FELLOW-CITIZENS,--In meeting fellow-citizens of Massachusetts, who have
come together from all parts of the Commonwealth, I find myself in a
familiar scene, but plainly things are changed. Yes, there is a great
change, and it is manifest in our Convention.
No longer are we met, as so often in times past, on questions of
controversy, or to sustain our cause by argument. That hour has passed.
Formerly I have exhibited to you the atrocities of the Fugitive Slave
Bill; I have rejoiced to show that Freedom was National and Slavery
Sectional; I have striven to prevent the spread of Slavery in the
Territories; I have vindicated especially Freedom in Kansas, assailed
by slaveholding conspirators; I have exposed the tyrannical usurpations
of the Slave Oligarchy; and I have dragged into light the huge and
hideous Barbarism of Slavery. [_Applause._] But these topics have
passed into history, and are no longer of practical interest. They are
not of to-day.
Let us rejoice that at least so much is gained, and from the extent
of present triumph take hope and courage for the future. Providence
will be with the good cause in times to come, as in times past. Others
may despair; I do not. Others may see gloom; I cannot. Others may
hesitate; I will not. [_Applause._] Already is the nation saved. Great
as seems the present peril, there was peril greater far, while it was
sinking year after year under the rule of Slavery. How often have I
exclaimed, in times past, that our foremost object was the Emancipation
of the National Government, so that no longer should it be the slave
of Slavery, ready to do its bidding in all things! But this surpassing
victory has been won. It was won first by the ballot-box, when Abraham
Lincoln was elected President of the United States [_applause_]; and it
was won the second time by the cartridge-box, when, at the command of
the President, the guns of Fort Sumter returned defiance to the Rebel
artillery. [_Three cheers._] Such is the madness of Slavery that the
first was not enough; unhappily, the second was needed to complete the
work.
God be praised, much is already done. The Slave Oligarchy, which,
according to vaunt of a slaveholding Senator, has ruled the Republic
for more than fifty years,--which has stamped its degrading character
upon the national forehead,--which has entered into and possessed
not only the politics, but the literature, and even the religion
of the land,--which has embroiled us at home, and given us a bad
name abroad,--which has wielded at will President, Cabinet, and
even judicial tribunals,--which has superseded Public Opinion by
substituting its own immoral behests,--which has appropriated to
itself the offices and honors of the Republic,--which has established
Slavery as the single test and shibboleth of favor,--which, after
opening all our Territories to this wrong, was already promising to
renew the Slave-Trade and its unutterable woes,--nay, more, which,
in the instinct of that tyranny through which it ruled, was beating
down all safeguard of human rights, freedom of speech, freedom of
the press, security of person, and delivering the whole country to a
sway whose vulgarity was second only to its madness,--this domineering
Slave Oligarchy is dislodged from the National Government, never more
to return. [_Immense sensation._] Thus far, at least, has Emancipation
prevailed. _The greatest slave of all is free._
If at any moment we are disposed to be disheartened, if the Future is
not always clear before us, we may find ample motive for joy in the
victory already achieved. Pillars greater than those of Hercules might
fitly mark this progress.
Among the obvious results of such victory is one to be enjoyed
especially on this occasion. It is Slavery which has been the origin
of our party divisions, keeping men asunder who ought to act together.
But with the expulsion of this disturber the apology for difference
ceases. All patriots, all who truly love their country, may now act
together,--no matter in what party combination they have appeared, no
matter of what accent the speech by which their present duties are
declared. Call them Democrats, Union men, natives, or foreigners, what
you will, are we not all engaged in a common cause? Nor will I claim
as yet the highest praise for those with whom I am most intimately
associated. I have read history too well not to remember that faithful
allies are sometimes superior even to domestic veterans. Hannibal
relied less on his own Carthaginians than on his Spanish infantry and
Numidian horse.
* * * * *
The Government is assailed by a rebellion without precedent. Never,
since Satan warred upon the Almighty, has rebellion assumed such a
front [_applause_], and never before has it begun in such a cause.
The Rebels are numerous and powerful, and their cause is Slavery.
[_Sensation._]
It is the very essence of rebellion to be audacious, unhesitating,
unscrupulous. Rebellion sticks at nothing,--least of all, rebellion
beginning in Slavery. It can be encountered successfully only by vigor
and energy surpassing its own. Patriotism as a motive surely is not
less potent than Treason. It must be invoked. By all the memories
of your fathers, who founded this Republic and delivered to you the
precious heritage, by all the sentiments of gratitude for the good
you have enjoyed beneath its protecting care, are you summoned to its
defence. Defence did I say? With mortification I utter the word; but
you all know the truth.
Rebel conspirators have set upon us, and now besiege the National
Government. They besiege it at Washington, where are the President and
his Cabinet with the national archives. They besiege it at Fortress
Monroe on the Atlantic, at St. Louis on the Mississippi, and now
they besiege it in Kentucky. Everywhere we are on the defensive.
[_Sensation._] Strongholds are wrested from us. Soldiers gathered under
the folds of the national flag are compelled to surrender. Citizens,
whose only offence is loyalty, are driven from their homes. Bridges
are burned. Railways are disabled. Steamers and ships are seized. The
largest navy-yard of the country is appropriated. Commerce is hunted on
the sea, and property, wherever it can be reached, ruthlessly robbed
or destroyed. Only within a few days we have read the order of one
Buckner, Rebel commander in Kentucky, directing the destruction of
a most important lock, by which Green River was rendered navigable.
Pardon me, if I ask attention to this intercepted order. It is
instructive, as showing the spirit with which we have to deal.
“BOWLING GREEN, September 19, 1861.
“Lock No. 1 must be destroyed. I rely upon our friends at
Owenboro’ to do it. Not an hour must be lost. The destruction
is a great deal to me in crippling our adversary. Assemble our
friends, without delay, in sufficient force to accomplish the
object. One of the best ways is to open all the gates but one,
and to dig down behind the wall at both gates, to put one or
two kegs of powder behind the wall, to apply a slow match, and
blow the wall into the lock. If possible, it should be done in
such a way as to leave a strong current through the lock, which
will empty the dam. Provide everything in advance. Do not fail.
It is worth an effort.”[148]
It is still doubtful if the work of destruction was accomplished. But
the military order remains. Thus madly was it attempted to sweep away
the most valuable of the internal improvements of Kentucky, being part
of the pride and wealth of the State.
Do you ask in whose name all this is done? The answer is easy. Not “in
the name of God and the Continental Congress,” as Ethan Allen summoned
Ticonderoga,--but “in the name of Slavery.” In the name of Slavery, and
nothing else, is all this crime, destruction, and ravage perpetrated;
and the work still proceeds.
Look at the war as you will, and you always see Slavery,--as the
renowned orator of Rome saw in the evil about him only the great
conspirator. Never were his words more applicable: _Nullum facinus
exstitit, nisi per te; nullum flagitium sine te_: “No villany but
has owed its existence to thee; no shameful thing has been done
without thee.”[149] Slavery is our Catiline, being to this war
everything,--inspiration, motive power, end and aim, be-all and
end-all. And this brings me to an important statement.
* * * * *
It is often said that war will make an end of Slavery. This is
probable. But it is surer still that the overthrow of Slavery will make
an end of the war. [_Tumultuous applause and cheers._]
If I am correct in this averment, which I believe beyond question,
then do reason, justice, and policy unite, each and all, in declaring
that the war must be brought to bear directly on the grand conspirator
and omnipresent enemy. [_Here the vociferous cheers of the Convention
interrupted the speaker._] Not to do so is to take upon ourselves all
the weakness of Slavery, while we leave to the Rebels its boasted
resources of military strength. [_Cheers._] Not to do so is to squander
life and treasure in a vain masquerade of battle, without practical
result. Not to do so is blindly to neglect the plainest dictates of
economy, humanity, and common sense,--and, alas! simply to let slip the
dogs of war on a mad chase over the land, never to stop until spent
with fatigue or sated with slaughter. [_Sensation._]
Believe me, fellow-citizens, I know all imagined difficulties and
unquestioned responsibilities. But, if you are in earnest, the
difficulties will at once disappear, and the responsibilities are such
as you will gladly bear. This is not the first time that a knot hard
to untie was cut by the sword [_cheers_]; and we all know that danger
flees before the brave man. Believe that you can, and you can. The will
only is needed. Courage now is the highest prudence. [_Applause._]
It is not necessary even, borrowing a familiar phrase, to carry the
war into Africa. It will be enough, if we carry Africa into the war
[_here the outburst of applause compelled the speaker to suspend his
remarks_], in any form, any quantity, any way. [_Continued applause._]
The moment this is done, Rebellion will begin its bad luck, and the
Union become secure forever. [_Cheers._]
History teaches by examples. The occasion does not allow me to show how
completely this monitor points our duty and certain triumph. I content
myself with two instances of special mark,--one from ancient Greece,
and the other from ancient Rome.
The most fatal day for ancient Greece was that “dishonest victory” at
Chæronea, when Philip of Macedon triumphed over combined forces, in
which Demosthenes was enlisted as a soldier. The panic was universal.
Athens was thrown into consternation. Her great orator had fought
bravely, but ineffectually. Another orator, called by Milton “that
old man eloquent,” died suddenly on hearing the report of the defeat.
The Book of Fate seemed about to close, while the proud Athenian State
sank to be a Macedonian province. Then it was that a patriot orator,
Hyperides, launched a proposition to emancipate the slaves. The effect
was electric. The royal Philip, already strong in victory, trembled.
King and conqueror, he was statesman also, and saw well that such a
proposition, begun in Athens, would shake all Greece, even to his
powerful throne, which the young Alexander was preparing to mount. His
triumphant course was arrested, and peace secured.[150]
The other instance is in Roman history. You will find it in Plutarch’s
Life of Caius Marius. Six times Consul,--victor over the redoubtable
Jugurtha, also over the innumerable Teutones and Cimbri,--hailed as
Saviour of Rome, and then, in the terrible vicissitudes of civil feud,
driven from his country to find shelter in the ruins of Carthage,--this
great general, returning from exile, was able to effect a landing
in Italy. The incident is recorded in these words,--and you must
acknowledge that such immense military experience gives to the example
highest authority:--
“Marius upon this news determined to hasten to Cinna. He took
with him some Marusian horse which he had levied in Africa,
and a few others that were come to him from Italy, in all
not amounting to above a thousand men, and with this handful
began his voyage. He arrived at a port of Tuscany called
Telamon, _and as soon as he was landed proclaimed liberty to
the slaves_. [_Immense applause._] The name of Marius brought
down numbers of freemen too, husbandmen, shepherds, and such
like, to the shore, the ablest of which he enlisted, and in a
short time had a great army on foot, with which he filled forty
ships.”[151]
Thus far Plutarch. It is needless to add that Marius soon found himself
master of Rome. [_Applause._]
These are historic instances. I do not adduce them for blind
acceptance, but simply that you may see how in times past defeat was
stayed and victory won by a generous word for Freedom. Men die and
disappear; but the Human Family continues the same, in passions and
fears, as when Philip was frightened back from Athens, as when Marius
was borne in triumph to Rome. [_Applause._]
To these great teachers I would add the authority of the ancient Roman
Law, and I refer you for it to the common Dictionary of Greek and Roman
Antiquities[152] now used in all our schools. According to that law,
the state of Slavery might be terminated in at least three different
modes: first, by manumission; secondly, by enactment of reward to
the slave; and, thirdly, _by enactment of punishment to the master_.
[_Great sensation._] If the master failed to be a good citizen, he
might be punished, so that he should suffer in property, and at the
same time others gain what is more than property,--freedom. But I do
not cite even this example of a time-honored jurisprudence for absolute
guidance. I will not doubt, that, in the unparalleled circumstances by
which we are encompassed, justice will be done.
Already the way is easy. A simple declaration, that all men within
the lines of the United States troops are freemen, will be in
strict conformity with the Constitution, and also with precedent.
The Constitution knows no man as slave. It treats all within its
jurisdiction as _persons_, while the exceptional provision for the
rendition of _persons_ held to service or labor, you will observe, is
carefully confined to such as have escaped into another State,--so that
in Virginia it cannot require the surrender of a Virginia slave, nor
in Missouri of a Missouri slave. It is clear, therefore, that there is
no sanction under the Constitution for turning a national camp into a
slave-pen, or for turning military officers into slave-hunters. Let
this plain construction be adopted, and then, as our lines advance,
Freedom will be established everywhere, and the national flag in its
triumphant march will wave with new glory. [_Applause._]
A brave General whom Massachusetts has given to the country, though
commencing his career with prejudices derived from the Proslavery
school of politicians, has known how to see this question in its
true light: I mean, of course, General Butler. [_Immense cheering,
interrupting the speaker for some time._] He has declared, in a letter
to the Secretary of War, dated Fortress Monroe, 30th July, 1861, with
reference to fugitive slaves, that it is his duty to “take the same
care of these men, women, and children, houseless, homeless, and
unprovided for, as he would of the same number of men, women, and
children who for their attachment to the Union had been driven or
allowed to flee from the Confederate States.”[153] These words are
better for his reputation than a victory. [_Applause and cheers._]
Humanity and wisdom go together, and here we see both.
There is similar and unimpeachable testimony from a succession of
Generals, all born, living, and dying in the South: I mean Gaines,
Taylor, and Jesup, who, one after another, commanded in that protracted
war instigated by the Slave Power against the Seminoles, and waged
at such cost of treasure and life. Fugitives from Slavery, known as
the Exiles of Florida, found a home among these Indian warriors, and
the question arose how they should be treated, being, on a smaller
scale, the very question which now occupies us. Major-General Gaines
insisted, that, when captured, they were prisoners of war, and, in
reply to claimants, he refused to surrender them, somewhat in the
temper of Hotspur, even to the extent of denying his prisoners.[154]
Then followed Major-General Taylor, afterwards President, who, in reply
to claimants asking him “to turn over certain negroes,” said, “I cannot
for a moment consent to meddle with this transaction,”[155]--thus
giving example of just sensibility. At last the Exiles surrendered to
Major-General Jesup as freemen. Afterwards, when their condition was in
question, the General wrote: “By my Proclamation, and the Convention
made with them, when they separated from the Indians and surrendered,
_they are free_.” And then again he wrote: “I, as commander of the
army, and in the capacity of representative of my country, solemnly
pledged the national faith that they should not be separated, nor
any of them sold to white men or others, but be allowed to settle
and remain in separate villages, _under the protection of the United
States_.”[156] Thus apparent, from beginning to end, are obligations to
fugitives from bondage, while by concurring and consecutive authority
that principle is established under which the camp becomes a refuge
against Slavery.
This conclusion is reinforced by language attributed to General Gaines,
and extensively published in the newspapers. “The military officer can
enter into no judicial examination of the claim of one man to the bone
and muscle of another as property. Nor could he as a military officer
know what the laws of Florida were, while engaged in maintaining the
Federal Government by force of arms. In such case he could only be
guided by the Laws of War; and whatever may be the laws of any State,
they must yield to the safety of the Federal Government.” Nothing can
be clearer, stronger, or more to the point.
Thus have we example in the past as in the present, and from military
quarters, pointing to a rule, which, though of seeming simplicity,
would be of incalculable efficacy, if honestly and sincerely enforced.
Then would our camps become nurseries of freemen, and every common
soldier a chain-breaker, while Slavery shrunk out of sight.
* * * * *
There is a higher agency that may be invoked, which is at the same time
under the Constitution and above the Constitution: I mean Martial Law
in its plenitude, and declared by solemn Proclamation. It is under the
Constitution, because the War Power to which it belongs is positively
recognized by the Constitution. It is above the Constitution, because,
when set in motion, like necessity, it knows no other law. For the time
it is Law and Constitution. The civil power, in mass and detail, is
superseded, and all rights are subordinate to this military magistracy.
Other agencies, small and great, executive, legislative, and even
judicial, are absorbed in a transcendent triune power, which, for
the time, declares its absolute will, while holding alike the scales
of justice and the sword of the executioner. The existence of this
power nobody questions. If rarely exercised in our country, and never
largely, the power is none the less fixed in our political system. As
well strike out the kindred law of self-defence, belonging to states as
to individuals. Martial Law is only a form of self-defence.
That this law might be employed against Slavery, without impediment
from State Rights, was first proclaimed in the House of Representatives
by a Massachusetts statesman, who was a champion of Freedom, John
Quincy Adams. [_Applause._] His authority is such that I content myself
with the sanction of his name, which becomes more commanding when we
consider the circumstances under which he first put forth this great
rule, then repeated it, and then again most defiantly vindicated it.
Student of history, and of Public Law in all its forms, from earliest
youth, under the teaching of his father, counsellor-at-law, Senator
of the United States, Minister at foreign courts, including Holland,
Prussia, Russia, England, negotiator of Peace at Ghent, then Secretary
of State and President, this illustrious citizen, after such varied
experience, entered the House of Representatives, where it became his
duty to expound the War Power in our government, especially with regard
to Slavery. On such a question, his whole life was the open book from
which he spoke with magistral authority. No well-worn, dog-eared volume
was needed. Himself was enough. And the circumstances of the debate,
with the sensitiveness of the hour, gave new force to the principle
which he announced.
A select committee on the Abolition of Slavery reported a resolution
declaring “That Congress possesses no Constitutional authority to
interfere in any way with the institution of Slavery in any of the
States of this Confederacy.” Before the vote, the Ex-President asked
to be heard, saying, “If the House will allow me five minutes’ time, I
pledge myself to prove that resolution false and utterly untrue.”[157]
Here he was called to order, and resumed his seat. The resolution was
adopted. Immediately thereafter, on the same day, he obtained the floor
on another subject, being a resolution for the distribution of rations
among unfortunate sufferers in Alabama and Georgia, and having first
remarked that his reasons for voting against the former resolution,
founded on the power of Congress, would be a justification for the vote
he should give in favor of the proposed distribution, he proceeded to
discuss the War Power under the Constitution, portraying the various
wars actually menaced, including a civil war, while with prophetic
voice he exclaimed, “Your own Southern and Southwestern States must
be the battle-field upon which the last great conflict must be fought
between Slavery and Emancipation,” and then announced the supreme power
of Congress.
“From the instant that your slaveholding States become the
theatre of war, civil, servile, or foreign, from that instant
the war powers of Congress extend to interference with the
institution of Slavery in every way by which it can be
interfered with,--from a claim of indemnity for slaves taken or
destroyed, to the cession of the State burdened with slavery to
a foreign power.”[158]
I give but an extract. Again, after other years, with added experience,
we find this exalted citizen asserting the same War Power, and
holding up to terrified Slave-Masters the prospect of Universal
Emancipation.[159]
Meanwhile the question was discussed by friend and foe, being always in
the blaze of the public press, when, on the 14th of April, 1842, our
champion returned to it again, asserting the power of Congress with new
vigor and detail. This was after the introduction of resolutions by
Mr. Giddings, setting forth the relations of the National Government
to Slavery, where it was declared without reservation that each of
the several States composing this Union has full and _exclusive_
jurisdiction over the subject of Slavery within its own territory.[160]
The Ex-President, while accepting the other resolutions, was unwilling
to vote for this complete surrender to the Slave States, and here again
he was driven to find opportunity for speech on another question. It
was on the Civil and Diplomatic Appropriation Bill, and the salaries
of our foreign ministers, when, with masterly ability, in a speech of
two days,[161] he reviewed our foreign relations, warning especially
against war with England and Mexico; and then by natural transition
depicted again the power of Congress in such emergency. These are his
words:--
“It is a War Power. I say it is a War Power; and when your
country is actually in war, whether it be a war of invasion or
a war of insurrection, Congress has power to carry on the war,
and must carry it on according to the Laws of War; and by the
Laws of War an invaded country has all its laws and municipal
institutions swept by the board, and Martial Law takes the
place of them. This power in Congress has perhaps never been
called into exercise under the present Constitution of the
United States. But when the Laws of War are in force, what, I
ask, is one of those laws? It is this: that, when a country
is invaded, and two hostile armies are set in martial array,
_the commanders of both armies have power to emancipate all the
slaves in the invaded territory_.”[162]
Still further, he announces, in words precisely applicable to the
present hour:--
“Nor is this a mere theoretic statement. The history of South
America shows that the doctrine has been carried into practical
execution within the last thirty years. Slavery was abolished
in Colombia, first, by the Spanish General Murillo, and,
secondly, by the American General Bolivar. It was abolished by
virtue of a military command, given at the head of the army;
and its abolition continues to be law to this day.”[163]
Condensing then the whole subject, and bringing it all into one final
statement, he says:--
“I might furnish a thousand proofs to show that the pretensions
of gentlemen to the sanctity of their municipal institutions,
under a state of actual invasion and of actual war, whether
servile, _civil_, or foreign, are wholly unfounded, and that
the Laws of War do in all such cases take precedence. I lay
this down as the Law of Nations. I say that the military
authority takes, for the time, the place of all municipal
institutions, _and of Slavery among the rest_; and that under
that state of things, so far from its being true that the
States where Slavery exists have the exclusive management of
the subject, _not only the President of the United States, but
the commander of the army, has power to order the Universal
Emancipation of the slaves_.”[164] [_Applause._]
His confidence in this principle was complete. As he uttered it,
he said, addressing the Presiding Officer, “I have no more doubt
of it than that you, Sir, occupy that chair”; and he called upon
Slave-Masters to answer him, if they could, “not by indignation, not
by passion and fury, but by sound and sober reasoning from the Laws
of Nations and the Laws of War.” No attempt to answer him was ever
made; but the wrath of Slavery was poured still more unsparingly upon
the head of the venerable orator. Meanwhile his words have stood as a
towering landmark and beacon-flame.
In the protracted controversy now drawing to a close in blood,
Massachusetts has done much. She, first of all, gave the example of
Universal Freedom within her borders; and ever since that early day she
has taken the leading part against Slavery. It is her children who have
never failed in this cause, where anything was to be done, whether by
word or deed. Massachusetts, for years, has borne the burden of this
discussion, and also the heavier burden of obloquy long resting upon
all who speak for the slave. It is Massachusetts who with patriotic
ardor first leaped to the rescue, when the capital was menaced by
Slavery [_applause_], and by happy coincidence, on the 19th of April,
consecrated herself anew by the blood of her people [_applause_],--thus
being at the same time first to do and first to suffer. [_Immense
applause._] It was also a Massachusetts General who first in this
conflict proclaimed that our camps cannot contain a slave [_vociferous
applause_]; and it was an illustrious Massachusetts statesman who first
unfolded the beneficent principle by virtue of which, constitutionally,
legally, and without excess of any kind, the President, or a Commanding
General, may become more than conqueror, even Liberator. [_Applause and
great sensation._]
Massachusetts will be false to herself, if she fails at this moment.
[_Sensation._] And yet I would not be misunderstood. Feeling most
profoundly that there is an opportunity now for incalculable good,
such as occurs rarely in human annals, seeing clearly that there is
one spot, like the heel of Achilles, where this great Rebellion may be
wounded to death, I calmly deliver the whole question to the judgment
of those on whom the responsibility rests, contenting myself with
reminding you that there are times when _not to act_ carries with it
greater responsibility than _to act_. It is enough for us to review the
unquestioned powers of Government to handle for a moment its mighty
weapons, yet allowed to slumber, without assuming to declare that the
hour has come when they shall flash against the sky.
May a good Providence save our Republic from that everlasting regret
which must ensue, if a great opportunity is lost by which all the
bleeding wounds of war shall be stanched, and prosperity again assured,
while Peace is made immortal in the embrace of Liberty! [_Applause._]
Saul was cursed for not hewing Agag in pieces when this enemy was in
his hands, and Ahab was cursed for not destroying Benhadad. Let no such
curse ever descend upon us!
Anxious as I am, I cannot doubt the result; but I long to make it more
sure and inevitable. Among works of art handed down from Antiquity, and
regarded with greatest wonder, is that unrivalled marble, where Laocoön
with his two sons is sculptured in serpent folds, vainly struggling,
and slowly yielding to terrific death. Poetry also has pictured the
scene. Thus does our country now writhe in the torturing folds of
Slavery, the fearful serpent which came swimming out of the sea and
fastened upon the Republic; but, God be praised! the Republic shall
live, and the serpent be bruised to death.
“So many enemies as slaves!”[165] Unless this ancient proverb has
ceased to be true, there are now four millions of enemies intermingled
with the Rebels, toiling in their fields, digging in their camps,
and sitting at their firesides, constituting four millions of allies
to the National Government. Careful calculation demonstrates, that,
out of this number, more than one million are of an age for military
service,--that in Virginia alone there are 121,564 male slaves of
this important period, in Missouri 21,334, and in Kentucky 51,900.
Can we afford to reject this natural alliance, quickened by a common
interest, and consecrated by humanity? I call the alliance natural. Let
history testify; and here I quote acknowledged authority. In the famous
Peloponnesian War, when Greece suffered as we are suffering now, and
her own people were arrayed under hostile banners, Greek meeting Greek,
slaves often passed over from one side to the other, carrying sometimes
oxen and sheep, and always practical knowledge of the country,--on one
occasion twenty thousand in number, mostly mechanics: all of which is
described by the great historian Thucydides,[166] who records also that
the martial Lacedæmonians, in dread of their Helots, most cruelly took
the lives of two thousand, selected for energy and character.[167]
Thus in other days have slaves played their part, while slave-masters
dwelt in fear. Of this trepidation there are abundant illustrations,
some farcical. From Aristophanes we learn, that, during the same
Peloponnesian War, the Athenians were unwilling to punish their slaves,
lest they should desert. This dramatist, in one of his most famous
comedies, has a character who, after exclaiming that “the slaves snore
as never before,” pours forth his maledictions on the War, because he
can no longer apply to them the wonted castigation.[168] The great
philosopher of Greece accords with the historian and dramatist. Plato
does not hesitate to say that “slaves and masters can never become
friends”;[169] and he tells us how frequent are servile insurrections,
especially in cities where the slaves speak one language, instancing
customary outbreaks of the Messenians, and crowning his statement with
the declaration, prompted by the universal human heart, even without
experience as a slave, which had been his own lot, that “a man is a
difficult possession to hold”:[170] and here our Fugitive Slave Bill
with its terrible conditions, and the fugitive slaves of our country
with their tragedies, are in harmony with this voice from Antiquity.
There is another motive not to be neglected. Without this alliance
insurrection is inevitable, destined to be wild and lawless. This
should be prevented. If Liberty does not descend from the tranquil
heights of power, it will rise in blood, amidst the confusion of
families. And what difference between the two apparitions! One has the
face of an angel, radiant with celestial life; the other the front of
a demon, “shaking from its horrid hair pestilence and war.” [_Great
applause and cheering._] All this was clearly seen by the Emperor of
Russia, when, on the 21st of September, 1858, he called upon his people
to unite with him in Emancipation, “which,” he nobly declared, “ought
to begin _from above_, to the end that it may not come _from below_”;
and now this very year twenty millions of Russian serfs are peacefully
passing from the house of bondage. Cheered by this great example,
forget not that _it began from above_.
There is another practical advantage where the action proceeds
from Government. The interest of loyal citizens can be protected.
Compensation may relieve the hardships of meritorious classes, or of
individual cases; nor can I object. Never should any question of money
be allowed to interfere with human freedom. Better an empty treasury
than a single slave. A Bridge of Gold would be cheap, if demanded by
the retreating Fiend.
Two objects are before us, Union and Peace, each for the sake of the
other, and both for the sake of the country; but without Emancipation
how can we expect either?
* * * * *
Fellow-citizens, I have spoken frankly; for such is always my habit.
Never was there greater need of frankness. Let patriots understand
each other and they cannot differ widely. All will unite in whatever
is required by the sovereign exigencies of self-defence; which means
that all will unite in sustaining the National Government, and driving
back the Rebels. But this cannot be by any half-way measure or lukewarm
policy. There must be no hesitation. Hearken not to the voice of
Slavery, no matter what its tone of persuasion. It is the gigantic
Traitor and Parricide,--not for a moment to be trusted. Believe me,
its friendship is more deadly than its enmity. [_Sensation._] If you
are wise, prudent, economical, conservative, practical, you will
strike quick and hard,--strike, too, where the blow will be most
felt,--strike at the mainspring of the Rebellion. Strike in the name
of the Union, which only in this way can be restored,--in the name of
Peace, which is vain without Union,--and in the name of Liberty also,
sure to bring both Peace and Union in her glorious train.
As Mr. Sumner closed, the hearty approval of the sentiments
of the speech found utterance in the most enthusiastic and
long-continued demonstrations of applause.