorious centre, whose countless, far-reaching radiations will

be the happiness of the people. There is nothing the imagination can

picture which will not be ours. Where justice is supreme, nothing

can be wanting. There will be room for every business and for every

charity. The fields will nod with increase, industry will be quickened

to unimagined triumph, and life itself raised to higher service. There

will be that repose which comes from harmony, and also that simplicity

which comes from one prevailing law, both essential to the idea of

Republic. Our country will cease to be a patchwork where different

States vary in the rights they accord, and will become a Plural Unit,

with one Constitution, one liberty, and one franchise. With all these

things the Republic will be the synonym for justice and peace, since

these things will be inseparable from its name. In our longings we

need not repair to philosophy or poetry. Nor need we go back to the

memorable sage who declared that the best government was where every

citizen rushed to the defence of the humblest as if he were the state,

for all this will be ours. Nor need we go back to the patriot king, in

ancient tragedy, who, inspired by the republican idea, called for the

vote of the people:--

“For them I made supreme,

And on this city, _with an equal right_

_For all to vote_, its freedom have bestowed.”[194]

Here, at last, among us all this will be assured, and the Republic will

be of such renown and virtue that all at home or abroad who bear the

American name may exclaim with more than Roman pride, “I am an American

citizen!”--and if danger approaches, they may repeat the same cry with

more than Roman confidence, knowing well that this title will be a

sufficient protection. Then will be renewed the story of the two sticks

in the prophecy of Ezekiel: “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph,

which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows,

and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them

one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.”[195]

* * * * *

Sir, it is for you now to determine if all this shall be fulfilled. The

whole case is before you in its grandeur and its humanity, infinite

as human aspiration, beautiful as the vision of a republic. Turn

not away from it. Vindicate the great cause, I entreat you, by the

suppression of all oligarchical pretensions, and the establishment of

those equal rights without which republican government is a name, and

nothing more. Strike at the Black Code, as you have already struck

at the Slave Code. There is little to choose between them. Strike at

once; strike hard. You have already proclaimed Emancipation; proclaim

Enfranchisement also. Nor longer stultify yourselves by setting at

nought the practical principle of the Fathers, that all just government

stands only on the consent of the governed, and its inseparable

corollary, that _taxation without representation is tyranny_. What was

once true is true forever, although we may for a time lose sight of

it; and this is the case with those imperishable truths to which you

have been, alas! so indifferent. Thus far the work is only _half done_.

See that it is finished. Save the freedman from the outrage which is

his daily life. As a slave he was “a tool without a soul.” If you have

ceased to treat him according to this ancient definition, it is only

because you treat him even as something less. In your cruel arithmetic

he is only a “cipher,” without the protection which the slave sometimes

found in the self-interest of the master; or rather let me say he is

only a “cipher” where rights are concerned, but a numeral counted by

millions where taxes are to be paid. Not only is the freedman compelled

to pay, he must fight also, and he must obey the laws,--three things

he cannot escape. But, according to the primal principle of republican

government, he has an indefeasible right to a voice in determining how

to be taxed, when to fight, and what laws to obey,--all of which can

be secured only through the ballot. Thus again do I bring you to the

same conclusion, confronting us at every point and at every stage, as a

commandment not to be disobeyed.

Would you secure all the just fruits of this terrible war, and

trample out the Rebellion in its pernicious assumptions, as in its

arms? You cannot hesitate; and this is the last stage of the argument.

The Rebellion began in two assumptions, both proceeding from South

Carolina: first, the sovereignty of the States, with the pretended

right of secession; and, secondly, the superiority of the white race,

with the pretended right of caste, oligarchy, and monopoly, on account

of color. The first was often announced in many ways. The second

showed itself at the beginning, when South Carolina, conspicuous among

the Thirteen States, allowed her Constitution to be degraded by an

exclusion on account of color; but it did not receive authoritative

statement until a later day, when that false evangelist, Mr. Calhoun,

taking issue with the Declaration of Independence, audaciously

announced in the Senate that to declare all born free and equal was

“the most dangerous of all political errors”; that it had “done more

to retard the cause of liberty and civilization, and is doing more at

present, than all other causes combined”; and that “we now begin to

experience the danger of admitting so great an error to have a place in

the Declaration of our Independence.”[196] These two assumptions are

kindred in effrontery. All agree that the dogma of State sovereignty

must be repelled; but this is less offensive than the other, having

the same origin, that the Declaration of Independence is “the most

dangerous of all political errors.” To repel such effrontery is not

enough; it must be scorned.

The Gospel according to Calhoun is only another statement of the

imposture, that this august Republic, founded to sustain the rights

of Human Nature, is nothing but “a white man’s government.” The whole

assumption is ignoble, utterly unsupported by history, and insulting

to the Fathers, while offensively illogical and irreligious. It is

illogical, inasmuch as our fathers, when they declared that all men

are created equal, gave expression to a truth of political science,

which, from the nature of the case, admits no exception. As axiom it

is without exception; for it is the essence of an axiom, whether in

geometry or morals, to be universal. As abstract truth it is also

without exception, according to the requirement of such truth. And,

finally, as self-evident truth, so announced in the great Declaration,

it is without exception; for only such truth can be self-evident.

Thus, whether axiom, abstract truth, or self-evident truth, it is

always universal. But the assumption is not only illogical, it is

irreligious, inasmuch as it flies in the face of that living truth

which appears twice at the Creation: first, when God said, “Let us

make man in our image”; and, secondly, in the unity of the race, then

divinely appointed, and which appears again in the Gospel, when it

said, “God, that made the world, and all things therein, hath made of

one blood all nations of men.” According to the best testimony, the

present population of the earth--embracing Caucasians, Mongolians,

Malays, Africans, and Americans--is about thirteen hundred millions,

of whom only three hundred and seventy-five millions are “white,” or

little more than one fourth; so that, in claiming exclusive rights for

“white,” you degrade nearly three quarters of the human family, made

in the “image of God” and declared to be of “one blood,” while you

sanction a caste offensive to religion, an oligarchy inconsistent with

republican government, and a monopoly which has the Human Family as

the subject of its tyrannical usurpation.

Against this assumption I protest with mind, soul, and heart. It is

false in religion, false in statesmanship, and false in economy. It

is an extravagance, which, if enforced, is foolish tyranny. Show me a

creature, with lifted countenance looking to heaven, made in the image

of God, and I show you A MAN, who, of whatever country or race, whether

browned by equatorial sun or blanched by northern cold, is with you

a child of the Heavenly Father, and equal with you in all the rights

of Human Nature. You cannot deny these rights without impiety. And

so, as God linked the national welfare with national duty, you cannot

deny these rights without peril to the Republic. It is not enough that

you have given Liberty. By the same title that we claim Liberty do we

claim Equality also. One cannot be denied without the other. What is

Equality without Liberty? What is Liberty without Equality? One is the

complement of the other. The two are necessary to begin and complete

the circle of American citizenship. They are the inseparable organs

through which the people have their national life. They are the two

vital principles of republican government, without which, government,

although republican in name, cannot be republican in fact. These two

vital principles belong to those divine statutes graven on the soul of

Universal Man, even of the slave who forgets them, and of the master

who denies them, and, whether forgotten or denied, more enduring than

marble or brass, for they share the perpetuity of the human family.

The Roman Cato, after declaring his belief in the immortality of the

soul, added, that, if this were an error, it was an error he loved.

And now, declaring my belief in Liberty and Equality as the God-given

birthright of all men, let me say, in the same spirit, if this be an

error, it is an error I love,--if this be a fault, it is a fault I

shall be slow to renounce,--if this be an illusion, it is an illusion

which I pray may wrap the world in its angelic forms.