SPEECH.

FELLOW-CITIZENS,--Called to preside over this Annual Convention, where

are brought together the intelligence, the heart, and the conscience

of Massachusetts, (God bless her!) I begin by asking you to accept my

thanks. Gladly would I leave this post of honor to another; but I obey

your will. In all I have to say I must speak frankly. What has with

me become a habit is at this moment more than ever a duty. Who can

see peril to his country, and not cry out? Who can see that good ship

which carries the Republic and its fortunes driving directly upon a

lee-shore, and not shout to the pilot, “Mind your helm”? Apologies or

roundabout phrases are out of place, whenever danger threatens.

* * * * *

When last I addressed my fellow-citizens, at the close of the late

Presidential canvass, as we were about to vote for Abraham Lincoln

and Andrew Johnson, I undertook to show the absolute identity between

Slavery and the Rebellion, so that one could not end without the other.

Finished that address, I said to friends near me, “This is my last

Antislavery speech.” I so thought at the time; for I anticipated the

speedy downfall of the Rebellion, carrying with it Slavery. I was

mistaken. Neither the Rebellion nor Slavery is yet ended. The Rebellion

has been disarmed; but that is all. Slavery has been abolished in name;

but that is all. As there is still a _quasi_ Rebellion, so is there

still a _quasi_ Slavery. The work of liberation is not yet completed.

Nor can it be, until the Equal Rights of every person once claimed as a

slave are placed under the safeguard of irreversible guaranties. It is

not enough to prostrate the master; you must also lift up the slave. It

is not enough to declare Emancipation; the whole Black Code, which is

the supplement of Slavery, must give place to that Equality before the

Law which is the very essence of Liberty. It is an old principle of the

Common Law, recognized by all our courts, as announced by Lord Coke,

that, “where the law granteth anything to any one, that also is granted

without which the thing itself cannot be.” So, also, where a piece of

land is conveyed which is enclosed by the possessions of the grantor,

_a right of way_ is implied from common justice and the necessity of

the case. And then again, where the reason of a law ceases, the law

itself ceases. So, also, where the principal falls to the ground, the

incident falls also. But all these unquestionable principles are fatal

to the Black Code. The Liberty that has been granted “cannot be,” if

the Black Code exists. The piece of land conveyed is useless without

that right of way which is stopped up by the Black Code. The reason for

the Black Code is Slavery; and with the cessation of the reason, the

whole Black Code itself must cease also. The Black Code is the incident

of Slavery, and as such it must fall with the principal. Unless this

is accomplished, you will keep the word of promise to the ear and

break it to the sense; you will imitate those cruel quibbles, of

which history makes mention, where, by subtle equivocations, faith has

been violated; you will do little better than the Turk, who stipulated

with a certain person that his head should be safe, and straightway

proceeded to cut him in two at the middle,--or than those false Greeks,

who, after promising to restore their captives, kept their promise by

restoring them dead.

Slavery begins by denying the right of a man to himself; and the Black

Code continues this denial by its cruel exclusions. Every freedman

must be secured in this right by admission to the full panoply of

citizenship.

Slavery sets at nought the relation of husband and wife. Every freedman

must be able to claim his wife as his own.

Slavery sets at nought the parental relation. Every freedman must be

able to call his child his own.

Slavery shuts the gates of knowledge. Every freedman must be assured in

all the privileges of education.

Slavery takes from its victim the hard-earned fruits of his toil. Every

freedman must be protected in his industry.

Slavery denies justice to the colored man by cruelly rejecting his

testimony. Every freedman must enter the courts freely, as witness or

as party.

Until all this is done, in every particular, and beyond possibility of

question, it is vain to say that Emancipation has been accomplished.

The good work is only half done. It must be continued to assured

consummation, under the powerful auspices of the Nation. The same

national authority which began it must take care that it is maintained

and completed, in letter and in spirit, everywhere throughout the

Rebel States,--in conventions of the people, in legislative assemblies,

in courts, in the city, in the country, in streets, on highways, on

by-ways, in retired places, on plantations, in houses,--so that no man

shall be despoiled of any of his rights, but all shall be equal before

the law.

* * * * *

There is a glorious instance in our own day, which is an example

for us, when the Emperor of Russia, by proclamation, fulfilling the

aspirations of his predecessors, set free twenty-three millions of

serfs, and then completed his work by _supplementary provisions_

investing the freedmen with civil and political rights, including the

right to testify in court, the right of suffrage, and the right to

hold office. I have in my hand this immortal Proclamation, dated at

St. Petersburg, 19th February, 1861,--promulgated amidst prayers and

thanksgivings in all the churches of the national capital, and at once

expedited to every part of the widely extended empire by the hands of

generals and staff-officers of the Emperor himself. Here it is, in an

official document entitled “Affranchissement des Serfs,” and issued

at St. Petersburg. After reciting that earlier measures in behalf of

the serfs had failed, because they had been left to “the spontaneous

initiative of the proprietors,” the Emperor proceeds to take the work

in hand as a sacred legacy from his ancestors, and declares the serfs,

after an interval of two years, “entirely enfranchised.” Meanwhile,

that nothing might fail, “a special court” for serfs was created in

each province, charged with the organization of local governments, the

adjustment of boundaries, and generally to superintend the transition

from the Old to the New, with “justices of the peace” in each district

to examine on the spot all questions arising from Emancipation. Had the

work stopped here, it would have been incomplete, it would have been

only half done; but no such fatal mistake was made.[241]

Accompanying the Proclamation are supplementary provisions, called

“Regulations,” prepared with care, and divided into chapters and

sections,--occupying no less than ninety-one pages in double columns

and small type,--by which the rights of the freedmen are secured beyond

question. Beginning with the declaration that the freedmen “acquire the

rights belonging to the condition of free farmers,” they then proceed

in formal words to fix and assure these rights, civil and political.

By one section it is provided that “the articles of the Civil Code on

the rights and obligations of the family are extended to the freedmen;

that consequently they acquire the right, without authorization of the

proprietor, to contract marriage, and to make any arrangement whatever

concerning their family affairs; that they can equally enter into all

agreements and obligations authorized by the laws, as well with the

State as with individuals, on the conditions established for free

farmers; that they can inscribe themselves in the guilds, and exercise

their trades in the villages; and they can found and conduct factories

and establishments of commerce.” Another section secures to the

freedmen the right of acquiring and alienating property of all kinds,

according to the general law, and, besides, guaranties, on certain

conditions, “the possession of their homesteads,” with the grounds

appurtenant. An additional section secures them complete _Equality in

the courts_, with “the right of action, whether civilly or criminally,

to commence process, and to answer personally or by attorney, to make

complaint, and to defend their rights by all the means known to the

law, _and to appear as witnesses and as bail, conformably to the common

law_.” Other sections secure to the freedmen _Equality in political

rights_, by providing, that, “on the organization of the towns, they

shall be entitled to take part in the meetings and elections for the

towns, and to vote on town affairs, and to exercise divers functions”;

that they shall also “take part in the assemblies for the district, and

shall vote on district affairs, and choose the chairman,” and generally

enjoy all rights to elect local officers and to be elected in turn. And

still another section authorizes the freedmen “to place their children

in the establishments for public education, to embrace the career of

instruction, or the scientific career, or to take service in the corps

of surveyors.” And it is further provided, that they “cannot lose their

rights, or be restrained in their exercise, except after judgment of

the town, according to fixed rules”; and still further, that they

“cannot be subjected to any punishment, otherwise than by virtue of a

judgment, or according to the legal decision of the town to which they

belong.” Such are the safeguards by which Emancipation in Russia is

completed and assured. Such is the lesson of the great Empire to the

great Republic.

* * * * *

In asking that we shall do likewise, I follow the plain suggestions of

reason, whether we regard the interest of the freedmen or our own.

For justice to the freedmen is now intimately linked with the national

security. Be just, and the Republic will be strong. Be just, and you

will erect a barrier against returning Rebellion. Here Massachusetts

has a duty to perform. Now, as in times past, her place is in the

front. You will not, I trust, be disturbed by criticism, even if it

become invective. Throughout the long conflict with Slavery, and the

earlier conflict with the mother country, Massachusetts has been

accustomed to hard words; and even at a more ancient day, as far back

in colonial history as 1691, we find an ill-tempered critic, with a

strange jumble of metaphors, crying out against our fathers: “All the

frame of heaven moves upon one axis; and the whole of New England

interests seem designed to be loaden on one bottom, and her particular

motions to be concentric to the Massachusetts tropic. You know who are

wont to trot after the Bay horse.”[242] If others trot after the Bay

horse, it is simply because Massachusetts means always to keep on the

right road, and by unerring instinct knows the way. Error proceeds

oftener from ignorance than from malice. Obviously, at this moment, the

great difficulty is that people do not see clearly what ought to be

done.

* * * * *

Fellow-citizens, as peace seems about to smile on our country,

convulsed by most cruel and costly war, there is one simple duty on

which all can unite, when it is understood. It is the duty expressed

in at least one part of the familiar saying, “Indemnity for the past

and _security for the future_.” Indemnity, alas! we can never have. Who

can repay the millions of lost treasure? Who can repair the shattered

and mutilated forms returned from the terrible battle with Slavery?

Who can recall the dead? Indemnity we renounce. There are no scales on

earth in which it can be weighed. There are no possible accumulations

of wealth that would not be exhausted before its first instalment

was counted out. But no such difficulty can occur in adjusting

security for the future. And the very vastness of our sacrifice is

an irresistible reason why this should be fixed beyond question, so

that the appalling judgment shall not visit us again. Indemnity we

renounce; _but security we will have_. This is the one thing needful.

This is the charity embracing all other charities. This is the pivot

of the national Hereafter. This is at once corner-stone and key-stone

of that reconstructed Union to which we look for tranquil peace and

reconciliation. There are none so high, and there are none so low, as

not to be concerned in obtaining this security; for without it all that

we hold most dear will be in jeopardy. Without security, agriculture

and commerce must languish and die; without security, the whole country

must be impoverished in resources, while the rich become poor and the

poor become poorer; without security, rights of property and rights of

person will lose their value; and without security, the Union, justice,

domestic tranquillity, the common defence, the general welfare, and

the blessings of Liberty, for which the Constitution was ordained and

established, must all fail. What is government, or country, or home, or

life itself, without security?

There is another object, kindred to security, or, perhaps, embraced

in security,--and that is the _national faith_. This, too, must be

placed beyond cavil, or even suspicion. No nation can be powerful

enough to disregard this sacred bond. Character, fame, and prosperity

itself are all dependent on its observance. But the national faith

is solemnly engaged, first, to the national freedman, and, secondly,

to the national creditor. No undertaking can be more complete and

inviolable, because it constituted the consideration for those services

and supplies by which the life of the Republic has been preserved. The

national faith is pledged to the national freedman, not only by the act

of Emancipation, which, in its very essence, and from the nature of

the case, is a “warranty of title,” but also by the plain and positive

promises of the Proclamation, that they “_are and henceforward shall

be free_, and that the Executive Government of the United States,

including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize

and _maintain the freedom of said persons_.” Words could not be more

binding, and the history of their introduction testifies to their

significance and efficacy. They were not in the original draught by

President Lincoln, but were inserted, at the suggestion of Mr. Seward,

when the Proclamation was read to the Cabinet; and there they stand

without limitation of place or time, binding this Republic in its

national character, through its Executive, including the military and

naval authority, not only to recognize, but to _maintain_, the freedom

of the emancipated slave; and this is to be done, not in any special

locality, but everywhere,--and not for a day or a year, but for all

time. Our obligation to the national creditors is of the same validity,

approved by successive Acts of Congress, ratified by the popular will,

and fixed beyond recall by the actual enjoyment of those precious

fruits for which the debt was incurred. Repudiation of our bonds,

whether to the national creditor or to the national freedman, would be

a shame and a crime; and the national faith is irrevocably plighted to

the two alike. Here is the Proclamation, and here is a Treasury Note.

[_Here Mr. Sumner held up an official copy of the Proclamation, and

also a Treasury Note._] Look at the signature, and look at the terms.

The former is signed by the President himself, Abraham Lincoln; the

latter is signed by an unknown clerk, whose name I cannot decipher.

The former is stronger and more positive in terms than the latter. The

Treasury Note simply says: “It is hereby certified that the United

States are indebted unto ____ or bearer in the sum of $100, redeemable”

after a certain date, and that “this debt is authorized by Act of

Congress.” The binding terms of the Proclamation, which I have read,

are solemnly enforced by that memorable invocation at the close: “And

upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice warranted

by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate

judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.” Thus

religion comes to confirm the pledge with sanctions of its own. That

pledge is as enduring as the Republic.

Such are the supreme objects now at heart: the National Security and

the National Faith, or the two absorbed into one,--_Security for the

Future_.

And here allow me to present an illustration, which, unless I mistake,

will make our duty clear. You all remember the immense and costly dikes

built by Holland against the sea; but perhaps you may not recall their

origin and importance. Before these embankments the whole country was

in constant danger. At an early period an irruption swallowed up no

less than forty-four villages, followed very soon by another, which

destroyed eighty thousand lives. In the fifteenth century still another

swept away one hundred thousand persons,--a terrible sacrifice, even

greater in proportion to the population of Holland at that time than

we have been called to bear from the bloody irruption of Slavery.

At last dikes were constructed as safeguards, and down to this day

they are preserved at large annual cost. Precautions of all kinds

are superadded. A special corps of engineers, educated at Delft, is

constantly employed in the work of renovation. Watchmen patrol the

walls, and alarm-bells are ready to ring. The gratitude of the people

is manifest even to unconscious protectors; and the stork, resting

here on his flight from Africa, is held in veneration for his precious

service in destroying the vermin that weaken and sap the dikes; so that

to kill a stork is little less than crime. Such are defences by which

Holland is guarded against dangers from the sea. But how petty is her

peril, compared with ours! We, too, must have our dikes, with engineers

to keep them strong, with watchmen to patrol, with alarm-bells to ring;

and we, too, must have our storks to destroy the vermin that weaken and

sap our embankments.

What shall be our defences? How shall we guard against destructive

irruptions? And where shall we establish our security for the future?

Our embankments cannot be of earth. Walls of stone will not do. Towers,

ramparts, and buttresses are impotent against our vindictive tide.

The security we seek must be found in _irreversible guaranties,

coëxtensive with the danger_.

* * * * *

It becomes us, then, to consider carefully the elements of

danger,--bearing in mind always that a danger clearly foreseen will not

happen, unless prudence has ceased to prevail. These may be considered

in general and in detail. They may be considered in certain general

influences, applicable to all our relations with the Rebellion, or in

certain specific points, obviously requiring specific guaranties.

If we look at the Rebel States generally, there is little to inspire

trust. They rose against a paternal government simply for the sake of

Slavery, planting themselves upon two postulates furnished by John C.

Calhoun,--first, State Rights, and, secondly, the alleged falsehood

of our fathers, when, at the birth of our nation, they declared that

all men are born equal. Since that early war when Satan “in proud

rebellious arms drew after him the third part of heaven’s sons,”

nothing so utterly wicked has occurred. And the spirit of Satan entered

into the Rebellion, and continued with it to the end. It was present on

the battle-field; it was present in the treatment of Union prisoners;

it was present in the piracies of the ocean. I know not that these

devils have yet been cast out. I know not that any swine into which

they entered have rushed headlong into the sea. But I do know, that,

according to concurring and unimpeachable testimony from all quarters

of the Rebel States, from North Carolina to Texas, there is one sullen,

defiant voice, which, in the very words of Satan, when driven from the

skies, thus speaks:--

“What though the field be lost?

All is not lost: the unconquerable will,

And study of revenge, immortal hate,

And courage never to submit or yield.

…

Since, through experience of this great event,

In arms not worse, in foresight much advanced,

We may with more successful hope resolve

To wage by force _or guile_ eternal war,

Irreconcilable to our grand foe.”

Such is their spirit. Grounding arms, they now resort to other means.

Cunning takes the place of war. As they precipitated themselves out

of the Union, they now seek to precipitate themselves back. A “wooden

horse” is constructed, which is stuffed with hidden foes, and thus they

seek to enter Troy. Already the rattle of arms is heard, and ominous

voices, as the treacherous engine is advanced; but, beyond these

sounds, there is the record of the past and the present. Who does not

know that the South is full of spirits who have sworn undying hatred,

not only to the Union, but to reason itself, and whose policy is a

perpetual conspiracy against the principles of our Government? Painful

proofs come to demonstrate the prevailing frenzy. The freedmen are

trodden down, and the land is filled with tragedies. History stands

aghast at the Massacre of Glencoe in a retired Scotch valley, and

our sympathies overflow at the murder of a solitary traveller by the

merciless Indian; but these scenes are now repeated. The barbarism of

Slavery rages still. The lash and the bloodhound are at large. Life

is of little value, if it beats under a colored skin. Citizens in the

national uniform are insulted, mutilated, murdered,--especially if in

command of colored troops. And these criminals, besmeared with patriot

blood, and boiling with concentrated rage, now strive to envelop

themselves in the immunities of State Independence, with two special

objects: first, that they may deal with the freedman as they please,

without check from the national authority; and, secondly, that they

may send a solid representation of more than eighty votes, pledged to

Southern pretensions, which, in combination with treacherous votes from

the North, may reassert that ancient monopoly and masterdom under which

the country suffered so long,--

“and once more

Erect the standard there of ancient Night.”

Reading the proceedings of the Convention in Mississippi, we seem again

to hear the ancient voice,--

“To claim our just inheritance of old,

Whether by open war or _covert guile_,

We now debate.”

One of their orators said plainly, that “he was opposed to fighting

the General Government, or anybody else,--_that he was ready to submit

to its wishes, as he would to a highway robber whose power he was not

able to resist_.” Another, less frank, thought it policy to accept

the present condition of affairs, until the control of the State is

restored into the hands of its people, and “to submit _for a time_ to

evils which cannot be remedied.” And still another, much more wily,

when urging seeming acceptance of the Union, thus lured his brother

conspirators: “_If we act wisely, we shall be joined by what is called

the Copperhead party_, and even by many of the Black Republicans.”

Such is the plot, and such the disastrous alliance foreshadowed. But,

thank God, in encouraging his comrades, the conspirator has warned us.

Forewarned, forearmed.

From all quarters comes the warning, “Trust not their presents,

nor admit the horse!” The voice of the Grecian Sinon was not more

treacherous. The testimony is concurring. Military officers returning

from the South, public functionaries, intelligent travellers, loyal

residents, each and all speak with one voice. By conversation and by

letter I have gathered the proofs, which are complete. Persons who

have had peculiar opportunities unite in report that the rebel spirit

still prevails, that the treatment of the freedmen is beastly, and that

the national debt is denounced. Two eminent gentlemen, whose official

positions have made them familiar with public opinion in two different

States, have expressed to me the conviction that there is not a single

ex-Rebel who would vote to pay the interest on the national debt. A

trustworthy traveller, who has just visited Louisiana, Mississippi, and

Alabama, with which he was already familiar, writes me: “The former

masters exhibit a most cruel, remorseless, and vindictive spirit

towards the colored people. In parts where there are no Union soldiers,

I saw colored women treated in the most outrageous manner. They have

no rights that are respected. They are killed, and their bodies thrown

into ponds or mud-holes. They are mutilated by having ears and noses

cut off.” A loyalist from Texas declares: “What we of the South fear

is that President Johnson’s course will, by its _precipitancy_, enable

the old set to reorganize themselves into place and power. For Heaven’s

sake preserve us, if you can, from this calamity.” A loyal resident of

North Carolina breaks forth: “I tell you, Sir, the only difference now

and one year ago is that the flag is acknowledged as supreme, and there

is some fear manifested, and they have no arms. The sentiment is the

same. If anything otherwise, more hatred exists towards the Government.

I know there is more towards Union men, both black and white.” It is

natural that such a people should already talk of repudiating the

national debt. Here is a bit on this vital point. A young man in gray

was asked: “Would it be safe to trust white men at the South with the

power to repudiate the national debt?” To which he replied at once:

“Repudiate? I should hope they would! I’m whipped, and I’ll own it; but

I’m not so fond of a whipping that I’m going to pay a man’s expenses

while he gives it to me. Of course, there are not ten men in the whole

South that wouldn’t repudiate!” Thus spoke the Rebel uniform. But here

are the grave words of a candidate for Congress in Virginia, in his

address to the people:--

“I am opposed to the Southern States being taxed at all for

the redemption of this debt, either directly or indirectly;

and if elected to Congress, I will oppose all such measures,

and I will vote to repeal all laws that have heretofore been

passed for that purpose; and in doing so, I do not consider

that I violate any obligations to which the South was a party.

We have never plighted our faith for the redemption of the war

debt. The people will be borne down with taxes for years to

come, even if the war debt is repudiated. It will be the duty

of the Government to support the maimed and disabled soldiers,

and this will be a great expense; and if the United States

Government requires the South to be taxed for the support of

Union soldiers, we should insist that all disabled soldiers

should be maintained by the United States Government, without

regard to the side they had taken in the war.”

Again I say, Forewarned, forearmed. Surely there can be no limits to

our resistance, when such spirits are seeking to capture the National

Government; but beyond that general resistance, which must make us

postpone the day of surrender, and invoke the protection of Congress,

we must insist upon _special guaranties_ in the organic law.

* * * * *

1. As the Rebellion began with the pretension that a State might

withdraw from the Union, it is plain that the _Unity of the Republic_

must be affirmed,--not indirectly, but directly,--not, as in

Mississippi, by simply declaring the late Act of Secession null and

void, but as in Missouri, where the relations of the State to the

Union are thus frankly stated: “That this State shall ever remain a

member of the American Union; _that the people thereof are a part of

the American Nation_; that every citizen owes paramount allegiance to

the Constitution and Government of the United States; and that no law

or ordinance of this State in contravention or subversion thereof can

have any binding force.” In contrast with this plain renunciation, the

proceedings of Mississippi have no more significance than the vulgar

saying, “Big as a piece of chalk.” As security for the future, they

are nothing, absolutely nothing. And permit me to say, that the whole

Convention, so far as we have been informed, was little better than a

Rebel conspiracy to obtain political power.

* * * * *

2. As the Rebellion was waged in denial of the _Equal Rights_ of

the colored race, it is essential not only that Slavery should be

renounced, but also that all men should be hailed as equal before

the law; and this enfranchisement must be both civil and political.

Unless this is done, the condition of the freedman will be deplorable.

Exposed to every brutality, he will not be heard as a witness against

his oppressor. Compelled to pay taxes, he will be excluded from all

representation in the government. Without this security, Emancipation

is illusory. It is a jack-o’-lantern, which the poor slave will pursue

in vain. Even if Slavery cease to exist, it will give place to a

condition hardly less galling. There will be serfdom, apprenticeship,

peonage, or some other device of Slavery. According to the poet, there

are different “circles” in Hell, each with its own terrible torments;

and the unhappy African will only escape from one of these into

another. And all this will be beyond correction or remedy, if not at

the outset guarded against by organic law.

* * * * *

3. As the _national debt_ was incurred for the suppression of the

Rebellion, this, too, must be fixed beyond repeal. Unless this is

done, it is evident, from reason as well as from testimony, that the

representatives of the Rebel States will coalesce with others for

its repudiation. Mississippi, which leads in the present effort to

capture the national capital, is the original author of repudiation.

Out of the legislative halls of this State the monster sprang. There

was its birth. It will be simply true to its past history, as well as

to its present animosities, when this State leads in the repudiation

of the national debt. Nothing short of madness will allow any such

opportunity. No Rebel State should be readmitted, unless bound

irrevocably to the support of the national debt and the payment of the

interest.

* * * * *

4. The _assumption of the Rebel debt_ must be positively forbidden.

Already ex-Rebels insist upon its payment. Such voices come from

Mississippi and Virginia. Ex-Rebel newspapers, whose editors have taken

the oath of allegiance, uphold this debt. But Congress has already

led the way in denouncing it. For a State to assume this criminal

obligation would be oppressive to the people, and especially to the

freedmen. It would be a drain upon the resources of the State. It

would be an insult to the whole country. This debt, whether at home or

abroad, has been incurred for the support of the Rebellion, and must be

treated accordingly. It is part of the crime. Here, too, there must be

a guaranty.

* * * * *

5. As the _national peace and tranquillity_ depend essentially upon the

overthrow of monopoly and tyranny, here is another occasion for special

guaranty against the whole pretension of color. No Rebel State can

be readmitted with this controversy still raging, and ready to break

forth. So long as it continues, the land will be barren. Agriculture

and business of all kinds will be uncertain, and the country will be

handed over to a fearful struggle, with the terrors of San Domingo to

darken the prospect. In shutting out the freedman from his equal rights

at the ballot-box, you open the doors of discontent and insurrection.

Cavaignac, the patriotic President of the French Republic, met the

present case, when, speaking for France, he said: “I do not believe

repose possible, either in the present or the future, except so far

as you found your political condition on universal suffrage, loyally,

sincerely, completely accepted and observed.”[243] It is _impartial

suffrage_ that I claim, without distinction of color, so that there

shall be one equal rule for all men. And this, too, must be placed

under the safeguard of Constitutional Law.

* * * * *

6. As the _education of the people_ is essential to the national

welfare, and especially to the development of those principles of

justice and morality which constitute the only sure foundation of a

Republican Government, and as, according to the census, an immense

proportion of the people of the Rebel States, without distinction of

color, cannot read and write, it is obvious that public schools must

be established for the equal good of all. The example of Massachusetts

must be followed, which, after declaring in its Constitution that

“wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the

body of the people, are necessary for the preservation of their rights

and liberties,” proceeds to direct the Legislature and magistrates, in

all future periods, “to cherish the interests of literature and the

sciences,” and especially “public schools and grammar schools in the

towns.” All this must enter into our work of reconstruction, and become

one of our guaranties.

* * * * *

Such are six capital subjects of special guaranty: the unity of the

Republic; the national obligations to the national freedmen; the

national obligations to the national creditors; the rejection of the

Rebel debt; the establishment of national peace and tranquillity, so

that it cannot be disturbed by any monopoly and tyranny founded on

color; and, lastly, the education of the people. All these are too

important, too transcendent, too essential to the national safety, to

be left the prey or sport of Rebel passions; nor can they be abandoned

to any vague promise or inference of any kind. They must be fixed in

characters clear as the sky and firm as the earth. Not to require

this protection is unpardonable weakness. “If Philip dies,” said the

Athenian orator, “you will soon raise another Philip; since it is not

so much by his own power as by your carelessness that he grew to such

greatness.” And so do I say now, even if the Rebellion is dead, you

will soon raise another, unless you learn to be wise. Believe me, that

man is dangerous who does not see danger in this Rebel Oligarchy, now

conspiring to hoist itself into power.

* * * * *

Therefore I lay down one undeniable, essential principle,--that these

guaranties must be established; and I appeal to my fellow-citizens

throughout the country to insist upon them. As they concern the

National Security and the National Faith, it is clear that they should

be established by the Nation. The object is national. The power to

establish them is national also. It is part of that great instinctive

right of _self-defence_, common to nations and to men, which has no

limits, except in the benign constraints of a Christian civilization.

It is a right not only from the Constitution of the United States, but

also from the constitution of civil society itself. There is no nation

without it. In the weakest it is as manifest as in the mightiest. Never

before was the occasion for its exercise plainer. And who shall say

that the nation may defend itself on the murderous battle-field, and

may not, when the battle has been won, require that “Security for the

Future” which is the declared object of war?

Do you ask where in the Constitution this unquestionable power is

found? I answer, in the same clause where you find the power to raise

armies, and hurl them upon the Rebel enemy,--in the same clause where

you find the power to erect fortifications, bastions, and bulwarks for

the national defence,--in the same clause where you find the power to

incur the national debt for the national defence,--and also in the same

clause where President Lincoln found the power to emancipate the slave.

It is a national power for the protection of the nation, and it may be

exercised to any extent needed. It is idle to say that the war is over,

and therefore the power is suspended. In one sense the war is over, and

in another it is not. Battles have ceased; but Security for the Future

is not yet obtained, and this security is found only in irreversible

guaranties.

This national power is still in full operation, and as completely

constitutional as the power to raise armies. It assumes for the present

purpose two forms: first, the power to hold military possession of

the Rebel States, so long as required for security,--whether months

or years; and, secondly, the power to affix the terms of peace and

restoration. As it is idle to say that the war is over, so it is

equally idle to say that this power, in either of its forms, is limited

by the Constitution. This same mistake was made by James Buchanan,

when, at the beginning of the Rebellion, he weakly declared, that,

under the Constitution, he could not “coerce a State,” and his Cabinet

assented. God forbid that now, at another moment not less critical,

the same pretension should triumph again. Of course all patriots

see now how the golden opportunity was lost at first. May no such

golden opportunity be lost again! Nobody doubts now that a State in

rebellion may be “coerced.” Nobody doubts now that the victories of

Grant, the march of Sherman, and the charge of Sheridan were strictly

constitutional. But this “coercion” must endure just so long as may be

needed to obtain Security for the Future,--it may be for months, or it

may be for years. There is no argument for it at the beginning which

is not equally strong for it now. There is nothing in the Constitution

against it. Everything in the Constitution is for it. The rules or

limitations which the Constitution may establish for a condition of

peace are entirely inapplicable to a condition of rebellion in any

of its stages, whether at beginning, middle, or end. Whatever is

needed for the suppression of the Rebellion and the establishment of

safeguards against its recurrence is constitutional. It is failure to

exercise this power that is unconstitutional.

But beyond this ample, are two other powers in the Constitution, under

which all needful guaranties can be secured. The first is that vast

untried power springing from the injunction that “the United States

shall guaranty to every State in this Union a republican form of

government.” This power, long dormant, sprang into activity with the

Acts of Secession. Loyal government being overthrown _in fact_, so that

the whole region was like “a clean slate,” it became the duty of the

national authority to set up loyal governments, and at the same time to

see that they were republican in form,--which must mean at least that

they are governments of the majority, and not of the minority; and I

think I cannot err, if I add, that, according to fundamental principles

of the Declaration of Independence, they must be founded on the equal

rights of all men and “the consent of the governed.” It is very clear

that in this clause of guaranty there is an inexhaustible power, by

virtue of which the national authority can not only exact all needful

guaranties, but can mould these rebel communities according to the

model of a Christian Commonwealth.

There is still another source of power under the Constitution; and

this is according to the analogies of the Territories. Since all loyal

government has ceased to exist, the whole region, in all its divisions

and subdivisions, has, _from the necessity of the case_, lapsed under

the national jurisdiction, which is as complete for all practical

purposes as that same jurisdiction over the District of Columbia.

I do not stop to dwell on these sources of power. Elsewhere I have

vindicated them; and I have never been answered, except by the phrase

that a State cannot go out of the Union: as if, in presence of _the

fact of rebellion_, this was anything more than a phrase. It is

indisputable, that, _in fact_, the Rebel States have ceased to be, as

President Lincoln expressed it, in “proper practical relation with

the Union,” and, still further, that they have long been without any

government we can recognize. Surely this is enough to open the door for

the national authority. When loyal government ceased, the jurisdiction

of the National Government began, whether military or civil; and

this jurisdiction still continues, complete in all respects, without

hindrance or limitation from the Constitution.

Thus, out of three inexhaustible fountains may the National Government

derive its authority: first, from the war powers, which do not expire

except with the establishment of Security for the Future; secondly,

from the injunction to guaranty a republican form of government, which

is at once a power and a duty; and, thirdly, from the necessity of the

case, as with outlying Territories, which have no other government.

Under each and all of these the guaranties can be obtained.

* * * * *

In obtaining the needed guaranties there are certain practical points

which cannot be disregarded. Knowing what we need, and satisfied

concerning the powers of the National Government, the path is easy.

As there are ways to obtain guaranties, so also there are ways not to

obtain them.

And, first, of ways not to obtain them.

1. Irreversible guaranties cannot be obtained by _haste_. No State

must be precipitated back into the Union. Precipitation back will be

hardly less fatal than that original precipitation which plunged the

country into the abyss of war. When a State is readmitted, it becomes

practically independent. Therefore prudence, care, and watchfulness are

needed to see that the national interests are not imperilled by any

sudden transformation.

2. Irreversible guaranties cannot be obtained merely by _Executive

action_. Something more is needed. No President can truly say, “The

State--it is I.” He is only part of the State; and on this account

there is a new motive to reserve. What he does is subject to the

correction of Congress, and therefore cannot be final. But it is

difficult to see under what authority the President can appoint

officers not known to the Constitution or laws, as is the case

with Provisional Governors. The Act of Congress authorizing their

appointment failed to become a law; so that no such office is

“established by law,” according to the requirement of the Constitution.

3. Irreversible guaranties cannot be obtained by _yielding to the

prejudice of color_, and _insisting upon a separation of the races_. A

voice from the West--God save the West!--revives the exploded theory

of Colonization, perhaps to divert attention from the great question

of Equal Rights. To that voice I reply, first, You ought not to do

it, and, secondly, You cannot do it. You ought not to do it, because,

besides its intrinsic and fatal injustice, you will deprive the country

of what it most needs, which is labor. Those freedmen on the spot are

better even than mineral wealth. Each is a mine, out of whom riches

can be drawn, provided you let him share the product. And through

him that general industry will be established which is better than

anything but virtue, and is, indeed, a form of virtue. It is vain to

say that this is the country of the “white man.” It is the country of

Man. Whoever disowns any member of the Human Family as Brother disowns

God as Father, and thus becomes impious as well as inhuman. It is the

glory of republican institutions that they give practical form to this

irresistible principle. If anybody is to be sent away, let it be the

guilty, and not the innocent. Expatriation of leading Rebels will be

a public good. As long as they continue here, they will resist the

establishment of guaranties; but it is little short of madness to think

of exiling loyal persons, whose strong arms are needed, not only for

the cultivation of the soil, but also for protection of the Government

itself.

4. Irreversible guaranties cannot be obtained by _oaths_. All oaths

are uncertain. It has been said, “The strongest oaths are straw.”

Political oaths have become a proverb, whether in England or France.

They have been taken freely, and have been broken without hesitation.

The Milanese, in reply to the Emperor Barbarossa, said, “You had our

oath, but we never swore to keep it.” Our Rebels are openly taught the

same duplicity. They have been told authoritatively, that the oath

was unconstitutional, and therefore not binding; and so they take it

easily. But who can find a guaranty in such a performance? A Swedish

priest lately poisoned the sacramental wine; and so these counsellors

have poisoned this sacred obligation. But if an oath be taken, it must

not stop with support of the Proclamation of Emancipation. It must

embrace all those other objects of guaranty, including especially

the national freedman and the national creditor. Each of these will

be a test of loyalty. But at a moment like the present, at the close

of a ferocious rebellion, when hatred and passion are only pent up

and not extinguished, an oath is little better than a cotton thread

to hold a frigate scourged by a northwester. The Hollanders might as

well undertake to swear each individual wave that beats upon their

coast. They did better. They made dikes. “Gone to swear a peace,” says

Constance, most scornfully, as she denounced an oath of pretended

reconciliation. And shall we be content when our Rebels merely “swear a

peace”?

5. Irreversible guaranties cannot be obtained by _pardons_. It is

enough to state the proposition; for all must see at once that rights

will be very uncertain, if with no protection except the gratitude

of a pardoned Rebel. A jail-delivery is not a guaranty. Such a

breakwater would be impotent against the malignant sea. Without

accepting absolutely the dogma of Cardinal Mazarin, that human beings

are governed more through hope than gratitude, it is clear, that,

until security is won, we cannot afford to part with any influence or

agency through which control may be established. Mercy is a beautiful

prerogative, exercised always with inexpressible delight; but on this

account we must guard against its fascination, and not, in the generous

luxury, imperil a whole community. This is very clear. A pardon is

in form an act of grace, but in reality a letter of license. This is

all. It leaves the criminal free to renew his crime, whether by force

or guile. It has in it no single point of security. As well defend a

citadel by kisses or by flowers.

* * * * *

Such are some of the modes to be rejected. And now, in the second

place, consider the ways in which guaranties may be obtained.

1. _Time is necessary._ There must be no precipitation. Time is the

gentlest, but most powerful revolutionist. Time is the surest reformer.

Time is peacemaker. Time is necessary to growth, and it is an element

of change. For thirty years and more this wickedness was maturing. Who

can say that the same time will not be needed to mature the conditions

of permanent peace? Who can say that a generation must not elapse

before these Rebel communities have been so far changed as to become

safe associates in a common government? Plainly, this cannot be wrought

at once. Wellington exclaimed at Waterloo, “Would that night or Blücher

were come!” Time alone was substitute for a powerful ally. It was

more through time than battle that La Vendée was changed to loyalty.

Time, therefore, we must have. Through time all other guaranties may be

obtained; but time itself is a guaranty.

2. _Meanwhile follow Congress in the present exclusion of Rebels from

political power._ They must not be voted for, and they must not vote.

On this principle I take my stand. Let them buy and sell; let them

till the ground; and may they be industrious and successful. These

things they may do; but they must not be admitted at once into the

copartnership of our Government. As well might the respectable banker

reïnstate his son at once in the firm he has betrayed, and invest him

again with all the powers of a partner. The father received his son

with parental affection, and forgave him; but he did not invite the

criminal to resume his former desk in Wall Street. And yet the son, who

had robbed and forged on an unprecedented scale, is as worthy of trust

in the old banking-house as one of our Rebels in the government of the

country. A long probation will be needed before either can be admitted

to former fellowship. The state of outlawry is the present condition of

each, and this condition must not be hastily relaxed.

Congress has already set the example by excluding from “any office of

honor or profit under the Government of the United States,” and also

by excluding, as attorney or counsellor, from any court of the United

States, every person who has voluntarily given “aid, countenance,

counsel, or encouragement” to the Rebellion, or who has “sought or

accepted any office whatever” under it, or who has yielded to it any

“voluntary support.” By this and the supplementary Act,[244] all Rebels

are debarred from holding office under the United States, or from

practising in the courts of the United States. This exclusion, thus

sanctioned by Congress, must be the pole-star of our national policy.

If Rebels cannot be officers under our Government, they ought not to be

voters. They should be politically disfranchised, purely and simply as

a measure of necessary precaution, and in order to prepare the way for

those guaranties which we seek. “Vipers cannot use their venom in the

cold.” These are words of political wisdom, as of scientific truth; and

a great Italian writer did not hesitate to inculcate from them the same

lesson that I do now.

3. Surely, recent Rebels, who led in secession, and held office under

the Rebellion, are poor professors to rally these communities to

the support of the national freedman and the national creditor, and

generally to the establishment of the guaranties essential to safety.

Reason and experience warn us to postpone trust in such persons.

Overcome in battle, they wrap themselves in a mantle of loyalty, tied

by an oath, as

“they who, to be sure of Paradise,

Dying, put on the weeds of Dominic,

Or in Franciscan think to pass disguised.”

But character is not changed in a day; and that “Southern heart,”

which was “fired” against the Union, still preserves its vindictive

violence. Even if for a moment controlled, who can tell how long it

will continue in this mood? There is an ancient well-known fable, where

a cat was transformed into a beautiful woman; but, on the night of her

marriage, hearing the sound of a mouse, she sprang from bed with all

her original feline nature. And so a Rebel, transformed by political

necromancy into a loyalist, will suddenly start in full cry to run

down a national freedman or national creditor. So strong is nature.

Horace tells us, “Drive it out with a pitchfork, and it will return.”

Therefore do I insist, put not political trust in the man who has

been engaged in warring upon his country. I ask not his punishment.

I would not be harsh. There is nothing humane that I would reject.

Nothing in hate. Nothing in vengeance. Nothing in passion. I am for

gentleness. I am for a velvet glove; but for a while I wish the hand

of iron. I confess that I have little sympathy with those hypocrites

of magnanimity whose appeal for the Rebel master is only a barbarous

indifference towards the slave; and yet they cannot more than I desire

the day of reconciliation. To this end I am with them, _so far as is

consistent with safety_; but I cannot see my country sacrificed to a

false idea. Pardon, if you will. Nobody shall outdo me in clemency. But

do not trust the Rebel politically. The words of Shakespeare are not

too strong to picture the danger of such attempt:--

“Thou may’st hold a serpent by the tongue,

A chafèd lion by the mortal paw,

A fasting tiger safer by the tooth,

Than keep in peace that hand which thou dost hold.”

4. In obtaining guaranties we must rely upon acts rather than

professions, and light our footsteps by “the lamp of experience.”

Therefore we turn from recent rebels to _constant loyalists_. This

is only ordinary prudence. As those who fought against us should be

for the present disfranchised, so those who fought for us should be

at once enfranchised, and thus a renovated state will be built secure

on an unfaltering and natural loyalty. For a while the freedman will

take the place of the master, verifying the saying that the last shall

be first and the first shall be last. In the pious books of the East

it is declared that the greatest mortification at the Day of Judgment

will be when the faithful slave is carried to Paradise and the wicked

master is sent to Hell; and this same reversal of conditions appears

in the Gospel, where Dives is exhibited as suffering the pains of

damnation while the beggar of other days is sheltered in Abraham’s

bosom. Therefore, in organizing this change, we follow divine justice.

Surely nobody can doubt that Robert Small, the heroic slave who carried

a Rebel steamer to our fleet and then became our pilot, deserves more

of the Republic than a South Carolina official occupied at that very

time as commissioner to regulate impressments in the Rebel army. To

accept the latter and to reject the former will be not only the height

of injustice, but the height of meanness. It will be a deed “to make

heaven weep, all earth amazed.”

5. Still further, in obtaining guaranties we must _look confidently to

Congress_, which has plenary powers over the whole subject. Congress

can do everything needful. It has already begun by excluding Rebels

from office. It must continue its jurisdiction; whether through the

war powers, or the duty to guaranty a republican form of government,

or the necessity of the case, as in Territories, is a matter of little

importance. It is of less importance under which of its powers this

is done than that it is done. Continuing its jurisdiction, Congress

must supervise and fix the conditions of order, so that the National

Security and National Faith shall not suffer. Here is a sacred

obligation which cannot be postponed.

6. All these guaranties should be completed and crowned by _an

Amendment of the Constitution of the United States_, especially

providing that hereafter there shall be no denial of the electoral

franchise or any exclusion of any kind on account of race or color,

but all persons shall be equal before the law. At this moment, under a

just interpretation of the Constitution, three fourths of the States

actually coöperating in the National Government are sufficient for this

change. The words of the Constitution are, that Amendments shall be

valid to all intents and purposes, “when ratified by the Legislatures

of three fourths of the several States,” or, according to practical

sense, _by three fourths of the States that have Legislatures_. If a

State has no Legislature, it cannot be counted in determining this

quorum, as it is not counted in determining the quorum of either House

of Congress, where precisely the same question occurs. Any other

interpretation recognizes the Rebellion, and plays into its hands, by

conceding its power, through rebellious contrivance, to prevent an

Amendment of the Constitution essential to the general welfare.

* * * * *

Such are practical points to be observed in obtaining the much needed

guaranties. Congress will soon be in session; and to its courageous

conduct, in the exercise of unquestionable powers, we all look with

hope and trust. Meanwhile the President, as commander-in-chief, has

large military powers, which may be exercised without control until

the meeting of Congress. To him I now appeal. Speaking from this

platform, surrounded by this concourse of his friends, and giving

voice to the sentiments of my heart, in harmony with the sentiments of

Massachusetts, I cannot fail in respect or honor, while I address him

with that plainness which belongs to republican institutions:--

Sir, your power is vast. A word from you may make an epoch. It may

advance at once the cause of Universal Civilization, or quicken anew

the Satanic energies of a fearful barbarism. It may give assurance

of security and reconciliation for the future, or it may scatter

uncertainty and distrust, while it postpones that _Truce of God_

which is the longing of our hearts. As your power is vast, so is your

responsibility. Act, we entreat you, so that our country may have

no fresh sorrow. Do not hazard Emancipation, which is the day-star

of our age, and the special jewel in the crown of your martyred

predecessor, by any concession to its enemies. Do not put in jeopardy

all that we hold most dear, by untimely attempt to bring back into

the national copartnership any of those ancient associates who have

warred upon their country. Let them wait. You have said that treason

is “crime,” and not merely difference of opinion. Do not let the

criminals bear sway. The patriot dead cry out against such surrender,

and all their wounds bleed afresh. Congress has set the example, by

declaring that no person engaged in the Rebellion shall hold office.

For the present, follow Congress. Follow the Constitution also, which

knows no distinction of color, and do not sacrifice a whole race by

resuscitating an offensive Black Code, inconsistent with the National

Security and the National Faith. There also is the Declaration of

Independence, which now shines like the sun in the heavens, rejoicing

to penetrate every by-way and every cabin, if you will not stand in

its light. Let it shine, until the Republic has completely dispelled

that disgusting pretension which is at once a stupendous monopoly and

an impious caste. Above all, do not take from the loyal black man and

give to the disloyal white man; do not confiscate the political rights

of the freedman, who has shed his blood for us, and lavish them upon

his Rebel master. And remember that justice to the colored race is the

sheet-anchor of the national credit.

Speaking always with the same frankness, I ask leave to address the

Secretary of War very briefly:--

Sir, there is yet room for your energies. That region won to Union and

Liberty by the victory you organized must not be allowed to lapse under

its ancient masters, the perjured assertors of property in man. It

must not be abandoned. Let it be held by arms until it smiles with the

charities of life, and all its people are guarded by an impenetrable

shield.

And still speaking with equal plainness, I venture to press one

controlling consideration upon the Secretary of the Treasury:--

Sir, you are the guardian of the national finances. Use the peculiar

influence belonging to this position so that nothing shall be done

to impair the National Credit. See to it especially that no person

is admitted to political power in any Rebel community who spurns the

National Faith, sacredly plighted to the national freedman as well as

to the national creditor. Such is the ordinance of Providence, that

the fortunes of the two are joined inseparably together. Credit is

sensitive. It needs that all the resources of the country should be

brought into activity,--that agriculture should be fostered, that

commerce should be revived, that emigration should be encouraged;

but this cannot be done without that _security_ which is found in

equal laws and a contented people. The farmer, the merchant, the

emigrant must each feel secure. Land, capital, and labor are of little

value, except on this essential condition. The loyal people who have

contributed so much, and now hold your bonds, trust that this essential

condition will not fail through any failure on your part, and that

you will not consent to open a political volcano, spouting smoke and

red-hot lava, in an extended region whose first necessity is peace.

There is an order in all things; and any concession to the criminal

enemies of our country, until after the confirmation of the National

Security and the National Faith, is simply an illustration, on a

gigantic scale, of the cart before the horse.

* * * * *

For myself, fellow-citizens, pardon me, if I say that my course is

fixed. Many may hesitate; many may turn away from those great truths

which make the far-reaching brightness of the Republic; many may seek

a temporary favor by untimely surrender: I shall not. The victory of

blood, which has been so painfully won, must be confirmed by a greater

victory of ideas, so that the renowned words of Abraham Lincoln may

be fulfilled, and “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of

Freedom; and government of the people, _by the people_, and for the

people, shall not perish from the earth.”[245] To this end I seek no

merely formal Union, seething with smothered curses, but a practical,

moral, and political Unity, founded on common rights, knit together

by common interests, inspired by a common faith, and throbbing with

a common love of country,--where our Constitution, interpreted anew,

shall be a covenant with Life and a league with Heaven,[246] and

Liberty shall be everywhere not only a right, but a duty. John Brown,

on his way to the scaffold, stooped to take up a slave child. That

closing example was the legacy of the dying man to his country. That

benediction we must continue and fulfil. The last shall be first;

and so, in this new order, Equality, long postponed, shall become

the master principle of our system and the very frontispiece of our

Constitution. The Rebellion was to beat down this principle, by

founding a government on the alleged inferiority of a race. The attempt

has failed, but not, alas! the insolent assumption of the conspirators.

Pursuing our victory, I now insist that this assumption shall be

trampled out. A righteous government cannot be founded on any exclusion

of race. This is not the first time that I have battled with the

barbarism of Slavery. I battle still, as the bloody monster retreats to

its last citadel; and, God willing, I mean to hold on, if it takes what

remains to me of life.