“Recall the precious words of the early English writer, who,
describing ‘the Good Sea-Captain,’ tells us that he ‘counts
the image of God nevertheless His image, cut in ebony, as
if done in ivory.’[268] The good statesman must be like the
good sea-captain. His ship is the State, which he keeps safe
on its track. He, too, must see the image of God in all his
fellow-men, and, in the discharge of his responsible duties,
must set his face forever against any recognition of inequality
in human rights. Other things you may do, but this you must not
do.”[269]
I do not quote other efforts, other speeches, but pass to the next
session of Congress, when, at the beginning, under date of December 5,
1866, I introduced resolutions thus entitled:--
“Resolutions declaring the true principles of Reconstruction,
the jurisdiction of Congress over the whole subject, the
illegality of existing governments in the Rebel States, and the
exclusion of such States with such illegal governments from
representation in Congress and from voting on Constitutional
Amendments.”