I should not read this letter, if I were not entirely satisfied of
the character and intelligence of the writer. It is in the nature of
testimony which the Senate cannot disregard. It points the way to duty.
We must, Sir, follow the suggestions of this patriot Unionist, and
erase the governments under which these outrages are perpetrated. The
writer calls them “sham governments.” They are governments having no
element of vitality. They are disloyal in origin, and they share the
character of the Rebellion itself. We must go forth to meet them, and
the spirit in which they have been organized, precisely as in years
past we went forth to meet the Rebellion. The Rebellion, Sir, has
assumed another form. Our conflict is no longer on the field of battle,
but here in this Chamber, and in the Chamber at the other end of the
Capitol. Our strife is civic, but it should be none the less strenuous.