Van Wyck's Speech. VAN WYCK'S SPEECH. 303 Van Wyck's Speech. followed upon the intro- | States; but you were willing to duction, by John Quincy Adams, of the Haverhill petition for a peaceful dissolution of the Union. He quoted from the speeches then made by Messrs. Hopkins, Wise, and Gilmer, of Virginia; Mr. Merriwether, of Georgia; Messrs. Campbell, Rhett, and others, of South Carolina; Messrs. Marshall and Underwood, of Kentucky-all denying the power of Congress, or the States, to effect a dissolution, and claiming that a dissolution of the Union was a dissolution of Slavery. Have great principles changed since then? The inordinate desire of the Southern mind for "expansion" -the dream of a vast area won from Mexico and Central America, all to be given up to Slavery, was the heart-note of the conspiracy. He reviewed the question of a claim for rights in the Territories. What monstrous demands! Here was a nation composed of thirty millions of souls, and three hundred thousand slave-owners claimed "equal rights" in the domain with the mighty majority! How can presumption go farther? He said: "Do you propose any concession to the North? Any security to liberty and life of the Northern man in the Slave States; of property in books; of freedom of speech and the press, as already secured by the Constitution? You say that you concede to Freedom the Territory North of 36 deg. 30 min. We have a double title to that already: first by purchase, and then by conquest. We bought it when we took Missouri into the Union as a Slave State, and then we conquered it in the strife of a civil war. All our future acquisitions must be in the direction of the tropics, and you demand its unconditional surrender to Slavery. You want us to surrender to men who themselves are compromise breakers! You have been telling us for years that all geographical lines were sectional and dangerous! In 1820 you established the Missouri line to save the Union; in 1854 you destroyed it to save the Union; and now you can see the salvation of the Republic only through its reestablishment and perpetuity, with the new and startling condition annexed, that Slavery must be forever protected, in all our future acquisitions! Believe not in reconstruction; the compromises of the present Constitution, once lost, you never can regain. Think you that another Senate can be formed wherein Florida and Delaware can equal New York and Pennsylvania? You are opposed to the army and navy, because you boldly assert that en enforcement of the laws means coercion of He warned the South against attempts to coerce the North into a consent to a dissolution of the Union. It would not be driven or cajoled into any line of policy adverse to its solemn and just convictions. As one plan of settlement, he favored a purchase of all the slaves in the Border States and their colonization in Central America. He also favored a convention of all the States. But no Cataline should walk the land to stab liberty and strike down the Stars and Stripes with impunity. Treason was treason, and there were few to compromise with it if the issue must come. This speech rang out with the spirit which was rapidly gaining ascendency in the Northern mind—not only of Republicans, but of all parties. It was patriotic rather than defiant. It was grounded in devotion to the Union and the Constitution, and thus echoed the loyal heart of the Free States.* Tuesday's session of the Senate was consumed in considering the Pacific Railway bill. Mr. King, (Rep..) of New York, introduced a bill, which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, authorizing the employment of volunteers to aid in enforcing the laws and in protecting the public property. The Wednesday's proceedings of the Senate The Republican Central Committee of New York City (January 30th) passed resolutions thanking Mr. Van Wyck for his speech, and requesting the Republican members of Congress "in no manner, come what may, to further compromise with the Slave Power." A leading journal of the city, referring to these resolutions, said, "They speak unmistakably the sentiments of the Republicans of New York City. They all desire a real settlement through the maintenance of the Union and the enforcement of the laws, and no cowardly and temporary compromise." Undoubtedly this statement was correct. were only memorable from the presentation | The trouble was, that the people rebelled of memorials and petitions. Petitions and against and attempted to overthrow it. We Mr. Bigler, (Dem.,) of could not have peace by concessions to men Pennsylvania, introduced who asked none, and refused them-by makseveral among them a me- ing concessions to men with arms in their morial of the meeting said to represent fifty hands, and who fire on our vessels and capthousand working-men of Philadelphia, pray-ture our soldiers. If the country has reing for the passage of the Crittenden compro-ceived a shock from which it will not recover mise. He remarked that, in view of these popular manifestations, there could be no doubt of the general desire for the adoption of some compromise. Disunion could not be countenanced, but he was ready to make any reasonable concessions to the South. The Crittenden resolutions he thought were eminently just and wise. Cameron, (Rep.,) of Pennsylvania, also had a petition to present, but it differed vastly in sentiment from that presented by his colleague, whose former speech he had been charged with having indorsed. He certainly never indorsed the whole of it, but he was willing to do anything to bring peace and safety to the country. But he first wanted to know if what he did would be received; if it would bring back the leaders of rebellion in the South, for he considered it rebellion. Mason, of Virginia, answered that the Southern States had not asked for concessions in any form. The South had no complaint to make of the Constitution, but that the Constitution had been violated and her rights disregarded; yet, she never asked concessions. She only demanded that the Constitution be carried out. She would be humiliated if she asked anything else, and the North would not be humiliated if it granted it. The South only asked for right. Hale, (Rep.,) of New Hampshire, declared that he had been attentively listening for just such a speech from the commencement of the session. He now thought there was some hope for a union of sentiment! Trumbull, (Rep.,) of Illinois, presented the petition of citizens of Chicago in favor of sustaining the Constitution as it is, and against any concession to the South while in rebellion against the Constitution and the laws. He said he was glad to see that the petitioners agreed with the Senator from Virginia, that the Constitution is good enough now, if the people would only live up to it. for generations, it is because of the craven spirit manifested. Let the Government put itself in a position to be respected and obeyed, and it will have respect and obedience. Mr. Trumbull also presented the petition of a Committee of the Methodist Conference of Illinois, setting forth that the Conference had been broken up in certain States, and one man had been hung because he was a minister of that church. The petition asked that if compromises be made, there be provision for the safety of citizens in the States, and that no man be proscribed for religion's sake. [See page 229.] Cobb's Farewell. In the House, Wednesday was an interesting and exciting day. Mr. W. R. W. Cobb, of Alabama, who had remained after his colleagues had withdrawn, in a letter to the Speaker, to be laid before the House, stated that he had received the certified Secession Ordinance of Alabama, and therefore felt constrained to withdraw entirely from the duties of the House—a step which he deeply regretted being compelled to take. His letter closed: "God save the country!" The House consenting, Mr. Cobb addressed the members in a very patriotic and feeling farewell. He prayed and plead for some compromise to save the country. He had served in Congress fourteen years, and could not think of returning home to say to his eager, expectant constituents that all hope of compromise was past. Oh! for a Clay, a Webster, an Adams to meet the crisis! He could only say, with uplifted hands, "God save the country!" The Republicans could do it would they? Plant yourselves no longer on your dignity-adopt some measure of settle ment and peace, and save the country! The Select Committee of Five reported several important bills. One to call out the Important Bill. MR. CONKLING'S SPEECH. cases. militia, in certain One to further provide for the duty on imports. This latter, reported by John Cochrane, (Dem.,) of New York, was accompanied with an expression of his views. He fully concurred with the President in his opinion against the right of secession, deeming all acts and Ordinances of Secession, so far as the same may be carried into effect, are to be considered as revolutionary infractions of the supreme law of the land, however they may be regarded as the proper exercise of an indefeasible right of resisting acts which are plainly unconstitutional and too oppressive to be endured. He also concurred in the President's opinion that the Federal Constitution has abstained from conferring on the Federal Government, or any department thereof, authority to declare and wage an oppressive war against a seceding State, in order to coerce or repeal any act of secession she may have passed, or to compel her to remain nominally, as well as in fact, a member of the Federal Union. A just conception of the constitutional authority of Congress combines with other, and, if possible, higher and more commanding motives to prescribe other measures than aggressive and coercive war to remedy the grave inconveniences, perils, and evils of such secession. Conkling's Speech. Mr. Conkling, (Rep.,) of New York, the Corwin Report being the Special Order, addressed the House at considerable length, and with a force which created much remark. His position was that of an uncompromising Republican, and Unionist at all hazards. To the elaboration of his argument he brought to bear the resources of a fertile mind and the power of an eloquent utterance. He had no hope, from the first stages of the controversy, that any concessions would stem the tide of revolt. The charges sown broadcast over the South, maligning, misinterpreting, and falsifying the Republican party to the Southern people, had so poisoned their minds that they did not want unity with the North. The leaders of the conspiracy had sown the whirlwind to direct the storm-they would rule while their deceived constituents obeyed. These apostate Ameri 305 Conkling's Speech. cans plotted the ruin of the country, for then the great Gospel of Freedom, which filled Christendom with light and hope, would shrivel up like a scroll. Hindman, of Arkansas, interposed to know if the gentleman was in order in the use of such language as "apostate Americans?" He would inquire of the gentleman if he intended to apply that language to any member of that House or to their constituents? If such language could be used there, then the time had come for the dissolution of the Union, and for the secession of the Southern States from it. He asked the Chair to decide whether or not such language was in order. Grow, of Pennsylvania, being in the chair, said, so long as the remarks were not personal, there was no power to interfere. Hindman proposed to render them personal, evidently, for he again rose in excitement, and said the word "apostate Americans" had been used for some purpose, and he desired to know to whom the words were applied, and whether it was proper to apply them in that House. It was better to meet the question now than at another time. Conkling resumed, to press his point against those who, by deception, intrigue, and treason, had inaugurated the causeless rebellion. It was causeless, groundless, without excuse in the eyes of Christian men. Though not confessed, the true reason of the uprising was that Slavery had ceased to rule-that, by the sentiment of an overwhelming majority of the people of this Republic, Slavery, as a moral poison, was outlawed and abhorred. It was because that Slavery, as a policy to be fostered, had ceased to be national in this country. It was charged on the North that at all its social assemblies it was held to be a moral, a social, and political evil. The charge is true, every word of it! It was true that the vast majority of the people of the North, all political parties alike, looked upon Slavery, as an institution, as a monster of the worst kind, insatiable and destructive to the victim, to the master, and to the land. In that respect the North agreed with the rest of the civilized world, that Slaveholding was the worst of wrongs, the liberty-founded, model Republic alone excepted! The jurisprudence of the Conkling's Speech. world was against Slavery, the civilizationof the world was against Slavery; the literature of the world was against Slavery. Webster once said, "Lightning is strong, the torrent is strong, the earthquake is strong, but there is something stronger than all this -it is the enlightened judgment of mankind." And that, too, is against Slavery. There was no one to blame for that. No, it was one of the enactments of that "higher law," which was recognized by all people, and to which Coke had given utterance when he said, "that the law of Parliament, when in conflict with the law of God, was to be held utterly at naught." It was true that the feeling, long dormant, had at length asserted its supremacy-that freedom, hereafter, was to be the rule, and Slavery the exception, in our "great experiment." The Reformation had, after years of persecution, been successful. No more wars, now, of conquest for Slavery's sake! No longer shall the arms of the Republic go forth to change realms into deserts, to sack cities, to subdue Territories, in order to people them with Slavery, and endow them with slave representation. The ambassadors of the Republic in Europe will never again dare to assemble at the tomb of the great Charlemagne and proclaim an Ostend Manifesto! Henceforth American Slavery was not to be enlarged. No longer was she to be the feasted, pampered child of American destiny, a thing to be fondled and caressed by the Government. No! but from this time out it would be a simple necessity in the country, having defined constitutional rights, and having no more. The speaker then referred to the power existing to put down treason and rebellion, showing that all means were placed at the President's disposal to care for the Government's safety. He had vacillated; he wanted firmness and integrity; he had left the country "naked to its enemies." The Executive stood before the world a pitiful spectacle, petrified with fear, or vacillating between determination and cowardice, while rebels tore from his nerveless grasp the insignia of the Republic, and in its place hoisted Conkling's Speech. the banner of secession and rebellion. Congress was powerless to control this. The Constitution had given them no power to interfere. They had voted the money to carry on the Government, and what else could they do? Nothing but to take their share in that issue which remained the paramount question of the country. The idea of a constitutional right of secession was to be spurned. There were three ways in which a State could cut loose from Federal allegiance: By the amendment of the Constitution, as provided in the Constitution itself; by the consent, not of the State going out, or of the remaining States, but by the universal acquiescence of the American people; and by that right or power which inheres in man, and not in States-that option which all men had to defeat their governments, and, if they succeeded, to live in peace as patriots and heroes-if they failed, to die as rebels and traitors. As to a settlement by concession, he never would consent to an adjustment with men with uplifted banners of revolt in their hands. He had no terms to offer until the revolu tionists doffed their cockades, hauled down their Pelican and Palmetto flags, and donned the habiliments of peaceful, law-abiding citizens. And, as for the wavering Border States, if they halted between the two conclusions, to go out or to remain in-if they were waiting to be coaxed-if that was soif the people of any State were to be raffled for by the Government, he, for one, would decline to take any part in such transaction. He would not see the Government go into an auction-room to bid for allegiance. If they were to be coaxed into wedlock, he would prefer the feeling of the old conqueror with regard to his daughter, and of whom the poet sung: "A warrior should her bridegroom be, This was the way he would prefer to woo those States who stood wavering, and who wanted to be coaxed into the Union. As for the noble patriots from those States who were battling for the Union, and, at every personal hazard, were endeavoring to stem Conkling's Speech. MR. MORRIS' SPEECH. 307 Howard's Views. Howard, (Dem.,) of Ohio, declared also for conciliation by compromise. He would disregard party and platforms, and do his duty as an American. Upon that Congress the destiny of the Republic hung. Six stars of our National flag were obscured, and he should not cease to hope for their restoration, Exhaust all other remedies to bring them back before resorting to force. the tide of disunion, he | protection and rights. Kentucky, he avercould not word his admira- red, would maintain her rights; and, though tion. For them he could do generous and loyal, would not remain in the all things possible or consistent. But he could Union but as an equal. not vote for any compromise to extend Slavery, nor to amend the Constitution. He would vote to sustain the laws and rigidly to enforce the Constitution, in Free as well as in Slave States. He would leave the Constitution as it was. If they should alter it, if the American people should tamper with that libertybestowing instrument, some Gibbon, or, better still, some Dante, would immortalize the crime. Some limner, with infernal pencil, would group in the picture, horrible in their resemblance to the actors of the day, and hang it in the sky, full in the view of those who shall hereafter tread the corridors of time. The men of the North believed in the Government as their fathers made it. They cherished it for all its memories, its martyrs, its heroes, and its statesmen. They cherished it for the shelter it afforded against that storm which, without it, would burst and desolate the continent. But above all, they cherished it for its promises yet unaccomplished, its mission incomplete, and its destiny unfulfilled. They would sustain it and defend it to the last. Edward Joy Morris' Edward Joy Morris, (Independent,) of Pennsylvania, in a speech characterized by much decision, said he would save the Union by remanding the entire question of Slavery in the Territories to the people, to whom its decision properly belonged. Let them battle it out, without the factious intervention of Congress or of Territorial Legislatures. He would go for the Corwin Report, or for the Crittenden Resolutions, to submit the question of compromise to the people. Speaking of the proposed Convention at Montgomery, he said it might establish a Government stronger than the Federal, but it would, necessarily, be an oligarchy-the few slave-owners would reign, not the majority poor white population. He defended the policy of the Republican party, and thought the aspersions of its enemies as base as they were unfounded. All the agitation which prevails in the South, so far as it is based on the allegations that the people of the North Stevenson, (Dem.,) of wished to abolish Slavery in the States, is Kentucky, followed Conk- utterly without cause. The statement was a ling in a brief reply. If calumny, got up for the bad ends of aiding the New York member was a fair representa- in the scheme to disrupt the Union. tive of Northern sentiment, the hope of an spoke of the conservatism of Pennsylvania adjustment must be extinguished. He saw, and of Mr. Lincoln, who was the most conin this and other speeches, a design to deny servative of any candidate in the Presithe South all rights in the Territories. He dential election. He stood by the Constiregarded the States as equal and sovereign, tution, let the issue be what it may; and, in having equal rights to the common domain, dying, might he stand there and defend it to and entitled to full protection to their prop- the last! The Government of the United erty therein. He still hoped the returning States has a right to defend its own existreason of the dominant party would show ence, and it is its duty to do it against them the propriety and justice of a compro- coercion, which is on the part of the Secedmise, guaranteeing the South its required ing States. This speech made a powerful impression on the House. Taken with those of Thaddeus Stevens, Van Wyck, and others, on the Republican side, it clearly indicated the set of the current of public feeling in the Free States, and showed, to those not blind, how impassably wide was the gulf which compromise was expected to span. A Kentuckian's He |