GIFT OF 
 JJANE K.SATHER 
 
ANDREW JOHNSON, 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES ; 
 
 HIS LIFE AND SPEECHES. 
 
 BY 
 
 LILLIAN FOSTER, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "WAYSIDE GLIMPSES NORTH AND SOUTH," &o. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 RICHARDSON & CO., 
 
 540 BROADWAY. 
 1866. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S66, 
 
 By LILLIAN FOSTER, 
 
 In the Clerk s Office of the Di.-trict Court of the United States for tha South 
 ern Di&trict of .New York. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE future of our country depends so much upon the 
 distinguished and remarkable individual who now 
 occupies the Presidential Chair, that a portrait of his 
 life and character, adapted to general use, cannot fail 
 to receive a favorable reception from the entire commu 
 nity. Such a biographical sketch, written by a coun 
 trywoman of the Chief Magistrate, may also be sup 
 posed to interest, in a particular manner, that sex 
 who have suffered so fearfully during the late terrible 
 war, and who now rejoice with all their hearts at the 
 prospects of Peace, Union, and Prosperity which the 
 noble and patriotic conduct of the President is rapidly 
 restoring to every section of the great Republic. 
 
 A true-hearted woman naturally admires and appre 
 ciates great and heroic excellence. Her tribute of 
 esteem and gratitude for brave and magnanimous 
 actions is shadowed by no jealousy and colored by 
 no party opinions, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 With such feelings, I present to my countrymen 
 and especially to my countrywomen, this brief narra 
 tion of the life and public services of His EXCELLENCY 
 PRESIDENT ANDREW JOHNSON, believing him to be a 
 statesman whose whole intellect is devoted to the 
 greatest good of the entire United States, and whose 
 admirable policy of restoration commends itself to the 
 warmest approbation and the most zealous support of 
 the best and wisest portion of the American people. 
 
\ 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAOB 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 The Constitutionality and Rightfulness of Secession 33 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Homestead Bill 61 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 State of the Union 125 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Speech on the War for the Union, delivered in the Senate, 
 July 27,1861 130 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 Speech on the Proposed Expulsion of Mr. Bright, deliver 
 ed in the Senate of the United States, Jan. 31, 1862.. 136 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PA OB. 
 
 Appeal to the People of Tennessee 179 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Nominated for the Vice-Presidency 185 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Takes the Oath as President 193 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Exception of the Illinois Delegation 195 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Reception of the British Ambassador , . . 203 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 Reception of the Diplomatic Corps 206 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Address to Loyal Southerners 208 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Speech to the Indiana Delegation 213 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 A Delegation of Southern Men visit tho President 210 
 
CONTENTS. 7 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 PAIR. 
 
 Veto of the Freedmen s Bureau Bill 226 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Speech to the Citizens of Washington, Feb. 22d, 1866 243 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 The Civil Rights Bill. The President s Veto 264 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Annual Message to the Thirty-ninth Congress 281 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 Conclusion.., . 814 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION. 
 
 AT the beginning of the present century there 
 resided in Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, 
 a couple who were pecuniarily in circumstances 
 which excluded them from a social position with 
 their more wealthy and aristocratic neighbors ; 
 yet within that humble abode the young wife 
 gave birth to a son, who was destined to achieve 
 the highest position by his commanding intellect 
 and exalted moral worth. 
 
 ANDEEW JOHNSON was bom on the 29th day of 
 December, 1808. While still in his fifth year, his 
 father lost his life by injuries received through 
 magnanimous and successful efforts to save Col. 
 Thomas Henderson, editor of the Raleigh Gazette, 
 from drowning, leaving his wife and young son 
 dependent upon their own efforts for future sup 
 port. The calamitous event of his father s death 
 prevented the son from receiving even an ordi 
 nary education. The admirable system of com- 
 
EVv" JOHNSON. 
 
 mon or free schools, which are now enjoyed by 
 the poor children of the whole country, is a bless 
 ing which at that time had not been experienced 
 by North Carolina, and consequently young 
 Johnson was never enabled to receive an hour s 
 instruction in a schoolroom. At the early age of 
 ten years he was apprenticed to a tailor, in his 
 native town, until he was seventeen. Applying 
 himself steadily to his trade for his own and 
 mother s support, he was left without any re 
 source but in his own exertions, and he thus be 
 gan life struggling with the rough business world, 
 but with a heart that stoutly battled poverty and 
 misfortune, and that soon won him the confidence 
 and respect of even the most wealthy and respect 
 able portion of the community in which he re 
 sided. 
 
 In the company of his associates he felt the 
 great want of the learning which fortune denied 
 him, and at once resolved to remedy the deficien 
 cy by all the means which energy and time could 
 command. A gentleman residing in town made 
 frequent visits to the tailor s shop, who enlight 
 ened the minds and lightened the hours of toil 
 by reading to the workmen. The book selected 
 (a collection of speeches by British statesmen) so 
 interested and aroused the ambition of young 
 Johnson, that his mind was indoctrinated with 
 principles and ideas which in after-years were 
 developed in the halls of Congress. He devoted 
 the hours after his day s work was done to learn- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 ing the alphabet, which he soon mastered ; and 
 then he asked the loan of the book, that he might 
 learn to spell. The owner, instead of loaning, 
 gave him the work, and also instructed him in 
 the formation of words. Through .perseverance 
 and patience, aided by a strong resolution to sur 
 mount all obstacles, success crowned his efforts ; 
 and to his great delight he found himself able to 
 read the speeches to which he had only a short 
 time before been an interested listener. 
 
 The term of his apprenticeship having expired 
 in 1824, he went to Laurens Courthouse, S. C., 
 where he worked as a journeyman until May, 
 1826, when he returned to Raleigh. There he 
 remained until September of that year, when, in 
 company with his mother, he removed to Green 
 ville, a small town in Eastern Tennessee, at which 
 place lie obtained work. Not many months 
 elapsed after his settlement in Greenville before 
 he married a young woman, whose mental attain 
 ments and devoted affection exerted a very ben 
 eficial influence on his future life. Sympathizing 
 in the desires of her husband to acquire an edu 
 cation, and in his ambition to rise to distinction, 
 scarcely had the marriage ceremony been per 
 formed before this estimable woman commenced 
 instructing, by her conversation, and reading to 
 him when employed on his work-bench, thus 
 lightening his labor by her constant oral instruc 
 tion. At night, when the day s work was done, 
 the instructions were^continued by lessons in 
 
12 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 writing and arithmetic. Stimulated by ambition, 
 by unceasing perseverance and an indomitable 
 will the poor tailor boy soon became proficient 
 in reading, writing, and arithmetic, and was not 
 long in ripening into a thorough English scholar. 
 "While this romantic part of their history was in 
 progress, Mr. Johnson, thinking to better his 
 condition by removing "West, left Greenville ; but 
 after an absence of some months he returned to 
 his former home, where he permanently settled. 
 The broad and enlightened views of the more 
 liberal British statesmen, engrafted on his mind 
 by the readings in the old workshop, and by his 
 future studies of the principles of republican 
 government a government of the people, by the 
 people, and for the people formed the basis of 
 that system of political philosophy which has 
 rendered Mr. Johnson conspicuous among the 
 most enlightened statesmen of his country. 
 
 From the very commencement of Mr. John 
 son s career he devoted himself to the interest 
 and welfare of the toiling and laboring masses. 
 From their ranks he had sprung, and upon them 
 in reality rest the hopes and glory of our country. 
 He soon became known as the most able advo 
 cate of the working men in Greenville. To 
 advance the true interest of the masses of the 
 people, he used his influence to assert their right 
 to representation in the town councils. In 1828 
 the young tailor was triumphantly elected alder 
 man in Greenville, which position he held until 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 1830, when he was elected mayor, and served in 
 that capacity for three succeeding years, at the 
 same time holding the position of trustee of Hhea 
 Academy, to which he had been appointed by 
 the County Court. In 1834 he bore a conspic 
 uous part in the adoption of the new Constitution 
 of Tennessee, and established his reputation as 
 one of the foremost men of his State. 
 
 In 1835 he was elected a member of the House 
 of Representatives of the State, for the counties 
 of Green and Washington. He distinguished 
 himself in that body more particularly by his 
 earnest opposition to a grand scheme of internal 
 improvement, which he contended would prove 
 a failure ; and also denounced it as a base fraud, 
 tending to impoverish the State treasury and 
 cripple the resources of the commonwealth. 
 This opposition rendered him unpopular at the 
 time, and prevented his re-election in 1837. The 
 passage of the bill he had opposed proved, as he 
 had predicted, a useless burden to the people ; 
 and in 1839 he was again returned to the Legis 
 lature. 
 
 In 1840, in the contest between General Har 
 rison and Martin Yan Buren, Mr. Johnson was 
 one of the Presidential Electors on the Democratic 
 ticket, and canvassed the State for Mr. Van Bu 
 ren, not unfrequently meeting upon the stump 
 some of the most able orators of the opposition, 
 with whom he not only competed successfully, 
 but excelled the ablest of them in the force and 
 
14 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 power of his reasoning. In 1841 he was sent to 
 the State Senate from Green and Hawkins coun 
 ties, and, while in that body, introduced some ex 
 cellent and judicious projects for internal improve 
 ments in Eastern Tennessee. In the Senate, as in 
 the lower branch of the Legislature, he proved 
 himself a foremost member ; ever advocating all 
 that he believed to be right, and fearlessly de 
 nouncing that which he deemed wrong. 
 
 The people, feeling entire confidence in his 
 abilities and appreciating his services, resolved 
 to extend his sphere of usefulness ; and in 1843 
 he was nominated for Congress in the First Dis 
 trict of Tennessee, embracing seven counties. 
 His opponent, Colonel John A. Asken, a United 
 States Bank Democrat, a gentleman of promi 
 nence and ability, he handsomely defeated, and 
 in December of the same year took his seat in 
 the House of Representatives at Washington, 
 retaining the position, by successive elections, 
 until 1853. 
 
 His State was redistricted previous to 1853, 
 and that portion in which Mr. Johnson resided 
 was so districted as to place him in a district 
 having a large Whig majority ; and thus he Ic.st 
 his seat in Congress. Gustavus A. Henry, who 
 was at that time Whig candidate for governor, 
 used his influence to effect this party trick, and 
 Mr. Johnson, in return, determined to defeat the 
 man who had resorted to such a measure to shut 
 him out of Congress. After an exciting canvass, 
 
BIOGKAPHICAL INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 i 
 
 Mr. Johnson was chosen governor. In 1855 he 
 was re-elected, defeating one of the ablest Whigs 
 in the State, Meredith P. Gentry. The duties of 
 his administration were performed without regard 
 to party, and it was confessed that he was one 
 of the ablest and most impartial governors ever 
 elected in that State. 
 
 In the year 1857, Mr. Johnson was elected by 
 the Legislature of Tennessee United States sen 
 ator for the full term of six years ; and he 
 brought to this high position the same indomit 
 able energy, talent, and devotion to the people s 
 welfare which had distinguished his whole public 
 life. He was regarded as one of the ablest mem 
 bers of the Senate, and faithfully stood by the 
 interest of his State until it joined the Confed 
 eracy, when he stood by the old Union, and was 
 appointed Military Governor of Tennessee in 
 1862. 
 
 Mr. Johnson was a representative of the people. 
 Born of the people, and at an early age thrown 
 upon his own resources, he grew up amongst the 
 people, becoming familiar with their lives, their 
 wrongs, their wants, and their rights. Proud 
 that for the knowledge he possessed he was in 
 debted solely to his own exertions, he stood in 
 the halls of Congress Andrew Johnson, Tailor 
 and Statesman, the equal of any member of either 
 House. Modestly appreciating the dignity of 
 his position, he never permitted a scoff at his 
 calling, or an indignity at the laboring classes, 
 
10 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 to pass unrebuked. He, on one occasion, 
 said : 
 
 " Sir, I do not forget that I am a mechanic. I 
 am proud to own it. Neither do I forget that 
 Adam was a tailor, and sewed fig-leaves, or that 
 our Saviour was the son of a carpenter." 
 
 He had great aversion to aristocracy, and per 
 haps was not without prejudices against gentle 
 men reared in affluence and idleness, arrogating 
 to themselves the claim to all respectability in 
 the world. On one occasion Jefferson Davis su 
 perciliously asked : " What do you mean by the 
 laboring classes ?" Andrew Johnson replied : 
 " Those who earn their bread by the sweat of 
 their face, and not by fatiguing their ingenuity." 
 
 He was a true Democrat, and a firm believer in 
 the sovereignty of the people : respecting states 
 men and hating politicians holding that legisla 
 tion was for the many, and not for the benefit of 
 any party. He Avas consistently in favor of curtail 
 ment in governmental expenses, and participated 
 in nearly every debate upon appropriation bills. 
 He introduced resolutions to reduce the salaries 
 of members of Congress, and all officers of the 
 government, civil, military, and naval. He op 
 posed all unnecessary appropriations in Congress, 
 from his dislike to " speculations and jobs." 
 
 He was the faithful friend of the poor and of 
 the laboring classes, and ever appeared in Con 
 gress as tlieir champion. He introduced the sub 
 ject of homesteads into the House of llepresenta- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 tives, and advocated the cause with success in 
 that branch. He also brought up the subject 
 in the Senate, and debated it at great length ; 
 but the bill, as passed, was vetoed by Mr. Bu 
 chanan. He proposed an amendment to the 
 tariff bill, with a view of taxing capital instead 
 of labor. He also opposed the tariff on tea and 
 sugar. 
 
 He advocated the bill to refund the fine im 
 posed upon Andrew Jackson by Judge Hall at 
 New Orleans (House of Representatives, Jan. 8, 
 1844) ; was in favor of the annexation of Texas 
 (H. E., January 21, 1845) ; discussed the Oregon 
 question, asserting our right to 54 40 , but sus 
 tained the administration in the final settlement 
 of -the question (H. E., January 31, 1846) ; ad 
 dressed the House on the Mexican question, in 
 support of the administration, December 15, 
 1846, January 5, 1847, and August 2, 1847 ; op 
 posed the bill establishing the courts of claims 
 (H. E., January 6, 1849) ; made an earnest plea 
 for the admission of California, and the protec 
 tion of slavery (H. E., June 5, 1850) ; debated the 
 Mexican indemnity bill (H. E., January 21, 28, 
 1852) ; also the bill for right of way on rail and 
 plank roads (H. E., July 20, 1852) ; made a 
 speech on frauds in the Treasury Department 
 (H. E., January 13, 1853) ; and another on coin 
 age (H. E., February 2, 1853). 
 
 While in the Senate, in addition to the meas 
 ures referred to more at length in this sketch, he 
 
18 
 
 opposed the increase of tlie regular army at the 
 time of the Mormon difficulties (Senate, February 
 17, 1857) ; had an earnest debate with Honorable 
 John Bell, his colleague, on the Tennessee reso 
 lutions inviting Bell to resign (Senate, February 
 23, 24, 1857) ; participated in the debate on the 
 admission of Minnesota (Senate, April 6, 1858) ; 
 opposed the Pacific Kailroad bill, and repudiated 
 the idea that it could be imposed upon him as a 
 Democratic measure (Senate, January 25, 1859) ; 
 advocated retrenchment (Senate, January 4 and 
 February 12, 1859) ; and warmly defended Ten 
 nessee (Senate, March 26, 1860). 
 
 A native of a slave State, and himself the 
 owner of slaves, " acquired by the toil of his own 
 hands," he accepted slavery as it existed. Strong 
 in the belief that the agitation of the subject 
 would eventually lead to the abolition of slavery, 
 and the dissolution of the Union would naturally 
 follow, he opposed its introduction into the de 
 bates of Congress, and was one of those who dis 
 believed the right to petition upon the subject, 
 giving his reasons in a speech delivered January 
 31st, 1844: 
 
 " My position is, that Congress has no power 
 to interfere with the subject of slavery ; that it is 
 an institution local in its character and peculiar 
 to the States where it exists, and no other power 
 has the right to control it."* 
 
 - 
 
 * Speech in the House of Representatives, June 5th, 1SGO. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 He continued true to this belief, and was con 
 sistent in his course to the very last, and in the 
 stormy scenes in the Senate, in December, 1860, 
 we find him demanding new guaranties for the 
 perpetuity of slavery. 
 
 But it needed the severe trial of the crisis of 
 1860 and 1861 to develop the strong points in his 
 character, and to discover his sincere love for 
 and undeviating honesty to the Union. In those 
 dark days, when each man was suspicious of his 
 neighbor, the country demanded men of strength 
 with comprehension to grasp the great question 
 of the day to discern its bearings upon the 
 future ; men, " bold to take up, firm to sustain," 
 the glorious flag of a commonwealth of States. 
 Few who passed through and were tried by the 
 fierce ordeal of those terrible hours came forth 
 a wiser statesman and more honest patriot than 
 Andrew Johnson. 
 
 An ardent admirer of Andrew Jackson, the 
 memorable words of that invincible patriot 
 " The Union, it must and shall be preserved" 
 were deeply imprinted on his heart. In a speech, 
 delivered in the House of Kepresentatives, De 
 cember 19th, 1846, in support of the policy of 
 Mr. Folk s administration in carrying the war 
 into Mexico, he had said : 
 
 " I am in favor of supporting the administra 
 tion in this act, because I believe it to be right. 
 But, sir, I care not whether right or wrong, / am 
 for my country always" 
 
20 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 In December, 1859, lie bad denounced the John 
 Brown raid on Harper s Ferry, and said he be 
 lieved it to be the legitimate fruit of abolition 
 teachings. He wished for the punishment of its 
 leaders under the Constitution, for a hostile 
 entrance into a sovereign State. Under the same 
 Constitution, he remained firm in 1860, after the 
 election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency, 
 and feared none of the visions which so disturbed 
 the imagination of a majority of the Southern 
 senators and representatives. In view of the in 
 creasing excitement at the South, he thought tho 
 North should be willing to give some new consti 
 tutional guaranties for the protection of slavery, 
 and introduced resolutions to that effect, Decem 
 ber 13th, 1860, which were referred to the select 
 committee of thirteen. Five days later, in a 
 powerful speech, he appealed to the Southern 
 senators to remain in the Union, and " fight for 
 their constitutional rights on the battlements of the 
 Constitution." He did not mean to be driven out 
 of the Union, and if anybody must go out, it must be 
 those who have violated the instrument that binds 
 us together by passing personal liberty bills and 
 opposing the execution of the fugitive slave law. 
 
 At the first session of the Thirty-seventh Con 
 gress, in July and August, 1861, he submitted the 
 credentials of the senators from TVest Virginia, 
 with appropriate remarks. On the 26th of July, 
 18(51, he introduced a resolution defining tho 
 objects of the war, as follows : 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 " Resolved. That the present deplorable civil war 
 has been forced upon the country by the disunionists 
 of the Southern States, now in revolt against the 
 Constitutional Government, and in arms around the 
 capital ; that in this national emergency, Congress, 
 banishing all feeling of mere passion or resentment, 
 will recollect only its duty to the whole country ; 
 that this war is not prosecuted upon our part in any 
 spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest 
 or subjugation, nor for the purpose of authorizing or 
 interfering with the rights or established institutions 
 of those States, but to defend and maintain the supre 
 macy of the Constitution and all laws made in pur 
 suance thereof, and to preserve the Union, with all 
 the dignity, equality, and rights of the several States, 
 unimpaired ; that as soon as these objects are accom 
 plished, the war ought to cease." 
 
 This was passed after a long debate, by a vote 
 of thirty to five. 
 
 On the 31st of January, 1862, he made a de 
 termined speech on the conduct of Senator 
 Bright, and voted for expelling the man who, 
 four years before, had administered to him the 
 senatorial oath. 
 
 From the outset of the rebellion, the course of 
 Mr. Johnson did not please the secessionists of 
 Tennessee or of the whole South. Mob law pre 
 vailed, and ruffians, full of malice, and with the 
 ferocity of brutes, had inaugurated a reign of 
 terror, and citizens who remained loyal to the 
 Union were subjected to every possible indignity 
 
22 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 and persecution. Ho left Washington in April, 
 1861, at the close of the session of Congress, and 
 on the 21st of that month he suffered personal 
 peril at Lynchburg, Virginia, and at various 
 places along his route. A price was set upon his 
 head, and personal violence threatened if he re 
 mained in Tennessee. Such seeming indignities 
 were the more honorable to him, inasmuch as 
 they arose from his noble devotion to principle, 
 when strong men failed and yielded to what they 
 feebly claimed to be the real " sentiment" of their 
 State in reference to secession. 
 
 On the 19th of June, 1861, while on his way 
 to Washington to attend the special session of 
 Congress, he was the recipient of a warm public 
 welcome from the loyal people of Cincinnati. On 
 that occasion he delivered an able address, de 
 fining his position, from which we will give a 
 short extract, not having space for the entire 
 speech : 
 
 " So far as I am concerned, I am willing to say 
 in this connection, that I am proud to stand here 
 among you as one of the humble upholders and 
 supporters of the stars and stripes that have 
 been borne by Washington through a seven 
 years revolution a bold and manly struggle 
 for our independence, and separation from the 
 mother country. That is my flag that flag was 
 borne by Washington in triumph. Under it I 
 want to live, and under no other. It is that flag 
 iiiat has been borne in triumph by the revolu- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 tionary fathers over every battle-field, when our 
 brave men, after toil and danger, laid down and 
 slept oil the cold ground, with no covering but 
 the inclement sky, and arose in the morning and 
 renewed their march over the frozen ground, as 
 the blood trickled from their feet all to protect 
 that banner and bear it aloft triumphantly." 
 
 While in "Washington, he urged upon the Pres 
 ident and Secretary of War the importance and 
 the justice of aiding and protecting the Unionists 
 of East Tennessee, that Switzerland of America. 
 Meanwhile, in the eastern portion of that State, 
 Confederates confiscated Mr. Johnson s slaves ; 
 went to his home, drove his sick wife, with her 
 child, into the street ; and turned their house, 
 built by his own hands, into a hospital and 
 barracks. 
 
 In February, 1862, General Grant entered Ten 
 nessee, and won the great victories of Fort Henry 
 and Fort Donelson. The subsequent advance of 
 General Buell s forces compelled the withdrawal 
 of the main body of the insurgents from Western 
 and Middle Tennessee, and Nashville was ren 
 dered indefensible. The Confederate govern 
 ment of the State was therefore removed to 
 Memphis. The larger portion of the State hav 
 ing been thus recovered, and in the occupation 
 of the Federal forces, President Lincoln ap 
 pointed Andrew Johnson military governor, with 
 the rank of brigadier-general of volunteers. On 
 the 5th of March, 1862, the Senate confirmed the 
 
^4: ANDEEW JOHXSOX. 
 
 appointment, and Governor Johnson left his seat 
 in that body to enter upon the duties of his new 
 position. 
 
 We cannot conceive of a more fitting appoint 
 ment than this. He had borne many personal 
 indignities ; his family had been mercilessly per 
 secuted : but threats could not intimidate him. 
 He promised that the rights of the people should 
 be respected, and their wrongs redressed ; that 
 the loyal should be honored, and the erring and 
 misguided should be welcomed on their return ; 
 intelligent and conscious treason should be pun 
 ished boldly proclaiming that traitors should 
 be hung. Dauntless but just, determined but 
 compassionate, he was the man of all men to rule 
 with firmness in such times. The man who 
 uttered words like these in a border State, 
 amidst anarchy and a fierce civil war, and set to 
 work in right earnest to verify his prediction, is 
 assuredly no common man. Mr. Johnson, with 
 the inspiration of a true man of genius, believed 
 in his own powers, and felt they must ultimately 
 prevail. He reached Nashville on the 12th of 
 March, in company with Horace Maynard, Em 
 erson Etheridge, and others who had been polit 
 ical exiles. He was enthusiastically received by 
 the long suffering Unionists ; and in response to 
 a serenade, addressed the assemblage, which 
 address ho afterwards published as "An appeal 
 to the people of Tennessee." In this address he 
 sketched the history of the secession movement, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 and showed how the government of the Common 
 wealth had been wrecked for the time by its 
 leaders. He said that the Government of the 
 United States could do no less than guarantee 
 Tennessee a republican form of government, and 
 that his work was to accomplish that purpose. 
 Later in March, Governor Johnson ordered the 
 mayor and city council of Nashville to take the 
 oath of allegiance. Upon their refusing so to do, 
 their places were proclaimed vacant, and other 
 officials were appointed. It was soon understood 
 that spoken or written disunionism would subject 
 the transgressors to similar justice ; which was 
 carried out by incarcerating Turner S. Foster, a 
 well-known secessionist, who had been recently 
 chosen judge of the Circuit Court of Nashville. 
 The clergymen of the city, who, with the excep 
 tion of the Catholic, not only entertained dis 
 union sentiments, but boldly preached them from 
 their pulpits, were requested by the governor to 
 take the oath of allegiance. They obeyed the sum 
 mons so far as to appear before Governor Johnson, 
 who, perfectly composed, entered the room, shak 
 ing hands familiarly with two or three of them, 
 and said : " Well, gentlemen, what is your desire ?" 
 They requested a few days to consider the sub 
 ject of signing the paper. The governor granted 
 them a week, and said to them : " It seems to me 
 that there should be but little hesitation among 
 you, gentlemen, about the matter. All that is 
 required of you is to sign the oath of allegiance. 
 
26 ANDKEW JOHNSON. 
 
 If you are loyal citizens you can have no reason 
 to refuse to do so. If you are disloyal, and 
 working to obstruct the operations of the Gov 
 ernment^ it is my duty, as the representative of 
 that Government, to see that you are placed in a 
 position so that the least possible harm can 
 result from your proceedings. You certainly 
 cannot reasonably refuse to renew your alle 
 giance to the Government that is now protecting 
 you and your families and property." 
 
 At the expiration of a week the clergymen signi 
 fied to Governor Johnson their determination not 
 to take the oath, and were sent to the peniten 
 tiary, prior to their removal to General Halleck s 
 quarters, to be exchanged for Union prisoners. 
 
 In September, General Buell evacuated all 
 North Alabama and Southern Tennessee. Gov 
 ernor Johnson deplored the wholesale desertion 
 of the country, and did not concur with General 
 Buell as to its propriety. On the 5th the enemy 
 recaptured Murfreesboro . On the 6th Nashville 
 was thrown into a state of great excitement, in 
 consequence of a current report that General 
 Buell had determined upon the evacuation of the 
 city. When the rumor reached Governor John 
 son, he earnestly protested against such a course, 
 asserting that the city should be defended to the 
 last extremity, and then destroyed, to prevent its 
 falling into the hands of the enemy. He was so 
 disgusted with General Buell s movements, that 
 he addressed a letter to President Lincoln on 
 
BIOGKAP111CAL INTRODUCTION. 27 
 
 the subject, and recommended his removal. Gen 
 eral Thomas, who was placed in command of the 
 city, heartily sustained Governor Johnson s deter 
 mination, and the city was strongly fortified. 
 Afterwards General Negley was assigned to the 
 command. 
 
 These months proved a dark and perilous time 
 for the citizens of Nashville and the safety of 
 the provisional government. The State was in 
 fested with guerrillas, and the Confederate forces, 
 under Kirby Smith and others, moved northward 
 through Tennessee to invade Kentucky. At 
 times Nashville was wholly isolated its commu 
 nications cut off in every direction ; provisions 
 became scarce, prices enormously high, and 
 much suffering prevailed. Through all these 
 trying times Governor Johnson remained hope 
 ful and self-reliant, inspiring confidence in all 
 around him, and reviving courage by his calm 
 ness and determination. Many of the inhab 
 itants of Nashville, whose fathers, husbands, 
 brothers, and sons were in arms against the 
 Government, left their families to be cared for by 
 the authorities. To remedy this, the Governor 
 addressed the following circular to such of the 
 avowed secessionists of the city as were pecuni 
 arily able to respond : 
 
 STATE OF TENNESSEE, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, 
 NASHVILLE, August 18, 1862. 
 
 SIR There are many wives and helpless children 
 in the city of Nashville and county of Davidson, who 
 
28 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 have been reduced to poverty and wretchedness in 
 consequence of their husbands and fathers having 
 been forced into the armies of this unholy and nefa 
 rious rebellion. Their necessities have become so 
 manifest, and their demands for the necessaries of life 
 so urgent, that the laws of justice and humanity 
 would he violated unless something- was done to re 
 lieve their suffering and destitute condition. 
 
 You are therefore requested to contribute the sum of 
 - dollars, which you will pay over within the next 
 five days to James Whitworth, Esq., Judge of the 
 County Court, to be by him distributed among these 
 destitute families in such manner as may be pre 
 scribed. 
 
 Respectfully, etc., 
 
 ANDREW JOHNSON, 
 
 Attest : Military Governor. 
 
 EDWARD II. EAST, Secretary of State. 
 
 After several attacks upon the city, which were 
 gallantly repulsed by General Negley, the Con 
 federates were forced to retire, as General Eose- 
 crans, who had relieved General Buell, was 
 advancing from the direction of Bowling Green. 
 In November the forces under command of the 
 latter general entered the city, and found its 
 defenders on half-rations, but still full of courage 
 and determination. In October, Governor John 
 son s family rejoined him, after incurring and es 
 caping numerous perils while on their journey from 
 Bristol, in the northeastern part of the State. 
 
 On the 18th of December, Governor Johnson 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION. 29 
 
 issued an order nearly identical with his circular 
 of August 18th, assessing the property of the 
 enemies of the Government to the amount of 
 sixty thousand dollars, for the support of the 
 poor, the widows, and the orphans, made so by 
 the war. 
 
 After the retreat of General Bragg from Mur- 
 freesboro , in July, 1863, West and Middle Ten 
 nessee were entirely under Federal control. 
 Burnside then advanced into East Tennessee 
 and drove the insurgents out. A convention was 
 held at Nashville, in September, to consider the 
 restoration of Tennessee to the Union. Gov 
 ernor Johnson thus expressed his views on that 
 question : " Tennessee is not out of the Union 
 never has been, and never will be out. The 
 bonds of the Constitution and the Federal power 
 will always prevent that. This Government is 
 perpetual : provision is made for reforming the 
 Government and amending the Constitution, and 
 admitting States into the Union ; not for letting 
 them out of it." He told the people, whenever 
 they desired, in good faith, to restore civil 
 authority, they could do so, and a proclamation 
 for an election would be issued as speedily as it 
 should become practicable to hold one. 
 
 The provisional government created by the 
 President continued throughout the year, and on 
 the 26th of January, 1864, Governor Johnson 
 issued his proclamation for a State election. Up 
 to this time about twenty-five thousand Union 
 
30 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 citizens of Tennessee entered the army, and 
 several colored regiments were organized. 
 
 The country will remember the daring im 
 promptu speech in the United States Senate, 
 which Senator, now President Johnson, delivered 
 in immediate reply to Jefferson Davis, when the 
 latter took his farewell, and sought to demon 
 strate the inability of our Government to exe 
 cute its properly constituted will upon the people 
 of the States. Senator Johnson then stood 
 alone. The disunionists had resolved to adopt 
 every conceivable method known to them for the 
 purpose of bending the inflexibility of his reso 
 lution to stand by the Union ; but when they 
 found that they had wholly failed, they treated 
 him with open scorn and contempt. Great is the 
 change since that scene in the Senate Chamber, 
 when Davis was boldly confronted, answered, 
 and denounced by the Tennessee senator ; the 
 former incarcerated within the walls of a prison, 
 awaiting his trial for treason, while Johnson is 
 to-day, the President of the United States. It is 
 one of those lessons in the history of nations 
 which are too marked to be forgotten. 
 
 Two notable incidents in the history of Andrew 
 Johnson, as military governor of Tennessee, illus 
 trative of indomitable will and dauntless courage, 
 
 O 
 
 we think worthy of record. 
 
 A placard was posted in Nashville one morn 
 ing, announcing that Andy Johnson was to be 
 shot " on sight." Friends of the governor as- 
 
BIOGKAPII1CAL INTRODUCTION. 31 
 
 sembled at his house to escort him to the State 
 House. " No," said he, " gentlemen, if I am to 
 be shot at, I want no man to be in the way of 
 the bullet." He walked alone, and with his usual 
 deliberation, through the streets to his official 
 apartments on Capitol Hill. Another similar 
 story is related : 
 
 He was announced to speak on the exciting 
 questions of the day, and loud threats were ut 
 tered that, if he dared to appear, he should not 
 leave the hall alive. At the appointed hour he 
 ascended the platform, and advancing to the 
 desk laid his pistol upon it. He then addressed 
 the audience, it is said, in the following language : 
 " Fellow-citizens, it is proper, when freemen 
 assemble for the discussion of important public 
 interests, that every thing should be done decently 
 and in order. I have been informed that part of 
 the business to be transacted on the present oc 
 casion is the assassination of the individual who 
 now has the honor of addressing you. I beg 
 respectfully to propose this be the first business 
 in order. Therefore, if any man has come here 
 to-night for the purpose indicated, I do not say 
 to him, let him speak, but let him shoot." Here 
 he paused, with his right hand on his pistol, and 
 the other holding open his coat, while he blandly 
 survej^ed the assembly. After a pause of half a 
 minute, he resumed : " Gentlemen, it appears 
 that I have been misinformed. I will now pro 
 ceed to address you on the subject that has called 
 
?> 2 ANDREW JU1LNSUX. 
 
 us together," which ho did with all his accus 
 tomed boldness and vivacity, not sparing his 
 adversaries, but giving them plenty of pure Ten 
 nessee. 
 
 A man who sets out in a political career with 
 out high birth, fortune, political influence, or 
 commercial interest at his back, determined not 
 to be intimidated, discouraged, or run down by 
 any party, or by all factions in Congress, and 
 triumphs solely by his intellectual power over all 
 impediments, must have the true elements of 
 greatness in his composition. If such a man 
 lends the powers that are in him for objects that 
 are only noble, generous, grand, and good, he 
 will be faithful to himself, and likely to be emi 
 nently useful to his country. Such is the char 
 acter and such the position of President Johnson. 
 Few men in the world have risen to greater fame 
 from the ranks of poverty and misfortune ; and 
 none have ever worn their honors with a more 
 becoming dignity, or with greater love for the 
 sacred principles of free government* 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 THE CONSTITUTIONALITY AND RIGHTFULNESS OP 
 SECESSION. 
 
 THE purely sectional issue upon which Abraham 
 Lincoln, in November, I860, was elected Presi 
 dent of the United States, though in accordance 
 with the forms of the Constitution, yet seemed 
 to a large majority of the people so hostile to its 
 spirit, and so threatening in its effect upon the 
 peace of the country, that " it produced an ex 
 citement in the nation, and especially at the 
 South, which foreboded all that was fearful and 
 terrible in the prospect of the future." To allay 
 this excitement so far as possible, and prevent 
 the withdrawal of the aggrieved States from the 
 Federal Union, all true patriots labored with 
 heart and soul, during the anxious and critical 
 period which intervened between the election of 
 Mr. Lincoln and his inauguration. Among these 
 patriots and statesmen, no one strove with a 
 
34: ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 more earnest and indefatigable zeal to avert the 
 dissolution of the Union and the horrors of civil 
 war than Andrew Jonnson. He supported the 
 famous Crittenden compromise, in the hope that 
 its adoption might promote harmony of feeling 
 and quiet the rage of the dark and fearful storm. 
 Born in a slave State, a representative, a govern 
 or, and senator from a slave State, his love for 
 his section was only surpassed by his attachment 
 to his country. Soaring above all narrow and 
 local prejudices, he could truly feel and express 
 the poet s inspiring sentiment : 
 
 Who would sever freedom s slirine ? 
 Who would draw the invidious line? 
 Though by birth one spot be mine, 
 
 Dear is all the rest. 
 Dear to me the South s fair land, 
 Dear the central mountain band, 
 Dear New England s rocky strand, 
 
 Dear the prairied West. 
 
 But though national in every pulsation of his 
 moral being, as became a disciple of the immor 
 tal Jackson, no one defended with more out 
 spoken boldness the rights of his section, or de 
 nounced with more bitter indignation the wicked 
 and treasonable designs of Northern abolitionism. 
 He repeatedly deprecated the introduction of the 
 slavery question into the congressional debates, 
 insisting that its consideration belonged alone to 
 the States where it existed, and refused even the 
 admission of petitions in relation to the initiating 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 35 
 
 subject. In December, 1859, he declared the 
 murderous John Brown raid upon Harper s 
 Ferry to be the natural consequence of abolition 
 doctrines, and permitted no opportunity to escape 
 of lashing and denouncing the advocates of a 
 * higher law" than that of the Constitution. He 
 had, however, the sagacity to see that the best 
 protection for Southern rights and Southern 
 property was beneath the folds of the Federal 
 flag ; that the surest way to punish the Northern 
 agitators and milliners for their " personal-liberty 
 bills" and similar insolent encroachments, was to 
 fight them inside of the Union, and never to yield 
 a single inch of the joint and common revolution 
 ary inheritance. He entreated his fellow-senators 
 of the South to remain in their places, assuring 
 them that, if they thus remained firm and un 
 shaken, Mr. Lincoln could not even organize his 
 administration unless by their permission ; and 
 much less could he or his party do any direct 
 injury to the Southern interests. With prophetic 
 vision, he told them that secession would be the 
 death of negro slavery, that in the blast of a sec 
 tional conflict it would be swept away with the 
 besom of destruction. Alas ! if his counsels and 
 warnings had been heeded, how much of blood 
 and sorrow", how much of woe and desolation, 
 would have been spared from the record of these 
 last sad years ! 
 
 These opinions of Mr. Johnson are given at 
 length, and with signal ability, in a speech de- 
 
36 ANDREW JOIfXSUX. 
 
 livered in the Senate, 18th and 19th of Decem 
 ber, 1860, the question being the joint resolution 
 introduced by him the 13th of the same month, 
 proposing certain constitutional amendments. 
 One of these amendments proposed to change 
 the mode of electing the President and Yice-Presi- 
 dent of the United States from the electoral col- 
 lego to a vote more directly by the suffrages of 
 the people. We cannot better please and in 
 struct our readers than by placing before them 
 some extracts from this admirable and remark 
 able speech. He said : 
 
 " It is not my purpose, sir, to discuss these prop 
 ositions to amend the Constitution in detail to-day, 
 and I shall say but little more in reference to them, 
 and to their practical operation ; but as we are now, 
 as it were, involved in revolution (for there is a 
 revolution, in fact, upon the country), I think it 
 behooves every man, and especially every one occu 
 pying a public place, to indicate, in some manner, 
 his opinions and sentiments in reference to the ques 
 tions that agitate and distract the public mind. I 
 shall be frank on this occasion in giving- my views 
 and taking my position, as I have always been upon 
 questions that involve the public interest. I believe 
 it is the imperative duty of Congress to make some- 
 effort to save the country from impending disso 
 lution ; and he that is unwilling to make an effort 
 to preserve the Union, or, in other words, to preserve 
 tho Constitution, and the Union as an incident result- 
 in?; from the preservation of the Constitution, is nin- 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 37 
 
 worthy of public confidence, and the respect and 
 gratitude of the American people. 
 
 " In most that I shall say on this occasion, I shall 
 not differ very essentially from my Southern friends. 
 The difference will consist in the mode and manner 
 by which this great end is to be accomplished. Some 
 of our Southern friends think that secession is the 
 mode by which these ends can be accomplished ; 
 that if the Union cannot be preserved in its spirit, by 
 secession they will get those rights secured and per 
 petuated that they have failed to obtain within the 
 Union. 
 
 " I am opposed to secession. I believe it is no 
 remedy for the evils complained of. Instead of act 
 ing with that division of my Southern friends who 
 take ground for secession, I shall take other grounds 
 while I try to accomplish the same end. I think that 
 this battle ought to be fought, not outside but inside 
 of the Union, and upon the battlements of the Con 
 stitution itself. I am unwilling voluntarily to walk 
 out of the Union, which has been the result of a Con 
 stitution made by the patriots of the Revolution. 
 They formed the Constitution ; and this Union that is 
 so much spoken of, and which all of us are so de 
 sirous to preserve, grows out of the Constitution ; 
 and I repeat, I am not willing to walk out of a Union 
 growing out of the Constitution that was formed by 
 the patriots and soldiers of the Revolution. So far 
 as I am concerned, and I believe I may speak with 
 some degree of confidence for the people of my State, 
 we intend to fight that battle inside and not outside 
 of the Union ; and if anybody must go out of the 
 Union, it must be those who violate it, We do not 
 
38 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 intend to go out. It is our Constitution ; it is our 
 Union, growing out of the Constitution ; and we do 
 not intend to be driven from it, or out of the Union. 
 Those who have violated the Constitution, cither in 
 the passage of what are denominated personal-liberty 
 bills, or by their refusal to execute the fugitive-slave 
 law, they, having violated the instrument that binds 
 us together, must go out, and not we. If we violate 
 the Constitution by going out ourselves, I do not 
 think we can go before the country with the same 
 force of opinion that we shall if we stand inside of 
 the Constitution, demanding a compliance with its 
 provisions and its guaranties, or, if need be, as I 
 think it is, demanding additional securities. We 
 should make that demand inside of the Constitution, 
 and in the manner arid mode pointed out by the in 
 strument itself. Then we keep ourselves in the 
 right ; we put our adversary in the wrong ; and 
 though it may take a little longer, we take the 
 right means to accomplish an end that is right in 
 itself. 
 
 " I know that sometimes we talk about compro 
 mises. I am not a compromiser nor a conservative, 
 in the usual acceptation of those terms. I have 
 been generally considered radical, and I do not come 
 forward to-day, in any thing that I shall say or pro 
 pose, asking for any thing to be done upon the prin 
 ciple of compromise. If we ask for any thing, it 
 should be for that which is right and reasonable in 
 itself. If it be right, those of whom we ask it, upon 
 the grout principle of right, arc bound to grant it. 
 Compromise ! I know, in the common acceptation of 
 the term, it is to agree upon certain propositions, in 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 39 
 
 which some things are conceded on one side, and 
 others conceded on the other. I shall go for enact 
 ments by Congress, or for amendments to the Consti 
 tution, upon the principle that they are right, and 
 upon no other ground. I am not for compromising 
 right with wrong. If we have no right, we ought not 
 to demand it. If we are in the wrong, they should 
 not grant us what we ask. I approach this momen 
 tous subject on the great principles of right, asking 
 for nothing and demanding nothing but what is right 
 in itself, and what every right-minded man, and a 
 right-minded community, and a right-minded people, 
 who wish for the preservation of this Government, 
 will be disposed to grant. 
 
 ***** 
 " Sir, if the doctrine of secession is to be carried out 
 upon the mere whim of a State, this Government is 
 at an end. I am as much opposed to a strong, or 
 what may be called by some a consolidated Govern 
 ment, as it is possible for a man to be ; but while I 
 am greatly opposed to that, I want a Government 
 strong enough to preserve its own existence ; that 
 will not fall to pieces by its own weight, or whenever 
 a little dissatisfaction takes place in one of its mem 
 bers. If the States have a right to secede at will 
 and pleasure, for real or imaginary evils or oppres 
 sions, I repeat again, this Government is at an end ; 
 it is not stronger than a rope of sand ; its own weight 
 will crumble it to pieces, and it cannot exist. Not 
 withstanding this doctrine may suit some who are en 
 gaged in this perilous and impending crisis that is 
 now upon us, duty to my country, duty to my State, 
 and duty to my kind, require me to avow a doctrine 
 
40 ANDKKW JOLINSUX. 
 
 that I believe will result in the preservation of the 
 Government, and to repudiate one that I believe will 
 result in its overthrow, and the consequent disasters 
 to the people of the United States. 
 
 " If a State can secede at will and pleasure, and this 
 doctrine is maintained, why, I ask, on the other hand, 
 as argued by Mr. Madison in one of his letters, can- 
 riot a majority of the States combine and reject a 
 State out of the Confederacy ? Have a majority of 
 these States, under the compact that they have made 
 with each other, the right to combine and reject any 
 one of the States from the Confederacy ? They have 
 no such right ; the compact is reciprocal. It was 
 ratified without reservation or condition, and it was 
 ratified in toto and forever ; such is the language of 
 James Madison ; and there is but one way to get out 
 of it without the consent of the parties, and that is 
 
 by revolution. 
 
 ***** 
 
 " I know that the term, to coerce a State, is used 
 in an ad captandum manner. It is a sovereignty that 
 is to be crushed ! How is a State in the Union ? 
 What is her connection with it? All the connection 
 she has with the other States is that which is agreed 
 upon in the compact between the States. I do not 
 know whether you may consider it in the Union or 
 out of the Union, or whether 3-011 simply consider it a 
 connection or a disconnection with the other Stales ; 
 but to the extent that a State nullifies or sets aside 
 an}- law or any provision of the Constitution, to that 
 extent it lias dissolved its connection, and no more. 
 I think the States flint have passed their personal- 
 liberty bills, in violation of the Constitution of the 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 41 
 
 United States, coming in contact with the fugitive- 
 slave law, to that extent have dissolved their connec 
 tion, and to that extent it is revolution. But because 
 some of the free States have passed laws violative of 
 the Constitution ; because they have, to some extent, 
 dissolved their connection with this Government, does 
 that justify us of the South in following- that bad ex 
 ample ? Because they have passed personal-liberty 
 bills, and have, to that extent, violated the compact 
 which is reciprocal, shall we turn round, on the other 
 hand, and violate the Constitution by coercing them 
 to a compliance with it ? Will we do so ? 
 
 " Then -I come back to the starting point : let us 
 stand in the Union and upon the Constitution ; and 
 if anybody is to leave this Union, or violate its guar 
 anties, it shall be those who have taken the initiative, 
 and passed their personal-liberty bills. I am in the 
 Union, and intend to stay in it. I intend to hold on 
 to the Union, and the guaranties under which this 
 Union has grown ; and I do not intend to be driven 
 from it, nor out of it, by their unconstitutional enact 
 ments. 
 
 " Then, Mr. President, suppose, for instance, that a 
 fugitive is arrested in the State of Vermont to-mor 
 row, and under the personal-liberty bill of that State, 
 or the law I do not remember its precise title now 
 which prevents, or is intended to prevent, the faithful 
 execution of the fugitive-slave law, Vermont under 
 takes to rescue him, and prevent the enforcement of 
 the law : what is it? It is nullification ; it is resist 
 ance to the laws of the United States made in con 
 formity with the Constitution ; it is rebellion ; and it 
 is the duty of the President of the United States to en- 
 
42 ANDKEW JOHNSON. 
 
 force the law, at all hazards and to the last extremity. 
 And if the Federal Government fails or refuses to exe 
 cute the laws made in conformity with the Constitu 
 tion, and those States persist in their violation and let 
 those unconstitutional acts remain upon their statute- 
 books, and carry them into practice ; if the Govern 
 ment, on the one hand, fails to execute the laws of the 
 United States, and those States, by their enactments, 
 violate them on the other, the Government is at an 
 
 end, and the parties are all released from the compact 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 " I think it will be determined by the courts and by 
 the judgment of the country, that the acts passed in 
 1850 and 1858 by the Legislature of Vermont are a 
 violation, a gross, palpable violation of the Constitu 
 tion of the United States. It is clear and conclusive 
 to my mind, that a State passing an unconstitutional 
 act, intended to impede or to prevent the execution 
 of a law passed by the Congress of the United States 
 which is constitutional, is thereby placed, so far as 
 the initiative is concerned, in a state of rebellion. It 
 is an open act of nullification. I am not aware that 
 there has been any attempt in Vermont to wrest any 
 persons out of the hands of the officers of the United 
 States, or to imprison or to fine any person under the 
 operation of this law ; but the passage of such an 
 act is to initiate rebellion. I think it comes in con 
 flict directly with the spirit and letter of the Constitu 
 tion of the United States, and to that extent is an 
 act of nullification, and places the State in open rebel 
 lion to the United States. 
 
 ***** 
 
 " President Washington thought there was power 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 43 
 
 in this Government to execute its laws ; he *con- 
 sidered the militia the army of the Constitution ; and 
 he. refers to this Union as being inseparable. This 
 is the way that the laws were executed by the Father 
 of his Country, the man who sat as president of the 
 convention that made the Constitution. Here was 
 resistance interposed opposition to the execution of 
 the laws ; and George Washington, then President 
 of the United States, went in person at the head of 
 the militia ; and it showed his sagacity, his correct 
 comprehension of men, and the effect that an imme 
 diate movement of that kind would have upon them. 
 He ordered fifteen thousand of his countrymen to the 
 scene of action, and went there in person, and stayed 
 there till he was satisfied that the insurrection was 
 quelled. That is the manner in which George Wash 
 ington put down. rebellion. That is the manner in 
 which he executed the laws. 
 
 " Here, then, we find General Washington exe 
 cuting the law, in 1795, against a portion of the 
 citizens of Pennsylvania who rebelled ; and, I repeat 
 the question, where is the difference between exe 
 cuting the law upon a part and upon the whole? 
 Suppose the whole of Pennsylvania had rebelled and 
 resisted the excise law ; had refused to pay taxes on 
 distilleries ; was it not as competent and as consti 
 tutional for General Washington to have executed 
 the law against the whole as against a part? Is 
 there any difference ? Governmental affairs must be 
 practical as well as our own domestic affairs. You 
 may make nice metaphysical distinctions between the 
 practical operations of Government and its theory ; 
 you may refine upon what is a State, and point out 
 
44 ANDREW JO i IN SOX. 
 
 a difference between a State and a portion of a State ; 
 but what is it when you reduce it to practical oper 
 ation, and square it by common sense ? 
 
 "In 1832, resistance was interposed to laws of 
 the United States in another State. An ordinance 
 was passed by South Carolina, assuming to act as 
 a sovereign State, to nullify a law of the United 
 States. In 1833, the distinguished man who filled 
 the executive chair, who now lies in his silent grave, 
 loved and respected for his virtue, his honor, his in- 
 tegrit} r , his patriotism, his undoubted courage, and 
 his devotion to his kind, with an eye single to the 
 promotion of his country s best interests, issued the 
 proclamation, extracts from which I have already 
 presented. He was sworn to support the Constitu 
 tion, and to see that the laws were faithfully exe 
 cuted ; and he fulfilled the obligation. He took all 
 the steps necessary to secure the execution of the 
 law, and he would have executed it by the power 
 of the Government if the point of time had arrived 
 when it was necessary to resort to that power. AVe 
 can see that he acted upon principles similar to those 
 acted upon by General Washington. He took the 
 precaution of ordering a force there sufficient for the 
 purpose of enabling him to say effectually to the re 
 bellious, and those who were interposing opposition 
 to the execution of the laws, The laws which are 
 made according to the Constitution, the laws that 
 provide for the collection of the revenue to sustain 
 this Government, must be enforced, and the revenue 
 must be collected. It is a part of the compact ; it 
 is a part of the engagement you have undertaken to 
 perform, and you of your own will have no power or 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 45 
 
 authority to set it aside. The duties were collected ; 
 the law was enforced ; and the Government went on. 
 In his proclamation he made a powerful appeal. He 
 told them what would be done ; and it would have 
 been done, as certain as God rules on high, if the 
 time had arrived which made it necessary. 
 
 " Then we see where General Washing-ton stood, 
 and where General Jackson stood. Now, how does 
 the present case stand ? The time has come when 
 men should speak out. Duties are mine ; conse 
 quences are God s. I intend to discharge my duty, 
 and I intend to avow my understanding of the Con 
 stitution and the laws of the country. Have we no 
 authority or power to execute the laws in the State 
 of South Carolina as well as in Vermont and Penn 
 sylvania ? I think we have. As 1 before said, al 
 though a State may, by an ordinance, or by a resolve, 
 or by an act of any other kind, declare that they ab 
 solve their citizens from all allegiance to this Govern 
 ment, it does not release them from the compact. The 
 compact is reciprocal ; and they, in coming into it, 
 undertook to perform certain duties and abide by the 
 laws made in conformity with the compact. Now, 
 sir, what is the Government to do in South Carolina ? 
 If South Carolina undertakes to drive the Federal 
 courts out of that State, the Federal Government has 
 the right to hold those courts there. She may attempt 
 to exclude the mails, yet the Federal Government has 
 the right to establish post-offices and post-roads, and 
 to carry the mails there. She may resist the collec 
 tion of revenue at Charleston, or any other point that 
 the Government has provided for its collection ; but 
 the Government has the right to collpct it and to 
 
46 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 enforce the law. She may undertake to take posses 
 sion of the property belonging 1 to the Government, 
 which was originally ceded by the State, but the 
 Federal Government has the right to provide the 
 means for retaining possession of that property. If 
 she makes an advance cither to dispossess the Gov 
 ernment of that which it has purchased, or to resist 
 the execution of the revenue laws, or of our judicial 
 system, or the canning of the mails, or the exercise 
 of any other power conferred on the Federal Govern 
 ment, she puts herself in the wrong, and it will be 
 the duty of the Government to see that the laws are 
 faithfully executed. 
 
 * # * # * # 
 
 " We are told that certain States will go out and 
 tear this accursed Constitution into fragments, and 
 drag the pillars of this mighty edifice down upon us, 
 and involve us all in one common ruin. Will the 
 Border States submit to such a threat ? No. But if 
 they do not come into the movement, the pillars of 
 this stupendous fabric of human freedom and great 
 ness and goodness are to be pulled down, and all will 
 be involved in one common ruin. Such is the threat 
 ening language used. You shall come into our Con 
 federacy, or we will coerce you to the emancipation 
 of your slaves. That is the language which is held 
 towards us. 
 
 " There are many ideas afloat about this threat 
 ened dissolution, and it is time to speak out. The 
 question arises, in reference to the protection and pre 
 servation of the institution of slavery, whether dis 
 solution is a remedy, or will give to it protection. I 
 avow here, to-day, that if I were an Abolitionist, and 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 47 
 
 wanted to accomplish the overthrow and abolition of 
 the institution of slavery in the Southern States, the 
 first step that I would take would be .to break the 
 bonds of this Union, and dissolve this Government. 
 I believe the continuance of slavery depends upon the 
 preservation of this Union, and a compliance with 
 all the guaranties of the Constitution. I believe an 
 interference with it will break up the Union ; and I 
 believe a dissolution of the Union will, in the end, 
 though it may be some time to come, overthrow the 
 institution of slavery. Hence we find so many in 
 the North who desire the dissolution of these States, 
 as the most certain, and direct, and effectual means 
 of overthrowing the institution of slavery. 
 
 " What protection would it be to us to dissolve 
 this Union ? What protection would it be to us to 
 convert this nation into two hostile powers, the one 
 warring with the other? Whose property is at 
 stake ? Whose interest is endangered ? Is it not 
 the property of the border States? Suppose Canada 
 were moved down upon our border, and the two sep 
 arated sections, then different nations, were hostile : 
 what would the institution of slavery be worth on 
 the border? Every man who has common sense will 
 see that the institution would take up its march and 
 retreat, as certainly and as unerringly as general 
 laws can operate. Yes ; it would commence to re 
 treat the very moment this Union was divided into 
 two hostile powers, and you made the line between 
 the slaveholding and non-slaveholding States the line 
 of division. 
 
 " Then, what remedy do we get for the institution 
 of slavery ? Must we keep up a standing army ? 
 
48 ANDREW JOHNSUX. 
 
 Must we keep up forts bristling with arms along the 
 whole border ? This is a question to be considered, 
 one that involves the future ; and no step should be 
 taken without mature reflection. Before this Union 
 is dissolved and broken up, we in Tennessee, as one 
 of the Slave States, want to be consulted ; we want 
 to know what protection we are to have ; whether 
 we are simply to be made outposts and guards to 
 protect the property of others, at the same time that 
 we sacrifice and lose our own. We want to under 
 stand this question. 
 
 " Again : if there is one division of the States, will 
 there not be more than one ? I heard a senator say, 
 the other day, that he would rather see this Govern 
 ment separated into thirty-three fractional parts than 
 to see it consolidated ; but when you once begin to 
 divide, when the first division is made, who can tell 
 when the next will be made ? When these States are 
 all turned loose, and a different condition of things is 
 presented, with complex and abstruse interests to be 
 considered, and weighed, and understood, what com 
 binations may take place no one can tell. I am op 
 posed to the consolidation of government, and I am 
 as much for the reserved rights of States as any one ; 
 but, rather than see this Union divided into thirty- 
 three petty governments, with a little prince in one, 
 a potentate in another, a little aristocracy in a third, 
 a little democracy in a fourth, and a republic some 
 where else ; a citizen not being able to pass from one 
 State to another without a passport or a commission 
 from his government ; with quarrelling and warring 
 amongst the little petty powers, which would result 
 in anarchy ; 1 would rather see this Government to- 
 
SERVICES AXD SPEECHES. 49 
 
 day I proclaim it here in my place converted into 
 a consolidated government. It would be better for 
 the American people ; it would be better for our 
 kind ; it would be better for humanity ; better for 
 Christianity ; better for all that tends to elevate and 
 ennoble man, than breaking up this splendid, this 
 magnificent, this stupendous fabric of human govern 
 ment, the most perfect that the world ever saw, and 
 which has succeeded thus far without a parallel in 
 the history of the world. 
 
 ****** 
 
 " I throw these out as considerations. There will 
 be various projects and various combinations made. 
 Memphis is now connected with Norfolk, in the Old 
 Dominion ; Memphis is connected with Baltimore 
 within two days. Here is a coast that lets us out to 
 the commerce of the world. When we look around 
 in the four States of Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, 
 and Maryland, there are things about which our mem 
 ories, our attachments, and our associations linger 
 with pride and pleasure. Go down into the Old Do 
 minion ; there is the place where, in It 81, Cornwallis 
 surrendered his sword to the immortal Washington. 
 In the bosom of her soil are deposited her greatest 
 and best sons. Move along in that trail, and there 
 we find Jefferson, and Madison, and Monroe, and a 
 long list of worthies. 
 
 " We come next to old North Carolina, my native 
 State, God bless her 1 She is my mother. Though 
 she was not my cherishing mother, to use the lan 
 guage of the classics, she is the mother whom I love, 
 and I cling to her with undying affection, as a son 
 should cling to an affectionate mother. We find 
 3 
 
50 ANUIIEW JOHNSON. 
 
 Macon, who was associated with our parly history ^ 
 deposited in her soil. Go to Kind s Mi unit a in, on her 
 borders, and you there iind the place on which the 
 battle was fought that turned the tide of the Revolu 
 tion. Yes, within her borders the signal battle was 
 fought that turned the tide which resulted in the sur 
 render of Cornwallis at Yorktovvn, in the Old Domin 
 ion. 
 
 " Travel on a little further, and we get back to Ten 
 nessee. I shall be as modest as I can in reference to 
 her, but she has some associations that make her dear 
 to the people of the United States. In Tennessee we 
 have our own illustrious Jackson. There he sleeps 
 that Jackson who issued his proclamation in 1833, 
 and saved this Government. \Ve have our Polk and 
 our Grundy, and a long list of others who are worthy 
 of remembrance. 
 
 " And who lie in Kentucky ? Your Ilardings, your 
 Boones, your Roanes, your Clays, are among the 
 dead ; your CRITTEXDEX among the living. All are 
 identified, and associated with the history of the 
 country. 
 
 " Maryland has her Carroll of Carrollton, and a 
 long list of worthies, who are embalmed in the hearts 
 of the American people. And you are talking about 
 breaking up this Republic, with this cluster of asso 
 ciations, these ties of affection, around you. May we 
 not expect that some means may be devised by which 
 it can be held together ? 
 
 " Here, too, in the centre of the Republic, is the 
 seat of government, which was founded by Wash 
 ington, and bears his immortal name. Who dare ap 
 propriate it exclusively ? It is within the borders of 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 51 
 
 the States I have enumerated, in whose limits are 
 found the graves of Washington, of Jackson, of Polk, 
 of Clay. From them is it supposed that we will be 
 torn away ? No, sir ; we will cherish these endearing 
 associations with the hope, if this Republic shall be 
 broken, that we may speak words of peace and recon 
 ciliation to a distracted, a divided, I may add, a mad 
 dened people. Angry waves may be lashed into fury 
 on the one hand ; on the other blustering winds may 
 rage ; but we stand immovable upon our basis, as on 
 our own native mountains presenting their craggy 
 brows, their unexplored caverns, their summits rock- 
 ribbed, and ancient as the sun/ we stand speaking 
 peace, association, and concert to a distracted Re 
 public. 
 
 " But, Mr. President, will it not be well, before we 
 break up this great Government, to inquire what kind 
 of a government this new government in the South is 
 to be, with which we are threatened unless we involve 
 our destinies with this rash and precipitate move 
 ment ? What intimation is there in reference to its 
 character ? Before my State and those States of 
 which I have been speaking, go into a Southern or 
 Northern confederacy, ought they not to have some 
 idea of the kind of government that is to be formed ? 
 What are the intimations in the South in reference to 
 the formation of a new government ? The language 
 of some speakers is, that they want a Southern gov 
 ernment obliterating all State lines a government of 
 consolidation. It is alarming and distressing to en 
 tertain the proposition here. What ruin and disaster 
 would follow, if we are to have a consolidated gov 
 ernment here ! But the idea is afloat and current in 
 
52 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 the South that a Southern government is to be estab 
 lished, in the language of, some of the speakers in the 
 State of Georgia, obliterating all State lines. Is 
 that the kind of entertainment to which the people are 
 to be invited ? Is that the kind of government under 
 which we are to pass ; and are we to be forced to 
 emancipate our slaves unless we go into it ? Another 
 suggestion in reference to a Southern government is, 
 that we shall have a Southern Confederacy of great 
 strength and power, with a constitutional provision 
 preventing any State from changing its domestic in 
 stitutions without the consent of three-fourths, or some 
 great number to be fixed upon. Is that the kind of 
 government under which we want to pass ? I avow 
 here, that, so far as I am concerned, I will never enter, 
 witn my consent, any government, North or South, 
 less republican, less democratic, than the one under 
 which we now live. 
 
 ***** 
 " If there are grievances, why cannot we all go to 
 gether, and write them down, and point them out to 
 our Northern friends, after we have agreed on what 
 those grievances are, and say : Here is what we de 
 mand ; here our wrongs are enumerated ; upon these 
 terms we have agreed ; and now, after we have given 
 yon a Reasonable time to consider these additional 
 guaranties in order to protect ourselves against these 
 wrongs, if you refuse them, then, having made an 
 honorable effort, having exhausted all other means, 
 we may declare the association to be broken up, and 
 we may go into an act of revolution. We can then 
 say to them : You have refused to give us guaran 
 ties that we think are needed for the protection of 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 53 
 
 our institutions and for the protection of our other 
 interests. When they do this, I will go as far as he 
 who goes the furthest. 
 
 " I tell them here to-day, if they do not do it, Ten 
 nessee will be found standing- as firm and unyielding 
 in her demands for those guaranties, in the way a 
 State should stand, as any other State in this Con 
 federacy. She is not quite so belligerent now. She 
 is not making quite so much noise. She is not as 
 blustering as Sempronius was" in the council in Addi- 
 son s play of Cato/ who declared that his voice 
 was still for war. There was another character 
 there, Lucius, who was called upon to state what his 
 opinions were ; and he replied that he must confess 
 his thoughts were turned on peace ; but when the 
 extremity came, Lucius, who was deliberative, who 
 was calm, and whose thoughts were upon peace, was 
 found true to the interests of his country. He proved 
 himself to be a man and a soldier ; while the other 
 was a traitor and, a coward. We will do our duty ; 
 we will stand upon principle, and defend it to the last 
 extremity. 
 
 " We do not think, though, that we have just cause 
 for going out of the Union now. We have just cause 
 of complaint ; but we are for remaining in the Union, 
 and fighting the battle like men. We do not intend 
 to be cowardly, and turn our backs on our own 
 camps. We intend to stay and fight the battle here 
 upon this consecrated ground. Why should we re 
 treat ? Because Mr. Lincoln has been elected Presi 
 dent of the United States ? Is this any cause why 
 we should retreat ? Does not every man, senator or 
 otherwise, know, that if Mr. Breckinridge had been 
 
54: ANDREW .JOHN SOX. 
 
 elected we should not be to-day for dissolving 1 the 
 Union ? Then what is the issue ? It is because we 
 have not got our man. If we had got onr man, we 
 should not have been for breaking 1 up the Union ; but 
 as Mr. Lincoln is elected, we are for breaking 1 up the 
 Union ! I say no. Let us show ourselves men, and 
 men of courage. 
 
 " How has Mr. Lincoln been elected, and how IKIVC 
 Mr. Breckinridge and Mr. Douglas been defeated ? 
 By the votes of the American people, cast according 
 to the Constitution and the forms of law, though it 
 has been upon a sectional issue. It is not the first 
 time in our history that two candidates have been 
 elected from the same section of country. General 
 Jackson and Mr. Calhoun were elected on the same 
 ticket ; but nobody considered that cause of dissolu 
 tion. They were from the South. I oppose the sec 
 tional spirit that has produced the election of Lincoln 
 and Ilamlin, yet it has been done according* to the 
 Constitution and according to the*iorms of law. I 
 believe we have the pow r er in our own hands, and I 
 am not willing to shrink from the responsibility of 
 exercising that power. 
 
 " How has Lincoln been elected, and upon what 
 basis docs he stand ? A minority President by 
 nearly a million votes ; but had the election taken 
 place upon the plan proposed in my amendment of 
 the Constitution, by districts, he would have been 
 this day defeated. But it has been done according 
 to the Constitution and according to law. I am for 
 abiding by the Constitution ; and in abiding by it I 
 want to maintain and retain my place here, and put 
 down Mr. Lincoln, and drive back his advances upon 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 55 
 
 Southern institutions, if he designs to make any. 
 Have we not got the brakes in our hands ? Have 
 we not got the power ? We have. Let South Caro 
 lina send her senators back ; let all the senators 
 come ; and on the fourth of March next we shall 
 have a majority of six in this body against him. 
 This successful sectional candidate, who is in a mi 
 nority of a million, or nearly so, on the popular vote, 
 cannot make his Cabinet on the fourth of March next, 
 unless the Senate will permit him. 
 
 "Am I to be so great a coward as to retreat from 
 duty? I will stand here and meet the encroach 
 ments upon the institutions of my country at the 
 threshold ; and as a man, as one that loves my coun 
 try and my constituents, I will stand here and resist 
 all encroachments and advances. Here is the place 
 to stand. Shall I desert the citadel, and let the en 
 emy come in and take possession ? No. Can Mr. 
 Lincoln send a foreign minister, or even a consul, 
 abroad, unless he receives the sanction of the Senate? 
 Can he appoint a postmaster whose salary is over a 
 thousand dollars a year without the consent of the 
 Senate ? Shall we desert our posts, shrink from our 
 responsibilities, and permit Mr, Lincoln to come with 
 his cohorts, as we consider them, from the North, to 
 carry off every thing ? Are we so cowardly that 
 now that we are defeated, not conquered, we shall 
 do this ? Yes, we are defeated according to the 
 forms of law and the Constitution ; but the real vic 
 tory is ours the moral force is with us. Are we 
 going to desert that noble and that patriotic band 
 who have stood by us at the North, who have stood 
 by us upon principle, and upon the Constitution ? 
 
50 A.NDKEW JOIIXriON. 
 
 They stood by us, and fought the buttle upon prin 
 ciple ; and now that we have been defeated, not con 
 quered, are we to turn our backs upon them and 
 leave them to their fate ? I, for one, will not. I in 
 tend to stand by them. How many votes did we get 
 in the North ? We "got more votes in the North 
 against Lincoln than the entire Southern States cast. 
 Are they not able and faithful allies ? They are ; 
 and now, on account of this temporary defeat, are 
 we to turn our backs upon them and leave them to 
 their fate ? 
 
 "We find, when all the North is summed up, that 
 Mr. Lincoln s majority there is only about two hun 
 dred thousand on the popular vote ; and when that 
 is added to the other vote cast throughout the Union, 
 he stands to-day in a minority of nearly a million 
 votes. What, then, is necessary to be done ? To 
 stand to our posts like men, and act upon principle ; 
 stand for the country ; and in four years from this 
 day, Lincoln and his administration will be turned 
 out the worst-defeated and broken-down party that 
 ever came into power. It is an inevitable result 
 from the combination of elements that now exist. 
 What cause, then, is there to break up the Union ? 
 What reason is there for deserting our posts, and de 
 stroying this greatest and best government that was 
 ever spoken into existence ? 
 
 " I voted against him ; I spoke against him j I spent, 
 my money to defeat him ; but still I love my coun 
 try ; I love the Constitution ; I intend to insist upon 
 its guaranties. There, and there alone, I intend to 
 plant myself, with the confident hope and belief that 
 if the Union remains together, in less than four years 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 57 
 
 the now triumphant party will be overthrown. In 
 less time, I have the hope and belief that we shall 
 unite and agree upon our grievances here and de 
 mand their redress, not as suppliants at the footstool 
 of power, but as parties to a great compact ; we shall 
 say that we want additional^guaranties, and that 
 they are necessary to the preservation of this Union ; 
 and then, when they are refused deliberately and 
 calmly, if we cannot do better, let the South go to 
 gether, and let the North go together, and let us 
 have a division of this Government without the shed 
 ding of blood, if such a thing be possible ; let us 
 have a division of the property ; let us have a divi 
 sion of the navy ; let us have a division of the army, 
 and of the public lands. Let it be done in peace, and 
 in a spirit that should characterize arid distinguish 
 this people. I believe we can obtain all our guaran 
 ties. I believe there is too much good sense, too 
 much intelligence, too much patriotism, too much 
 capability, too much virtue, in the great mass of peo 
 ple to permit this Government to be overthrown. 
 
 " I have an abiding faith, I have an unshaken con 
 fidence, in man s capability to govern himself. I will 
 not give up this Government that is now called an 
 experiment, which some are prepared to abandon for 
 a constitutional monarchy. No ; I intend to stand 
 by it, and I entreat every man throughout the nation 
 who is a patriot, and who has seen, and is compelled 
 to admit, the success of this great experiment, to 
 come forward, not in heat, not in fanaticism, not in 
 haste, not in precipitancy, but in deliberation, in full 
 view of all that is before us, in the spirit of brotherly 
 love and fraternal affection, and rally around the 
 
58 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 altar of our common country, and lay the Constitution 
 upon it as our last libation, and swear by our God, 
 and all that is sacred and holy, that the Constitution 
 shall be saved and the Union preserved. Yes, in the 
 language of the departed Jackson, let us exclaim 
 that the Union, theflFederal Union, it must be pre 
 served. 
 
 " Are we likely, when we get to ourselves, North 
 and South, to sink into brotherly love ? Are we 
 likely to be as harmonious in that condition as some 
 suppose ? I am sometimes impressed with the force 
 of Mr. Jefferson s remark, that we may as well keep 
 the North to quarrel with ; for if we have no North 
 to quarrel with, we shall quarrel among ourselves. 
 We are a sort of quarrelsome, pugnacious people ; 
 and if we cannot get a quarrel from one quarter, we 
 shall have it from another ; and I would rather quar 
 rel a little now with the North than be quarrelling 
 with ourselves. What did a senator say here in the 
 American Senate, only a few days ago, because the 
 governor of a Southern State was refusing to con 
 vene the Legislature to hasten this movement that 
 was going on throughout the South, and because he 
 objected to that course of conduct? The question 
 was asked, if there was not some Texan Brutus that 
 would rise up and rid the country of the hoary-headed 
 traitor ! This is the language that a senator used. 
 This is the way we begin to speak of Southern gov 
 ernors. Yes ; to remove an obstacle in our way, we 
 must have a modern Brutus, who will go to the capital 
 of a State and assassinate a governor to accelerate 
 the movement. If we are so unscrupulous in refer 
 ence to ourselves, and in reference to the means we 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 59 
 
 are willing to employ to consummate this dissolution, 
 then it does riot look very much like harmony among 
 ourselves after we get out of it. 
 
 "Mr. President, I have said much more than I antici 
 pated when I commenced, and I have spoken more 
 at length than a regard for my own health and 
 strength would have allowed ; but if there is any 
 effort of mine that would preserve this Government 
 till there is time to think, till there is time to con 
 sider, even if it cannot be preserved any longer ; if 
 that end could be secured by making a sacrifice of 
 my existence and offering up my blood, I would be 
 willing to consent to it. Let us pause in this mad 
 career; let us hesitate. Let us consider well what we 
 are doing before we make a movement, I believe 
 that, to a certain extent, dissolution is going to take 
 place. I say to the North, you ought to come up in 
 the spirit which should characterize and control the 
 North on this question; and you ought to give those 
 indications of good faith that will approach what the 
 South demands. It will be no sacrifice on your part. 
 It is no suppliancy on ours, but simply a demand of 
 right. What concession is there in doing right? 
 Then, come forward. We have it in our power yes, 
 this Congress here to-day has it in its power to save 
 this Union, even after South Carolina has gone out. 
 Will they not do it ? You can do it. Who is willing 
 to take the dreadful alternative without making an 
 honorable effort to save this Government ? This 
 Congress has it in its power to-day to arrest this 
 thing, at least for a season, until there is time to con 
 sider about it, until we can act discreetly and pru 
 dently, and I believe arrest it altogether. 
 
60 AXDRKW JOHXHON. 
 
 " Shall we give all this up to the Vandals and the 
 Goths ? Shall we shrink from our duty, and desert 
 the Government as a sinking ship, or shall we stand 
 by it? I, for one, will stand here until the high be 
 hest of my constituents demands of me to desert my 
 post ; and instead of laying hold of the columns of 
 this fabric and pulling it down, though I may not bo 
 much of a prop, I will stand with my shoulder sup 
 porting the edifice as long as human effort can do it. 
 
 " In saying what I have said on this occasion, Mr. 
 President, I have had in view the duty that I owe to 
 my constituents, to my children, to myself. Without 
 regard to consequences, I have taken my position ; 
 and when the tug comes, when Greek shall meet 
 Greek, and our rights are refused after all honorable 
 means have been exhausted, then it is that I will 
 perish in the last breach ; yes, in the language of the 
 patriot Emmet, I will dispute every inch of ground; 
 I will burn every blade of grass ; and the last in- 
 trenchment of Freedom shall be my grave. Then, 
 let us stand by the Constitution ; and in preserving 
 the Constitution we shall save the Union; and in 
 saving the Union, we save this the greatest Govern 
 ment on earth," 
 
SEKVICES AND SPEECHES. 61 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 THE HOMESTEAD BILL. 
 
 THE great triumph of President Johnson s con 
 gressional career is his advocacy and ultimately 
 successful championship of the famous Home 
 stead Bill. Thoughtful men had for years seen 
 the evil and condemned the policy of selling the 
 public domain in large sections to speculators 
 and monopolists, who merely held them for their 
 private and selfish gains. This feeling eventu 
 ated in the formation of the Land Eeform Asso 
 ciation, whose headquarters were in the city of 
 New York, with branches in various portions of 
 -the country. This society, whose organ was a 
 very ably conducted weekly paper, called Young 
 America, endeavored to enlighten the public 
 mind, and arouse the popular sentiment in rela 
 tion to the curse of land monopoly, and to point 
 out an easy and beneficent cure for the great and 
 growing evil. The plan recommended was to 
 donate the public lands to actual settlers in 
 limited quantities, upon condition of real resi 
 dence, improvement, and cultivation. This sys 
 tem, argued its advocates, would promote the 
 
2 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 growth of a landed democracy, founded upon the 
 possession and improvement of a homestead, and 
 forming the firmest support of a free government, 
 and the surest base of republican institutions. 
 
 Documents and papers urging this great and 
 patriotic policy upon public consideration were 
 forwarded to all members of the Federal Con 
 gress, but upon no one did it make the impres 
 sion produced upon the clear intellect, far-seeing 
 statesmanship, and purely Democratic proclivi 
 ties of Andrew Johnson. He immediately made 
 himself its especial champion, and fighting its 
 battle with characteristic courage, perseverance, 
 and ability, against great and bitter opposition, 
 he finally, after a struggle of twelve long years, 
 earned it through in triumph, and it is to-day 
 diffusing its blessings over the roofs and hearth 
 stones of thousands of contented and happy 
 families. 
 
 The speech of President Johnson upon the 
 Homestead Bill, delivered in the Senate, May 
 20th, 1858, is so full of elevated statesmanship, 
 and so clear and powerful an exposition of the 
 entire merits of the question, that we give it to 
 our readers entire, for no abstract or analysis 
 can be made of its arguments and illustrations, 
 without failing in justice to its compact and 
 forcible arrangement. 
 
 " MR. PRESIDENT The immediate proposition be 
 fore the Senate is an amendment offered by the lion- 
 
SEKVICES AND SPEECHES. 63 
 
 orable senator from North Carolina,* which provides 
 that there shall be a land-warrant issued to each 
 head of a family, by the Secretary of the Interior, and 
 distributed among those who do not emigrate to the 
 public domain, and take possession of and cultivate 
 the land for the term of years specified in the bill. I 
 have something to say in reference to that amend 
 ment, but I will not say it in this connection. I will 
 take it up in its order. I propose, in the first place, 
 to explain briefly the provisions of the bill. 
 
 " The first section provides for granting one hun 
 dred and sixty acres of land to every head of a family 
 who will emigrate to any of the public domain and 
 settle upon it, and cultivate it for a term of five years. 
 Upon those fa^ts being made known to the register of 
 the land-office, the emigrant is to be entitled to obtain 
 a patent. The second section provides that he shall 
 make an affidavit, and show to the satisfaction of the 
 officer that his entry is made in good faith, and that 
 his intention is to cultivate the soil and become an 
 actual settler. The sixth section of the bill provides 
 that any person who is now an inhabitant of the 
 United States, but not a citizen, if he makes applica 
 tion, and in the course of five years becomes a citizen 
 of the United States, shall be placed on a footing of 
 equality with the native-born citizens of the country 
 in this respect. The third section provides that those 
 entries shall be confined to land that has been in mar 
 ket, and subjected to private entry ; and that the per 
 sons entering the land shall be confined to each alter 
 nate section. 
 
 * Mr. Clingman. 
 
64 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 " These are substantially the leading provisions of 
 this bill. It docs not proceed upon the idea, as some 
 suppose, of making a donation or gift of the public 
 land to the settler. It proceeds upon the principle of 
 consideration; and I conceive, and I think many 
 others do, that the individual who emigrates to the 
 West, and reclaims and reduces to cultivation one 
 hundred and sixty acres of the public domain, subject 
 ing himself to all the privations and hardships of such 
 a life, pays the highest consideration for his land. 
 
 "But, before I say more on this portion of the sub 
 ject, I desire to premise a little by giving the history 
 of this homestead proposition. Some persons from 
 my own region of the country, or, in other words, 
 from the South, have thrown out the intimation that 
 this is a proposition which partakes, to some extent, 
 of the nature of the Emigrant Aid Society, and is to 
 operate injuriously to the Southern States. For the 
 purpose of making the starting-point right, I want to 
 go back and show when this proposition was first in 
 troduced into the Congress of the United States. I am 
 not sure but that the Presiding Officer* remembers 
 well the history of this measure. 
 
 " In 1846, on the 27th day of March, long before we 
 had any emigrant aid societies, long before we had 
 the compromises of 1850 in reference to the slavery 
 question, long before we had any agitation on the sub 
 ject of slavery in 185-4, long before we had any agita 
 tion upon it in 1858, this proposition made its advent 
 into the House of Representatives. It met with con 
 siderable opposition. It scarcely received serious 
 
 * Mr. Foot, of Vermont, in tlio chair. 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 65 
 
 consideration for a length of time ; but the measure 
 was pressed until the public mind took hold of it ; and 
 it was still pressed until the 12th day of May, 1852, 
 when it passed that body by a two-thirds vote. Thus 
 we see that its origin and its consummation, so far as 
 the House of Representatives was concerned, had 
 nothing to do with North or South, but proceeded 
 upon that great principle which interests every man 
 in this country, and which, in the end, secures and 
 provides for him a home. By putting these dates to 
 gether, it will be perceived that it was just six years, 
 five months, and fifteen days from the introduction of 
 this bill until its passage by the House of Represen 
 tatives. 
 
 " I shall not detain the Senate by any lengthy re 
 marks on the general principles of the bill ; for I do 
 not intend to be prolix, or to consume much of the 
 Senate s time. What is the origin of the. great idea 
 of a homestead of land ? We find, on turning to the 
 first law-writer and I think one of the best, for we 
 are informed that he wrote by inspiration that he 
 advances the first idea on this subject. Moses made 
 use of the following language : 
 
 " The land shall not be sold forever ; for the land 
 is mine for ye are strangers and sojourners with 
 me. Leviticus, xxv. 23. 
 
 " We begin, then, with Moses. The next writer to 
 whom I will call the attention of the Senate is Yattel 
 one of the ablest, if not the ablest writer upon the 
 laws of nations. He lays down this great principle :* 
 
 " Of all the arts, tillage or agriculture is the most 
 
 * Vattel, Book I. ch. 7. 
 
G6 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 useful and necessary. It is the nursing-father of the 
 State. The cultivation of the earth causes it to pro 
 duce an infinite increase ; it forms the surest resource, 
 and the most solid fund of rich commerce for the 
 people who enjoy a happy climate. 
 
 " This atlair, then, deserves the utmost attention 
 from Government. The sovereign ought to neglect 
 no means of rendering the land under his obedience 
 as well cultivated as possible. He ought not to allow 
 either communities or private persons to acquire large 
 tracts of land to leave uncultivated. These rights of 
 common, which deprive the proprietor of the free lib 
 erty of disposing of his lands that will not allow him 
 to farm them, and cause them to be cultivated in the 
 most advantageous manner these rights, I say, are 
 contrary to the welfare of the State, and ought to be 
 suppressed or reduced to a just bound. The property 
 introduced among the citizens does not prevent the 
 nation s having a right to take the most effectual 
 measures to cause the whole country to produce the 
 greatest and most advantageous revenue possible. 
 
 " The Government ought carefully to avoid every 
 thing capable of discouraging husbandmen, or of di 
 verting them from the labors of agriculture. Those 
 taxes, those excessive and ill-proportioned impositions, 
 the burden of which falls almost entirely upon the 
 cultivators, and the vexations they suffer from the 
 commissioners who levy them, take from the unhappy 
 peasant the means of cultivating the earth, and de 
 populate the country. Spain is the most fertile and 
 the worst cultivated country in Europe. The Church 
 possesses too much land, and the undertakers of 
 I ojal magazines, who are authorized to purchase at 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 67 
 
 low prices all the corn they find in possession of a 
 peasant, above what is necessary for the subsistence 
 of his wife and family, so greatly discourage the hus 
 bandman, that he sows no more corn than is necessary 
 for the support of his own household. Whence 
 arises the greatest scarcity in a country capable of 
 feeding its neighbors. 
 
 " * Another abuse injurious to agriculture is, the 
 contempt cast upon husbandmen. The inhabitants of 
 cities, even the most servile artist and the most lazy 
 citizen, consider him who cultivates the soil with a 
 disdainful eye ; they humble and discourage him ; 
 they dare to despise a profession that feeds the human 
 race the natural employment of man. A stay-maker 
 places far beneath him the beloved employment of 
 the first consuls and dictators of Rome. 
 
 " China has wisely prevented this abuse. Agricul 
 ture is there held in honor; and to preserve this happy 
 manner of thinking, every year, on a solemn day, the 
 Emperor himself, followed by the whole court, sets 
 his hands to the plough and sows a small piece of land. 
 Hence China is the best cultivated country in the 
 world. It nourishes an innumerable multitude of 
 people that at first appears to the traveller too great 
 for the space they possess. 
 
 " The cultivation of the soil is not only to be recom 
 mended by the Government on account of the extra 
 ordinary advantages that flow from it, but from its 
 being an obligation imposed by nature on mankind. 
 The whole earth is appointed for the nourishment of 
 its inhabitants, but it would be incapable of doing it 
 was it uncultivated. Every nation is then obliged by 
 a law of nature to cultivate the ground that has fallen 
 
68 ANDREW JO] IN SON. 
 
 to its share, and it lias no right to expect or require 
 assistance from others, any i urther than the land in 
 its possession is incapable of furnishing it with neces 
 saries. Those people, like the ancient Germans and 
 modern Tartars, who, having fertile countries, disdain 
 to cultivate the earth, arid rather choose to live by 
 rapine, are wanting to themselves, and deserve to be 
 exterminated as savage and rapacious beasts. There 
 are others who avoid agriculture, who would only live 
 by hunting and flocks. This might doubtless be 
 allowed in the first ages of the world, when the earth 
 produced more than was sufficient to feed its few in 
 habitants; but at present, when the human race is so 
 greatly multiplied, it would not subsist if all nations 
 resolved to live in this manner. Those who still retain 
 this idle life usurp more extensive territories than 
 they would have occasion for were they to use honest 
 labor, and have, therefore, no reason to complain if 
 other nations, more laborious and too closely confined, 
 come to possess a part. Thus, though the conquest 
 of the civilized empires of Peru and Mexico was a 
 notorious usurpation, the establishment of many 
 colonies in North America may, on their confining 
 themselves within just bounds, be extremely lawful. 
 The people of those vast countries rather overran than 
 inhabited them. 
 
 " I propose next to cite the authority of General 
 Jackson, who was believed to be not only a friend to 
 the South but a friend to the Union. He inculcated 
 this great doctrine in his message of 1832 : 
 
 11 4 It cannot be doubtefl that the speedy settlement 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 69 
 
 of those lands constitutes the true interest of the 
 Republic. The wealth and strength of a country are 
 its population, and the best part of the population are 
 cultivators of the soil. Independent farmers are 
 everywhere the basis of society, and the true friends 
 of liberty. 
 
 ***** 
 " It seems to me to be our true policy that the 
 public lands shall cease, as soon as practicable, to be 
 a source of revenue; and that they be sold to settlers 
 in limited parcels, at prices barely sufficient to reim 
 burse the United States the expense of the present 
 system, and the cost arising from our Indian con 
 tracts. 7 
 
 ***** 
 
 " It is desirable, however, that the right of the soil, 
 and the future disposition of it, be surrendered to the 
 States respectively in which it lies. 
 
 " The adventurous and hardy population of the 
 West, besides contributing their equal share of taxa 
 tion under the impost system, have, in the progress of 
 our Government, for the lands they occupy, paid into 
 the treasury a large proportion of forty million dollars, 
 and of the revenue received therefrom but a small 
 portion has been expended among them. When, to 
 the disadvantage of their situation in this respect, we 
 add the consideration that it is their labor alone that 
 gives real value to the lands, and that the proceeds 
 arising from these sales are chiefly distributed among 
 States that had not originally any claim to them, and 
 which have enjoyed the undivided emoluments arising 
 from the sales of their own lands, it cannot be ex 
 pected that the new States will remain longer con- 
 
70 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 tented with the present policy, after the payment of 
 the public debt. To avert the consequences which 
 may be apprehended from this cause, to stop forever 
 all partial and interested legislation on this subject, 
 and to afford every American citizen of enterprise the 
 opportunity of securing an independent freehold, it 
 seems to me, therefore, best to abandon the idea of 
 raising a future revenue out of the public lands/ 
 
 " Thus we have standing before us, in advocacy of 
 this great principle, the first writer of laws, Moses ; 
 next we have Vattcl ; and in the third place we have 
 General Jackson. 
 
 " Xow, let us see whether there has been any home 
 stead policy in the United States. By turning to our 
 statutes, we find that the first homestead bill ever 
 introduced into the Congress of the United States was 
 in 1791. I know that it is said by some, and it is 
 sometimes cantingly and slurringly reiterated in the 
 newspapers, that this is a demagogical movement, 
 and that some person has introduced and advocates 
 this policy purely for the purpose of pleasing the 
 people. I want to see who some of these demagogues 
 are ; and, before I read the section of this statute, I 
 will refer, in connection with Jackson and those other 
 distinguished individuals, to the fact that Mr. Jeffer 
 son, the philosopher and statesman, recognized and 
 appreciated this great doctrine. In 1791, the first 
 bill passed by the Congress of the United States re 
 cognizing the homestead principle, is in the following 
 words : 
 
 " That four hundred acres of land be given 
 that is the language of the statute. We do not as 
 sume in this bill to give land. We assume that a 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 71 
 
 consideration passes ; but here was a law that was 
 based on the idea that four hundred acres of land were 
 to be given 
 
 " to each of those persons who, in the year 1783, 
 were heads of families at Vincennes, or the Illinois 
 country, or the Mississippi, and who, since that time, 
 have removed from one of the said places to the other; 
 but the Governor of the Territory northwest of the 
 Ohio is hereby directed to cause the same to be laid 
 out for them at their own expense, 7 etc. 
 
 "Another section of the same act provides 
 " That the heads of families at Vincennes, or in the 
 Illinois country, in the year 1783, who afterwards 
 removed without the limits of said territory, are 
 nevertheless entitled to the donation of four hundred 
 acres of land made by the resolve of Congress/ etc. 
 
 " That act recognized the principle embraced in the 
 homestead bill. If this is the idea of a demagogue, 
 if it is the idea of one catering or pandering to the 
 public sentiment to catch votes, it was introduced 
 into Congress in 1791, and received the approval of 
 Washington, the father of his country. I presume 
 that if he lived at this day, and were to approve the 
 measure, as he did in 1791, he would be branded, arid 
 put in the category of those persons who are denomi 
 nated demagogues. Under his administration there 
 was another bill passed of a similar import, recogniz 
 ing and carrying out the great homestead principle. 
 Thus we find that this policy, so far as legislation is 
 concerned, commenced with Washington, and received 
 his approval as early as 1791. From General Wash 
 ington s administration there are forty-four precedents, 
 running through every administration of this Govern- 
 
72 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 ment down to the present time, in which this principle 
 has been recognized and indorsed. 
 
 " We discover from this historical review that this 
 is no new idea, that it is no recent invention, that it 
 is no new movement for the purpose of making votes ; 
 but it is a principle well-nigh as old as the Govern 
 ment itself, which was indorsed and approved by 
 Washington himself. 
 
 " This would seem, Mr. President, to settle the 
 question of power. I know it has been argued by 
 some that Congress had not the power to make dona 
 tions of land ; but even the statute to which I have 
 referred makes use of the word give, without con 
 sideration. It was considered constitutional by the 
 early fathers to give away land. We proceed in this 
 bill upon the principle that there is a consideration. 
 If I were disposed to look for precedents, even for 
 the donations of the public lands, I could instance the 
 bounty-land act, I could take you through other acts 
 donating land, showing that the principle has been 
 recognized again and again, and that there is not 
 now a question as to its constitutionality. 
 
 " I believe there is a clear difference in the power 
 of the Federal Government in reference to its appro 
 priations of money and its appropriations of the public 
 land. The Congress of the United States has power 
 to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, 
 to pay the debts and provide for the common defence 
 and general welfare. I believe it has the power to 
 lay and collect duties for these legitimate purposes ; 
 but when taxes have been laid, collected, and paid 
 into the treasury, I do not think it has that general 
 scope or that latitude in the appropriation of money 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 3 
 
 that it has over the public lands. Once converted 
 into revenue, Congress can only appropriate the 
 revenue to the specific objects of the Constitution. 
 It may derive revenue from the public lands, and 
 being revenue, it can only be appropriated to the 
 purposes for which revenue is raised under the Con 
 stitution. 
 
 " But when we turn to another provision of the Con 
 stitution, we find that Congress has power to dis 
 pose of and make all needful rules and regulations 
 respecting the territory or other property belonging 
 to the United States. Congress has, in the organiza 
 tion of all the Territories and in the admission of new 
 States, recognized most clearly the principle of appro 
 priating the public lands for the benefit of schools, 
 colleges, and academies. It has granted the sixteenth 
 and thirty-sixth sections of every township for school 
 purposes ; it has granted lands for public buildings 
 and various other improvements. I am very clear on 
 this point, that in the disposition of the public lands 
 they should be applied to national purposes. If we 
 grant the public lands to actual settlers, so as to in 
 duce them to settle upon and cultivate them, can there 
 be any thing more national in its character ? What 
 is the great object of acquiring territory ? Is it not 
 for settlement and cultivation? We may acquire 
 territory by the exercise of the treaty-making power. 
 We may be engaged in a war, and as terms or con 
 ditions of peace we may make large acquisitions of 
 territory to the United States. But what is the great 
 idea and principle on which you acquire territory ? 
 Is it not to settle and cultivate it ? 
 
 " I am aware that the argument is used, if you can 
 4 
 
7-i ANDliEW JOHNSOX. 
 
 dispose of the public lands for this purpose or that 
 purpose, cannot you sell the public lands and apply 
 the proceeds to the same purpose ? I think there is 
 a clear distinction between the two cases. It is 
 equally clear to me that, if the Federal Government 
 can set apart the public lands for school purposes in 
 the new States, it can appropriate lands to enable the 
 parent to sustain the child whilst enjoying- the bene 
 fits conferred upon him by the Government in the 
 shape of education. The argument is as sound in 
 the one case as it is in the other. If we can grant 
 lands in the one case, we can in the other. If, with 
 out making a contract in advance, you can grant 
 your public lands as gratuities, as donations to men 
 who go out and light the battles of their country, 
 after the services have been rendered, is it not strange, 
 passing strange, that you cannot grant land to those 
 who till the soil and make provision to sustain your 
 army while it is fighting the battles of the country ? 
 It seems to me that the argument is clear. I do not 
 intend to argue the constitutional question, for I think 
 there can be really no doubt on that point. I do not 
 believe any one at this day will seriously make any 
 point on that ground against this bill. Is its purpose 
 a national one ? The great object is to induce persons 
 to cultivate the land, and thereby make the soil pro 
 ductive. By doing this, you induce hundreds of per 
 sons throughout the United States, who are now pro 
 ducing but little, to come in contact with the soil and 
 add to the productive capacity of the country, and 
 thereby promote the national weal. 
 
 " I come now to the amendment offered by the sena 
 tor from North Carolina. I have not looked over the 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 75 
 
 Globe this morning to read his remarks of yesterday; 
 but if I understood him correctly, he advocated the 
 proposition of issuing a warrant for a hundred and 
 sixty acres of land to each head of a family in the 
 United States. I am inclined to think the senator is 
 not serious in this proposition. It has been offered 
 on some occasions heretofore, and rejected by very 
 decided votes. Let us compare it with the proposi 
 tion of the bill. The idea of the honorable senator 
 seems to be that this bill was designed to force or 
 compel, to some extent, the citizens of other States to 
 go to the new States. Why, sir, there is no com 
 pulsory process in the bill. It leaves each man at his 
 own discretion, at his own free will, either to go or to 
 stay, just as it suits his inclinations. 
 
 " The senator seems to think too and the same 
 idea was advanced by his predecessor that at this 
 time such a measure would have a tendency to di 
 minish the revenue. He intimates that the nation is 
 now bankrupt, that we are borrowing money, that the 
 receipts from customs have been greatly diminished, 
 and that therefore it would be dangerous to pass this 
 bill, because it would have a tendency to diminish the 
 revenue. Let us compare the senator s proposition 
 and that of the bill, in this respect. His amendment 
 is to issue warrants to each head of a family. The 
 population of the United States is now estimated at 
 about twenty-eight millions. Let us assume, for the 
 sake of illustration, that there are three million heads 
 of families in the United States. His proposition, 
 then, is to issue and throw upon the market three 
 millions of warrants, each warrant entitling the holder 
 to one hundred and sixty acres of land. If that were 
 
70 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 done, and those warrants were thrown upon the mar 
 ket, what would they sell for? Little or nothing. If 
 such land-warrants were thrown broadcast over the 
 country, who would enter another acre of land at 
 $1.25 ? Would not the warrants pass into the hands 
 of land-speculators and monopolists at a merely nom 
 inal price ? Would they bring more than a quarter 
 of a dollar an acre ? If you were to throw three mil 
 lions of land-warrants into the market at one time, 
 would they bring 1 any tbmo- ? Then the effect of that 
 proposition \vou!d be t<> d>. but little good to those to 
 whom the u ;*rr;;iiT.< \VP;T issm < ! , : ;tnd by throwing 
 them into the marker, i( \v.,ul.{ <-nt otT the revenue 
 from public lands entirely, for no ^je. would enter 
 land for cash a* long as warrant^ could be bought. 
 That proposition, then, is to aid and feed speculation. 
 I do not say that is the motive or intention, but it is 
 the tendency and effect of the senator s proposition 
 to throw a large portion of the public lands into the 
 hands of speculators, and to cut them off from the 
 treasury as a source of revenue. 
 
 "But what does this bill propose? Will it dimin 
 ish the receipts into the treasury from the public 
 lands ? The bill provides that the entries under it 
 shall be confined to the alternate sections, and that 
 the person who obtains the benefit of the bill must be 
 an actual settler and cultivator. In proportion as you 
 settle and cultivate any portion of the public lands, 
 do you not enhance the value of the remaining sec 
 tions, and bring them into the market much sooner, 
 and obtain a better price for them than you would 
 without this bill ? What is the principle upon which 
 you have proceeded in all the railroad grants you 
 
SERVICES AND Sl KKCUKS. 77 
 
 have made? They have been defended upon the 
 ground that by granting alternate sections for rail 
 roads, you thereby brought the remaining lands into 
 the market, and enabled the Government to realize its 
 means at a much earlier period, making the remainder 
 of the public lands more valuable than they were be 
 fore. This bill proceeds upon the same idea. You 
 have granted an immense amount of lands to railroads 
 on this principle, and now why not do something for 
 the people ? 
 
 " I say, that instead of wasting the public lands, 
 instead of reducing the receipts into the treasury, this 
 bill would increase them. In the first place, it will 
 enhance the value of the reserved quarter-sections. 
 This may be illustrated by an example. In 1848 we 
 had nine million quarter-sections ; in 1858 we have 
 about seven millions. Let us suppose that our popu 
 lation is twenty-eight millions, and that under the 
 operation of this bill one million heads of families who 
 are now producing but very little, and who have no 
 land to cultivate, and very scanty means of subsist 
 ence, shall each have a quarter-section of land, what 
 will the effect be ? At present these persons pay 
 little or nothing for the support of the Federal Gov 
 ernment, under the operation of our tariff system, for 
 the reason that they have not got much to buy with. 
 How much does the land yield to the Government 
 while it is lying in a state of nature, uncultivated? 
 Nothing at all. At the rate we have been selling the 
 public lands, about three million dollars worth a year, 
 estimating them at $1.25 an acre, it will take a frac 
 tion less than seven hundred years to dispose of the 
 public domain. 
 
TS 
 
 " I will take a case that will demonstrate as clearly 
 as the simplest sum in arithmetic Unit this is a reve 
 nue measure. Let us take a million families who can 
 now hardly procure the necessaries of life, and place 
 them each on a quarter-section of land, how long 
 will it be before their condition will be improved so 
 us to make them able to contribute something to the 
 support of the Government ? Now, here is soil pro 
 ducing nothing, here are hands producing but little. 
 Transfer the man from the point where he is produ 
 cing nothing, bring him in contact with a hundred and 
 sixty acres of productive .soil, and how long will it be 
 before that man changes his condition? As soon as 
 he gets upon the land he begins to make his improve 
 ments, he clears out his field, arid the work of produc 
 tion is commenced. In a short time he has a crop, he 
 has stock and other things that result from bringing 
 his physical labor in contact with the soil. He has 
 the products of his labor and his land, and he is en 
 abled to exchange them for articles of consumption. 
 lie is enabled to buy more than he did before, and thus 
 he contributes more to the support of his Government, 
 while, at the same time, he becomes a better man, a more 
 reliable man for all governmental purposes, because 
 he is interested in the country in which he lives. 
 
 "To illustrate the matter further, let us take a 
 family of seven persons in number who now have no 
 home, no abiding-place that they can call their own, 
 and transfer them to a tract of one hundred and sixty 
 acres of land which they are to possess and cultivate. 
 Is there a senator here who does not believe, that, by 
 changing their position from one place to the other, 
 they would produce at least a dollar more than they 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 79 
 
 did before ? I will begin at a point scarcely visible, 
 a single dollar. Is there a num here or anywhere 
 else who does not know the fact to be, that you in 
 crease a man s ability to buy when he produces more 
 by bringing his labor in contact with the soil. The 
 result of that contact is production ; he produces 
 something that he can convert and exchange for the 
 necessities of his family. Suppose the increase was 
 only a dollar a head for a million of families, each 
 family consisting of seven persons. By transferring 
 a million of families from their present dependent 
 condition to the enjoyment and cultivation of the pub 
 lic domain, supposing it would only increase their 
 ability to buy foreign imports to the extent of a dollar 
 each, you would create a demand for seven millions 
 worth of imports. Our rates of duties, under the tar 
 iff act of 1846, are about thirty per cent., and thus, 
 at the almost invisible beginning of a single dollar a 
 head, you, in this way, increase the pecuniary and 
 financial means of the Government to the extent of 
 $2,100,000. 
 
 " This would be the result, supposing that there 
 would only be an addition of one dollar per head to 
 the ability of each family, by being taken from a con 
 dition of poverty and placed upon one hundred and 
 sixty acres "of land. This is the result, supposing 
 them to have seven dollars more, with which to buy 
 articles of consumption, than they had when they had 
 no home, no soil to cultivate, no stimulant, no induce 
 ment to labor. If you suppose the effect would be to 
 increase their ability two dollars per head, you 
 would increase their consumption to the amount of 
 $14,000,000, which, at thirty per cent, duty, would 
 
yield $4,200.000. If you .supposed it increased the 
 ability of a family f<>nr dollars per head, the total 
 amount would he $28,000,000, whir!) would yield a 
 revenue of $8,400,000. 1 think that this would be far 
 below the truth, and if you give a family one hundred 
 and sixty acres of land to cultivate, the effect would 
 be to increase the ability of that family so as to buy 
 fifty-six dollars worth more than they bought before 
 eight dollars a head. That would be a small increase 
 to a family who had a home, compared with the con 
 dition of that family when it had none. The effect of 
 that would be to run up the amount they buy to 
 $5fi,000,000, which, at a duty of thirty per cent., 
 would yield the sum of $16,800,000. 
 
 "I show yon. then, that, by taking- one million 
 families, consisting- of seven persons each, and putting- 
 them each upon a quarter-section of land, making the 
 soil productive, if you thereby only add to their 
 capacity to buy goods tu the amount of fifty-six 
 dollars per family, you would derive ii revenue of 
 nearly seventeen million dollars. When you have done 
 this, how much of the public lands would you have 
 disposed of? One million quarter-sections, and you 
 would have nearly six million quarter-sections left. 
 By disposing of one-sixth of your public domain in 
 this way, upon this little miniature estimate, yon 
 bring into the coffers of the Federal Government by 
 this bill iBl 0,800, 000 annually. 
 
 " "Does this look like diminishing the revenue ? Does 
 it not rather show that this bill is a revenue measure ? 
 I think it is most clearly a revenue measure. Not 
 only is this the case in a money point of view, so far 
 us the imports are concerned, but. by settling the 
 
SERVICES AND ^I Ki-X HKS. 81 
 
 alternate sections with actual cultivators, you make 
 the remaining sections more valuable to the Govern 
 ment, an you bring- them sooner into market. In 
 continuation of this idea, I will read a portion of the 
 argument which I made upon this subject when I first 
 introduced the bill into the other House. I read from 
 the report of my speech on that occasion : 
 
 " Mr. J. said, it will be remembered by the House 
 that he had already shown, that by giving an indivi 
 dual a quarter-section of the land, the Government 
 would receive back, in the shape of a revenue, in 
 every seven years, more than the Government price 
 of the land ; and, upon this principle, the Govern 
 ment would, in fact, be realizing two hundred and 
 ten dollars every subsequent term of seven years. The 
 whole number of acres of public land belonging to 
 the United States at this time, or up to the 30th of 
 September, 1848, is one billion four hundred and forty- 
 two millions two hundred and sixteen thousand one 
 hundred and sixty-eight acres. This amount, esti 
 mated at $1.25 per acre, will make $1,802,770,000. 
 To dispose of $3,000,000 worth per annum, which is 
 more than an average sum, would require seven 
 hundred years, or a fraction less, to dispose of the 
 entire domain. It will now be perceived at once 
 that the Government would derive an immense ad 
 vantage by giving the land to the cultivator, instead 
 of keeping it on hand this length of time. We find 
 by this process the Government would derive from 
 each quarter-section in six hundred years (throwing 
 off the large excess of nearly one hundred years), 
 $17,000 seven going into six hundred eighty-five 
 times. This, then, shows on the one hand what 
 4* 
 
82 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 the Government would gain by giving the land 
 
 away. 
 
 ***** 
 
 " He said that this expose ought to satisfy every 
 one, that instead of violating the plighted faith of the 
 Government, it was enlarging and making more valu 
 able, and enabling the Government to derive a much 
 larger amount of revenue to meet all its liabilities, 
 and thereby preserving its faith inviolate. 
 
 " I do not think there can be any question as to the 
 revenue part of this proposition. We show that by 
 granting a million quarter-sections you derive more 
 revenue upon the public lands than you do by your 
 entire land-system, as it now stands. In 1850, it 
 was estimated that each head of a family consumed 
 $100 worth of home manufactures. If we increase 
 the ability of the cultivator and occupier of the soil 
 fifty -six dollars in the family, of course it is reasonable 
 to presume that he would consume a correspondingly 
 increased proportion of home manufactures. Can that 
 proposition be controverted ? I think not. Then we 
 see on the one hand, that we should derive more rev 
 enue from granting the land, on the principle laid 
 down in the bill, and also that we should open a 
 market for articles manufactured in our own country. 
 Then, taking both views of the subject, we see that it 
 is an advantage to the manufacturing interest, and 
 that it is also an advantage to the Government, so 
 far as imports are concerned. I should like to know, 
 then, where can the objection be, upon the score of 
 revenue. 
 
 " But, Mr. President, the question of dollars and cents 
 is of no consideration to me. The money view of this 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 83 
 
 subject does not influence my mind by the weight of 
 a feather. I think it is clear, though ; and this view 
 has been presented to prove to senators that this bill 
 will riot diminish, but, on the contrary, will increase 
 the revenue. 
 
 " But this is not the most important view of the sub 
 ject. When you look at our country as it is, you see 
 that it is very desirable that the great mass of the 
 people should be interested in the country. By this 
 bill you provide a man with a home, you increase the 
 revenue, you increase the consumption of home man 
 ufactures, and you make him a better man, and you 
 give him an interest in the country. His condition is 
 better. There is no man so reliable as he who is 
 interested in the welfare of his country ; and who are 
 more interested in the welfare of their country than 
 those who have homes ? When a man has a home, 
 he has a deeper, a more abiding interest in the 
 country, and he is more reliable in all things that 
 pertain to the Government. He is more reliable when 
 he goes to the ballot-box ; he is more reliable in sus 
 taining in every way the stability of our free institu 
 tions. 
 
 " It seems to me that this, without the other consider 
 ation, would be a sufficient inducement. When we 
 see the population that is accumulating about some 
 of our cities, I think it behooves every man who is a 
 statesman, a patriot, and a philanthropist, to turn his 
 attention to this subject. I have lately seen some 
 statistics with reference to the city of New York, in 
 which it is assumed that one-sixth of the population 
 are paupers; that two-sixths of the population are 
 barely able to sustain themselves; leaving one pauper 
 
to be sustained l>y three persons in every six in {he 
 city of New York. Does not thut present a frightful 
 state of thing s? Suppose the population of that city 
 to be one million : you would have in the single city 
 of New York one hundred and sixty-six thousand 
 paupers. 
 
 "I do not look upon the growth of cities and the ac 
 cumulation of population about cities as being 1 the 
 most desirable objects in this country. I do not be 
 lieve that a large portion of this population, even if 
 you wore to offer them homesteads, would ever go to 
 them. 1 have no idea that they would; for a man who 
 has spent most of his life about a city, and lias sunk 
 into a pauperized condition, is not the man to ^o 
 West, reclaim one hundred and sixty acres of land 1 , 
 and reduce it to cultivation. He will not go there on 
 that condition. Though we are satisfied of this, may 
 not our policy he such as to prevent, as far as practica 
 ble, the further accumulation of such an unproductive 
 population about our cities? Let us iry to prevent 
 their future accumulation ; let these live, have their 
 day, and pass away they will ultimately pass away 
 but let our policy be such as. to induce men to become 
 mechanics and agriculturists. Interest them in the 
 country, pin them to the soil, and they become more 
 reliable and sustain themselves, and you do away 
 with much of the pauperism in the country. The 
 population of the United States being twenty-eight 
 millions, if the same proportion of paupers as in the 
 city of New York existed throughout the country, 
 you would have four million six hundred anil sixty- 
 six thousand paupers in the United States. Do wo 
 want ull our population t< become of that character? 
 
SERVICES AND bl EEClIES. 85 
 
 Do we want cities to take control of this Government ? 
 Unless the proper steps be taken, unless the proper 
 direction be given to the future affairs of this Govern 
 ment, the cities are to take charge of it and control 
 it. The rural population, the mechanical and agricul 
 tural portions of this community, are the very salt of 
 it. They constitute the " mud-sills," to use a term 
 recently introduced here. They constitute the founda 
 tion upon which the Government rests; and hence we 
 see the state of things before us. Should we not 
 give the settlement of our public lands and the popu 
 lation of our country that direction which will beget 
 and create the best portion of the population ? Is it 
 not fearful to think of four million six hundred and 
 sixty-six thousand paupers in the United States, at 
 the rate they have them in New York ? Mr. Jeffer 
 son never said a truer thing than when he declared 
 that large cities were eye-sores in the body politic : 
 iu democracies they are consuming cancers. 
 
 " I know the idea of some is to build up great popu 
 lous cities, and that thereby the interests of the 
 country are to be promoted. Sir, a city not only 
 sinks into pauperism, but into vice and immorality of 
 every description that can be enumerated ; and I 
 would not vote for any policy that I believed would 
 build up cities upon this principle. Build up your 
 villages, build up your rural districts, and you will 
 have men who rely upon their own industry, who 
 rely upon their own efforts, who rely -upon their own 
 ingenuity, who rely upon their own economy and 
 application to business for a support ; and these are 
 the people whom you have to depend upon. Why, Mr. 
 President, how was it in ancient Rome ? I know 
 
86 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 there has been a great deal said in denunciation of 
 agrarianism and the Gracchi. It has been said that 
 a doctrine something like this led to the decline of 
 the Roman empire ; but the Gracchi never had their 
 day until a cancerous influence had destroyed the 
 very vitals of Rome ; and -it was the destruction of 
 Rome that brought forth Tiberius Gracchus. It was 
 to prevent land monopoly, not agrarianism, in the 
 common acceptation of the term which is dividing 
 out lands that had been acquired by individuals. 
 They sought to take back and put in the possession 
 of the great mass of the people that portion of the 
 public domain which had been assumed by the capital 
 ists, who had no title to it in fact. The Gracchi tried 
 to carry out this policy to restore that which had 
 been taken from the people. The population had sunk 
 into the condition of large proprietors on the one hand, 
 and dependents on the other ; and when this depend 
 ent condition w T as brought about, as we find from 
 Niebuhr s History, the middle class of the community 
 was all gone ; it had left the country ; there was 
 nothing but an aristocracy on the one hand, and de 
 pendents upon that aristocracy on the other ; and 
 when this got to be the case, the Romairempire went 
 down. 
 
 " Having this illustrious example before us, we 
 should be warned by it. Our true policy is to build 
 up the middle class, to sustain the villages, to popu 
 late the rural districts, and let the power of this Gov 
 ernment remain with the middle class. I want no 
 miserable city rabble on the one hand ; I want no pam 
 pered, bloated, corrupted aristocracy on the other. I 
 want the middle portion of society to be built up and 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 87 
 
 sustained, and to let them have the control of the 
 Government. I am as much opposed to agrariariism 
 as any senator on this floor, or any individual in the 
 United States. And this bill does not partake in the 
 slightest degree of agrarianism ; but, on the contrary, 
 it commences with men at the precise point where 
 agrarianism ends, and it carries them up in an ascend 
 ing line, while that carries them down. It gives them 
 an interest in their country, an interest in public af 
 fairs ; and when you are involved in war, in insurrec 
 tion, or rebellion, or danger of any kind, they are the 
 men who are to sustain you. If you should have oc 
 casion to call volunteers into the service of the coun 
 try, you will have a population of men having homes, 
 having wives and children to care for, who will 
 defend their hearthstones when invaded. What a 
 sacred thing it is to a man to feel that he has a hearth 
 stone to defend, a home, and a wife and children to 
 care for, and to rest satisfied that they have an abid 
 ing-place ! Such a man is interested individually in 
 repelling invasion ; he is interested individually in 
 having good government. 
 
 " I know there are many, and even some in the 
 Democratic ranks, whose nerves are a little timid in 
 regard to trusting the people with too much power. 
 Sir, the people are the safest, the best, and the most 
 reliable lodgment of power, if you have a population 
 of this kind. Keep up the middle class ; lop off an 
 aristocracy on the one hand, and a rabble on the other ; 
 let the middle class maintain the ascendency, let 
 them have the power, and your Government is always 
 secure. Then you need not fear the people. I know, 
 as I have just remarked, that some are timid in regard 
 
88 ANUKKW JOIIN.-SOX. 
 
 to trusting the people ; but there can be no danger 
 from a people who are interested in their Government, 
 who have homes to defend, and wives and children to 
 care for. Even if we test this proposition by that 
 idea of self-interest which is said to govern and con 
 trol man, I ask you if a man who has an interest in 
 his country is not more reliable than one who has 
 none ? Is not a man who is adding to the wealth of 
 his country more reliable than one who is simply a 
 consumer and has no interest in it? It we suppose a 
 man to be governed only by the principle of self-inter 
 est, is he not more reliable when he has a stake in 
 the country, and is it not his interest to promote and ad 
 vance his own condition ? Is it not the interest of the 
 great mass to have every thing done rightly in reference 
 to Government ? The great mass of the people hold 
 no office ; they expect nothing- from the Government. 
 The only way they feel, and know, and understand 
 the operations of the Government is in the exactions 
 it makes from them. When they are receiving from 
 the Government protection in common, it is their in 
 terest to do right in all governmental affairs ; and 
 that being their interest, they are to be relied upon, 
 even if you suppose men to be actuated altogether by 
 tlie principle of self-interest. It is the interest of the 
 middle class to do right in all governmental attains ; 
 and hence they are to be relied upon. Instead nf re 
 quiring you to keep up your armies, your mounted 
 men, and your footmen on the frontier, if you will let 
 the people go and possess this public land on the con 
 ditions proposed in this bill, you will have an army 
 on the frontier composed of men who will defend their 
 own firesides, who will take care of their own homes, 
 
S AND SIMvl X i I KS. 89 
 
 and will defend the other portions of the country, if 
 *need be, in time of war. 
 
 " I would remark in this connection, that the public 
 lands have paid for themselves. According to the re 
 port of Mr. Stuart of Virginia, the Secretary of the In 
 terior in 1850, it was shown that then the public lands 
 had paid for themselves, and sixty millions over. We 
 have received into the treasury since that time about 
 thirty-two million dollars from the public lands. They 
 have, therefore, already paid the Government more 
 than they cost, and there can be no objection to this 
 bill on the ground that the public lands have been 
 bought with the common treasure of the whole coun 
 try. Besides, this bill provides that each individual 
 making an entry shall pay all the expenses attend 
 ing it. 
 
 " We see, then, Mr. President, the eft ect this policy 
 is to have on population. Let me ask here looking- 
 to our popular elections, looking to the proper lodg 
 ment of power is it not time that we had adopted a 
 policy which would give us men interested in the 
 affairs of the country, to control and sway our elec 
 tions ? It seems to me that this cannot long be de- 
 . bated ; the point is too clear. The agricultural and 
 mechanical portion of the community are to be relied 
 upon for the preservation and continuance of this 
 Government. The great mass of the people, the great 
 middle class, are honest. They toil for their support, 
 accepting no favor from Government. They live by 
 labor. They do not live by consumption, but by pro 
 duction ; and we should consume as small a portion 
 of their production as it is possible for us to consume, 
 leaving the producer to appropriate to his own use 
 
90 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 and benefit as much of the product of his own labor 
 as it is possible in the nature of things to do. The 
 great mass of the people need advocates men who 
 are honest and capable, who are willing 1 to defend 
 them. How much legislation is done for classes, and 
 how little care seems to be exercised for the great 
 mass of the people I When we are among our constit 
 uents, it is very easy to make appeals to the people 
 and professions of patriotism; and then I do not mean 
 to be personal or invidious it is very easy, when we 
 are removed from them a short distance, to forget the 
 people and legislate for classes, neglecting the inter 
 est of the great mass. The mechanics and agricultur 
 ists are honest, industrious, and economical. Let it 
 not be supposed that I am against learning or educa 
 tion, but I might speak of the man in the rural dis 
 tricts in the language of Pope 
 
 Unlearned, he knew no schoolman s subtle art, 
 No language, but the language of the heart ; 
 By nature honest, by experience wise ; 
 Healthy by temperance and exercise. 
 
 " This is the kind of men whom we must rely upon. 
 Let your public lands be settled ; let them be filled up ; 
 let honest men become cultivators and tillers of the 
 soil. I do not claim to be prophetic, but I have some 
 times thought that if we would properly direct our 
 legislation in reference to our public policy, the time 
 would come when this would be the greatest govern 
 ment on the face of the earth. Go to the great valley 
 at the Mississippi ; take the western slope of the 
 mountains to the Pacific Ocean ; take the whole area 
 of sins country, and we find that we have over three 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 91 
 
 million square miles. Throw off one-fourth as unfit 
 for cultivation, reducing the area of the United States 
 to fifteen hundred million acres, and by appropriating 
 three acres to a person, it will sustain a population of 
 over five hundred million people ; and I have no doubt, 
 if this continent was strained to its utmost capacity, 
 it could sustain the. entire population of the world. 
 Let us go on and carry out our destiny ; interest men 
 in the soil ; let your vacant land be divided equally, 
 so that men can have homes ; let them live by their 
 own industry ; and the time will come when this will 
 be the greatest nation on the face of the earth. Let 
 agriculture and the mechanic arts maintain the 
 ascendency, and other professions and pursuits be 
 subordinate to them, for on these two all others 
 rest. 
 
 " Since the crucifixion of our Saviour, emigration 
 has been westward ; and the poetic idea might have 
 started long before it did 
 
 Westward the star of empire takes its way. 
 
 It has been taking its way westward. The United 
 States are filling up. We are going on to the Pacific 
 coast. Let me raise the inquiry here, when, in the 
 history of mankind, in the progress of nations, was 
 there any nation that ever reached the point we now 
 occupy ? When was there a nation, in its progress, 
 in its settlement, in its advance in all that constitutes 
 and makes a nation great, that occupied the position 
 we now occupy ? When was there any nation that 
 could look to the East and behold the tide of emigra 
 tion coming, and, at the same time, turn around and 
 
92 
 
 look to the mighty \\Yst, and behold tin- tide of emi 
 gration approaching- from that direction. The waves 
 of emigration have usually been running in one direc 
 tion, but we find the tide of emigration now changed, 
 and we are occupying a central position on the globe. 
 Emigration is coining to us from the East and from 
 the West ; and when our vacant territory shall be 
 tilled up, when it shall reach a population of one hun 
 dred and fifty or five hundred millions, who can say 
 what will be our destiny? 
 
 " When our railroad system shall progress on pro 
 per principles, extending from one extreme of the 
 country to the other, like so many arteries ; when our 
 telegraphic wires shall be stretched along them as 
 the nerves in the human frame, and they shall run in 
 parallel lines, and be crossed at right angles, until the 
 whole globe, as it were, and especially this great 
 centre, shall be covered like a network with these ar 
 teries and nerves; when the face of the globe shall 
 flash with intelligence like the face of man ; we, oc 
 cupying this important point, may find our institutions 
 so perfected, science so advanced, that instead of re 
 ceiving nations from abroad, this will be the great 
 sensorium from which our notions of religion, our no 
 tions of government, our improvements in works of 
 every description shall radiate as from a common 
 centre, and revolutionize the world. 
 
 " Who dares say that this is not our destiny, if we 
 will only permit it to be fulfilled ? Then let us go on 
 with this great work of interesting men in becoming 
 connected with the soil ; interesting them in remain 
 ing in your mechanic shops ; prevent their accumula 
 tion in the streets of your cities ; and in doing this you 
 
SERVICES AND SI KKt HKS. 93 
 
 will dispense with the necessity for all your pauper 
 system. By doing this, you enable each community 
 to take care of its own poor. By doing this, you de 
 stroy and break down the great propensity that exists 
 with men to hang, and loiter, and perish about the 
 cities of the Union, as is done now in the older coun 
 tries. 
 
 " It is well enoughjtMr. President, to see where our 
 public lands have been going. There seems to be a 
 great scruple now in reference to the appropriation of 
 lands tor the benefit of the people ; i>ui. iht* Federal 
 Government has been very liberal heretofore in grant 
 ing lands to the States for railroad purposes. We can 
 pass law after law, making grant after grant of the 
 public lands to corporations, without alarming any 
 one here. We have already granted to railroad mo 
 nopolies, to corporations, twenty-four million two hun 
 dred and forty-seven thousand acres. Those grants 
 hardly meet with opposition in Congress ; but it seems 
 to be very wrong, in the estimation of some, to grant 
 lands to the people on the conditions proposed in the 
 bill before us. We find, furthermore, that there have 
 been granted to the States, as swamp-lands and 
 some of these lands will turn out to be the most pro 
 ductive on the globe forty million one hundred and 
 thirty-three thousand five hundred and sixty-five 
 acres. 
 
 " In relation to the public lands, and the grants 
 which have been made by the Government, I have 
 obtained from the Commissioner of the General Land- 
 Office several tables, which I now submit. 
 
94 AXDBEW JOUNSOX. 
 
 Estimate of the Quantities of Land which will inure to the 
 States under Grants for Railroads, up to June 30, 1857 
 
 States. Acres. Date of Law. 
 
 Illinois 2,595,053 September 20, 1850. 
 
 Missouri 1,815,435 June 10, 1852 ; Feb. 9, 1853. 
 
 Arkansas 1,465,297 February 9, 1853. 
 
 Michigan 3,096,000 June 3, 1856. 
 
 Wisconsin 1,622,800 June 3, 1856. 
 
 Iowa 3,456,000 May 15, 1856. 
 
 Louisiana 1,102,560 June 3 and Aug. 11, 1856. 
 
 Mississippi 950,400 August 11, 1856. 
 
 Alabama 1,913,390 \ ^ * 7 Ju e 3 > and Au ^ 
 
 (11, 1856; March 3, 1857. 
 
 Florida 1,814,400 May 17, 1856. 
 
 Minnesota 4,416,000 March 3, 1857. 
 
 Total 24,247,335 
 
 Statement showing the Quantity of Swamp-land approved to the 
 several States, up to 30M June, 1857. 
 
 States. Acres. 
 
 Ohio 25,650.71 
 
 Indiana 1,250.937.51 
 
 Illinois 1,369,140.73 
 
 Missouri 3,615,966.57 
 
 Alabama 2,595.51 
 
 Mississippi 2,834,796.11 
 
 Louisiana 7,601,535.46 
 
 Michigan 5,465,232.41 
 
 Arkansas 5.920.024.94 
 
 Florida 10,396,982.47 
 
 Wisconsin.. 1,650,712.10 
 
 Total 40,133,564.51 
 
SEEVICES AND SPEECHES. 
 
 95 
 
 Estimate of unsold and unappropriated Lands in each of the 
 States and Territories, including surveyed and unsurveyed, 
 offered and unoffered Lands, on the 30^ June, 1856. 
 
 States and Territories. Acres. 
 
 Ohio 43,558.34 
 
 Indiana 36,307.41 
 
 Illinois 511,662.85 
 
 Missouri 13,365,319.81 
 
 Alabama 9,459,367.74 
 
 Mississippi 5,519,390.69 
 
 Louisiana 5,933,373.83 
 
 Michigan 10,056,298.06 
 
 Arkansas 15,609,542.84 
 
 Florida 18,067,072.75 
 
 Iowa 6,237,661.03 
 
 Wisconsin 15,222,549.50 
 
 California 113,682,436.00 
 
 Minnesota Territory 82,502,608.33 
 
 Oregon " 118,913,241.31 
 
 Washington " 76,444,055.25 
 
 New Mexico " 155,210,804.00 
 
 Utah " 134,243,733.00 
 
 Nebraska 206,984,747.00 
 
 Kansas " 76,361,058.00 
 
 Indian " 42,892,800.00 
 
 Total 1,107,297,572.74 
 
 Number of 
 Quarter-sections. 
 
 273 
 
 227 
 
 3,198 
 
 83,533 
 
 59,121 
 
 34,496 
 
 37,083 
 
 62,852 
 
 97,560 
 
 112,919 
 
 38,985 
 
 95,141 
 
 710,515 
 
 515,641 
 
 743,208 
 
 477,775 
 
 970,067 
 
 839,023 
 
 1,293,655 
 
 477,256 
 
 268,080 
 
 6,920,607 
 
 " The table giving the estimated quantity of all our 
 public lands, shows the feasibility of the plan in favor 
 of which I have been speaking. I know that some 
 gentlemen from the Southern States object to this bill 
 because they fear that it will carry emigrants from 
 the free States into those States. Well, sir, on this 
 point I have drawn some conclusions from figures, 
 
96 AXIJRKW .JU11.NSON. 
 
 which I will present to the Senate. In the State of 
 Alabama there are now undisposed of fifty-nine thou 
 sand one hundred and twenty-one quarter-sections of 
 land. I ask my Southern friends, would it not be 
 better if a man in the State of Alabama should select 
 a quarter-section there, and take the two hundred dol 
 lars it would have cost him, and expend it there, even 
 though it might be inferior land, than to compel him 
 to pay $1.25 an acre, and emigrate from the State of 
 Alabama to a place where b* j could get better land ? 
 If you compel him to pay tbp higher price, it becomes 
 his interest to leavv his nariv< Stnt^ ; but by permit- 
 ring him to take the land ;mti rxprud <xi its improve 
 ment what h(- would utliM"wi>< j have t<> pay, and what 
 it would cost hiiii to move, tht chances are that he 
 will remain where he is. In the State of Mississippi 
 there are thirty-four thousand four hundred and nine 
 ty-six quarter-sections ; in Louisiana, thirty-seven 
 thousand ; in Arkansas, ninety-seven thousand ; in 
 Florida, one hundred and twelve thousand. Alto 
 gether, the quarter-sections of public lands belong 
 ing to the Government amount to six million nine 
 hundred and twenty thousand. How feasible the plan 
 is ! T have shown, too, that it would take over six 
 hundred years to dispose of the public lands at the 
 rate we have been disposing of them, and that if you 
 take one million quarter-sections and have them 
 settled and cultivated, you will obtain more revenue, 
 and you will enhance the remaining public lands 
 more than the value of those the Government gives. 
 
 " I live in a Southern State ; and, if I know myself, 
 I am as good a Southern man as any one who lives 
 within tin- borders of the South It seems to be 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 97 
 
 feared that by this bill we compel men to go on the 
 lands. I want to compel no man to go. I want to 
 leave each and every man to be controlled by his own 
 -inclination, by his own interest, and not to force him ; 
 but is it statesmanlike, is it philanthropic, is it Chris 
 tian, to keep a man in a State, and refuse to let him 
 go, because, if he does go, he will help to populate 
 some other portion of the country ? If a man lives 
 in the county in which I live, and he can, by cross 
 ing the line into another county, better his condition, 
 I say let him go. If, by crossing the boundary of my 
 State and going into another, he can better his condi 
 tion, I say let him go. If a man can go from Tennes 
 see into Illinois, or Louisiana, or Mississippi, or Ar 
 kansas, or any other State, and better his condition, 
 let him go. I care not where he goes, so that he lo 
 cates himself in this great area of freedom, becomes 
 attached to our institutions, and interested in the 
 prosperity and welfare of the country. I care not 
 where he goes, so that he is under the protection of 
 our Stars and Stripes. I say, let him go where he 
 can better the condition of himself, his wife, and chil 
 dren ; let him go where he can receive the greatest 
 remuneration for his toil and for his labor. What 
 kind of a policy is it to say that a man shall be locked 
 up where he was born, and shall be confined to the 
 place of his birth ? 
 
 " Take the State of North Carolina, represented by 
 the honorable senator before me* and I have no 
 doubt it is his intention to represent that people to 
 their satisfaction would it have been proper to re 
 quire the people of North Carolina, from her early 
 * Mr. Clingman. 
 5 
 
98 ANDREW JOHNSON". 
 
 settlement to the present time, to be confined within 
 her boundaries ? Would they not have looked upon 
 it as a hard sentence ? Would they not have looked 
 upon it as oppressive and cruel ? North Carolina has 
 supplied the Western States with a large proportion 
 of her population, for the reason that by going 1 West 
 they could better their condition. Who would pre 
 vent them from doing it ? Who would say to the 
 poor man in North Carolina, that has no land of his 
 own to cultivate, that lives upon some barren angle, 
 or some piny plain, or in some .other State upon some 
 stony ridge, that lie must plough and dig the land 
 appointed to him by his landlord, and that he is not 
 to emigrate to any place where he can better his con 
 dition ? What is his prospect ? He has to live poor; 
 he has to live hard ; and, in the end, when he dies, 
 poverty, want, is the only inheritance he can leave 
 his children. There is no one who has a higher 
 appreciation of North Carolina than I have; she is my 
 native State. I found it to be my interest to emigrate, 
 and I should have thought it cruel and hard if I had 
 been told that I could not leave her boundary. Al 
 though North Carolina did not afford ine the advan 
 tages of education, though I cannot speak in thci 
 language of the schoolmen, and call her my cherishing 
 mother, yet, in the language of Cowper, with all hei 
 faults, I love her still. She is still my mother ; she 
 is my native State; and I love her as such, and I love 
 her people too. ]>ut what an idea is it to present, as 
 influencing the action of a statesman, that people may 
 not emigrate from one State to another ! Sir, I say 
 let a man go anywhere within the boundaries of the 
 United States where he can better his condition. 
 
SERVICES AM) SPEECHES. 99 
 
 " Mr. President, if I entertained the notions that 
 some of my friends who oppose this bill do, I should 
 be a more ardent advocate of its policy than I am 
 now, if that were possible. My friend from Alabama* 
 entertains some strange notions in reference to de 
 mocracy and the people ; and in his speech on the 
 fisheries bill, he gave this proposition a kind of side- 
 blow, a lick by indirection. I do not object to that ; 
 but if I entertained his opinions, I should be a more 
 determined arid zealous advocate of the policy of this 
 bill than I am now, if that were possible. In his 
 speech upon the Lecompton Constitution, that senator, 
 in speaking of the powers of the convention which 
 framed the Constitution, said : 
 
 " In my opinion, they would have acted in stricter 
 accordance with the spirit and genius of our institu 
 tions if they had not submitted it in whole or in part 
 to the popular vote. Our governments are republics, 
 not democracies. The people exercise their sov 
 ereignty, not in person at the ballot-box, but through 
 agents, delegates, or representatives. Our fathers 
 founded republican governments in preference to de 
 mocracies, not so much because it would be impracti 
 cable as because it would be unwise and inexpedient 
 for the people themselves to assemble and adopt 
 laws. 
 
 " I have always thought the general idea had been 
 that it was not practicable to do every thing in a strict 
 democratic sense, and that it was more convenient for 
 the people to appear through their delegates. But 
 the senator said further : 
 
 * Mr. Clay. 
 
100 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 " They were satisfied, from reading and reflection, 
 of the truth of Mr. Madison s observation about pure 
 democracies, that they " have ever been spectacles of 
 turbulence and contention; have ever been found in 
 compatible with personal security, or the rights of 
 property; and have, in general, been as short in their 
 lives as they have been violent in their deaths." 
 * * * * * * 
 
 " They knew that a large body of men is more 
 liable to be controlled by passion or by interest than 
 a single individual, and is more apt to sacrifice the 
 rights of the minority, because it can be done with 
 more impunity. Hence they endeavored to impose 
 restraints upon themselves. Hence they committed 
 the making of all their laws, organic or municipal, 
 to their delegates or representatives, whose crimes 
 they could punish, whose errors they could correct, 
 and whose powers they could reclaim. 
 
 " The great security of our rights of life, liberty, 
 and propcrt} is in the responsibility of those who 
 make and of those who execute the law. Establish 
 as a principle that, to give sanction to law, it must 
 be approved by a majority at the ballot-box, and you 
 take away this security and surrender those rights to 
 the most capricious, rapacious, and cruel of tyrants. 
 I regret to sec the growing spirit in Congress and 
 throughout the country to democratize our Govern 
 ment ; to submit every question, whether pertaining 
 to organic or municipal laws, to the vote of the 
 people. This is sheer radicalism ; it is the Red Re 
 publicanism of revolutionary France, which appealed 
 to the sections on all occasions, and not the Ameri 
 can Republicanism of our fathers. Thoir republican.- 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 101 
 
 ism was stable and conservative ; this is mutable 
 and revolutionary. Theirs afforded a shield for the 
 minority; this gives a sword to the majority. Theirs 
 dei ended the rights of the weak ; this surrenders 
 them to the power of the strong. God forbid that 
 the dernagogism of this day should prevail over the 
 philanthropic and philosophic statesmanship of our 
 fathers. 
 
 " In the same speech the senator said : 
 " Property is the foundation of every social fabric. 
 To preserve, protect, and perpetuate rights of prop 
 erty, society is formed and government is framed. 
 
 " Now, if I entertained these notions, I should un 
 questionably go for the homestead bill. I am free to 
 say, here, that I do not hold the doctrine advanced by 
 the honorable gentleman from Alabama to the extent 
 that he goes. I believe the people are capable of 
 self-government. I think they have demonstrated it 
 most clearly ; and I do not think the senator s history 
 of democracy states the case as it should be. I pre 
 sume in the senator s own State the people acted 
 directly upon their Constitution at the ballot-box. 
 That is the organic law. If they did not there, they 
 have done so in most of the States of the Union ; not, 
 perhaps, in the original formation of their govern 
 ments, but as the people have gone on and advanced 
 in popular government. The honorable senator seems 
 to be opposed to democratizing in other words, he 
 is opposed to popularizing our institutions ; he is 
 afraid to trust the control of things to the people at 
 the ballot-box. Why, sir, the organic law which 
 confers all the power upon your State legislatures, 
 creates the different divisions, different departments 
 
102 ANDREW JOHXSOX. 
 
 of the State. The Government is controlled at the 
 ballot-box, and the doctrine set forth in the Constitu 
 tion of Alabama is, that the people have; a right to 
 abolish and change their form of government when 
 they think proper. The principle is clearly recog 
 nized ; and on this my honorable friend and myself 
 differ essentially. I find a similar doctrine laid down 
 in a pamphlet which I have here : 
 
 " In the convention that framed the Constitution 
 of the United States, Gouverneur Morris said, that 
 "Property is the main object of society." Mr. King 
 said, "Property is the primary object of society." Mr. 
 Butler contended strenuously that " Property was the 
 only just measurer of representation. This was the 
 great object of government; the great cause of war; 
 the great means of carrying it on." Mr. Madison said, 
 that " in future times a great majority of the people 
 will not only be without landed, but any other sort of 
 property. These will either combine under the influ 
 ence of their common situation in which case the 
 right of property and the public liberty will not be 
 secure in their hands or, what is more probable, 
 they will become the tools of opulence and ambition." 
 Gouverneur Morris again said, " Give the votes to the 
 people who have no property, and they will sell them 
 to the rich, who will be able to buy them. We should 
 not confine our attention to the present moment. The 
 time is not far distant when this country will abound 
 with mechanics and manufacturers, who will receive 
 their bread from their employers. Will such men be 
 the secure and faithful guardians of liberty?" Madi 
 son remarks, that those who opposed the property 
 basis of representation did so on the ground that tho 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 103 
 
 number of people was a fair index to the amount of 
 property in any district. 
 
 "These are not notions entertained by me; but they 
 are important as the notions of some of our public 
 men at the early formation of our Government. I 
 entertain no such notions. If, however, the senator 
 from Alabama holds that property is the main object 
 and basis of society, he, above all other men, ought 
 to go for this bill, so as to place every man in the 
 possession of a home and an interest in his country. 
 The very doctrine that he lays down appeals to him 
 trumpet-tongued, and asks him to place these men in 
 a condition where they can be relied upon. His argu 
 ment is unanswerable, if it be true, in favor of the 
 homestead bill. It is taking men out of a dependent 
 condition; it is preventing this Government from sink 
 ing into that condition that Rome did in her decline. 
 I ask him now, if he entertains these opinions, as 
 promulgated in his speech, to come up and join with 
 us in the passage of this bill, and make every man, 
 if possible, a property-holder, interested in his coun 
 try; give him a basis to settle upon, and make him 
 reliable at the ballot-box. 
 
 " His speech is a fine production. I heard it with 
 interest at the time it was delivered. I hold the 
 opposite to him. Instead of the voice of the people 
 being the voice of a demon, I go back to the old idea, 
 and I favor the policy of popularizing all our free 
 institutions. We are Democrats, occupying a posi 
 tion here from the South; we start together, but we 
 turn our backs upon each other very soon. His policy 
 would take the Government further from the people. 
 I go in a direction to popularize it, and bring it nearer 
 
104 ANDKEW JOHNSON". 
 
 to the people. There is m> belter illustration of this 
 than that old maxim, which is adopted in all our ordi 
 nary transactions,, that if yon want a tiling- done, 
 send somebody to do it; if yon want it well done, go 
 and do it yourself. It applies with as great force in 
 governmental affairs as in individual affairs; and if 
 we can advance and make the working s and operation 
 of our Government familiar to and understood by the 
 people, the better for us. I say, when and wherever 
 it is practicable, let the people transact their own 
 business; bring them more in contact with their Gov 
 ernment, and then yon will arrest expenditure, you 
 will arrest corruption, you will have a purer and 
 better Government. 
 
 "I hold to the doctrine that man can be advanced; 
 that man can be elevated; that man can be exalted 
 in his character and condition. We are told, on high 
 authority, that he is made in the image of his God; 
 that he is endowed with a certain amount of divinity. 
 And I believe man can be elevated; man can become 
 more and more endowed with divinity; and as he does, 
 he becomes more Godlike in his character and capable 
 of governing himself. Let us go on elevating our 
 people, perfecting our institutions, until democracy 
 shall reach such a point of perfection that we can 
 exclaim with truth that the voice of the people is the 
 voice of God. 
 
 "As I said, I have entertained different notions from 
 those inculcated by the honorable senator. If I enter 
 tained his notions, then I should be for the homestead. 
 I hold in my hand a document, by which it was pro 
 claimed in 1776 
 
 " We hold these truths to be self-evident .; that all 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 105. 
 
 men are created equal; that they are endowed by 
 their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that 
 among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi 
 ness; that to secure these rights governments are 
 instituted among men, deriving their just powers from 
 the consent of the governed. 7 
 
 " Is property laid down there as the great element 
 and the great basis of society ? It is only one ; and 
 Mr. Jefferson laid it down in the Declaration of Inde 
 pendence, that it was a self-evident truth that govern 
 ment was instituted for what ? To protect men in 
 life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That is 
 what Mr. Jefferson said. And who indorsed it ? The 
 men who framed the Declaration of Independence, 
 who did not go upon the idea that property was the 
 only element of society. The doctrine established by 
 those who proclaimed our independence was, that 
 life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were three 
 great ends of government, and not property exclu 
 sively. When the declaration came forth from the 
 old Congress Hall, it came forth as a column of fire 
 and light. It declared that the security of life and 
 liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, were the three 
 great ends of government. Mr. Jefferson says, in his 
 first inaugural address, which is the greatest paper 
 that has ever been written in this Government arid 
 I commend it to the reading of those who say they 
 are Democrats, by way of refreshing their memories, 
 that they may understand what are correct demo 
 cratic principles 
 
 " Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted 
 with the government of himself. Can he, then, be 
 trusted with the government of others ? Or have we 
 5* 
 
106 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 found angels in the form of king s to govern him ? 
 Let history answer this question. 
 
 " Mr. Jefferson seems to think man can be trusted 
 with the government of himself. In the Declaration 
 of Independence he does not embrace property ; in 
 fact, it is not referred to. But I am willing to con 
 cede that it is one of the primary and elementary 
 principles in government. Mr. Jefferson declares the 
 great truth that man is to be trusted ; that man is 
 capable of governing himself, and that he has a right 
 to govern himself. In the same inaugural address 
 of Mr. Jefferson, wo find the passage usually attributed 
 to Washington s farewell address, which has got 
 universal circulation that we should pursue our own 
 policy; that we should promote our own institutions, 
 maintaining friendly relations with all, entangling 
 alliances with none. Let us carry out the doctrines 
 of the inaugural address of Mr. Jefferson ; let us carry 
 out the great principles laid down in the Declaration 
 of Independence, which this homestead bill embraces. 
 
 " But I wish to call attention to some other author 
 ity on this subject. As contradistinguished from the 
 views of the senator from Alabama, I present the 
 views of a recent writer* as in accordance with my 
 own notions of democracy : 
 
 " The democratic party represents the great prin 
 ciple of progress. It is onward and outward in its 
 movements. It has a heart for action, and motives 
 for a world. It constitutes the principle of diffusion, 
 and is to humanity what the centrifugal force is to 
 the revolving orbs of a universe. What motion is to 
 
 * Lamartine. 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 107 
 
 them, democracy is to principle. It is the soul in 
 action. It conforms to the providence of God. It has 
 confidence in man, and an abiding- reliance in his high 
 destiny. It seeks the largest liberty, the greatest 
 good, and the surest happiness. It aims to build up 
 the great interests of the many, to the least detriment 
 of the few. It remembers the past, without neglect 
 ing the present. It establishes the present, without 
 fearing to provide for the future. It cares for the 
 weak, while it permits no injustice to the strong. It 
 conquers the oppressor, and prepares the subjects of 
 tyranny for freedom. It melts the bigot s heart to 
 meekness, and reconciles his mind to knowledge. It 
 dispels the clouds of ignorance and superstition, and 
 prepares the people for instruction and self-respect. 
 It adds wisdom to legislation, and improved judgment 
 to government. It favors enterprise that yields a 
 reward to the many and an industry that is permanent. 
 It is the pioneer of humanity the conservator of 
 nations. It fails only when it ceases to be true to 
 itself. Vox populi, vox Dei, has proved to be both 
 a proverb and a prediction. 
 
 " It is a mistake to suppose that democracy may 
 not be advanced under different forms of government. 
 Its own, it should be remembered, is the highest con 
 ventional form, that which precedes the lofty inde 
 pendence of the individual spoken of by the Apostlo 
 to the Hebrews, who will need government but from 
 the law which the Lord has placed in his heart. 
 
 " In one respect, all nations are governed upon the 
 same principle; that is, each adopts the form which it 
 has the understanding and the power to sustain. There 
 is in all a greater or lesser power, and it requires no 
 
108 ANDREW JO.HXSON. 
 
 profound speculation to decide which will control. A 
 tyrannical dictator may do more to advance the true 
 interests of democracy, than a moderate sovereign 
 who is scrupulously guarded by an antiquated con 
 stitution; for the tyrant adds vigor to his opponents 
 by his deeds of oppression. 
 
 " The frequent question as to what form of govern 
 ment is best, is often answered without any reference 
 to condition or application of principles. There can 
 be properly but one answer, and yet the application 
 of that answer may lead to great diversity of views. 
 
 " When it is asserted that the democratic form of 
 government is unquestionably the best, it must be 
 considered that the answer not only designates the 
 form preferred, but implies a, confident belief in the 
 advanced condition of the people who are^to be the sub 
 jects of it. It premises the capacity for self-control, 
 and a- corresponding degree of knowledge in regard 
 to the rights, balances, and necessities of society. It 
 involves a discriminating appreciation of the varied 
 duties of the man, the citizen, and the legislator. It 
 presupposes a reasonable knowledge of the legitimate 
 means and ends of government, enlarged views of 
 humanity, and of the elements of national existence. 
 
 " The democratic form of government is the best, 
 because its standard of moral requisition is the highest. 
 It claims for man a universality of interest,, liberty,, 
 and justice. It is Christianity with its mountain 
 beacons and guides. It is the standard of Deity based 
 on the eternal principles of truth, passing through and 
 vising above the yielding clouds of ignorance, into the 
 regions of infinite wisdom. As we live on, this. 
 " yiUav of cloud by day, and the pillar, of lire by 
 
SERVICES AXD SPEECHES. 109 
 
 night," will not be taken from before the people, but 
 stand immovable, immeasurable, and in the brightness 
 of its glory continue to shed increasing light on a 
 world and a universe. 
 
 " The great objects of knowledge and moral cul 
 ture of the people are among its most prominent pro 
 visions. Practical religion and religious freedom are 
 the sunshine of its growth and glory. It is the sub 
 lime and mighty standard spoken of by the Psalmist, 
 who exclaims, in the beautiful language of poetical 
 conception 
 
 " The Lord is high above all nations, and his 
 glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord 
 our God, who dwelleth on high ; who humbleth him 
 self to behold the things that are in heaven and in 
 the earth ? He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, 
 and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill, that he may 
 set him with princes, even with the princes of the people. 
 
 " Democracy is a permanent element of progress, 
 and is present everywhere, whatever may be the 
 temporary form of the ruling power. Its inextinguish 
 able fires first burst forth in an empire, ancj, its wel 
 come lights cheer the dark domains of despotism. 
 While tyrants hate the patriot and exile him from 
 their contracted dominions, the spirit of democracy 
 invests him as a missionary of humanity, and inspires 
 him with an eloquence which moves a world. Its 
 lightning rays cannot be hidden ; its presence cannot 
 be banished. Dictators, kings, and emperors, are but 
 its servants ; and, as man becomes elevated to the 
 dignity of self-knowledge and control, their adminis 
 tration ceases. Their rule indicates an imperfect 
 state of society, and may be regarded as the moral 
 
110 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 props of the builder, necessary only to sustain a 
 people in their different periods of growth. One can 
 not speak of them lightly, nor indulge in language 
 that should seem to deny their fitness as the instru 
 ments of good in the hands of Providence. Their true 
 position may be best gathered from the prediction 
 which is based upon a knowledge of the past and 
 present condition of man that all kingdoms and 
 empires must cease whenever a people have a know 
 ledge of their rights, and acquire the power of a 
 practical application of principles. This is the work 
 of time. It is the work of constant, repeated trial. 
 The child that attempts to step a hundred times and 
 falls ; the new-fledged bird that tries its feeble wings 
 again and again before it is able to sweep the circle 
 of the sky with its kindred flocks, indicate the simple 
 law upon which all strength depends, whether it be 
 the strength of an insect, or the strength of a nation. 
 " Because a people do not succeed in changing 
 their form of government, even after repeated trials, 
 we are not to infer that thc}^ are indulging in imprac 
 ticable experiments, nor that they will be disappoint 
 ed in ultimately realizing the great object of their 
 ambition. Indeed, all failures of this class are indica 
 tive of progressive endeavor. They imply an increas 
 ing knowledge of the true dignity of man, and a 
 growing disposition to engage in new and more and 
 more difficult endeavors. These endeavors are but 
 the exercise of a nation, and without thorn no people 
 can ever command the elements of national existence 
 and self-control. But inquiries in regard to so exten 
 sive a subject should be shaped within more practical 
 limits. . 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. Ill 
 
 "The triumphs of democracy constitute the way- 
 marks of the world. They demand no extraneous 
 element of endurance for permanency, no fictitious 
 splendor for embellishment, no borrowed greatness 
 for glory. Originating in the inexhaustible sources 
 ..of power, moved by the spirit of love and liberty, and 
 guided by the wisdom which comes from the instincts 
 and experience of the immortal soul, as developed in 
 the people, democracy exists in the imperishable prin 
 ciple of progress, and registers its achievements in 
 the institutions of freedom, and in the blessings which 
 characterize and beautify the realities of life. Its 
 genius is to assert and advance the true dignity of 
 mind, to elevate the motives and affections of man, 
 and to extend, establish, protect, and equalize the 
 common rights of humanity. 
 
 " Condorcet, although an aristocrat by genius and 
 by birth, became a Democrat from philosophy/" 
 
 "A few years since a Whig member of the United 
 States Senate sneeringly asked Senator Allen, of Ohio, 
 the question, What is democracy ? The following 
 was the prompt reply : 
 
 " Democracy is a sentiment not to be appalled, cor 
 rupted, or compromised. It knows no baseness ; it 
 cowers to no danger ; it oppresses no weakness ; 
 destructive only of despotism, it is the sole conserva 
 tor of liberty, labor, and property. It is the senti 
 ment of freedom, of equal rights, of equal obligations 
 the law of nature pervading the law of the land. 
 
 " What, sir, asked Patrick Henry, in the Virginia 
 Convention of 1778, is the genius of democracy? 
 Let me read that clause of the Bill of Rights of Vir 
 ginia which relates to this (third clause): That gov- 
 
112 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 eminent is or ought to be instituted for the common 
 benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation. 
 or community : of all the various modes and forms of 
 government, that is best which is capable of produ 
 cing- the greatest degree of happiness and safety, and 
 is most effectually secured against the dangers of 
 maladministration : and that when any government 
 shall be found inadequate or contrary to those prin 
 ciples, or contrary to those purpose?, a majority of 
 the community hath an indubitable, inalienable, and 
 indefeasible right TO reform, alter, or abolish it. in 
 such manner as shall be judged the most conducive to 
 the public weal. * 
 
 " In the same convention Judge Marshall said 
 
 " "What are the favorite maxims of democracy 1 A 
 strict observance of justice and public faith, and a 
 steady adherence to virtue : these, sir. are the prin 
 ciples of a good government. "t 
 
 " * Democracy. says the late Mr. Legare. of South 
 Carolina, in an article published in the New York 
 Review, -in the hicrh and onlv true sense of that 
 much-abused word, is the destiny of nations, because 
 it is the spirit of Christianity. ; 
 
 " I have referred- to the remarks of the senator from 
 Alabama to show that, if his doctrines were true, he 
 should go for the passage of the homestead bill, be 
 cause, in order to sustain the Government on the prin 
 ciples laid down by him. every man should be a prop 
 erty-holder. I want it understood that I enter a 
 disclaimer to the doctrine presented by him. and merely 
 
 * Elliot s Debates, vol. iii.. p. 77. f Ibid., p. 223. 
 
 J Ibid , voL r., p 297. 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 113 
 
 present his argument to show why he, above all 
 others, ought to go for the homestead policy. I refer 
 to Mr. Legare, Judge Marshall, and the author of the 
 History of Democracy, as laying down my notions 
 of democracy, as contradistinguished from those laid 
 down by the distinguished senator from Alabama. 
 We are both members from the Democratic party. I 
 claim to be a Democrat, East, West, IS forth, or South, 
 or anywhere else. I have nothing to disguise. I 
 have referred to the Declaration of Independence, and 
 to Mr. Jefferson s inaugural address, for the purpose 
 of showing that democracy means something very dif 
 ferent from what was laid down by the distinguished 
 senator from Alabama. I furthermore refer to these 
 important documents to show that property is not the 
 leading element of government and society. Mr. 
 Jefferson lays down, as truths to be self-evident, that 
 life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are the lead 
 ing essentials of government. 
 
 " But it is not my purpose to dwell longer on that ; 
 and I wish to pass to the speech of the senator from 
 South Carolina.* I disagree in much that was said 
 by that distinguished senator ; and I wish to show 
 that he ought to go for the homestead policy, so as to 
 interest every man in the country. If property is the 
 leading and principal element on which society rests ; 
 if property is the main object for which government 
 was created, the gentlemen who are the foremost, the 
 most zealous, and most distinguished advocates of 
 that doctrine should sustain the homestead policy. 
 The honorable senator from South Carolina, in his 
 
 * Mr. Hammond- 
 
AND HEW JOHNSON. 
 
 speech on the Lecompton Constitution, by inuendo 
 or indirection, hud a hit at the homestead a side- 
 blow. He said : 
 
 " Your people are awaking. They are coming 
 here. They are thundering at our doors for home 
 steads, one hundred and sixty acres of land for 
 nothing ; and Southern senators are supporting them. 
 Nay, they are assembling, as I have said, with arms 
 in their hands, and demanding work at $1,000 a }^ear 
 for six hours a day. Have you heard that the ghosts 
 of Mendoza and Torquemada are stalking in the 
 streets of your great cities ? That the Inquisition is 
 at hand? 
 
 " If this be true, as assumed by the distinguished 
 senator from South Carolina, is it not an argument 
 why men should be placed in a condition where they 
 will not clamor, where they will not raise mobs to 
 threaten Government, and demand homesteads ? In 
 terest these men in the country; give them homes, 01 
 let them take homes; let them become producers; let 
 them become better citizens; let them be more reliable 
 at the ballot-box. I want to take them on their 
 ground, their principle, that property is the main ele 
 ment of society and of government; and if their doc 
 trine be true, the argument is still stronger in favor 
 of the homestead than the position I assume. But 
 the distinguished senator from South Carolina goes on: 
 
 " In all social systems there must be a class to do 
 the menial duties, to perform the drudgery of life. 
 That is, a class requiring but a low order of intellect, 
 und. but little skill. Its requisites are vigor, docility, 
 fidi lity. Such a class you must have, or you would 
 n<>t have that other class which leads progress, civili- 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 115 
 
 zation, and refinement. It constitutes the very mud 
 sill of society and of political government; and you 
 might as well attempt to build a house in the air, as 
 to build either the one or the other except on this 
 mudsill. 
 
 " The poor ye always have with you; for the man 
 who lives by daily labor, and scarcely lives at that, 
 arid who has to put out his labor in the market, and 
 take the best he can get for it in short, your whole 
 hireling class of manual laborers and " operatives," as 
 you call them, are essentially slaves. The difference 
 between us is, that our slaves are hired for life and 
 well compensated; there is no starvation, no begging, 
 no want of employment among our people; and not 
 too much employment either. Yours are hired by the 
 day, not cared for, and scantily compensated, which 
 may be proved in the most painful manner, at any 
 hour, in any street in any of your large towns. Why, 
 you meet more beggars in one day, in any single 
 street of the city of New York, than you would meet 
 in a lifetime in the whole South. We do not think 
 that whites should be slaves either by law or neces 
 sity. 
 
 " In this portion of the senator s remarks I concur. 
 I do not think whites should be slaves; and if slavery 
 is to exist in this country, I prefer black slavery to 
 white slavery. But what I want to get at is, to show 
 that my worthy friend from South Carolina should 
 defend the homestead policy, and the impolicy of 
 making the invidious remarks that have been made 
 here in reference to a portion of the population of the 
 United States. Mr. President, so far as I am con 
 cerned, I feel that I can afford to speak what are my 
 
116 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 sentiments. I urn no aspirant for any thing on the 
 face of God Almighty s earth. I have reached the 
 summit of my ambition. The acme of all my hopes 
 has been attained, and I would not give the position I 
 occupy here to-day for any other in the United States. 
 Hence, I say, I can afford to speak what I believe to 
 be true. 
 
 " In one sense of the term, we are all slaves. A man 
 is a slave to his ambition; he is a slave to his avarice; 
 he is a slave to his necessities; and, in enumerations 
 of this kind, you can scarcely find any man, high or 
 low in society, but who, in some sense, is a slave; but 
 they are not slaves in the sense we mean at the South, 
 and it will not do to assume that every man who toils 
 for his living is a slave. If that be so, all arc slaves ; 
 for all must toil more or less, mentally or physically. 
 But in the other sense of the term, we are not slaves. 
 Will it do to tissnme that the man who labors with 
 his hands, every man who is an operative in a manu 
 facturing establishment or a shop, is a slave ? Xo, 
 sir ; that will not do. Will it do to assume that every 
 man who does not own slaves, but has to live by his 
 own labor, is a slave ? That will not do. If this 
 were true, it would be very unfortunate for a good 
 many of us, and especially so for me. I am a laborer 
 with my hands, and I never considered myself a slave, 
 in the acceptation of the term slave in the South. I 
 do own some ; I acquired them by my industry, by 
 the labor of my hands. In that sense of the term I 
 should have been a slave while I was earning them 
 with the labor of my hands." 
 
 " Mr. HAMMOND. Will the senator define a slave ? 
 
 " Mr. Joiixrfoy. What we understand to be a slave 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. llT 
 
 in the South is a person who is held to service during- 
 his or her natural life, subject to, and under the con 
 trol of, a master who has the right to appropriate* the 
 products of his or her labor to his own use. The ne 
 cessities of life, and the various positions in which a 
 man may be placed, operated upon by avarice, gain, 
 or ambition, may cause him to labor ; but that does 
 not make a slave. How many men are there in society 
 who go out arid work with their own hands, who reap 
 in the field and mow in a meadow, who hoe corn, who 
 work in the shops ! Are they slaves ? If we were 
 to go back and follow out this idea, that every oper 
 ative and laborer is a slave, we should find that we 
 have had a great many distinguished slaves since the 
 world commenced. Socrates, who first conceived the 
 idea of the immortality of the soul, pagan as he was, 
 labored with his own hands ; yes, wielded the chisel 
 and the mallet, giving polish and finish to the stone ; 
 he afterwards turned to be a fashioner and constructor 
 of the mind. Paul, the great expounder, himself was 
 a tent-maker, and worked with his hands : was he a 
 slave? Archimedes, who declared that, if he had a 
 place on w T hich to rest the fulcrum, with the power 
 of his lever he could move the world : was he a slave ? 
 Adam, our great father and head, the lord of the world, 
 was a tailor by trade : I wonder if he was a slave ? 
 " When we talk about laborers and operatives, look 
 at the columns that adorn this chamber, and see their 
 finish and style. We are lost in admiration at the 
 architecture of your buildings, and their massive col 
 umns. We can speak with admiration. What would 
 it have been but for hands to construct it ? Was the 
 artisan who worked upon it a slave ? Let us go to 
 
118 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 the South and see how the matter stands there. Is 
 every man that is not a slaveholder to be denominated 
 a slave because ho labors ? Why indulge in such a 
 notion ? The argument cuts at both ends of the lin<\ 
 and this kind of doctrine docs us infinite harm in the 
 South. There are operatives there ; there are labor 
 ers there ; there are mechanics there. Are they 
 slaves ? Who is it in the South that gives us title 
 and security to the institution of slavery ? Who is 
 it, let me ask every Southerner around me ? Suppose, 
 for instance, we take the State of South Carolina 
 and there are many things about her and her people 
 that I admire we find that the 384,984 slaves in 
 South Carolina are owned by how many whites ? 
 They are owned by 25,556. Take the State of Ten 
 nessee, with a population of 800,000239,000 slaves 
 are owned by 33,864 persons. The slaves in the State 
 of Alabama are owned by 29,295 whites. The whole 
 number of slaveholders in all the Slave States, when 
 summed up, makes 347,000, owning three and a half 
 million slaves. The white population in South 
 Carolina is 274,000 ; the slaves greater than the 
 whites. The aggregate population of the State is 
 668,507. 
 
 " The operatives in South Carolina are 68,549. Now, 
 take the 25,000 slave-owners out, and a large propor 
 tion of the people of South Carolina work with their 
 hands. Will it do to assume that, in the State of 
 South Carolina, the State of Tennessee, the State of 
 Alabama, and the other slaveholding States, al! those 
 who do not own slaves arc slaves themselves ? Will 
 this assumption do ? What does it do at home in our 
 own States ? It has a tendency to raise prejudice, to 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 119 
 
 engender opposition to the institution of slavery itself. 
 Yet our own folks will do it." 
 
 Mr. MASON: " Will the senator from Tennessee allow 
 me to interrupt him for a moment ?" 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON : " Yes, sir." 
 
 Mr. MASON: " The senator is making an exhibition of 
 the very few slaveholders in the Southern States, in 
 proportion to the white population, according- to the 
 census. That is an exhibition which has been made 
 before by senators who sit on the other side of the 
 Chamber. They have brought before the American 
 people what they allege to be the fact, shown by the 
 census, that of the white population in the Southern 
 States, there are very few who are slaveholders. The 
 senator from Tennessee is now doing the same thing. 
 I understand him to say there are but some I do not 
 remember exactly the number, but I think three 
 thousand, or a fraction more of the whites in the 
 slaveholding States, who own three million slaves ; 
 but he made no further exposition. I ask the senator 
 to state the additional fact, that the holders of the 
 slaves are the heads of families of the white popula 
 tion ; and neither that senator nor those whose ex 
 ample he has followed on the other side, has stated 
 the fact that the white population in the Southern 
 States, as in the other States, embraces men, women, 
 and children. He has exhibited only the number of 
 slaveholders who are heads of families." 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON : " The senator says I have not made an 
 exhibit of the fact. The senator interrupted me before 
 I had concluded. I gave way as a matter of courtesy 
 to him. Perhaps his speech would have had no place, 
 if he had waited to hear me a few moments longer." 
 
120 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 Mr. MASON : " I shall wait. I thought the senator 
 had passed that point. 7 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON : " I was stating 1 the fact, that accord 
 ing to the census tables three hundred and fort} T -seven 
 thousand white persons owned the whole number of 
 slaves in the Southern States. I was about to state 
 that the families holding these slaves might average 
 six or eight or ten persons, all of whom are interested 
 in the products of slave-labor, and many of these 
 slaves are held by minors and by females. I was not 
 alluding to the matter for the purpose the senator 
 from Virginia seems to have intimated, and should 
 have been much obliged to him if he had waited until 
 he heard my application of these figures. I was 
 going to show that expressions like those to which I 
 have alluded operate against us in the South, and I 
 was following the example of no one. I was taking 
 these facts from the census tables, which were pub 
 lished by order of Congress, to show the bad policy 
 and injustice of declaring that the laboring portion of 
 our population were slaves and menials. Such dec 
 larations should not be applied to the people either 
 North or South. I wished to say in that connection, 
 that, in my opinion, if a few men at the North and at 
 the South, who entertain extreme views on the subject 
 of slavery, and desire to keep up agitation, were out 
 of the way, the great mass of the people, North and 
 South, would go on prosperously and harmoniously 
 under our institutions. 
 
 ****** 
 
 " Sir, carry out the homestead policy, attach the 
 people to the soil, induce them to love the Govern 
 ment, and you will have the North reconciled to the 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 121 
 
 South, and the South to the North, and we shall not 
 have invidious doctrines preached to stir up bad feel 
 ings in either section. I know that in my own State, 
 and in the other Southern States, the men who do not 
 own slaves are among* the first to take care of the 
 institution. They will submit to no encroachment 
 from abroad, no interference from other sections. 
 
 " I have said, Mr. President, much more than I in 
 tended to say, and, I fear, in rather a desultory 
 manner, but I hope I have made myself understood. 
 I heard that some gentleman was going to offer an 
 amendment to this bill, providing that the Govern 
 ment should furnish every man with a slave. So far 
 as I am concerned, if it suited him, and his inclination 
 led him that way, I wish to God every head of a 
 family in the United States had one to take the 
 drudgery and menial service off his family. I would 
 have no objection to that ; but this intimation was 
 intended as a slur upon my proposition. I want that 
 to be determined by the people of the respective 
 States, and not by the Congress of the United States. 
 I do not want this body to interfere by inuendo or by 
 amendment, prescribing that the people shall have 
 this or the other. I desire to leave that to be deter 
 mined by the people of the respective States, and not 
 by the Congress of the United States. 
 
 "I hope, Mr. President, that this bill will be passed. 
 I think it involves the very first principles of the 
 Government ; it is founded upon statesmanship, hu 
 manity, philanthropy, and even upon Christianity 
 itself. I know the argument has been made, why 
 permit one portion of the people to go and take some 
 of this land and not another ? The law is in general 
 6 
 
122 ANDREW JOIIXSOX. 
 
 terms ; it places it in the power of every man who 
 will* go, to take a portion of the land. The Senator 
 from Alabama suggests to me that a person, in order 
 to get the benefit of this bill, must prove that lie is 
 not the owner of other land. An amendment was 
 yesterday inserted in the bill striking out that provi 
 sion. Then it plaees all on an equality to go and 
 take. Why should this not be done ? It was con 
 ceded yesterday that the land was owned by the peo 
 ple. There are over three million heads of families 
 in the United States ; and if every man who is the 
 head of a family were to take a quarter-section of 
 public land, there would still be nearly four million 
 quarter-sections left. If some people go and take 
 quarter-sections, it does not interfere with the rights 
 of others, for he who g-ocs takes only a part of that 
 which is his, and takes nothing that belongs to any 
 body else. The domain belongs to the whole people ; 
 the equity is in the great mass of the people ; the 
 Government holds the fee and passes the title, but the 
 beneficial interest is in the people. There arc, as I 
 have said, two quarter-sections of land for every head 
 of a family in the United States, and we merely pro 
 pose to permit a head of a family to take one-half of 
 that which belongs to him. 
 
 " I believe the passage of this bill will strengthen 
 the bonds of the Union. It will give us a better vot 
 ing population, and just in proportion as men become 
 interested in property, they will become reconciled to 
 all the institutions of property in the country, in 
 whatever shape they may exist. Take the institution 
 of slavery, for instance : would you rather trust it to 
 the mercies of a people liable to be ruled by the mobs 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 123 
 
 of which my honorable friend from South Carolina 
 spoke, or would you prefer an honest set of landhold 
 ers ? Which would be the most reliable ? Which 
 would guarantee the greatest security to our institu 
 tions, when they come to the test of the ballot-box ? 
 
 " Mr. President, I hope the Senate will pass this 
 bill. I think it will be the beginning of a new state 
 of things a new era. 
 
 " So far as I am concerned I say it not in any 
 spirit of boasting or egotism if this bill were passed, 
 and the system it inaugurates carried out, of granting 
 a reasonable quantity of land for a man s family, and 
 looking far into the future I could see resulting from 
 it a stable, an industrious, a hardy, a Christian, a 
 philanthropic community, I should feel that the great 
 object of my little mission was fulfilled. All that I 
 desire is the honor arid the credit of being one of the 
 American Congress to consummate and to carry out 
 this great scheme, that is to elevate our race and to 
 make our institutions more permanent. I want no 
 reputation, as some have insinuated. You may talk 
 about Jacobinism, Red Republicanism, and so on. I 
 pass by such insinuations as the idle wind, which 
 I regard not. 
 
 " I know the motives that prompt me to action. I 
 can go back to that period in my own history when 
 I could not say that I had a home. This being so, 
 when I cast my eyes from one extreme of the United 
 States to the other, and behold the great number that 
 are homeless, I feel for them. I believe this bill would 
 put them in possession of homes ; and I want to see 
 them realizing that sweet conception when each man 
 can proclaim, I have a home ; an abiding-place for 
 
12-i ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 my wife and for my children ; I am not the tenant of 
 another; I am my cnv : iM iler; and I will move accord 
 ing- to my cnvn will, ;; ~-\(l not at the dictation of an 
 other. Yes, Mr. Presi v jnt, if I should never be heard 
 of again on the surface of God s habitable globe, the 
 proud satisfaction of having contributed my little aid 
 to the consummation of this great measure is all the 
 reward I desire. 
 
 " The people need friends. They have a great deal 
 to bear. They make all ; they do all ; but how little 
 they participate in the legislation of the country I 
 All, or nearly all, of our legislation is for corpora 
 tions, for monopolies, for classes, and individuals; but 
 the great mass who produce while we consume are 
 little cared for ; their rights and interests are neg 
 lected and overlooked. Let us, as patriots, as states 
 men, let us, as Christians, consummate this great 
 measure, which will exert an influence throughout the 
 civilized world in fulfilling our destiny. I thank the 
 Senate for their attention." 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 125 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 STATE OF THE UNION. 
 
 Two distinguishing qualities of President John 
 son s mind are firmness and independence. Con 
 vinced of the correctness of his opinions, he 
 never shrinks from their natural and logical con 
 sequences. Opposed from the very outset of his 
 career to the doctrine of the right of a State to 
 withdraw at pleasure from the Federal Union, 
 when the great and eventful crisis came he was 
 ready to meet it with dauntless courage and 
 unfaltering faith. He broke from old ties of 
 personal and political associations without a 
 moment s hesitation, and threw himself into the 
 fight. " to do or die" in defence of the national 
 flag and an undivided country. 
 
 In a speech delivered in the Senate the 5th 
 and 6th of February, 1861, after certain States 
 had formally seceded and declared themselves 
 separate and foreign communities, he seemed to 
 rise with the occasion, and to pour forth in a 
 stronger tide the power of his logic and the thun 
 der-roll of his eloquence. This great effort was 
 on the state of the Union, the Senate having 
 
126 AXDKEW JOIIJSTSOX. 
 
 under consideration the message of the President 
 communicating resolutions of the Legislature of 
 Virginia. Gladly would we transcribe the whole 
 of this able speech, in the course of which the 
 heresy he combated was cut up by the roots and 
 thrown to the winds, but our space will only per 
 mit the insertion of its thrilling and soul-stirring 
 conclusion : 
 
 " There is no one in the United States who is more 
 willing- to do justice to the distinguished senator from 
 Mississippi than myself ; and when 1 consider his 
 early education ; when I look at his gallant services, 
 finding him first in the military school of the United 
 States, educated by his Government, taught the sci 
 ence of war at the expense of his country taught to 
 love the principles of the Constitution ; afterwards 
 entering its service, fighting beneath the Stars and 
 Stripes to which he has so handsomely alluded, win 
 ning laurels that are green and imperishable, and 
 bearing upon his person scars that arc honorable ; 
 some of which have been won at home ; others of 
 which have been won in a foreign clime, and upon 
 other fields I would be the last man to pluck a feather 
 from his cap or a single gem from the chaplct that 
 encircles his brow. But when I consider his early 
 associations ; when I remember that he was nurtured 
 by this Government ; that he fought for this Govern 
 ment ; that he won honors under the flag of this Gov 
 ernment, I cannot understand how ho can be willing 
 to hail another banner, and turn from that of his coun 
 try, under which he has won laurels and received 
 honors. This is a matter of taste, however ; but it 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 127 
 
 seems to me that, if I could not unsheathe my sword 
 in vindication of the flag of my country, its glorious 
 Stars and Stripes, I would return the sword to its 
 scabbard ; I would never sheathe it in the bosom of 
 my mother ; never ! never ! never 1" 
 
 * * * * ***** 
 "Sir, I intend to stand by that flag, and by the 
 Union of which it is the emblem. I agree with Mr. 
 A. II. Stephens, of Georgia, that this Government of 
 our fathers, with all its defects, comes nearer the ob 
 jects of all good governments than any other on the 
 face of the earth. 
 
 " I have made allusions to the various senators who 
 have attacked me, in vindication of myself. I have 
 been attacked on all hands by some five or six, and 
 may be attacked again. All I ask is, that, in making 
 these attacks, they meet my positions, answer my 
 arguments, refute my facts. I care not for the num 
 ber that may have attacked me ; I care not how many 
 may come hereafter. Feeling that I am in the right, 
 that argument, that fact, that truth are on my side, I 
 place them all at defiance. Come one, come all for 
 I feel, in the words of the great dramatic poet 
 
 Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just ; 
 And he but naked, though locked up in steel, 
 Whose conscience with [treason] is corrupted. 
 
 " I have been told, and I have heard it repeated, 
 that this Union is gone. It has been said in this 
 chamber, that it is in the cold sweat of death; that, 
 in fact, it is really dead, and merely lying in state 
 waiting for the funeral obsequies to be performed. 
 If this be so, and the war that has been made upon 
 
128 AXDItKU" JOHN SOX. 
 
 iw in consequence of advocating the Constitution and 
 the Union is to result in my overthrow and in my 
 destruction ; and that flag, that glorious flag, the 
 emblem of the Union, which was borne by Washing 
 ton through a seven-years struggle, shall be struck 
 from the Capitol arid trailed in the dust ; when this 
 Union is interred, I want no more honorable winding- 
 sheet than that brave old flag, and no more glorious 
 grave than to be interred in the tomb of the Union. 
 [Applause in the galleries.] For it I have stood; for 
 it I will continue to stand ; I care not whence the 
 blows come ; and some will find, before this contest 
 is over, that while there are blows to be given, there 
 will be blows to receive ; and that, while others can 
 thrust, there are some who can parry. God preserve 
 my country from the desolation that is threatening 
 her, from treason and traitors ! 
 
 Is there not some chosen curse, 
 Some hidden thunder in the stores of heaven, 
 Red with, uncommon wrath, to blast the man 
 Who owes his greatness to his country s ruin 
 
 [Applause in the galleries.] 
 
 " In conclusion, Mr. President, I make an appeal to 
 the conservative men of all parties. You see tho 
 posture of public affairs ; you see the condition of 
 the country ; you see along the line of battle tho 
 various points of conflict; you see the struggle which 
 the Union men have to maintain in many of the States. 
 You ought to know and feel what is necessary to sus 
 tain those who, in their hearts, desire the preservation 
 of this Union of States. Will you sit with stoic in- 
 dift ercnce, and see those who are willing to stand by 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 129 
 
 the Constitution and uphold the pillars of the Govern 
 ment driven away by the raging surges that are now 
 sweeping over some portions of the country? As 
 conservative men, as patriots, as men who desire the 
 preservation of this great, this good, this unparalleled 
 Government, T ask you to save the country; or let 
 the propositions be submitted to the people, that the 
 heart of the nation may respond to them. I have an 
 abiding confidence in the intelligence, the patriotism, 
 and the integrity of the great mass of the people ; 
 and I feel in my own heart that, if this subject could 
 be got before them, they would settle the question, 
 and the Union of these States would be preserved." 
 [Applause in the galleries.] 
 6* 
 
130 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SPEECH ON THE WAR FOR THE UNION, DELIVERED IN 
 THE SENATE, JULY 27, 1861. 
 
 AT last came the armed collision between the 
 Federal authority and the Confederacy of the 
 seceding States. The latter had planted their 
 capital at Richmond, had organized an army, and 
 in a terrible battle, fought 21st July, 1861, had 
 inflicted a signal defeat upon the Federal forces 
 upon the field of Manassas. Amid the panic and 
 discouragement that followed that disastrous day f 
 Andrew Johnson stood steadfast as a rock, and 
 displayed a resolution worthy of a Roman sena 
 tor in the best times of the republic. Only six 
 days after the sanguinary struggle, and while 
 Washington itself was in danger of capture by 
 the victorious foe, he spoke in favor of the joint, 
 resolution before the Senate to confirm and ap 
 prove certain acts of President Lincoln for sup 
 pressing insurrection and rebellion. In this 
 speech he took the ground that the present con 
 test was the third and last trial of the country s 
 strength. The first, he said, was in gaining her 
 independence the second, in defending herself 
 against foreign invasion in the war of 1812 the 
 
SERVICES A:ND SPEECHES. 131 
 
 third trial, lie averred, was now upon us ; that the 
 nation was fighting against enemies at lioine 
 against those who have no confidence in its in 
 tegrity or in the institutions that may be estab 
 lished under its organic law : whether we can 
 succeed in putting down traitors and treason, 
 and in establishing the great fact that we have a 
 Government, with sufficient strength to maintain 
 its existence against whatever combination may 
 oppose its constitutional action. 
 
 The conclusion of this noble effort is peculiarly 
 exciting, and stirs the blood like the blast of a 
 trumpet : 
 
 " We love the Constitution as made by our fathers. 
 We have confidence in the integrity and capacity of 
 the people to govern themselves. We have lived 
 entertaining these opinions : we intend to die enter 
 taining them. The battle has commenced. The Presi 
 dent has placed it upon the true ground. It is an 
 issue on the one hand for the people s Government, 
 and its overthrow on the other. We have commenced 
 the battle of freedom. It is freedom s cause. We 
 are resisting usurpation and oppression. We will 
 triumph ; we must triumph. Right is with .us. A 
 great and fundamental principle of right, that lies at 
 the foundation of all things, is with us. We may 
 meet with impediments, and may meet with disasters, 
 and here and there a defeat ; but ultimately freedom s 
 cause must triumph, for 
 
 Freedom s battle once begun, 
 Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son, 
 Though baffled oft, is ever won. 
 
132 AXDKKW 
 
 "Yes, we must triumph. Though sometimes I raw- 
 not see my way clear, in matters of this kind as ia 
 matters of religion, when my facts give out, when my 
 reason fails me, I draw largely upon soy faith. My 
 faith is strong, based on the eternal principles of 
 right, that a thing so monstrously wrong as is this 
 rebellion cannot triumph. Can we submit to it ? 
 Can bleeding justice submit to it ? Is the Senate, 
 lire the American people, prepared to give up the 
 graves of Washington and Jackson, to be encircled 
 and governed and controlled by a combination of 
 traitors and rebels I I say, let the battle go on it is 
 freedom s cause until the Stars and Stripes (God 
 bless them !) shall again be unfurled upon every 
 cross-road, and from every house-top, throughout tho 
 Confederacy, north and south. Let the Union be re 
 instated let the law be enforced ; let the Constitution 
 be supreme. 
 
 " If the Congress of the United States were to give 
 up the tombs of Washington and Jackson, v;e should 
 bave rising" up in our midst another Peter the Her 
 mit, in a much more righteous cause for o-urs in 
 trnc, while his was a delusion \vho would appeal 
 to the American people, and point to the tombs of 
 Washington and Jackson, in the possession of those 
 who are worse than the infidel and the Turk who helrl 
 the Holy Sepulchre. I believe the American people 
 would start of their own. accord, when appealed to, to 
 redeem the graves of Washington and Jackson ant] 
 .Jefferson, and all the other patriots who are lying 
 within the limits of the Southern Confederacy. I do 
 not believe they would stop the march, until agam 
 the- (lag uf this Union should be placed over the graves 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 133 
 
 of those distinguished men. There will be an uprising. 
 Do riot talk about Republicans now; do not talk about 
 Democrats now ; do not talk about Whigs or Ameri 
 cans now : talk about your country, and the Consti 
 tution, and the Union. Save that j preserve the 
 integrity of the Government ; once more place it 
 erect among the nations of the earth ; and then, if we 
 want to divide about questions that may arise in our 
 midst, we have a Government to divide in. 
 
 " I know it has been said that the object of this 
 war is to make war on Southern institutions. I have 
 been in free States and I have been in slave States, 
 and I thank God that, so far as I have been, there has 
 been one universal disclaimer of any such purpose. 
 It is a war upon no section ; it is a war upon no 
 peculiar institution ; but it is a war for the integrity 
 of the Government, for the Constitution, and the 
 supremacy of the laws. That is what the nation 
 understands by it. 
 
 " The people whom I represent appeal to the Gov 
 ernment and to the nation to give us the constitutional 
 protection that we need. I am proud to say that I 
 have met with every manifestation of that kind in the 
 Senate, with only a few dissenting voices. I am 
 proud to say, too, that I believe old Kentucky ( God 
 bless her !) will ultimately rise and shake off the 
 stupor which has been resting upon her ; and instead 
 of denying us the privilege of passing through her 
 borders, and taking arms and munitions of war to 
 enable a downtrodden people to defend themselves, 
 will not only give us that privilege, but will join us 
 and help us in the work. The people of Kentucky 
 love the Union ; they love the Constitution ; they 
 
AXDllEW JOHXSOX. 
 
 have no fault to find with it ; but in that State they 
 have a duplicate to the Governor of ours. When we 
 look all around, we see how the Governors of the differ 
 ent States have been involved in this conspiracy the 
 most stupendous and gigantic conspiracy that was 
 ever formed, and as corrupt and as foul as that at 
 tempted by Catiline in the days of Rome. We know 
 it to be so. Have we not known men to sit at their 
 desks in this Chamber, using the Government s sta 
 tionery to write treasonable letters ; and while re 
 ceiving their pay, sworn to support the Constitution 
 and sustain the law, engaging in midnight conclaves 
 to devise ways and means by which the Government 
 arid the Constitution should be overthrown ? The 
 charge was made and published in the papers. Many 
 things we know that we cannot fully prove ; but we 
 know from the regular steps that were taken in this 
 work of breaking up the Government, or trying to 
 break it up, that there was system, concert of action. 
 It is a scheme more corrupt than the assassination 
 planned and conducted by Catiline in reference to the 
 Roman Senate. The time has arrived when we should 
 show to the nations of the earth that we are a nation 
 capable of preserving our existence, and give them 
 evidence that we will do it. 
 
 " I have already detained the Senate much longer 
 than I intended when I rose, and I shall conclude in a 
 few words more. Although the Government has met 
 with a little reverse within a short distance of this 
 city, no one should be discouraged and no heart should 
 be dismayed. It ought only to prove the necessity of 
 bringing forth, and exerting still more vigorously, the 
 power of the Government in maintenance of the Con- 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 135 
 
 stitution and the laws. Let the energies of the Gov 
 ernment be redoubled, and let it go on with this war 
 not a war upon sections, not a war upon peculiar in 
 stitutions anywhere ; but let the Constitution and the 
 Union be inscribed on its banners, and the supremacy 
 and enforcement of the laws be its watchword. Then 
 it can, it will, go on triumphantly. We must succeed. 
 This Government must not, cannot fail. Though your 
 flag may have trailed in the dust ; though a retrograde 
 movement may have been made ; though the banner 
 of our country may have been sullied, let it still be 
 borne onward ; and if, for the prosecution of this war 
 in behalf of the Government and the Constitution, it 
 is necessary to cleanse and purify that banner, I say 
 let it be baptized in fire from the sun and bathed in a 
 nation s blood 1 The nation must be redeemed ; it 
 must be triumphant. The Constitution which is 
 based upon principles immutable, and upon which 
 rest the rights of man and the hopes and expecta 
 tions of those who love freedom throughout the civi 
 lized world must be maintained." 
 
136 ANDREW JOHNSON". 
 
 CHAPTEK V. 
 
 SPEECH ON THE PROPOSED EXPULSION OF MR. BRIGHT, 
 DELIVERED IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 JAN. 31, 1862. 
 
 THE Senate Laving under consideration the fol 
 lowing resolution, submitted by Mr. Wilkinson on 
 the 16th of December, 1861, and which had been 
 reported upon adversely by the Committee on the 
 Judiciary : 
 
 " Whereas, Hon. Jesse D. Bright, heretofore, on 
 the 1st day of March, 1861, wrote a letter, of 
 which the following is a copy : 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR : Allow me to introduce to your ac 
 quaintance my friend, Thomas B. Lincoln, of Texas. 
 .He visits your capital mainly to dispose of what ho 
 regards a great improvement in firearms. I recom 
 mend him to your favorable consideration as a gentle 
 man of the first respectability, and reliable in every 
 respect. 
 
 " Very truly yours, JESSE 1). BRIGHT. 
 
 " To Ilirt Excellency JEFFKKN-JN DAVIS, 
 
 " Prescient of the Confederation of States. 
 
SERVICES AND Sl El-X IiES. 137 
 
 iclicreas we believe the said letter is evi 
 dence of disloyalty to the United States, and is 
 calculated to give aid and comfort to the public 
 enemies ; therefore, 
 
 " Be it resolved, That the said Jesse D. Bright 
 is expelled from his seat in the Senate of the 
 United States." 
 
 Mr. Johnson said : 
 
 "Mr. President, when this resolution for the ex 
 pulsion of the senator from Indiana was first pre 
 sented to the consideration of the Senate, it was 
 not my intention to say a single word upon it. Pre 
 suming that action would be had upon it at a very 
 early day, I intended to content myself with casting 
 a silent vote. But the question has assumed such a 
 shape that, occupying the position I do, I cannot con 
 sent to record my vote without giving some of the 
 reasons that influence my action. 
 
 " I am no enemy of the senator from Indiana. I 
 have no personally unkind feelings towards him. I 
 never had any, and have none now. So far as my 
 action on this case is concerned, it will be controlled 
 absolutely and exclusively by public considerations, 
 and with no reference to partisan or personal feeling. 
 I know that since the discussion commenced, an inti 
 mation has been thrown out, which I was pained to 
 hear, that there was a disposition on the part of some 
 to hound down the senator from Indiana. Sir, I know 
 that I have no disposition to hound any man. I 
 would to God that I could think it otherwise than 
 necessary for me to say a single word upon this ques 
 tion, or even to cast a vote upon it. So far as I know, 
 
138 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 there has never been any unkind feeling* between the 
 senator and myself from the time we made our advent 
 into public life down to this moment Although party 
 and party associations and party considerations influ 
 ence all of us more or less and I do not pretend to 
 be free from the influence of party more than others 
 I know, if I know myself, that no such considerations 
 influence me now. Not many years ago there was a 
 contest before the Senate as to his admission as a 
 senator from the State of Indiana ; we all remember 
 the struggle that took place. I will not say that the 
 other side of the House were influenced by party con 
 siderations when the vote upon that question of ad 
 mission took place; but if my memory serves me cor 
 rectly, there was upon one side of the chamber a 
 nearly strict party vote that he was not entitled to 
 his seat, while on the other side his right was sus 
 tained entirely by a party vote. I was one of those 
 who voted for the senator s admission to a seat upon 
 this floor under the circumstances. I voted to let him 
 into the Senate, and I am constrained to say that, be 
 fore his term has expired, I am compelled to vote to 
 expel him from it. In saying this, I repeat that if I 
 know myself, and I think I do as well as ordinary men 
 know themselves, I cast this vote upon public consider 
 ations entirely, and not from party or personal feeling. 
 " Mr. President, I hold that under the Constitution 
 of the United States we clearly have the power to ex 
 pel a member, and that, too, without our assuming 
 the character of a judicial body. It is not necessary to 
 have articles of impeachment preferred by the othor 
 House ; it is not necessary to organize ourselves into 
 a c<>urt for the purpose of trial; but the principle is 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 1.39 . 
 
 broad arid clear, inherent in the very organization of 
 the body itself, that we have the power and the right 
 to expel any member from the Senate whenever we 
 deem that the public interests are unsafe in his hands, 
 and that he is unfit to be a member of the body. We 
 all know, and the country understands, that provision 
 of the Constitution which confers this power upon the 
 Senate. Judge Story, in commenting upon the case 
 of John Smith, in connection with the provision of the 
 Constitution to which I have referred, used the follow 
 ing language : 
 
 " The precise ground of the failure of the motion 
 does not appear ; but it may be gathered, from the 
 arguments of his counsel, that it did not turn upon any 
 doubt that the power of the Senate extended to cases 
 of misdemeanor not done in the presence or view of 
 the body ; but most probably it was decided upon 
 some doubt as to the facts. It may be thought diffi 
 cult to draw a clear line of distinction between the 
 right to inflict the punishment of expulsion and any 
 other punishment upon a member, founded on the 
 time, place, or nature of the offence. The power to 
 expel a member is not, in the British House of Com 
 mons, confined to offences committed by the party as 
 a member, or during the session of Parliament ; but 
 it extends to all cases where the offence is such as, in 
 the judgment of the House, unfits him for parlia 
 mentary duties. * 
 
 " The rule in the House of Commons was undoubt 
 edly in the view of the framers of our Constitution; 
 and the question" is, has the member unfitted himself, 
 
 * Story s Commentaries on the Constitution. 
 
1-10 ANDREW JO UN SOX. 
 
 has he disqualified himself, in view of the extraordi 
 nary condition of the country, from discharging the 
 duties of a senator? Looking- at his connection with 
 the executive ; looking- at the condition, and probably 
 the destinies of the country, we are to decide with 
 out prejudice, without passion, without excitement 
 can the nation, and docs the nation, have confidence 
 in committing" its destinies to the senator from In 
 diana, and others who are situated like him? 
 
 " If we were disposed to bring- to our aid, and were 
 willing to rely upon the public judgment, what should 
 we find ? When you pass through the country, the 
 common inquiry is, Why has not Senator Bright, and 
 why have not others like him, been expelled from 
 the Senate ? I have had the question asked me 
 again and again. I do not intend, though, to predi 
 cate my action as a senator upon what may be sim 
 ply rumor and popular clamor or popular indignation ; 
 but still it is not often the case that when there is a 
 public judgment formed in reference to any great 
 question before the country, that public judgment is 
 not well founded, though it is true there are some 
 times exceptions. 
 
 " Having shown our power in the premises to be 
 clear, according to the general authority granted by 
 the Constitution, and the broad principle stated by 
 Judge Story in its elucidation, I next turn my atten 
 tion to the case itself. The senator from Indiana is 
 charged with having written a letter, on the 1st of 
 March last, to the chief of the rebellion, and this is 
 the basis of this proceeding against him. What was 
 the condition of the country at the time that letter 
 was written ? Did war then exist, or not ? for really 
 
SERVICKS AND SPEECHES. 141 
 
 that is the great point in the case. On that point al 
 low me to read an extract from the charge of Judge 
 David A. Smalley to the grand-jury of the United 
 States District Court for the Southern District of New 
 York, published in the National Intelligencer of Jan 
 uary 21, 1861 : 
 
 " It is well known that war, civil war, exists in 
 portions of the Union ; that persons owing allegiance 
 to the United States have confederated together, and 
 with arms, by force and intimidation, have prevented 
 the execution of the constitutional acts of Congress, 
 have forcibly seized upon and hold a custom-house 
 and post-office, forts, arsenals, vessels, and other prop 
 erty belonging to the United States, and have actually 
 fired upon vessels bearing the United States flag and 
 carrying United States troops. This is a usurpation 
 of the authority of the Federal Government ; it is 
 high treason by levying war. Either one of J;hose 
 acts will constitute high treason. There can be no 
 doubt of it. 
 
 " The judge here defines high treason, and he goes 
 on to say : 
 
 " What amounts to adhering to and giving aid and 
 comfort to our enemies, it is somewhat difficult in all 
 cases to define ; but certain it is that furnishing them 
 with arms/ 
 
 " It really seems that by some kind of intuition 
 the judge had in his mind the precise case now under 
 our consideration, and had anticipated it last Jan 
 uary, 
 
 " certain it is that furnishing them with arms or 
 munitions of war, vessels or other means of transpor 
 tation, or any materials which will aid the traitors in 
 
142 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 carrying out their traitorous purposes, with a know 
 ledge that they are intended lor such purposes, or in 
 citing and encouraging others to engage in or aid 
 the traitors in any way, does come within the provis 
 ions of the act. 
 
 "In this view, even if we were sitting as a court, 
 bound by the rules and technicalities of judicial pro 
 ceedings, should we not be bound to hold that this 
 case comes within this legal definition ? 
 
 " And it is immaterial/ adds Judge Smalley, 
 whether such acts are induced by sympathy with 
 the rebellion, hostility to the Government, or a design 
 for gain. 
 
 " In view of these authorities let us look at the let 
 ter. It was written on the 1st of March, 1861. The 
 opinion of Judge Smalley was published in the In 
 telligencer of the 21st of January, 1861, and must, 
 of course, have been delivered before that time. It 
 would be doing the senator s intelligence great injus 
 tice to presume that lie was not as well informed on 
 the subject as the judge was who was charging the 
 grand-jury in reference to an act of Congress passed 
 at an early day in the history of the Government. It 
 would be doing him great injustice to suppose that he 
 was not familiar with the statute. It would be doing 
 him great injustice to suppose that he had not ob 
 served the fact that the attention of the country was 
 being called by the courts to the treason that was 
 rampant throughout the land. The letter complained 
 of is as follows : 
 
 " WASHINGTON, March 1, 18G1. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR Allow me to introduce to your ac 
 quaintance my friend Thomas B. Lincoln, of Texas. 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 143 
 
 He visits your \capital mainly to dispose of what he 
 regards a great improvement in firearms. I re 
 commend him to your favorable consideration as a 
 gentleman of the first respectability, and reliable in 
 every respect. 
 
 " Very truly yours, 
 
 " JESSE D. BRIGHT. 
 " To His Excellency JEFFERSON DAVIS, 
 
 " President of the Confederation of States. 
 
 " According to the charge of Judge Smalley, which 
 I have already read, the flag of the United States had 
 been fired upon before the 21st of January, 1861, and 
 war then did in fact exist. When the rebels were 
 taking our forts ; when they were taking possession 
 of our post-offices ; when they were seizing our cus 
 tom-houses ; when they were taking possession of 
 our mints and the depositories of the public money, 
 can it be possible that the senator from Indiana did 
 not know that war existed, and that rebellion was 
 going on ? It is a fact that the ordinance of the con 
 vention of Texas seceding from the Union, and attach 
 ing herself to the Southern Confederacy, was dated 
 back as far as the 1st of February, 1861. Then, at 
 the time the letter was written, Thomas B. Lincoln 
 was a citizen of a rebel State ; a traitor and a rebel 
 himself. He comes to the senator asking him to do 
 what? To write a letter by which he could be facil 
 itated in his scheme of selling an improved firearm, 
 an implement of war and of death. Can there be any 
 mistake about it? He asks for a letter recommending 
 an improved firearm to the president of the rebel 
 States, who was then in actual war ; the man who 
 
ANDREW JOHN SOX. 
 
 asked for this being 1 himself from a State that was in 
 open rebellion, and he himself a traitor. 
 
 " Now, sir, if we were a court, how would the case 
 be presented ? I know the Constitution says that 
 no person shall be convicted of treason unless on 
 the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, 
 or on confession in open court. Here is an overt 
 act ; it is shown clearly and plainly. We have the 
 Senator s confession in open Senate that he did write 
 the letter. Shall we with this discretion, in view of 
 the protection of this body and the safety of the Gov 
 ernment, decide the case upon special pleas or hunt 
 up technicalities by which the senator can escape, as 
 you would quash an indictment in a criminal court ? 
 
 " The case of John Smith has already been stated 
 to the Senate. A true bill has been found against 
 him for his connection with Burr s treason, but upon 
 a technicality, the proof not being- made out according 
 to the Constitution, and Burr having been tried first 
 and acquitted, the bill against Smith was quashed, 
 as he was only an accomplice. He was, therefore, 
 turned out of court ; the proceedings against him 
 were quashed upon a technicality ; but John Smith 
 was a senator, and he came here to this body. lie 
 came again to take his seat in the Senate of the United 
 States, and what did the Senate do ? They took up 
 his case ; they investigated it. Mr. Adams made a 
 report, able, full, complete. I may say he came well- 
 nigh exhausting the whole subject. The committee 
 reported a resolution for his expulsion, and how did 
 the vote stand ? It is true that Mr. Smith was not 
 expelled, for the want of some little formality in this 
 body, the vote standing 19 to 10. It only lacked one 
 
SERVICES AXD SPEECHES. 14:5 
 
 vote to put him out by a two-thirds majority, accord 
 ing to the requirements of the Constitution. What 
 was the judgment of the nation ? It was that John 
 Smith was an accomplice of Burr, and the Senate con 
 demned him and almost expelled him, not narrowing 
 itself down to those rules and technicalities that are 
 resorted to in courts and by which criminals escape. 
 To show the grounds upon which the action in that 
 case was based, I beg leave to read some extracts 
 from Mr. John Quincy Adams report : 
 
 " In examining the question whether these forms 
 of judicial proceedings or the rules of judicial evi 
 dence ought to be applied to .the exercise of that cen 
 sorial authority which the Senate of the United States 
 possesses over the conduct of its members, let us 
 assume as the test of their application either the dic 
 tates of unfettered reason, the letter and spirit of the 
 Constitution, or precedents domestic or foreign, and 
 your committee believe that the result will be the 
 same : that the power of expelling a member must in 
 its nature be discretionary, and in its exercise always 
 more summary than the tardy process of judicial pro 
 ceedings. 
 
 " The power of expelling a member for misconduct 
 results, on the principles of common sense, from the/ 
 interests of the nation that the high trust of legisla 
 tion should be invested in pure hands. When the 
 trust is elective, it is not to be presumed that the con 
 stituent body will commit the deposit to the keeping 
 of worthless characters. But when a man, whom his 
 fellow-citizens have honored with their confidence on 
 the pledge of a spotless reputation, has degraded him 
 self by the commission of infamous crimes, which 
 7 
 
146 AXDKEW JOIIXSOX. 
 
 become suddenly and unexpectedly revealed to the 
 world, defective, indeed, would be that institution 
 which should be impotent to discard from its bosom 
 the contagion of such a member ; which should have 
 no remedy of amputation to apply until the poison had 
 reached the heart. " 
 
 ****** 
 
 " But when a member of a legislative body lies 
 under the imputation of aggravated offences, and the 
 determination upon his case can operate only to 
 remove him from a station of extensive powers and 
 important trusts, this disproportion between the 
 interest of the public and the interest of the individual 
 disappears ; if any disproportion exists, it is of an 
 opposite kind. It is not better that ten traitors should 
 be members of this Senate, than that one innocent 
 man should suffer expulsion. In either case, no 
 doubt, the evil would be great ; but in the former, it 
 would strike at the vitals of the nation ; in the latter 
 it might, though deeply to be lamented, only be the 
 calamity of an individual. " 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 " Yet in the midst of all this anxious providence 
 of legislative virtue, it has not authorized the con 
 stituent body to recall in any case its representative. 
 It has not subjected him to removal by impeachment ; 
 and when the darling of the people s choice has become 
 their deadliest foe, can it enter the imagination of a 
 reasonable man, that the sanctuary of their legislation 
 must remain polluted with his presence, until a court 
 of common law, with its pace of snail, can ascertain 
 whether his crime was committed on the right or on 
 the left bank of a river ; whether a puncture of dif- 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 147 
 
 ference can be found between the words of the charge 
 and the words of the proof ; whether the witnesses of 
 his guilt should or should not be heard by his jury ; 
 and whether he was punishable, because present at 
 an overt act, or intangible to public justice because 
 he only contrived and prepared it ? Is it conceivable 
 that a traitor to that country which has loaded him 
 with favors, guilty to the common understanding of 
 all mankind, should be suffered to return unquestioned 
 to that post of honor and confidence where, in the 
 zenith of his good fame, he had been placed by the 
 esteem of his countrymen, and in defiance of their 
 wishes, in mockery of their fears, surrounded by the 
 public indignation, but inaccessible to its bolt, pursue 
 the purposes of treason in the heart of the national 
 councils? Must the assembled rulers of the land 
 listen with calmness and indifference, session after 
 session, to the voice of notorious infamy, until the 
 sluggard step of municipal justice can overtake his 
 enormities ? Must they tamely see the lives and for 
 tunes of millions, the safety of present and future 
 ages, depending upon his vote, recorded with their^, 
 merely because the abused benignity of general 
 maxims may. have remitted to him the forfeiture of 
 his life ? 
 
 " Such, in very supposable cases, would be the 
 unavoidable consequences of a principle which should 
 offer the crutches of judicial tribunals as an apology 
 for crippling the congressional power of expulsion. 
 Far different, in the opinion of your committee, is the 
 spirit of our Constitution. They believed that the 
 very purpose for which this power was given was to 
 preserve the Legislature from the firsts approaches of 
 
148 ANDREW JOIIXSOX. 
 
 infection ; that it was made discretionary, because it 
 could not exist under the procrastination of general 
 rules. That its process must lie summary, because it 
 would be rendered nugatory by delay. 
 
 "Mr. President, suppose Aaron Burr had been a 
 senator, and after his acquittal he had come back 
 here to take his seat in the Senate, what would have 
 been done? According to the doctrine avowed in this 
 debate, that we must sit as a court and subject the 
 individual to all the rules and technicalities of crim 
 inal proceedings, could he have been expelled? And 
 yet is there a senator here who would have voted to 
 allow Aaron Burr to take a seat in the Senate after 
 his acquittal by a court and jury ? Xo ; there is not 
 a senator here who would have done it. Aaron Burr 
 was tried in court, and he was found not guilty ; he 
 was turned loose. ; but was the public judgment of 
 this nation less satisfied of his guilt than if he had 
 not been acquitted? What is the nation s judgment, 
 settled and iixed ? That Aaron Burr was guilty of 
 treason, notwithstanding he was acquitted by a court 
 and jury. 
 
 " It is said by some senators that the senator from 
 Indiana wrote this letter simply as a letter of friend 
 ship. Sir, just think of it ! A senator of the United 
 States was called upon to write a letter for a rebel, 
 for a man from a rebel State, after the courts of the 
 country had pronounced that civil war existed ; after 
 the judicial tribunals had defined what aiding and ad 
 hering to the enemies of the country was 1 Under 
 such circumstances, what would have been the course 
 of loyalty and of patriotism ? Suppose a man who 
 had been your friend, sir, who had rendered you many 
 
SERVICES AXD SPEECHES. 149 
 
 acts of kindness, had come to you for such a letter, 
 You would have asked where he was going with it. 
 You would have said, There is a Southern Confed 
 eracy; there is a rebellion; my friend, you cannot ask 
 me to write a letter to anybody there ; they are at 
 war with the United States; they are at war with my 
 Government; I cannot write you a letter giving you 
 aid and assistance in selling your improved firearm 
 there. Why ? Because that firearm may be used 
 against my own country and against my own fellow- 
 citizens. Would not that have been the language of 
 a man who was willing to recognize his obligations of 
 duty to his country ? 
 
 What was the object of writing the letter ? It cer 
 tainly was to aid, to facilitate the selling of his fire 
 arms, to inspire the rebel chief with confidence in the 
 individual. It was saying substantially, I know this 
 man ; I write to you because I know you have con 
 fidence in me; I send him to you because I know you 
 need firearms ; you need improved firearms ; - you 
 need the most deadly and destructive weapons of 
 warfare to overcome this great and this glorious 
 country; I recommend him to you, and I recommend 
 his firearms ; he is a man in whom entire confidence 
 may be placed. 7 That, sir, is the letter. I have al 
 ready shown the circumstances under which it was 
 written. If such a letter had been written in the 
 purest innocence of intention, with no treasonable 
 design, with no desire to injure his own Government, 
 yet, in view of all the circumstances, in view of the 
 facts which had transpired, a senator who would be 
 so unthoughtful, and so negligent, and so regardless 
 of his country s interests as to write such a letter, is 
 
150 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 not entitled to a scat on this floor. [Applause in the 
 galleries.] 
 
 The presiding officer* Order ! order ! 
 Mr. Jolmson : 
 
 "Then, Mr. President, what has been the bearing 
 and the conduct of the senator from Indiana since ? 
 I desire it to be understood that I refer to him in no 
 unkindness, for God knows I bear him none ; but my 
 duty I will perform. Duties are mine, consequences 
 are God s. What has been the senator s bearing 
 generally? Have you heard of his being in the field? 
 Have you heard of his voice and his influence being 
 raised for his bleeding and distracted country ? Has 
 his influence been brought to bear officially, socially, 
 politically, or in any way, for the suppression of the 
 rebellion ? If so, I am unaware of it. Where is the 
 evidence of devotion to his country in his speeches 
 and in his votes ? Where the evidence of the dispo 
 sition on his part to overthrow and put down the re 
 bellion? I have been told, Mr. President, by honor 
 able gentlemen, as an evidence of the senator s devo 
 tion to his country and his great opposition to this 
 Southern movement, that they heard him, and perhaps 
 with tears in his eyes, remonstrate witli the leaders 
 of the rebellion that they should not leave him here in 
 the Senate, or that they should not persist in their 
 course after the relations that had existed between 
 them and him, and the other Democrats of the coun 
 try; that he thought they were treating him badly. 
 This was the kind of remonstrance he made. Be it 
 
 * Mr. Sherman. 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 151 
 
 so, I am willing to give the senator credit for all he 
 is entitled to, and I would to God I could credit him 
 with more. 
 
 " But do senators remember that, when this battle 
 was being fought in the Senate. I stood here on this 
 side, solitary and alone, on the 19th day of December, 
 1860, and proclaimed that the Government was at an 
 end if you denied it the power to enforce its laws? I 
 declared, then, that a government which had not the 
 power to coerce obedience on the part of those who 
 violated the law was no government at all, and had 
 failed to carry out the objects of its creation, and was, 
 ipso facto, dissolved. When I stood on this floor and 
 fought the battle for the supremacy of the Constitution 
 and the enforcement of the laws, has the Senate for 
 gotten that a bevy of conspirators gathered in from 
 the other House, and that those who were here crowded 
 around, with frowns and scowls, and expressions of 
 indignation and contempt towards me, because I dared 
 to raise my feeble voice in vindication of the Consti 
 tution and the enforcement of the laws of the Union ? 
 Have you forgotten the taunts, the jeers, the derisive 
 remarks, the contemptuous expressions that were in 
 dulged in ? If you have, I have not. If the senator 
 felt such great reluctance at the departure from the 
 Senate of the chiefs of the rebellion, I should have 
 been glad to receive one encouraging smile from him 
 when I was fighting the battles of the country. I did 
 not receive one encouraging expression ; I received 
 not a single sustaining look. It would have been pe 
 culiarly encouraging to me, under the circumstances, 
 to be greeted and encouraged by one of the senator s 
 talents and long standing in public life; but he was 
 
152 AN1)KE\V JOHNSON. 
 
 cold as an iceberg , and I stood solitary and alone 
 amidst the gang- of conspirators that had gathered 
 around me. So much lor the senator s remonstrances 
 and expressions of regret for the retirement of those 
 gentlemen. 
 
 " The bearing of the senator since he wrote this 
 letter has not been unobserved. I have not compared 
 notes ; I have not hunted up the record in reference 
 to it ; but I have a perfect recollection of it. Did we 
 not see, during the last session of Congress, the line 
 beinir drawn between those who were devoted to the 
 
 *T!> 
 
 Union and those who were not ? Cannot we sometimes 
 see a great deal more than is expressed ? Does it 
 require us to have a man s sentiments written down in 
 burning and blazing characters, before we are able 
 to judge what they are ? Has it not been observable 
 all through this history where the true Union heart 
 has stood ? What was the senator s bearing at the 
 last session of Congress ? Do we not know that in 
 the main he stood here opposed substantially to every 
 measure which was necessary to sustain the Govern 
 ment in its trial and peril ? lie may perhaps have 
 voted for some measures that were collateral, remote, 
 indirect in their bearing ; but do we not know that 
 his vote and his influence were cast against the meas 
 ures which were absolutely necessary to sustain the 
 Government in its hour of peril ? 
 
 "Some gentlemen have said, and well said, that* 
 we should not judge by party. I say so, too. I 
 voted to let the senator from Indiana into the body, 
 and as a Democrat my bias and prejudice would 
 rather be in his favor. I am a Democrat now ; I 
 have been one all iny life ; I expect to live and die 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 153 
 
 one ; and the corner-stone of iny Democracy rests 
 upon the enduring basis of the Union. Democrats 
 may come and go ; but they shall never divert me 
 from the polar star by which I have ever been guided 
 from early life the great principle of Democracy 
 upon which this Government rests, and which cannot 
 be carried out without the preservation of the Union 
 of these States. The pretence hitherto employed by 
 many who are now in the traitors camp has been, 
 We are for the Union ; we are not for dissolution ; 
 but we are opposed to coercion. How long, senators, 
 have you heard that siren song ? Where are now most 
 of those who sang those siren tones to us ? Look 
 back to the last session, and inquire where now are 
 the men who then were singing that song in our ears ? 
 Where is Trusten Polk, who then stood here so gently 
 craving for peace ? He is in the rebel camp. Where 
 is John C. Breckinridge ? a man for whose promo 
 tion to the Presidency I did what I could, physically, 
 mentally, and pecuniarily ; but when he satisfied rne 
 that he was for breaking up this Government, and 
 would ere long be a traitor to his country, I dropped 
 him as I would the senator from Indiana. He was 
 here at the last session of Congress ; and everybody 
 could see then that he was on the road to the traitors 
 camp. Instead of sustaining the Government, he, too, 
 was crying out for peace ; but he was bitter against 
 Lincoln s government. Sir, when 1 talk about pre 
 serving this great Government, I do not have its ex 
 ecutive officer in my mind. The executive head of 
 the Government comes in and goes out of office every 
 four years. He is the mere creature of the people. 
 I talk about the Government without regard to the 
 7* 
 
154: ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 particular executive officers who have charge of it. 
 If they do well, we can continue them ; if they do 
 wrong 1 , we can turn them out. Mr. Lincoln having 
 come in according to the forms of law and the Con 
 stitution, I, loving my Government and the Union, 
 felt it to be my duty to stand by the Government, 
 and to stand by the Administration in all those meas 
 ures that I believed to be necessary and proper for 
 the preservation and perpetuation of the Union. 
 
 "Mr. Polk has gone ; Mr. Breckinridge lias gone ; 
 my namesake, the late senator from Missouri, has 
 gone. Did you not sec the line of separation at the 
 last session ? Although senators make speeches in 
 which they give utterance to disclaimers, we can see 
 their bearing. It is visible now ; and the obligations 
 of truth and duty to my country require me to speak 
 of it. I believe there are treasonable tendencies here 
 now ; and how long it will be before they will lead to 
 the traitors camp, I shall not undertake to say. -The 
 great point with these gentlemen is, that they are op 
 posed to coercion and to the enforcement of the laws. 
 Without regard to the general bearing of the senator 
 from Indiana upon that point, let me quote the con 
 clusion of his letter of the 7th of September, 1801, to 
 J. Fitch. I will read only the concluding portion of 
 the letter, as it does him no injustice to omit the re 
 mainder : 
 
 And hence I have opposed, and so long as my 
 present convictions last shall continue to oppose the 
 entire coercive policy of the Government. I hope this 
 may be satisfactory to my friends. For my enemies 
 I care riot. 
 
 " Does not this correspond with the senator s gen- 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 155 
 
 eral bearing ? Has he given his aid, or countenance, 
 or influence in any manner towards the efforts of the 
 Government to sustain itself? What has been his 
 course ? We know that great stress has been laid 
 upon the word coercion/ and it has been played 
 upon effectually for the purpose of prejudicing the 
 Southern mind, in connection with the other term, 
 subjugation of the States/ which has tjeen used so 
 often. We may as well be honest and fair, and admit 
 the truth of the great proposition, that a government 
 cannot exist in other words, it is no government 
 if it is without the power to enforce its laws and co 
 erce obedience to them. That is all there is of it ; 
 and the very instant you take that power from this 
 Government, it is at an end ; it is a mere rope of sand 
 that will fall to pieces of its own weight. It is idle, 
 Utopian, chimerical, to talk about a government ex 
 isting without the power to enforce its laws. How is 
 the Government to enforce its laws ? The Constitu 
 tion says that Congress shall have power to provide 
 for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the 
 Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions/ 
 Let me ask the senator from Indiana, with all his as 
 tuteness, how is rebellion to be put down, how is it 
 to be resisted, unless there is some power in the Gov 
 ernment to enforce its laws ? 
 
 " If there be a citizen who violates your post-office 
 laws, who counterfeits the coin of the United States, 
 or who commits any other offence against the laws 
 of the United States, you subject him to trial 
 and punishment. Is not that coercion? Is not 
 that enforcing the laws? How is rebellion to be 
 put down without coercion, without enforcing the 
 
156 ANDREW JOHXSON. 
 
 laws ? Can it be done ? The Constitution pro 
 vides that 
 
 " i The United States shall guarantee to every xState 
 in this Union a republican form of government, and 
 shall protect each of them from invasion ; and on ap 
 plication of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when 
 the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic 
 violence. 
 
 " How is this Government to put down domestic 
 violence in a State without coercion ? How is the 
 nation to be protected against insurrection without 
 coercing the citizens to obedience ? Can it be done ? 
 When the senator says he is ag ainst the entire co 
 ercive policy of the Government, he is against the 
 vital principle of all government. I look upon this 
 as the most revolutionary and destructive doctrine 
 that ever was preached. If this Government cannot 
 call forth the militia, if it cannot repel invasion, if it 
 cannot put down domestic violence, if it cannot sup 
 press rebellion, I ask if the great objects of the Govern 
 ment are not at an end ? 
 
 " Look at my own State, by way of illustration. 
 There in open rebellion there ; there is domestic vio 
 lence ; there is insurrection. An attempt has been 
 made to transfer that State to another power. Let 
 me ask the senator from Indiana if the Constitution 
 does not require you to guarantee us a republican 
 form of government in that State ? Is not that your 
 sworn duty? We ask you to put down this unholy 
 rebellion. What answer would he give us? We ask 
 you to protect us against insurrection and domestic 
 violence. What is his reply? 4 I am against your 
 whole coercive policy; I arn against the enforcement 
 
SEKVICES AND SPEECHES. 157 
 
 of the laws. I say that if that principle be acted on, 
 your Government is at an end ; it fails utterly to carry 
 out the object of its creation. Such a principle leads 
 to the destruction of the Government, for it must in 
 evitably result in anarchy arid confusion. I am 
 opposed to the entire coercive policy of the Govern 
 ment/ says the senator from Indiana. That cuckoo 
 note has been reiterated to satiety ; it is understood ; 
 men know the nature and character of their Govern 
 ment, and they also know that to cry out against 
 coercion and subjugation is mere ad captandum, 
 idle, and unmeaning slang-whanging. 
 
 " Sir, I may be a little sensitive on this subject 
 upon the one hand, while I know I want to do ample 
 justice upon the other. I took an oath to support the 
 Constitution of the United States. There is rebellion 
 in the land ; there is insurrection against the author 
 ity of this Government. Is the senator from Indiana 
 so unobservant or so obtuse that he does not know 
 now that there has been a deliberate design for years 
 to change the nature and character and genius of this 
 Government? Do we not know that these schemers 
 have been deliberately at work, and that there is a 
 party in the South, with some associates in the North, 
 and even in the West, that have become tired of free 
 government, in which they have lost confidence ? 
 They raise an outcry against coercion, that they 
 may paralyze the Government, cripple the exercise of 
 the great powers with which it was invested, and 
 finally change its form and subject us to a Southern 
 despotism. Do we not know it to be so? Why dis 
 guise this great truth ? Do we not know that they 
 have been anxious for a change of government for 
 
158 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 years ? Since this rebellion commenced it has mani 
 fested itself in many quarters. Ilmv long 1 is it since 
 the organ of the Government at Richmond, the Rich 
 mond Whig, declared that rather than live under the 
 Government of the United States, they preferred to 
 take the constitutional Queen of Great Britain as their 
 protector ; that they would make an alliance with 
 Great Britain for the purpose of preventing the en 
 forcement of the laws of the United States ? Do we 
 not know this? Why then play hide and go seek? 
 Why say, Oh, yes, I am for the Union, while every 
 act, influence, conversation, vote, is against it ? 
 What confidence can we have in one who takes such 
 a course ? 
 
 " The people of my State, down-trodden and op 
 pressed by the iron heel of Southern despotism, appeal 
 to you for protection. They ask you to protect them 
 against domestic violence. They want you to help 
 them to put down this unholy arid damnable rebellion. 
 They call upon this Government for the execution of 
 its constitutional duty to guarantee to them a repub 
 lican form of government, and to protect them against 
 the tyranny and despotism which is stalking abroad. 
 What is the cold reply? lam against the entire 
 coercive policy ; I am not for enforcing the laws. 
 Upon such a doctrine government crumbles to pieces, 
 and anarchy and despotism reign throughout the land. 
 
 "Indiana, God bless her, is as true to the Union 
 as the needle is to the pole. She has sent out her 
 columns ; she has sent her thousands into the field : 
 for what ? To sustain the Constitution and to enforce 
 the laws ; and as they march with strong arms and 
 brave hearts to relieve a suffering people, who have 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 159 
 
 committed no offence save devotion to this glorious 
 Union ; as they march to the rescue of the Constitu 
 tion and to extend its benefits again to a people who 
 love it dearly, arid who have been ruthlessly torn from 
 under its protecting segis, what does their senator say 
 to them? 1 am against the entire policy of coercion/ 
 Do you ever hear a senator who thus talks make any 
 objection to the exercise of unconstitutional and 
 tyrannical power by the so-called Southern Confeder 
 acy, or say a word against its practice of coercion ? 
 In all the speeches that have been delivered on that 
 point, has one sentence against usurpation, against 
 despotism, against the exercise of doubtful and un 
 constitutional powers by that Confederacy, been 
 uttered ? Oh, no ! Have you heard any objection to 
 their practising not only coercion, but usurpation? 
 Have they not usurped government ? Have they not 
 oppressed, and are they not now tyrannizing over the 
 people ? The people of my State are coerced, borne 
 down, trodden beneath the iron heel of power. We 
 appeal to you for protection. You stand by and see 
 us coerced ; you stand by and see tyranny triumphing, 
 arid no sympathy, no kindness, no helping hand can 
 be extended to us. Your Government is paralyzed ; 
 your Government is powerless ; that which you have 
 called a government is a dream, an idle thing". You 
 thought you had a government, but you have none. 
 My people are appealing to you for protection under 
 the Constitution. They are arrested by hundreds and 
 by thousands ; they are dragged away from their 
 homes and incarcerated in dungeons. They ask you 
 for protection. Why do you not give it? Some of 
 them are lying chained in their lonely prison-house 
 
160 ANDREW JOHNSON". 
 
 The only response to their murmur is the rattling and 
 clanking of the chains that bind their limbs. The 
 only response to their appeals is the grating ol the 
 hinges of their dungeon. When we ask for help 
 under the Constitution, we are told that the Govern 
 ment has no power to enforce the laws. Our people 
 are oppressed and down-trodden, and you give them 
 no remedy. They were taught to love and respect 
 the Constitution of the United States. What is their 
 condition to-day? They are hunted and pursued like 
 the beasts of the forest by the secession and disunion 
 hordes who are enforcing their doctrine of coercion. 
 They are shot or hung for no crime save a desire to 
 stand by the Constitution -of the United States. Help 
 less children and innocent females are murdered in 
 cold blood. Our men are hung and their bodies left 
 upon the gibbet. They are shot and left lying in the 
 gorges of the mountains; not even thrown into the 
 caves there to lie, but are left exposed to pass through 
 all the loathsome stages of decomposition, or to be 
 devoured by the birds of prey. We appeal for pro 
 tection, and are told by the senator from Indiana and 
 others, We cannot enforce the laws ; we are against 
 the entire coercive policy. Do you not hear their 
 groans? Do you not hear their cries? Do you not 
 hear the shrieks of oppressed and down-trodden 
 women and children? Sir, their tones ring* out so 
 loud and clear, that even listening angels look from 
 heaven in pity. 
 
 " 1 will not pursue this idea further, for I perceive 
 that I am consuming more time than I intended to 
 occupy. 1 think it is clear, without going further into 
 the discussion, that the senator from Indiana has 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 161 
 
 sympathized with the rebellion. The conclusion is 
 fixed upon my mind that the senator from Indiana has 
 disqualified himself, has incapacitated himself to dis 
 charge the duties in this body of a loyal senator. I 
 think it is clear that, even if we were a court, we 
 should be bound to convict him ; but I do not narrow 
 the case down to the close rules that would govern a 
 court of justice. 
 
 "But, sir, in the course of the discussion one pal 
 liating fact was submitted by the distinguished senator 
 from New Jersey,* and he knows that I do not refer 
 to him in any spirit of unkindness. There was more 
 of legal learning and special pleading in his sugges 
 tion than solidity or sound argument. He suggested 
 that there was no proof that this letter had ever been 
 delivered to Jefferson Davis, and that therefore the 
 senator from Indiana ought not to be convicted. 
 Well, sir, on the other hand, there is no proof that it 
 was not delivered. It is true, the letter was found in 
 Mr. Lincoln s possession ; but who knows that Davis 
 did not read the letter, and hand it back to Lincoln ? 
 It may have been that, being from his early friend, a 
 man whom he respected, Lincoln desired to keep the 
 letter and show it to somebody else. We have as 
 much right to infer that the letter was delivered as 
 that it was not ; but be that as it may, does it lessen 
 the culpability of the senator from Indiana ? He com 
 mitted the act, and so far as he was concerned it was 
 executed. It would be no palliation of his offence if 
 the man did not deliver the letter to Davis. The in 
 tent and the act were just as complete as if it had 
 been delivered. 
 
 * Mr. Ten Eyck. 
 
162 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 "During 1 the war of the Revolution, in 1780, Major 
 Andre, a British spy, held a conference with Benedict 
 Arnold. Arnold prepared his letters, six in number, 
 and they were handed over to Major Andre, who put 
 them between the soles of his feet and his stocking s, 
 and he started on his way to join Sir Henry Clinton. 
 Before he reached his destination, however, John 
 Puulding and his two associates arrested Major 
 Andre. They pulled off his boots and his stockings, 
 and they got the papers ; they kept them, and Major 
 Andre was tried and hung- as a spy. Arnold s papers 
 were not delivered to Sir Henry Clinton ; but is there 
 anybody here who doubts that Arnold was a traitor? 
 Has public opinion ever changed upon that subject? 
 He was riot convicted in a court, nor were the treason 
 able dispatches which were to expose the condition 
 of West Point, and make the British attack upon it 
 easy and successful, ever delivered to Sir Henry 
 Clinton, and yet Andre was hung as a spy. Because 
 Sir Henry Clinton did not receive the treasonable 
 documents, was the guilt of Benedict Arnold any the 
 less? I do not intend to argue this question in a 
 legal way ; I simply mention this circumstance by 
 way of illustration of the point which has been urged 
 in the present case, and leave it for the public judg-- 
 ment to determine. 
 
 " Sir, it has been said by the distinguished senator 
 from Delaware* that the questions in controversy 
 might all have been settled by compromise. He dealt 
 rather extensively in the party aspect of the case, and 
 seemingly desired to throw the onus of the present 
 
 * Mr. Saulsbury. 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 163 
 
 condition of affairs entirely on one side. He told us 
 that if so and so had been done, these questions could 
 have been settled, and that now there would have 
 been no war. He referred particularly to the resolu 
 tion offered during the last Congress by the senator 
 from New Hampshire,* and upon the vote on that lie 
 based his argument. I do not mean to be egotistical ; 
 but if he will give me his attention, I intend to take 
 the staple out of that speech, and show how much of 
 it is left on that point. 
 
 " The speech of the senator from Delaware was a 
 very fine one. I have not the power, as he has, to 
 con over, and get by rote, and memorize handsomely 
 rounded periods, and make a great display of rhet 
 oric. It is my misfortune that I am not so skilled. 
 I have to seize on fugitive thoughts as they pass 
 through my mind, make the best application of them 
 I can, and express them in my own crude way. I am 
 not one of those who prepare rounding, sounding, 
 bounding rhetorical flourishes, read them over twenty 
 times before I come into the Senate Chamber, make a 
 great display, and have it said, Oh, that is a fine 
 speech P I have heard many such fine speeches ; but 
 v/lieii I have had time to follow them up, I have found 
 that it never took long to analyze them, and reduce 
 them to their original elements ; and that when they 
 were reduced, there was not very much of them. 
 [Laughter.] 
 
 " The senator told us that the adoption of the Clark 
 amendment to the Crittenden resolutions defeated the 
 settlement of the questions of controversy ; and that, 
 
 * Mr. Clark. 
 
164 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 but for that vote, all could liavc been peace and pros 
 perity now. We were told that the (Mark amendment 
 defeated the Crittendcn Compromise, and prevented a 
 settlement of the controversy. On this point I will 
 read a portion of the speech of my worthy and tal 
 ented friend from California,* and when I speak of 
 him thus, I do it in no unmeaning- sense. 1 intend 
 that he, not I, shall answer the senator from Dela 
 ware. I know that sometimes, when gentlemen are 
 fixing" up their pretty rhetorical nourishes, they do 
 not take time to see all the sharp corners they may 
 encounter. If they can make a readable sentence, 
 and float on in a smooth, easy stream, all goes well, 
 and they are satisfied. As I have said, the senator 
 from Delaware told us that the Clark amendment was 
 the turning-point in the whole matter ; that from it 
 had flowed rebellion, revolution, war, the shooting and 
 imprisonment of people in different States perhaps 
 he meant to include my own. This was the Pandora s 
 box that has been opened, out of which all the evils 
 that now afllict the land have ilown. Thank God, I 
 still have hope that all will yet be saved. My worthy 
 friend from California, during the last session of Con 
 gress, made one of the best speeches he ever made. 
 I bought five thousand copies of it for distribution, 
 but I had no constituents to send them to [laughter] ; 
 and they have been lying in your document-room ever 
 since, with the exception of a few, which 1 thought 
 would do good in some quarters. In the course of 
 that speech upon this very point, he made use of these 
 remarks : 
 
 * Mr. Latham. 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 165 
 
 " Mr. President, being- lust winter a careful eye 
 witness of all that occurred, I soon became satisfied 
 that it was a deliberate, wilful design, on the part of 
 some representatives of Southern States, to seize upon 
 the election of Mr. Lincoln merely as an excuse to 
 precipitate this revolution upon the country. One 
 evidence, to my mind, is the fact that South Carolina 
 never sent her senators here. 
 
 " Then they certainly were not influenced by the 
 Clark amendment. 
 
 " An additional evidence is, that when gentlemen 
 on this floor, by their votes, could have controlled le 
 gislation, they refused to cast them, for fear that the 
 very propositions submitted to this body might have 
 an influence in changing the opinions of their constit 
 uencies. Why, sir, when the resolutions submitted 
 by the senator from New Hampshire [Mr. Clark] were 
 offered as an amendment to the Crittenden proposi 
 tions, for the manifest purpose of embarrassing the 
 latter, and the vote taken on the 16th of January, 
 1861, I ask, what did we see? Ihere were fifty-five 
 senators at that time upon this floor in person. The 
 Globe of the second session, Thirty-sixth Congress, 
 part 1, page 409, shows that upon the call of the 
 yeas arid nays immediately preceding the vote on 
 the substituting of Mr. Clark s amendment, there 
 were fifty-five votes cast. I will read the vote from 
 the Globe: 
 
 11 YEAS. Messrs. Anthony, Baker, Bingham, Cam 
 eron, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Dixon, Doolittle, 
 Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Har- 
 lan, King, Seward, Simmons, Summer, Ten Eyck, 
 Trurnbull, Wade, Wilkinson, and Wilson 25. 
 
166 AXDKKW JOHNSON. 
 
 " NAYS. Messrs. Bayard, Benjamin, Bigler, Bragg, 
 Bright, Clingman, Crittenden, Douglas, Fitch, Green, 
 Gvvin, Hcmpliill, Hunter, Iverson, Johnson of Ar 
 kansas, Johnson of Tennessee, Kennedy, Lane, La 
 tham, Mason, Nicholson, Pearce, Polk, Powell, Pugh, 
 Rice, Saulsbnry, Sebastian, Slidell, and Wigfall 30. 
 
 " The vote being taken immediately after, on the 
 Clark proposition, was as follows : 
 
 " YEAS. Messrs. Anthony, Baker, Bingham, Cam 
 eron, Chandler, Clark, Collamcr, Dixon, Doolittlc, Dur- 
 kee, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, 
 King, Seward, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, 
 Wade, Wilkinson, and Wilson 25. 
 
 " NAYS. Messrs. Bayard, Biglcr, Bragg, Bright, 
 Clingman, Crittenden, Fitch, Green, Gvvin, Hunter, 
 Johnson of Tennessee, Kennedy, Lane, Latham, Mason, 
 Nicholson, Pearce, Polk, Powell, Pugh, Rice, Sauls- 
 bury, and Sobastian 23. 
 
 " Six senators retained their scats and refused to 
 vote, thus themselves allowing the Clark proposition 
 to supplant the Crittenden resolution by a vote of 
 twenty-five to twenty-three. Mr. Benjamin, of Louisi 
 ana; Mr. Hemphill and Mr. Wigfall, of Texas; Mr. Iver 
 son, of Georgia ; Mr. Johnson, of Arkansas, and Mr. 
 Slidell, of Louisiana, were in their seats, but refused 
 to cast their votes. 
 
 "I sat right behind Mr. Benjamin, and I am not 
 sure that my worthy friend was not close by, when he 
 refused to vote, and I said to him, Mr. Benjamin, why 
 do you not vote ? Why not save this proposition, and 
 see if we cannot bring the country to it V lie gave 
 me rather an abrupt answer, and said he would con 
 trol his own action without consulting me or anybody 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 167 
 
 else. Said I, Vote, and show yourself an honest man. 
 As soon as the vote was taken, he and others tele 
 graphed South, We cannot get any compromise. 
 Here were six Southern men refusing to vote, when 
 the amendment would have been rejected by four ma 
 jority if they had voted. Who, then, has brought 
 these evils on the country ? Was it Mr. Clark ? He 
 was acting out his own policy ; but with the help we 
 had from the other side of the chamber, if all those on 
 this side had been true to the Constitution and faithful 
 to their constituents, and had acted with fidelity to 
 the country, the amendment of the senator from New 
 Hampshire could have been voted down, the defeat of 
 which, the senator from Delaware says, would have 
 saved the country. Whose fault was it? Who is 
 responsible for it ? Who did it ? Southern traitors, 
 as was said in the speech of the senator from Cali 
 fornia. They did it. They wanted no compromise. 
 They accomplished their object by withholding their 
 votes; and hence the country has been involved in the 
 present difficulty. Let me read another extract from 
 this speech of the senator from California : 
 
 " I recollect full well the joy that pervaded the 
 faces of some of those gentlemen at the result, and 
 the sorrow manifested by the venerable senator from 
 Kentucky (Mr. Crittenden). The record shows that 
 Mr. Pugh, from Ohio, despairing of any compromise 
 between the extremes of ultra republicanism and dis- 
 unionists, working manifestly for the same end, moved, 
 immediately after the vote was announced, to lay the 
 whole subject on the table. If you will turn to page 
 443, in the same volume, you will find, when, at a late 
 period, Mr. Cameron, from Pennsylvania, moved to re- 
 
168 A.NDREW JOHXSOX. 
 
 consider the vote, appeals having boon made to sus 
 tain those who were struggling to preserve the peace 
 of the country, that the vote icas reconsidered ; and 
 when, at last, the Crittenden propositions were sub 
 mitted on the 2d day of March, these Southern States 
 having nearly all seceded, they were then lost by but 
 one vote. Here is the vote : 
 
 " YEAS. Messrs. Bayard, Bigler, Bright, Critten- 
 den, Douglas, Gwin, Hunter, Johnson of Tennessee, 
 Kennedy, Lane, Latham, Mason, Nicholson, Polk, 
 Pugh, Rice, Sebastian, Thomson, and Wigfall 19. 
 
 " NAYS. Messrs. Anthony, Bingham, Chandler, 
 Clark, Dixon, Doolittle, Durkcc, Fessenden, Foot, Fos 
 ter, Grimes, Harlan, King, Morrill, Sumner, Ten Eyck, 
 Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, and Wilson 20. 
 
 " If these seceding Southern senators had remained, 
 there would have passed, by a large vote (as it did 
 without them), an amendment, by a two-thirds vote, 
 forbidding Congress ever interfering with slavery in 
 the States. The Crittendcn proposition would have 
 been indorsed by a majority vote, the subject finally 
 going before the people, who have never yet, after 
 consideration, refused justice, for any length of time, 
 to any portion of the country. 
 
 " I believe more, Mr. President, that these gentle 
 men were acting in pursuance of a settled and fixed 
 plan to break up and destroy this Government. 
 
 " When we had it in our power to vote down the 
 amendment of the senator from New Hampshire, and 
 adopt the Crittenden resolutions, certain Southern 
 senators prevented it; and yet, even at a late day of 
 the session, after they had seceded, the Crittenden 
 proposition was ority lost by ono vote. If rebellion 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 169 
 
 and bloodshed and murder have followed, to whose 
 skirts does the responsibility attach ? I summed up 
 all these facts myself in a speech during the last ses 
 sion ; but I have preferred to read from the speech 
 of the senator from California, he being better author 
 ity, and having presented the facts better than I 
 could. 
 
 " What else was done at the very same session ? 
 The House of Representatives passed, and sent to this 
 body, a proposition to amend the Constitution of the 
 United States, so as to prohibit Congress from ever 
 hereafter interfering with the institution of slavery in 
 the States, making that restriction a part of the or 
 ganic law of the land. That constitutional amendment 
 came here after the senators from seven States had 
 seceded; and yet it was passed by a two-thirds vote 
 in the Senate. Have you ever heard of any one of 
 the States which had then seceded, or which has since 
 seceded, taking up that amendment to the Constitu 
 tion, and saying they would ratify it, and make it a 
 part of that instrument ? No. Does not the whole 
 history of this rebellion tell you that it was revolution 
 that the leaders wanted, that they started for, that 
 they intended to have ? The facts to which I have 
 referred show how the Crittenden proposition might 
 have been carried; and when the senators from the 
 Slave States were reduced to one-fourth of the mem 
 bers of this body, the two Houses passed a proposition 
 to amend the Constitution, so as to guarantee to the 
 States perfect security in regard to the institution of 
 slavery in all future time, and prohibiting Congress 
 from legislating on the subject. 
 
 "But what more was done ? After Southern sena- 
 8 
 
170 ANDREW JOHNSOX. 
 
 tors had treacherously abandoned the Constitution and 
 deserted their posts here, Congress passed bills for 
 the organization of three new territories Dakotah, Ne 
 vada, and Colorado ; and in the sixtli section of each 
 of those bills, after conferring, affirmatively, power on 
 the Territorial Legislature, it went on to exclude cer 
 tain powers by using a negative form of expression ; 
 and it provided, among other things, that the Legis 
 lature should have no power to legislate so as to im 
 pair the right to private property; that it should lay 
 no tax discriminating against one description of prop 
 erty in favor of another ; leaving the power on all 
 these questions, not in the Territorial Legislature, but 
 in the people when they should come to form a State 
 constitution. 
 
 " Now, I ask, taking the amendment to the Consti 
 tution, and taking the three territorial bills, embra 
 cing every square inch of territory in the possession of 
 the United States, how much of the slavery question 
 was left? What better compromise could have been 
 made ? Still, we are told that matters might have 
 been compromised ; and that if we had agreed to 
 compromise, bloody rebellion would not now be 
 abroad in the land. Sir, Southern senators are re 
 sponsible for it. They stood here with power to ac 
 complish the result, and yet treacherously, and, I may 
 say, tauntingly, they left this chamber, and announced 
 that they had dissolved their connection with the 
 Government. Then, when we were left in the hands 
 of those whom we had been taught to believe would 
 encroach upon our rights, they gave us, in the consti 
 tutional amendment and in the three territorial bills, 
 all that had ever been asked ; and yet gentlemen talk 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 171 
 
 about compromise ! Why was not this taken and 
 accepted ? 
 
 " No ; it was not compromise that the leaders 
 wanted ; they wanted power ; they wanted to destroy 
 this Government, so that they might have place and 
 emolument for themselves. They had lost confidence 
 in the intelligence, and virtue, and integrity of the 
 people, and their capacity to govern themselves ; and 
 they intended to separate and form a government, the 
 chief corner-stone of which should be slavery, dis 
 franchising the great mass of the people, of which we 
 have seen constant evidence, and merging the powers 
 of government in the hands of the few. I know what 
 I say. I know their feelings and their sentiments. 
 I served in the Senate here with them. I know they 
 were a close corporation, that had no more confidence 
 in or respect for the people than has the Dey of Al 
 giers. I fought that close corporation here. I knew 
 that they were no friends of the people. I knew,that 
 Slidell, and Mason, and Benjamin, and Iverson, and 
 Toombs were the enemies^ of free government, and I 
 know so now. I commenced the war upon them be 
 fore a State seceded ; and I intend to keep on fight 
 ing this great battle before the country for the per 
 petuity of free government. They seek to overthrow 
 it, and to establish a despotism in its place. That is 
 the great battle which is upon our hands. The great 
 interests of civil liberty and free government call 
 upon every patriot and every lover of popular rights 
 to come forward and discharge his duty. 
 
 " We see this great struggle ; we see that the ex 
 ercise of the vital principle of government itself is 
 denied by those who desire our institutions to be 
 
172 ANDREW JOHNSON 
 
 overtnrown and despotism established on tneir ruins 
 If we have not the physical arid moral courage to ex 
 clude from our midst men whom we believe to be un 
 safe depositories of public power and public trust, 
 men whose associates were rolling off honeyed ac 
 cents against coercion, and are now in the traitors 
 camp, if we have not the courage to force these men 
 from our midst, because we have known them, and 
 have been personal friends with them for years, we 
 are not entitled to sit here as senators ourselves. 
 Can you expect your brave men, your officers and 
 soldiers who are now in the tented field, subject to 
 all the hardships and privations pertaining to a civil 
 war like this, to have courage, and to march on with 
 patriotism to crush treason on every battle-field, when 
 you have not the courage to expel it from your midst? 
 Set those brave men an example ; say to them by 
 your acts and voice that you evidence your intention 
 to put down traitors in the field by ejecting them 
 from your midst, without regard to former associ 
 ations. 
 
 " I do not say these things in unkindness. I say 
 them in obedience to duty, a high constitutional duty 
 that I owe to my country ; yes, sir, that I owe to my 
 wife and children. By your failure to exercise the 
 powers of this Government, by your failure to enforce 
 the laws of the Union, I am separated from those 
 most dear to me. Pardon me, sir, for this personal 
 allusion. My wile and children have been turned into 
 the street, and my house has been turned into a bar 
 rack ; and for what ? Because I stand by the Con 
 stitution and the institutions of the country that I 
 have been taught to love, respect, and venerate. Tin s 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 173 
 
 is my offence. Where arc my sons-in-law ? One to 
 day is lying in prison ; another is forced to fly to the 
 mountains to evade the pursuit of the hell-born and 
 hell-bound conspiracy of disunion and secession ; and 
 when their cries come up here to you for protection, 
 we are told, No ; I am against the entire coercive 
 policy of the Government. 
 
 " The speech of the senator from California, the 
 other day, had the effect in some degree, and seemed 
 to be intended to give the question a party tinge. If 
 I know myself, although, as I avowed before, I am 
 a Democrat, and expect to live and die one, I know 
 no party in this great struggle for the existence, of 
 my country. The argument presented by the senator 
 from California was that we need not be in such hot 
 pursuit of Mr. Bright, or those senators who entertain 
 his sentiments, who are still here, because we had 
 been a little dilatory in expelling other traitorous sen 
 ators heretofore ; and he referred us to the resolution 
 of the senator from Maine,* which was introduced at 
 the special session in March last, declaring that cer 
 tain senators having withdrawn, and their seats having 
 thereby become vacant, the secretary should omit their 
 names from the roll of the Senate. I know there seemed 
 to be a kind of timidity, a kind of fear, to make use of 
 the word expel at that time ; but the fact fhat we 
 declared the seats vacant, and stopped there, did not 
 preclude us from afterwards passing a vote of censure. 
 The resolution, which was adopted in March, merely 
 stated the fact that senators had withdrawn, and left 
 their seats vacant. At. the next session a resolution 
 
 * Mr. Fessenden. 
 
171 ANDEEW JOHNSON. 
 
 was introduced to expel the other senators from the 
 seceded States who did not attend in the Senate; and 
 my friend* moved to strike out of that very resolution 
 the word expelled, and insert vacated; so that I do 
 not think he ought to be much offended at it. I simply 
 allude to it to show how easy it is fur us to forget the 
 surrounding circumstances that influenced our action 
 at the time it took place. We know that a year ago 
 there was a deep and abiding hope that the rebellion 
 would not progress as it has done; that it would cease; 
 and that there might be circumstances which, at one 
 time, would to some extent justify us in allowing a 
 wide margin which, at another period of time, would 
 be wholly unjustifiable. 
 
 "All this, however, amounts to nothing. We have 
 a case now before us that requires our action, and we 
 should act upon it conscientiously in view of the facts 
 which are presented. Because we neglected to expel 
 traitors before, and omitted to have them arrested, and 
 permitted them to go away freely, and afterwards de 
 clared their seats vacant because they had gone, we 
 are not now prevented from expelling a senator who 
 is not worthy to be in the Senate. I do not say that 
 other traitors may not be punished yet. I trust in 
 God the time will come, and that before long, when 
 these traitors can be overtaken, and we may mete out 
 to them condign punishment, such as their offence de 
 serves. I know who was for arresting them. I know 
 who declared their conduct to be treason. Here in 
 their midst I told them it was treason, and they might 
 make the best of it they could. 
 
 * Mr. Latham. 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 175 
 
 " Sir, to sum up the argument, I think there is but 
 little in the point presented by the senator from New 
 Jersey, of there being no proof of the reception of the 
 letter ; and I think I have extracted the staple com 
 modity entirely out of the speech of the senator from 
 Delaware; and so far as the force of the argument, 
 based upon the Senate having at one session expelled 
 certain members, while at the previous session it only 
 vacated their seats, is concerned, I think the senator 
 from California answers that himself. As to the pol 
 ished and ingenious statement of the case made by the 
 senator from New York,* I think I have answered 
 that by putting the case upon a different basis from 
 the one presented by him, which seems to control his 
 action. 
 
 "Mr. President, I have alluded to the talk about 
 compromise. If I know myself, there is no one who 
 desires the preservation of this Government more than 
 I do ; and I think I have given as much evidence as 
 mortal man could give of my devotion to the Union. 
 My property has been sacrificed; my wife and children 
 have been turned out of doors; my sons have been 
 imprisoned ; my son-in-law has had to run to the 
 mountains; I have sacrificed a large amount of bonds 
 in trying to give some evidence of my devotion to the 
 Government under which I was raised. I have at 
 tempted to show you that, on the part of the leaders 
 of this rebellion, there was no desire to compromise: 
 compromise was not what they wanted; and now the 
 great issue before the country is the perpetuation or 
 the destruction of free government. I have shown 
 
 * Mr. Harris. 
 
176 ANDKENV 
 
 how the resolution of the venerable senator from Ken 
 tucky* was defeated, and that Southern men are re 
 sponsible for that defeat six sitting- in their places 
 and refusing to vote. His proposition was only lost 
 by two votes; and in the end, when the scceders had 
 gone, by only one. Well do I remember, as was de 
 scribed by the senator from California, the sadness, 
 the gloom, the anguish that played over his venerable 
 face when the result was announced ; and I went 
 across the chamber, and told him that here were men 
 refusing to vote, and that to me was administered a 
 rebuke by one of them for speaking to him on the 
 subject. 
 
 " Now, the senator from Delaware tells us that if 
 that compromise had been made, all these conse 
 quences would have been avoided. It is a mere pre 
 tence; it is false. Their object was to overturn the 
 Government. If they could not get the control of this 
 Government, they were willing to divide the country 
 and govern a part of it. Talk not of compromise now. 
 What, sir, compromise with traitors with arms in their 
 hands ! Talk about i our Southern brethren when 
 they present their swords at your throats and their 
 bayonets at your bosoms! Is this a time to talk about 
 compromise ? Let me say, and I regret that I have 
 to say it, that there is but one way to compromise this 
 matter, and that is to crush the leaders of this rebel 
 lion and put down treason. You have g*ot to subdue 
 them; you have got to conquer them ; and nothing 
 but the sacrifice of life and blood will do it. The is 
 sue is made. The leaders of rebellion have decreed 
 
 * Mr. Crittenden. 
 
SEEVICES AND SPEECHES. 177 
 
 eternal separation between you and them. Those 
 leaders must be conquered, and a new set of men 
 brought forward who are to vitalize and develop the 
 Union feeling- in the South. You must show your 
 courage here as senators, and impart it to those who 
 are in the field. If you were now to compromise, they 
 would believe that they could whip you one to five, 
 and you could not live in peace six months, or even 
 three months. Settle the question now; settle it well; 
 settle it finally; crush out the rebellion and punish the 
 traitors. I want to see peace, and I believe that is 
 the shortest way to get it. Blood must be shed, life 
 must be sacrificed, and you may as well begin at first 
 as last. I only regret that the Government has been 
 so tardy in its operations. I wish the issue had been 
 met sooner. I believe that if we had seen as much in 
 the beginning as we see to-day, this rebellion would 
 have been wound up and peace restored to the land by 
 this time. 
 
 " But let us go on ; let us encourage the army and 
 the navy; let us vote the men and the means neces 
 sary to vitalize and to bring into requisition the en 
 forcing and coercive power of the Government; let us 
 crush out the rebellion, and anxiously look forward to 
 the day God grant it may come soon when that 
 baleful comet of fire and of blood that now hovers over 
 this distracted people may be chased away by the 
 benignant star of peace. Let us look forward to the 
 time when we can take the flag, the glorious flag of 
 our country, and nail it below the cross, and there let 
 it wave as it waved in the olden time, and let us 
 gather around it, and inscribe as our motto, Liberty 
 and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable. 
 * 
 
178 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 Let us gather around it, and while it hangs floating 
 beneath the cross, let us exclaim, Christ first, our 
 country next. Oh, how gladly rejoiced I should be 
 to see the dove returning to the ark with the olive-leaf, 
 indicating that land was found, and that the mighty 
 waters had abated. I trust the time will soon come 
 when we can do as they did in the olden times, when 
 the stars sang together in the morning, and all creation 
 proclaimed the glory of God. Then let us do our duty 
 in the Senate and in the councils of the nation, and 
 thereby stimulate our brave officers and soldiers to do 
 theirs in the field. 
 
 " Mr. President, I have occupied the attention of the 
 Senate much longer than I intended. In view of the 
 whole case, without personal unkind feeling towards 
 the senator from Indiana, I am of opinion that duty to 
 myself, duty to my family, duty to the Constitution, 
 duty to the country, obedience to the public judgment, 
 all lequire me to cast my vote to expel Mr. Bright from 
 the Senate, and when the occasion arrives I shall so 
 record my vote." 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 179 
 
 CHAPTEE VL 
 
 APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE OF TENNESSEE, 
 
 * FELLOW-CITIZENS : Tennessee assumed the form of 
 a body politic, as one of the United States of America, 
 in the year seventeen hundred and ninety-six, at once 
 entitled to all the privileges of the Federal Constitu 
 tion, and bound by all its obligations. For nearly 
 sixty-five years she continued in the enjoyment of all 
 her rights, and in the performance of all her duties, 
 one of the most loyal and devoted of the sisterhood 
 of States, She had been honored by the elevation of 
 two of her citizens to the highest place in the gift of 
 the American people, and a third had been nominated 
 for the same high office, who received a liberal though 
 ineffective support. Her population had rapidly and 
 largely increased, and their moral and material in 
 terests correspondingly advanced. Never was a 
 people more prosperous, contented, and happy than 
 the people of Tennessee under the Government of 
 the United States, and none less burdened for the 
 support of- the authority by which they were pro- 
 tecte v d. They felt their Government only in the con 
 scious enjoyment of the benefits it conferred and the 
 blessings it bestowed. 
 
 " Such was our enviable condition until within the 
 
180 JLNDKEW JOHNSON. 
 
 year just past, when, under what baneful influences 
 it is not my purpose now to inquire, the authority of 
 the Government was set at defiance, and the Con 
 stitution and laws contemned, by a rebellious, armed 
 force. Men who, in addition to the ordinary privi 
 leges and duties of the citizen, had enjoyed largely 
 the bounty and official patronage of the Government, 
 and had, by repeated oaths, obligated themselves to 
 its support, with sudden ingratitude for the bounty 
 and disregard of their solemn obligation, engaged, 
 deliberately and ostentatiously, in the accomplish 
 ment of its overthrow. Many, accustomed to defer 
 to their opinions and to accept their guidance, and 
 others, carried away by excitement or overawed by 
 seditious clamor, arrayed themselves under their ban 
 ners, thus organizing a treasonable power, which, for 
 the time being, stifled and suppressed the authority of 
 the Federal Government. 
 
 " In this condition of affairs it devolved upon the 
 President, bound by his official oath to preserve, 
 protect, and defend the Constitution, and charged by 
 the law with the duty of suppressing insurrection 
 and domestic violence, to resist and repel this rebel 
 lious force by the military arm of the Government, 
 and thus to re-establish the Federal authority. Con 
 gress, assembling at an early day, found him en 
 gaged in the active discharge of this momentous 
 und responsible trust. That body came promptly 
 to his aid, and while supplying him with treasure 
 HJ.U! anus to au extent that would previously have- 
 born considered fabulous, they, at the same time, 
 with almost absolute unanimity, declared that this 
 \var. is not \vajfed on their part in any spirit of o\v 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 181 
 
 pression, nor for any purpose of conquest or sub 
 jugation, nor purpose of overthrowing or interfering 
 with the rights or the established institutions of these 
 States ; but to defend and maintain the supremacy 
 of the Constitution and to preserve the Union, with 
 all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several 
 States unimpaired ; and that as soon as these ob 
 jects are accomplished, the war ought to cease. In 
 this spirit, and by such co-operation, has the Pres 
 ident conducted this mighty contest, until, as Com- 
 mander-in-Chief of the Army, he has caused the 
 national flag again to float undisputed over the capi- 
 tol of our State. Meanwhile the State government 
 has disappeared. The Executive has abdicated ; the 
 Legislature has dissolved ; the Judiciary is in abey 
 ance. The great ship of state, freighted with its 
 precious cargo of human interests and human hopes, 
 its sails all set, and its glorious* old flag unfurled, has 
 been suddenly abandoned by its officers and mutinous 
 crew, and left to float at the mercy of the winds, and 
 to be plundered by every rover upon the deep. In 
 deed the, work of plunder has already commenced. 
 The archives have been desecrated ; the public prop 
 erty stolen and destroyed ; the vaults of the State 
 Bank violated, and its treasures robbed, including the 
 funds carefully gathered and consecrated for all time 
 to the instruction of our children. 
 
 " In such a lamentable crisis the Government of 
 the United States could not be unmindful of its 
 high constitutional obligation to guarantee to every 
 State in this Union a republican form of govern 
 ment, an obligation which every State has a direct 
 and immediate interest in having observed towards 
 
182 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 every other State ; and from which, by no action on 
 the part of the people in any State, can the Federal 
 Government be absolved. A republican form of 
 government, in consonance with the Constitution of 
 the United States, is one of the fundamental con 
 ditions of our political existence, by which every 
 part of the country is alike bound, and from which 
 no part can escape. This obligation the national 
 Government is now attempting to discharge. I have 
 been appointed, in the absence of the regular and 
 established State authorities, as Military Governor 
 for the time being, to preserve the public property 
 of the State, to give the protection of law actively en 
 forced to her citizens, and, as speedily as may be, to 
 restore her government to the same condition as be 
 fore the existing rebellion. 
 
 " In this grateful but arduous undertaking, I shall 
 avail myself of all the aid that may be afforded by 
 my fellow-citizens. And for this purpose I respect 
 fully but earnestly invite all the people of Tennessee, 
 desirous or willing to see a restoration of her ancient 
 government, without distinction of party affiliations 
 or past political opinions or action, to unite with me, 
 by counsel and co-operative agency, to accomplish 
 this great end. I find most, if not all of the offices, 
 both State and Federal, vacated, either by actual 
 abandonment, or by the action of the incumbents in 
 attempting to subordinate their functions to a power 
 in hostility to the fundamental law of the State, and 
 subversive of her national allegiance. These offices 
 must be filled temporarily, until the State shall be re 
 stored so far to its accustomed quiet, that the people 
 can peaceably assemble at the ballot-box and select 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 183 
 
 agents of their own choice. Otherwise anarchy would 
 prevail, and no man s life or property would be safe 
 from the desperate and unprincipled. 
 
 " I shall therefore, as early as practicable, designate 
 for various positions under the State and county gov 
 ernments, from among my fellow-citizens, persons of 
 probity and intelligence, and bearing true allegiance 
 to the Constitution and Government of the United 
 States, who will execute the functions of their re 
 spective offices until their places can be filled by the 
 action of the people. Their authority, when their ap 
 pointment shall have been made, will be accordingly 
 respected and observed. 
 
 " To the people themselves the protection of the 
 Government is extended. All their rights will be 
 duly respected, and their wrongs redressed when 
 made known. Those who through the dark and 
 weary night of the rebellion have maintained their 
 allegiance to the Federal Government will be hon 
 ored. The erring and misguided will be welcomed 
 on their return. And while it may become necessary, 
 in vindicating the violated majesty of the law, and in 
 reasserting its imperial sway, to punish intelligent 
 and conscious treason in high places, no merely re 
 taliatory or vindictive policy will be adopted. To 
 those especially who, in a private, unofficial capacity, 
 have assumed an attitude of hostility to the Govern 
 ment, a full and complete amnesty for all past acts 
 and declarations is offered, upon the one condition of 
 their again yielding themselves peaceful citizens to 
 the just supremacy of the laws. This I advise them 
 to do for their own good, and for the peace and wel 
 fare of our beloved State, endeared to me by the asso- 
 
184 ANDKEW JOHNSON. 
 
 ciations of long and active years, and by the enjoy 
 ment of her highest honors. 
 
 *"And appealing to my fellow-citizens of Tennessee, 
 I point you to my long public life as a pledge for the 
 sincerity of my motives, and an earnest for the per 
 formance of my present and future duties." 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 185 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 NOMINATED FOE THE VICE-PRESIDENCY. 
 
 After sustaining, by voice and vote in the Sen 
 ate, every measure calculated to secure a Federal 
 triumph over the Southern Confederacy, Presi 
 dent Lincoln appointed Andrew Johnson Military 
 Governor of Tennessee, in the early spring of 
 1862. This appointment, with the rank of brig 
 adier-general, was confirmed by the Senate on 
 the 5th of March, and he immediately left Wash 
 ington for Nashville, and entered upon his new 
 and responsible position. No appointment could 
 be more appropriate, and the country soon felt 
 that the right man was indeed in the right place. 
 Every proclamation, every address, every act 
 received general and hearty approbation, and in 
 the desperate siege sustained by Nashville against 
 a strong Confederate force in the autumn of the 
 same year, the governor was first and foremost 
 in aiding and encouraging the defenders of the 
 city. " I am not a soldier, he said, " but I will 
 shoot any one who talks of surrender." His con 
 duct as Governor of Tennessee, added to his 
 former course in the Senate, so increased his 
 
1S6 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 popularity among the Northern masses, that on 
 the 6th of June, 1864, he was unanimously nom 
 inated by the Union Convention, assembled at 
 Baltimore, as the candidate for the Vice-Presi 
 dency of the United States. On accepting the 
 nomination he addressed to the committee the 
 following clear and comprehensive communica 
 tion : 
 
 " NASHVILLE, TENN., July 2, 1864. 
 
 " HON. WILLIAM DEXXISOX, Chairman, and others, Com 
 mittee of the National Union Convention : 
 
 " GENTLEMEN : Your communication of the 9th ult., 
 informing me of my nomination for the Vice-Presi 
 dency of the United States by the National Conven 
 tion held at Baltimore, and inclosing a copy of the 
 resolutions adopted by that body, was not received 
 until the 25th ult. 
 
 "A reply on my part had been previously made to 
 the action of the convention in presenting my name, 
 in a speech delivered in this city on the evening suc 
 ceeding the day of the adjournment of the convention, 
 in which I indicated my acceptance of the distin 
 guished honor conferred by that body, and defined the 
 grounds upon which that acceptance was based, sub 
 stantially saying what I now have to say. From the 
 comments made upon that speech by the various 
 presses of the country to which my attention has been 
 directed, I considered it to be regarded as a full 
 acceptance. 
 
 " In view, however, of the desire expressed in your 
 communication, I will more fully allude to a few points 
 that have bren heretofore presented. 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 187 
 
 " M} opinions on the loading 1 questions at present 
 agitating 1 and distracting the public mind, and espe 
 cially in reference to the rebellion now being waged 
 against the Government and authority of the United 
 States, I presume are generally understood. Before 
 the Southern people assumed a belligerent attitude 
 (and repeatedly since), I took occasion most frankly 
 to declare the views I then entertained in relation to 
 the wicked purposes of the Southern politicians. 
 They have since undergone but little, if any, change. 
 Time and subsequent events have rather confirmed 
 than diminished my confidence in their correctness. 
 
 "At the beginning of this great struggle I enter 
 tained the same opinion of it I do now, and in my 
 place in the Senate I denounced it as treason, worthy 
 the punishment of death, and warned the Government 
 and people of the impending danger. But my voice 
 was not heard or counsel heeded until it was too late 
 to avert the storm. It still continued to gather over 
 us without molestation from the authorities at Wash 
 ington, until at length it broke with all its fury upon 
 the country. And now, if we would save the Govern 
 ment from being overwhelmed by it, we must meet it 
 in the true spirit of patriotism, and bring traitors to 
 the punishment due their crime, and, by force of arms, 
 crush out and subdue the last vestige of rebel au 
 thority in every State. I felt then, as now, that 
 the destruction of the Government was deliberately 
 determined upon by wicked and designing conspira 
 tors, whose lives arid fortunes were pledged to carry 
 it out ; and that no compromise, short of an uncon 
 ditional recognition of the independence of the South 
 ern States could have been, or could now be proposed, 
 
188 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 which they would accept. The ehjmor for Southern 
 Rights/ as the rebel journals won? pleased to desig 
 nate their rallying cry, Avas not to secure their as 
 sumed rights in the Union and under the Constitution, 
 but to disrupt the Government, and establish an inde 
 pendent organization, based upon slavery, which they 
 could at all times control. 
 
 " The separation of the Government lias for years 
 past been the cherished purpose of the Southern lead 
 ers. Baffled in 1832 by the stern, patriotic heroism 
 of Andrew Jackson, they sullenly acquiesced, only to 
 mature their diabolical schemes, and await the recur 
 rence of a more favorable opportunity to execute them. 
 Then the pretext was the tariff, and Jackson, after 
 foiling their schemes of nullification and disunion, 
 with prophetic perspicacity warned the country 
 against the renewal of their efforts to dismember the 
 Government. 
 
 "In a letter, dated May 1, 1833, to the Rev. A. J. 
 Crawford, after demonstrating the heartless insin 
 cerity of the Southern nullifiers, he said : Therefore 
 the tariff was only a pretext, and disunion and a 
 Southern Confederacy the real object. The next pre 
 text will be the negro or slavery question. 
 
 " Time has fully verified this prediction, and wo 
 have now not only the negro or slavery question, 
 as the pretext, but the real cause of the rebellion, and 
 both must g*o down together. It is vain to attempt 
 to reconstruct the Union with the distracting element 
 of slavery in it. Experience has demonstrated its 
 incompatibility with free and republican government, 
 and it would be unwise and unjust longer to continue 
 it as one of the institutions of the conn* v. While it 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 189 
 
 remained subordinate to the Constitution and laws of 
 the United States, I yielded to it my support ; but 
 when it became rebellious, and attempted to rise 
 above the Government, and control its action, I threw 
 my humble influence against it. 
 
 " The authority of the Government is supreme, and 
 will admit of no rivalry. No institution can rise 
 above it, whether it be slavery or any other organized 
 power. In our happy form of government all must 
 be subordinate to the will of the people, when re 
 flected through the Constitution and laws made pur 
 suant thereto, State or Federal. This great principle 
 lies at the foundation of every Government, and can 
 not be disregarded without the destruction of the 
 Government itself. In the support and practise of 
 correct principles we can never reach wrong results ; 
 and by rigorously adhering to this great fundamental 
 truth, the end will be the preservation of the Union, 
 and the overthrow of an institution which has made 
 war upon and attempted the destruction of the Gov 
 ernment itself. 
 
 " The mode by which this great change the eman 
 cipation of the slave can be effected, is properly 
 found in the power to amend the Constitution of the 
 United States. This plan is effectual and of no doubt 
 ful authority ; and while it does not contravene the 
 timely exercise of the war-power by the President in 
 his emancipation proclamation, it comes stamped with 
 the authority of the people themselves, acting in ac 
 cordance with the written rule of the supreme law of 
 the land, arid must therefore give more general satis 
 faction and quietude to the distracted public mind. 
 
 "By recuVring to the principles contained in the 
 
190 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 resolutions so unanimously adopted by the convention, 
 I find that they substantially accord with my public 
 acts and opinions heretofore 1 made known and ex 
 pressed, and are therefore most cordialh r indorsed and 
 approved, and the nomination, having been conferred 
 without any solicitation on my part, is with the greater 
 pleasure accepted. 
 
 "In accepting the nomination I might here close, 
 but I cannot forego the opportunity of saying to my 
 old friends of the Democratic party proper, with whom 
 I have so long and pleasantly been associated, that 
 the hour has now come when that great party can 
 justly vindicate its devotion to true Democratic policy 
 and measures of expediency. The war is a war of 
 great principles. It involves the supremacy and life 
 of the Government itself. If the rebellion triumphs, 
 free government North and South fails. If, on the 
 other hand, the Government is successful as I do not 
 doubt its destiny is fixed, its basis permanent and 
 enduring, and its career of honor and glory just be 
 gun. In a great contest like this for the existence of 
 free government, the path of duty is patriotism and 
 principle. Minor considerations and questions of 
 administrative policy should give way to the higher 
 duty of first preserving the Government ; and then 
 there will be time enough to wrangle over the men 
 and measures pertaining to its administration. 
 
 "This is not the hour for strife and division among 
 ourselves. Such differences of opinion only encourage 
 the enemy, prolong the war, and waste the country. 
 Unity of action and concentration of power should be 
 our watchword and rallying cry. This accomplished, 
 the time will rapidly approach when their armies in 
 
SEKVICES AND SPEECHES. 191 
 
 the field that great power of the rebellion will be 
 broken and crushed by our gallant officers and brave 
 soldiers; and ere long they will return to their homes 
 and firesides to resume again the avocations of peace, 
 with the proud consciousness that they have aided in 
 the noble work of re-establishing upon a surer and 
 more permanent basis the great temple of American 
 Freedom. 
 
 " I am, gentlemen, with sentiments of high regard, 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 "ANDREW JOHNSON." 
 
192 ANDRE?/ JOHNSON. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 TAKES THE OATH AS PRESIDENT. 
 
 AT the warmly contested election on the 14th 
 of November, 1864, all the States voting, except 
 three, gave a majority of their suffrages for 
 Lincoln and Johnson ; and when, on the 4th of 
 March, 1865, the Vice-President elect took his 
 seat as presiding officer of the Senate, he could al 
 ready sec the end of the conflict in which he had 
 borne so active and memorable a part. It must 
 have been to him an occasion full of just satis 
 faction and honorable pride. As he looked 
 around the chamber whose walls had so often 
 echoed with the tones of his rebuke of secession 
 doctrines and secession acts, as he saw the va 
 cant seats of a score of his former associates who 
 were now wandering fugitives, his bosom must 
 indeed have swelled with the cheering conscious 
 ness that, at least in his case, an honest and 
 brave defence of principle had been rightly re 
 warded by the applause and gratitude of his 
 country. But Providence had not destined him 
 to remain in the quiet and pleasant office to 
 which he had been called by the suffrages O f tho 
 
SERVICES ANP SPEECHES. 193 
 
 nation. A wider sphere of honor, of usefulness, 
 and of responsibility was thrown upon him by 
 one of the most sad and startling catastrophes in 
 the wide sweep of human history. On the 14th 
 of April, only six days after the close of the civil 
 war by the surrender of General Lee and the 
 army of Northern Virginia, Abraham Lincoln 
 fell by the hand of an assassin, and a few hours 
 after his mournful departure Andrew Johnson,, 
 in accordance with the provisions of the Consti 
 tution, was inducted into the exalted position of 
 President of the United States. 
 
 After the customary oath had been adminis 
 tered by the Chief-Justice, President Johnson 
 delivered the following feeling and pertinent ad 
 dress : 
 
 " GENTLEMEN I must be permitted to say that I 
 have been almost overwhelmed by the announcement 
 of the sad event which has so recently occurred. I 
 feel incompetent to perform duties so important and 
 responsible as those which have been so unexpectedly 
 thrown upon me. As to an indication of any policy 
 which may be pursued by me in administration of the 
 Government, I have to say, that that must be left 
 for development as the administration progresses. 
 The message or declaration must be made by the 
 acts as they transpire. The only assurance that I 
 can now give of the future, is by reference to the 
 past. The course which I have taken in the past, in 
 connection with this rebellion, must be regarded as a 
 guaranty of the future. My past public life, which 
 has been long and laborious, has been founded, as I 
 
194 AXDEEW JOIIXSOX. 
 
 in good conscience believe, upon a great principle of 
 right, which lies at the basis of all things. The best 
 energies of my life have been spent in endeavoring 
 to establish and perpetuate the principles of free gov 
 ernment, and I believe that the Government, in pass 
 ing through its present trials, will settle down upon 
 principles consonant with popular rights more perma 
 nent and enduring than heretofore. I must be per 
 mitted to say, if I understand the feelings of my own 
 heart, I have long labored to ameliorate and alleviate 
 the condition of the great mass of the American peo 
 ple. Toil and an honest advocacy of the great prin 
 ciples of free government, have been my lot. The 
 duties have been mine the consequences are God s. 
 This has been the foundation of my political creed. I 
 feel that in the end the Government will triumph, and 
 that these great principles will be permanently estab 
 lished. 
 
 " In conclusion, gentlemen, let me say that I want 
 your encouragement and countenance. I shall ask 
 and rely upon you and others in carrying the Govern 
 ment through its present perils. I feel, in making 
 this request, that it will be heartily responded to by 
 you, and all other patriots and lovers of the rights and 
 interests of a free people." 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 195 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 BECEPTION OF THE ILLINOIS DELEGATION. 
 
 ON the 18th of April, 1865, a delegation of cit 
 izens of Illinois paid their respects to President 
 Johnson, at his rooms in the Treasury Building. 
 Governor Oglesby presented the delegation, 
 and made the subjoined address : 
 
 " MR. PRESIDENT : I take much pleasure in present 
 ing to you this delegation of the citizens of Illinois, 
 representing almost every portion of the State. We 
 are drawn together by the mournful events of the 
 past few days, to give some feable expression to the 
 feelings we, in common with the whole nation, realize 
 as pressing us to the earth, by appropriate and re 
 spectful ceremonies. We thought it not inappropri 
 ate before we should separate, even in this sad hour, 
 to seek this interview with your Excellency, that, 
 while the bleeding heart is pouring out its mournful 
 anguish over the death of our beloved late President, 
 the idol of our State and the pride of the whole coun 
 try, we may earnestly express to you, the living head 
 of this nation, our deliberate, full, and abiding confi 
 dence in you as the one who, in these dark hours, 
 
196 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 must bear upon yourself the mighty responsibility of 
 maintaining, defending, and directing its affairs. In 
 the midst of this sadness, through the oppressive 
 gloom that surrounds us, we look to you arid to a 
 bright future for our country. The assassination of 
 the President of the United States deeply depresses 
 and seriously aggravates the entire nation ; but under 
 our blessed Constitution it does not delay, nor for any 
 great length of time retard, its progress ; does not for 
 an instant disorganize or threaten its destruction. 
 The record of your whole past life, familiar to all, the 
 splendor of your recent gigantic efforts to stay the 
 hand of treason and assassination, and restore the 
 flag to the uttermost bounds of the Republic, assure 
 that noble State which we represent, and, we believe, 
 the people of the United States, that we may safely 
 trust our destinies in your hands ; and to this end we 
 come, in the name of the State of Illinois, and, we 
 confidently believe, fully and faithfully expressing the 
 wishes of our people, to present and pledge to you 
 the cordial, earnest, and unremitting purpose of our 
 State to give your administration the strong support 
 we have heretofore given to the administration of our 
 lamented late President, the policy of whom we have 
 heretofore, do now, and shall continue to indorse." 
 
 President Johnson replied us follows : 
 
 "GENTLEMEN* : I have listened with profound emo 
 tion to the kind words you have addressed ton <. 
 The visit of this large delegation to spr:i! to me 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 197 
 
 through you, sir, these words of encouragement, I had 
 not anticipated. In the midst of the saddening cir 
 cumstances which surround us, arid the immense 
 responsibility thrown upon me, an expression of the 
 confidence of individuals, and still more of an influ 
 ential body like that before me, representing a great 
 commonwealth, cheers and strengthens my heavily 
 burdened mind. I am at a loss for words to respond. 
 In an hour like this, of deepest sorrow, were it pos 
 sible to embody in words the feelings of my bosom, I 
 could not command my lips to utter them. Perhaps 
 the best reply I could make, and the one most readily 
 appropriate to your kind assurances of confidence, 
 would be to receive them in silence. [Sensation.] 
 The throbbings of my heart since the sad catastrophe 
 which has appalled us cannot be reduced to words ; 
 and, oppressed as I am with the new and great re 
 sponsibility which has devolved upon me, and saddened 
 with grief, I can with difficulty respond to you at all. 
 But I cannot permit such expression of the confi 
 dence reposed in me by the people to pass without 
 acknowledgment. To an individual like myself, who 
 has never claimed much, but who has, it is true, re 
 ceived from a generous people many marks of trust 
 and honor for a long time, an occasion like this and a 
 manifestation of public feeling so well-timed are pe 
 culiarly acceptable. Sprung from the people n^self, 
 every pulsation of the popular heart finds an imme 
 diate answer in my own. By many men in public life 
 such occasions are often considered merely formal. 
 To me they are real. Your words of countenance 
 and encouragement sank deep in my heart, and were 
 I even a coward I could not but gather from them 
 
198 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 strength to carry out my convictions of right. Thus 
 feeling, I shall enter upon the discharge of my great 
 duty firmly, steadfastly [applause], if not with the 
 signal ability exhibited by my predecessor, which is 
 still fresh in our sorrowing minds. Need I repeat 
 that no heart feels more sensibly than mine this great 
 affliction ? In what I say on this occasion I shall in 
 dulge in no petty spirit of anger, no feeling of 
 revenge. But we have beheld a notable event in the 
 history of mankind. In the midst of the American 
 people, where every citizen is taught to obey law and 
 observe the rules of Christian conduct, our Chief 
 Magistrate, the beloved of all hearts, has been assas 
 sinated ; and when we trace this crime to its cause> 
 when we remember the source whence the assassin 
 drew his inspiration, and then look at the result, we 
 stand yet more astounded at this most barbarous, 
 most diabolical assassination. Such a crime as the 
 murder of a great and good man, honored and revered, 
 the beloved and the hope of the people, springs not 
 alone from a solitary individual of ever so desperate 
 wickedness. We can trace its cause through succes 
 sive steps, without my enumerating them here, back 
 to that source which is the spring of all our woes. 
 No one can say that if the perpetrator of this fiendish 
 deed be arrested he should not undergo the extremest 
 penalty the law knows for crime ; none will say that 
 mercy should interpose. But is he alone guilty ? 
 Here, gentlemen, you perhaps expect me to present 
 fcoine indication of my future policy. One thing I 
 will say. Every era teaches its lesson. The times 
 we live in are not without instruction. The American 
 people must be taught if they do not already feel 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 199 
 
 that treason is a crime, and must be punished [ap 
 plause] ; that the Government will not always bear 
 with its enemies ; that it is strong, not only to pro 
 tect, but to punish. [Applause.] When we turn to 
 the criminal code and examine the catalogue of 
 crimes, we there find arson laid down as a crime with 
 its appropriate penalty ; we find there theft and rob 
 bery and murder given as crimes ; and there, too, we 
 find the last and highest of crimes treason. [Ap 
 plause.] With other and inferior offences our people 
 are familiar. But in our peaceful history treason has 
 been almost unknown. The people must understand 
 that it is the blackest of crimes, and will be surely 
 punished. [Applause.] I make this allusion, not to 
 excite the already exasperated feelings of the public, 
 but to point out the principles of public justice which 
 should guide our action at this particular juncture, 
 and which accord with sound public morals. Let it 
 be engraven on every heart that treason is a crime, 
 and traitors shall suffer its penalty. [Applause.] 
 While we are appalled, overwhelmed at the fall of one 
 man in our midst by the hand of a traitor, shall we 
 allow men I care not by what weapons to attempt 
 the life of a State with impunity ? While we strain 
 our minds to comprehend the enormity of this assas 
 sination, shall we allow the nation to be assassinated ? 
 [Applause.] I speak in no spirit of unkindness. I 
 leave the events of the future to be disposed of as 
 they arise, regarding myself as the humble instrument 
 of the American people. In this, as in all things, 
 justice and judgment shall be determined by them. 
 I do not harbor bitter or revengeful feelings towards 
 
200 A.\Di{]-:\v r 
 
 any. In general terms, I would say that public mor 
 als and public opinion should be established upon the 
 sure and inflexible principles of justice. [Applause.] 
 When the question of exercising 1 mercy comes before 
 rue, it will be considered calmly, judicially remem 
 bering that I am the Executive of the nation. I know 
 men love to have their names spoken of in connection 
 with acts of mercy ; and how easy it is to yield to 
 this impulse! But we must not forget that what may 
 be mercy to the individual is cruelty to the State. 
 [Applause.] In the exercise of mercy there should 
 be no doubt left that this high prerogative is not used 
 to relieve a few at the expense of the many. Be as 
 sured that I shall never forget that I ain not to con 
 sult my own feelings alone, but to give an account to 
 the whole people. [Applause.] In regard to my 
 future course I will now make no professions, no 
 pledges. I have been connected somewhat actively 
 with public affairs, and to the history of my past pub 
 lic acts, which is familiar to you, I refer for those 
 principles which have governed me heretofore, and 
 will guide me hereafter. In general, I will say I have 
 long labored for the amelioration and elevation of the 
 great mass of mankind. My opinions as to the nature 
 of popular government have long been cherished ; 
 and constituted as I am, it is now too late in life for 
 me to change them. I believe that government was 
 made for man, not man for government. [Applause.] ; 
 This struggle of the people against the most gigantic 
 rebellion the world ever saw has demonstrated that 
 the attachment of the people to their Government is 
 the strongest national defence human wisdom can 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 201 
 
 devise. [Applause.] So long as each man feels that 
 the interests of the Government are his interests ; so 
 long as the public heart turns in the right direction, 
 and the people understand and appreciate the theory 
 of our Government and love liberty, our Constitution 
 will be transmitted unimpaired. If the time ever 
 comes when the people shall fail, the Government 
 will fail, and we shall cease to be one of the nations 
 of the earth. After having preserved our form of free 
 government, and shown its power to maintain its ex 
 istence through the vicissitudes of nearly a century, 
 it may be that it was necessary for us to pass through 
 this last ordeal of intestine strife to prove that this 
 Government will not perish from internal weakness, 
 but will stand to defend itself against all foes and 
 punish treason. [Applause.] In the dealings of an 
 inscrutable Providence and by the operation of the 
 Constitution, I have been thrown unexpectedly into 
 this position. My past life, especially my course dur 
 ing the present unholy rebellion, is before you. I 
 have no principles to retract ; I defy any one to 
 point to an} 7 of my public acts at variance with the 
 fixed principles which have guided me through life. 
 I have no professions to offer. Professions and prom 
 ises would be worth nothing at this time. No one 
 can foresee the circumstances that will hereafter 
 arise. Had any man, gifted with prescience four 
 years ago, uttered and written down in advance the 
 events of this period, they would have seemed more 
 marvellous than any thing in the Arabian Nights. 
 I shall not attempt to anticipate the future. As events 
 occur, and it becomes necessary for me to act, I shall 
 dispose of each as it arises, deferring any declaration 
 
202 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 or message until it can be written, paragraph by 
 paragraph, in the light of events as they transpire." 
 
 The members of the delegation were then sev 
 erally introduced to the President by Governor 
 Oglesby. 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 203 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 BECEPTTON OF THE BKITISH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 ON the 20th of April, 1865, Sir Frederick A. 
 Bruce, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni 
 potentiary of Her Britannic Majesty to the United 
 States Government, presenting his credentials to 
 the President, spoke as follows : 
 
 " MR. PRESIDENT : It is with deep and sincere concern 
 that I have to accompany my first official act with ex 
 pressions of condolence. On Saturday last the cere 
 mony that takes place here to-day was to have been 
 performed, but the gracious intentions of the late la 
 mented President were frustrated by the events which 
 have plunged this country in consternation and afflic 
 tion, and which will call forth in Great Britain feelings 
 of horror, as well as of^)rofound sympathy. It be 
 comes, therefore, my duty, sir, to present the letter 
 from my sovereign, of which I am the bearer, to you, 
 as President of the United States; and it is with pleas 
 ure that I convey the assurances of regard and good 
 will which her Majesty entertains towards you, sir, as 
 President of the United States. I am further directed 
 to express her Majesty s friendly disposition towards 
 the great nation of which you are Chief Magistrate, 
 
204: ANDREW JOHXSOX. 
 
 and her hearty good wishes for its peace, prosperity, 
 and welfare. Her Majesty has nothing- more at heart 
 than to conciliate those relations of amity and good 
 understanding which have so long and so happily ex 
 isted between the two kindred nations of the United 
 States and Great Britain, and it is in this spirit that I 
 am directed to perform the duties of the important and 
 honorable post confided to me. Permit me, sir, to say, 
 that it shall be the object of my earnest endeavors to 
 carry out my instructions faithfully in this respect, and 
 to express the hope, sir, that you will favorably con 
 sider my attempts to merit your approbation, and to 
 give effect to the friendly intentions of the Queen and 
 of her Majesty s Government. I have the honor to 
 place in your hands the letter of credence confided to 
 me by her Majesty, 7 
 
 THE PRESIDENT S REPLY. 
 
 To which President Johnson replied : 
 
 "SiR FREDERICK A. BRUCE: The very cordial and 
 friendly sentiments which you have expressed on the 
 part of her Britannic Majesty give rnc great pleasure. 
 Great Britain and the United? States, by the extended 
 and various forms of commerce between them, the con 
 tiguity of portions of their possessions, and the simi 
 larity of their language and laws, are drawn into con 
 stant and intimate intercourse. At the same time 
 they arc, from the same causes, exposed to frequent 
 occasions of misunderstanding, only to be averted by 
 mutual forbearance. So eagerly are the people of the 
 t\vu countries engaged, throughout almost the whole 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 205 
 
 world, in the pursuit of similar commercial enterprises, 
 accompanied by natural rivalries and jealousies, that, 
 at first sight, it would almost seem that the two Gov 
 ernments must be enemies, or at best cold and calcu 
 lating friends. So devoted are the two nations through 
 out all their domain, and even in their most remote 
 territory and colonial possessions, to the principles of 
 civil rights and constitutional liberty, that, on the 
 other hand, the superficial observer might erroneously 
 count upon a continued concert of action and sympa 
 thy, amounting to an alliance between them. Each is 
 charged with the development of the progress of the 
 human race, and each in its sphere is subject to diffi 
 culties and trials riot participated in by the other. The 
 interests of civilization and of humanity require that 
 the two should be friends. I have always known and 
 accounted as a fact, honorable to both countries, that 
 the Queen of England is a sincere and honest well- 
 wisher to the United States. I have been equally 
 frank and explicit in the opinion that the friendship of 
 the United States towards Great Britain is enjoined by 
 all considerations of interest and of sentiment aifecting 
 the character of both. You will, therefore, be accepted 
 as a minister friendly and well-disposed to the mainte 
 nance of peace and the honor of both countries. You 
 will find myself and all my associates acting in ac 
 cordance with the same enlightened policy and con 
 sistent sentiments, and so I am sure that it will not 
 occur in your case that either yourself or this Gov 
 ernment will ever have cause to regret that such an 
 important relationship existed at such a crisis. 
 
206 ANDKEW JOHNSON. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 RECEPTION OF THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS. 
 
 SOON after the reception of the British Minister, 
 the members of the Diplomatic Corps were pre 
 sented to President Johnson, when Baron Yon 
 Gerolt addressed the President as follows : 
 
 " MR. PRESIDENT : The representatives of foreign 
 nations have assembled here to express to your Excel 
 lency their feelings at the deplorable event of which 
 they have been witnesses ; to say how sincerely they 
 share the national mourning for the cruel fate of the 
 late President, Abraham Lincoln, and how deeply they 
 sympathize with the Government and people of the 
 United States in their great ^affliction. With equal 
 sincerity w r e tender to you, Mr. President, our best 
 wishes for the welfare and prosperity of the United 
 States, and for your personal health and happiness. 
 May we be allowed, also, Mr. President, to give utter 
 ance on this occasion to our sincerest hopes for an 
 early re-cstablishmcnt of peace in this great country, 
 and for the maintenance of the friendly relations be 
 tween the Government of the United States and the 
 Governments which we represent ?" 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 207 
 
 REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 To which the President replied : 
 
 " GENTLEMEN OF THE DIPLOMATIC BODY : I heartily 
 thank you, on behalf of the Government and people of 
 the United States, for the sympathy which you have 
 so feelingly expressed upon the mournful event to 
 which you refer. The good wishes also which you 
 kindly offer for the t welfare and prosperity of the 
 United States, and for my personal health and happi 
 ness, are gratefully received. Your hopes for the 
 early restoration of peace in this country are cordially 
 reciprocated by me, and you may be assured that I 
 shall leave nothing undone towards preserving those 
 relations of friendship which now fortunately exist be 
 tween the United States and all foreign powers." 
 
203 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 ADDRESS TO LOYAL SOUTHERNERS. 
 
 DURING the same month a deputation of loyal 
 men from various Southern States waited on the 
 President. In reply to a brief address, he said : 
 
 " It is hardly necessary for me on this occasion to 
 say that my sympathies and impulses, in connectien 
 with this nefarious Rebellion, beat in unison with 
 yours. Those who have passed through this bitter 
 ordeal, and who participated in it to a great extent, 
 are more competent, as I think, to judge and deter 
 mine the true policy which should be pursued. [Ap 
 plause.] I have but little to say on this question in 
 response to what lias been said. It enunciates and 
 expresses my own feelings to the fullest extent, and 
 in much better language than I can at the present 
 moment summon to my aid. The most that I can say 
 is, that, entering upon the duties that have devolved 
 upon me under circumstances that are perilous and 
 responsible, and being thrown into the position I now 
 occupy unexpectedly, in consequence of the sad event, 
 the heinous assassination which has taken place in 
 view of all that is before me and the circumstances 
 that surround me I cannot but feel that your en- 
 
SERVICES AN1> SPEECHES. 209 
 
 couragement and kindness are peculiarly acceptable 
 and appropriate. I do not think you, who have been 
 familiar with my course, you who are from the 
 South, deem it necessary for me to make any pro 
 fessions as to the future on this occasion, nor to ex 
 press what my course will be upon questions that 
 may arise. If my past life is no indication of what 
 my future will be, my professions were both worth 
 less and empty ; and in returning- you my sincere 
 thanks for this encouragement and sympathy, I can 
 only reiterate what I have said before, and, in part, 
 what has just been read. As far as clemency and 
 mercy are concerned, and the proper exercise of the 
 pardoning power, I think I understand the nature 
 and character of the latter. In the exercise of clem 
 ency and mercy, that pardoning power should be ex 
 ercised with caution. I do not give utterance to my 
 opinions on this point in any spirit of revenge or un 
 kind feelings. Mercy and clemency have been pretty 
 large ingredients in my composition, having been the 
 Executive of a State, and thereby placed in a position 
 in which it was necessary to exercise clemency and 
 mercy. I have been charged with going too far, be 
 ing too lenient, and have become satisfied that mercy 
 without justice is a crime, and that when mercy and 
 clemency are exercised by the Executive, it should 
 always be done in view of justice, and in that man 
 ner alone is properly exercised that great preroga 
 tive. The time has come, as you who have had to 
 drink this bitter cup are fully aware, when the Ameri 
 can people should be made to understand the true 
 nature of crime. Of crime generally our people have 
 a high understanding, as well as of the necessity for 
 
210 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 its punishment ; but in the catalogue of crimes there 
 is one, and that the highest known to the laws and 
 the Constitution, of which, since the days of Jefferson 
 and Aaron Burr, they have become oblivious. That 
 is treason. Indeed, one who has become distin 
 guished in treason and in this Rebellion said, that 
 when traitors become numerous enough, treason be 
 comes respectable ; and to become a traitor, was to 
 constitute a portion of the aristocracy of the country. 
 God protect the people against such an aristocracy. 
 Yes, the time has come when the people should be 
 taught to understand the length and breadth, the 
 depth and height of treason. An individual occupy 
 ing the highest position among us was lifted to that 
 position by the free offering of the American people, 
 the highest position on the habitable globe. This 
 man we have seen, revered, and loved, one who, if 
 he erred at all, erred ever on the side of clemency 
 and mercy, that man we have seen Treason strike, 
 through a fitting instrument, and we have beheld him 
 fall like the bright star falling from its sphere. Now, 
 there is none but would say, if the question came up, 
 what should be done with the individual who assassi 
 nated the Chief Magistrate of the nation, He is but 
 a man one man, after all. But if asked what should 
 be done with the assassin, what should be the pen 
 alty, the forfeit exacted ? I know what response 
 dwells in every bosom. It is, that he should pay the 
 forfeit with his life. And hence we see there are 
 times when mercy and clemency, without? justice, be 
 come a crime. The one should temper the other, and 
 bring 1 about that proper means. And if we should 
 say this when the case was the simple murder of one 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 211 
 
 man by his fellow-man, what should we say when 
 asked what should be done with him, or them, or those, 
 who have raised impious hands to take away the life 
 of a nation composed of thirty millions of people ? 
 What would be the reply to that question ? But while 
 in mercy we remember justice, in the language that 
 has been uttered, I say, justice towards the leaders, 
 the conscious leaders ; but I also say amnesty, con 
 ciliation, clemency, arid mercy to the thousands of our 
 countrymen whom you and I know have been de 
 ceived or driven into this infernal Rebellion. And so 
 I return to where I started from, and again repeat 
 that it is time our people were taught to know that 
 treason is a crime, riot a mere political difference, not 
 a mere contest between two parties, in which one 
 succeeded and the other has simply failed. They 
 must know it is treason ; for if they had succeeded, 
 the life of the nation would have been reft from it, 
 the Union would have been destroyed. Surely the 
 Constitution sufficiently defines treason. It consists 
 in levying war against the United States, and in giv 
 ing their enemies aid and comfort. With this defini 
 tion it requires the exercise of no great acumen 
 to ascertain who are traitors. It requires no 
 great perception to tell who have levied war against 
 the United States ; nor does it require any great 
 stretch of reasoning to ascertain who has given aid 
 to the enemies of the United States ; and when the 
 Government of the United States does ascertain who 
 are the conscious and intelligent traitors, the penalty 
 and the forfeit should be paid. [Applause.] I know 
 how to appreciate the condition of being driven from 
 one s home. I can sympathize with him whose all has 
 
212 ANJJKEW JOHNSON. 
 
 been taken from him, with him who has been denied 
 the place that gave his children birth. But let us, 
 withal, in the restoration of true government, proceed 
 temperately and dispassionately, and hope and pray 
 that the time will come, as I believe, when all can re 
 turn and remain at our homes, and treason and traitors 
 be driven from our land [applause], when again law 
 and order shall reign, and the banner of our country 
 be unfurled over every inch of territory within the 
 area of the United States. [Applause.] In conclu 
 sion, let me thank you most profoundly for this en 
 couragement and manifestation of your regard and 
 respect, and assure you that I can give no greater 
 assurance regarding the settlement of this question, 
 than that I intend to discharge rny duty, and in that 
 way which shall, in the earliest possible hour, bring 
 back peace to our distracted country. And I hope 
 the time is not far distant when our people can all 
 return to their homes and firesides, and resume their 
 various avocations." 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 213 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 SPEECH TO THE INDIANA DELEGATION. 
 
 AT the close of the month of April, 1865, the 
 President spoke as follows, in response to an 
 address from a delegation from the State of 
 Indiana : 
 
 " As my honorable friend (Governor Morton) knows, 
 I long since took the ground that this Government 
 was sent upon a great mission among the nations of 
 the earth ; that it had a great work to perform, and 
 that in starting it, it was started in perpetuity. Look 
 back for one single moment to the Articles of Confed 
 eration, and then come down to 1781, when the Con 
 stitution was formed what do you find ? That we, 
 the People of the United States, in order to form a 
 more perfect government/ etc. Provision is made 
 for the admission of new States, to be added to the 
 old ones embraced within the Union. Now, turn to 
 the Constitution ; we find that amendments may be 
 made by a recommendation of two-thirds of the mem 
 bers of Congress, if ratified by three-fourths of the 
 States. Provision is made for the admission of new 
 States ; no provision is made for the secession of old 
 ones. The instrument was made to be good in perpe 
 tuity, and yon can take hold of it, not to break up the 
 
ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 Government, but to go on perfecting- it more and more 
 as it runs down the stream of time. We find the 
 Government composed of integral parts. An indi 
 vidual is an integer, and a State itself is an integer, 
 and the various States form the Union, which is itself 
 an integer, they all making up the Government of the 
 United States. Now we come to the point of my ar 
 gument, so far as concerns the perpetuity of the 
 Government. We have seen that the Government is 
 composed of parts, each essential to the whole, and 
 the whole essential to each part. Now, if an indi 
 vidual (part of a State) declare war against the 
 whole, in violation of the Constitution, he, as a citi 
 zen, has violated the law, and is responsible for the 
 act as an individual. There may be more than one 
 individual ; it may go on until they become parts of 
 States. Sometimes the rebellion may go on increas 
 ing in number till the State machinery is overturned, 
 and the country becomes like a man that is paralyzed 
 on one side. But we find in the Constitution a great 
 panacea provided. It provides that the United 
 States (that is, the great integer) shall guarantee to 
 each State (the integers composing the whole) in this 
 Union a republican form of government. Yes, if re 
 bellion lias been rampant, and set aside the machinery 
 of a State for a time, there stands the great law to 
 remove the paralysis, and revitalize it and put it on 
 its feet again. When we come to understand our 
 system of government, though it be complex, we see 
 how beautifully one part moves in harmony with an 
 other ; then we see our Government is to be a perpe 
 tuity, there being no provision for pulling it down, 
 the Union being its vitalizing power, imparting life 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 215 
 
 to the whole of the States that move around it like 
 planets around the sun, receiving thence light, and 
 heat, and motion. Upon this idea of destroying 
 States, my position has been heretofore well known, 
 and I see no cause to change it now, and I am glad 
 to hear its reiteration on the present occasion. Some 
 are satisfied with the idea that States are to be lost 
 in territorial and other divisions ; are to lose their 
 character as States. But their life-breatn" has only 
 been suspended, and it is a high constitutional obli 
 gation we have to secure each of these States in the 
 possession and enjoyment of a republican form of 
 government. A State may be in the Government 
 with a peculiar institution, and by the operation of 
 rebellion lose that feature ; but it was a State when 
 it went into rebellion, and when it comes out without 
 the institution, it is still a State. I hold it a solemn 
 obligation in any one of these States where the rebel 
 armies have been beaten back or expelled, I care not 
 how small the ship of state, I hold it, I say, a high 
 duty to protect and to secure to them a republican 
 form of government. This is no new opinion. It is 
 expressed in conformity with my understanding of 
 the genius and theory of our Government. Then, in 
 adjusting and putting the Government upon its legs 
 again, I think the progress of this work must pass 
 into the hands of its friends. If a State is to be 
 nursed until it again gets strength, it must be nursed 
 by its friends, not smothered by its enemies. Now, 
 permit me to remark, that while I have opposed dis 
 solution and disintegration on the one hand, on the 
 other I am equally opposed to consolidation, or the 
 centralization of power in the hands of a few. 
 
216 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A DELEGATION OF SOUTHERN MEN VISIT THE 
 PRESIDENT. 
 
 ONE of the most interesting episodes which has 
 occurred since Mr. Johnson became President, 
 probably took place in a spontaneous visit made 
 by a number of prominent and distinguished 
 Southern gentlemen, who happened to be in 
 Washington on business. The significance of 
 this visit arose from the fact that there was noth 
 ing of a political character to it, but was prompted 
 solely by that respect which Mr. Johnson s hon 
 orable and humane course had inspired in the 
 hearts of the Southern people. Where they had 
 been apprehensive of revenge, they found kind 
 ness. Where they had looked for severity, they 
 found gentleness. Animated by such feelings, 
 those gentlemen determined to pay Mr. Johnson 
 such a call as would be a surprise. 
 
 He was informed the day previous that some 
 Southern gentlemen desired to pay their respects 
 to him, and the hour at which it would be agree 
 able for him to receive them was fixed. The next 
 day, September 11, accordingly, the gentlemen 
 repaired to the White House, and meeting in the 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 217 
 
 East Room, organized themselves into a formal 
 delegation. Mr. Phillips, of Alabama, was called 
 to the chair. Judge Lockrane, of Georgia, stated 
 that their object was to pay a visit of courtesy to 
 the President, and express to him their unquali 
 fied confidence in the justice and magnanimity of 
 the Government in the matter of reconstruction, 
 On motion, Messrs. Bliss, of Alabama ; McFar- 
 land, of Virginia ; White, of Texas ; Cannon, of 
 South Carolina ; Bass, of Arkansas ; Wilkins, of 
 Mississippi ; Lockrane, of Georgia, and Baker, of 
 Florida, were designated to individually present 
 to the President such persons as were present 
 from their respective States. The delegation was 
 admitted soon after eleven o clock, and presented 
 to the President as follows, by Mr. McFarland, of 
 Virginia : 
 
 " MR. PRESIDENT The gentlemen accompanying me, 
 and whom I have the honor of introducing to you, 
 constitute a number of the most respectable citizens 
 of nine of the Southern States. They come, sir, for 
 the purpose of manifesting the sincere respect and 
 regard they entertain for you, and to express their 
 sincere determination to co-operate with you in what 
 ever shall tend to promote the interests and welfare 
 of our common country, and to say that they are as 
 earnest now, and faithful to their allegiance to the 
 United States and to the Constitution of the Union as 
 in the past, and that they have great confidence in 
 your wisdom to heal the wounds that have been 
 made, and in your disposition to exercise all the le- 
 10 
 
218 ANDKEW JOIINSOX. 
 
 niency which can bo commended by a sound and ju 
 dicious policy. That they are assured, in doing- this, 
 of your desire and intention to sustain and maintain 
 Southern rights in the union of the United States." 
 
 The President was surprised at the imposing 
 appearance of the delegation, and was evidently 
 much affected in reply. Every gesture and ut 
 terance was full of subdued eloquence. The re 
 ply was as follows : 
 
 " GENTLEMEN I can only say, in reply to the remarks 
 of your chairman, that I am highly gratified to receive 
 the assurances he has given me. They are more than 
 I could have expected under the circumstances. I 
 must say I was unprepared to receive so numerous a 
 delegation on this occasion ; it was unexpected ; I 
 had no idea it was to be so large, or represent so 
 many States. When I expressed as I did my willing 
 ness to see at any time so many of you as chose to 
 do rne the honor to call upon me, and stated that I 
 should be gratified at receiving any manifestations of 
 regard you might think proper to make, I was totally 
 unprepared for any thing equal to the present demon 
 stration. I am free to say it excites in my mind 
 feelings and emotions that language is totally inade 
 quate to express. When I look back upon my past 
 actions, and recall a period scarcely more than four 
 short years ago, when I stood battling for principles 
 which many of you opposed and thought were wrong, 
 I was battling for the same principles that actuate 
 me to-day, and which principles, I thank my God, you 
 have come forward on this occasion to manifest a dis- 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 219 
 
 position to support. I say now, as I have said on 
 many former occasions, that I entertain no personal 
 resentments, enmities, or animosities to any living 
 soul south of Mason and Dixon s line, however much 
 he may have differed from me in principle. The 
 stand I then took I claim to have been the only true 
 one. I remember how I stood pleading with my 
 Southern brethren, when they stood with their hats 
 in their hands ready to turn their backs upon the 
 United States ; how I implored them to stand with 
 me there, and maintain our rights and fight our bat 
 tles under the laws and Constitution of the United 
 States. I think now, as I thought then, and endeav 
 ored to induce them to believe, that our true position 
 was under the law and under the Constitution of the 
 Union, with the institution of slavery in it ; but if 
 that principle made an issue that rendered a disinte 
 gration possible if that made an issue which should 
 prevent us from transmitting to our children a coun 
 try as bequeathed to us by our fathers I had noth 
 ing else to do but to stand by the Government, be 
 the consequences what they might. I said then, what 
 you all know, that I was for the institutions of the 
 country as guaranteed by the Constitution, but above 
 all things I was for the Union of the States. I re 
 member the taunts, the jeers, the scowls with which 
 I was treated. I remember the circle that stood 
 around me, and remember the threats and intimida 
 tions that were freely uttered by the men who op 
 posed me, and whom I wanted to befriend and guide 
 by the light that led me ; but feeling conscious in 
 my own integrity, and that I was right, I heeded not 
 what they might say or do to me, arid was inspired 
 
220 ANDREW JOIIXSOX. 
 
 and encouraged to do rny duty regardless of aught 
 else, and have lived to see the realization of my pre 
 dictions, and the fatal error of those whom I vainly 
 essayed to save from the results I could not but fore 
 see. Gentlemen, we have passed through this rebel 
 lion. I say we, for it was we who are responsible 
 for it. Yes, the South made the issue, and I know 
 the nature of the Southern people well enough to 
 know that when they have become convinced of an 
 error, they frankly acknowledge it in a manly, open, 
 direct manner ; and now, in the performance of that 
 duty, or, indeed, in any act the} undertake to per 
 form, they do it heartily and frankly ; and now that 
 they come to me, I understand them as saying that, 
 We made the issue. We set up the Union of the 
 States against the institution of slavery. We selected 
 as arbitrator the God of battles ; the arbitrament 
 was the sword. The issue was fairly and honorably 
 met. Both the questions presented have been settled 
 against us, and we are prepared to accept the is 
 sue. I find on all sides this spirit of candor and 
 honor prevailing. It is said by all : The issue was 
 ours, and the judgment has been given against us ; 
 and the decision having been made against us, we feel 
 bound in honor to abide by the arbitrament. In doing 
 this we are doing ourselves no dishonor, and should 
 not feel humiliated or degraded, but rather that we 
 are ennobling ourselves by our action ; and we 
 should feel that the Government has treated us mag 
 nanimously, and meet the Government upon the terms 
 it has so magnanimously proffered us. 
 
 " So far as I am concerned, personally, I am unin 
 fluenced by any question, whether it affects the North 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 221 
 
 or the South, the East or the West. I stand where I 
 did of old, battling for the Constitution and the union 
 of these United States. In doing so I know I opposed 
 some of you gentlemen of the South when this doctrine 
 of secession was being urged upon the country, and 
 the declaration of your right to break up the Govern 
 ment and disintegrate the Union was made. I stand 
 to-day, as I have ever stood, firmly in the opinion that 
 if a monopoly contends against this country, the mo 
 nopoly must go down, and the country must go up. 
 Yes, the issue was made by the South against the 
 Government, and the Government has triumphed; and 
 the South, true to her instincts of frankness and manly 
 honor, comes forth and expresses her willingness to 
 abide the result of the decision iii good faith. While 
 I think that the rebellion has been arrested and sub 
 dued, and am happy in the consciousness of a duty 
 well performed, I want not only you, but the people 
 of the world to know, that while I dreaded and feared 
 disintegration of the States, I am equally opposed to 
 consolidation or concentration of power here, under 
 whatever guise or name; and if the issue is forced 
 upon us, I shall still endeavor to pursue the same 
 efforts to dissuade from this doctrine of running to 
 extremes : but I say, let the same rules be applied. 
 Let the Constitution be our guide. Let the preserva 
 tion of that and the union of the States be our princi 
 pal aim. Let it be our hope that the Government may 
 be perpetual, and that the principles of the Govern 
 ment, founded as they are on right and justice, may 
 be handed down without spot or blemish to our pos 
 terity. As I have before remarked to you, I am grati 
 fied to see so many of you here to-day. It manifests 
 
222 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 a spirit I am p. cased to observe. I know it lias been 
 said of me that my asperities are sharp, that I had 
 vindictive feelings to gratify, and that I should not 
 fail to avail myself of the opportunities that would 
 present themselves to gratify such despicable feelings. 
 Gentlemen, if my acts will not speak for me and for 
 themselves, then any professions 1 might now make 
 would be equally useless. But, gentlemen, if I know 
 myself, as I think I do, I know that I am of the South 
 ern people, and I love them and will do all in my 
 power to restore them to that state of happiness and 
 prosperity which they enjoyed before the madness of 
 misguided men, in whom they had reposed their con 
 fidence, led them astray to their own undoing. If 
 there is any thing that can be done on my part, on 
 correct principles, on the principles of the Constitu 
 tion, to promote these ends, be assured it shall be done. 
 Let me assure you, also, that there is no disposition 
 on the part of the Government to deal harshly with 
 the Southern people. There may be speeches pub 
 lished from various quarters that may breathe a differ 
 ent spirit. Do not let them trouble or excite you, but 
 believe that it is, as it is, the great object of the Gov 
 ernment to make the union of these United States 
 more complete and perfect than ever, and to maintain 
 it on constitutional principles, if possible, more firmly 
 than it has ever before been. Then, why cannot wo 
 all come up to the work in a proper spirit ? In other 
 words, let us look to the Constitution. The issue has 
 been made and decided; then, as wise men as men 
 who see right and are determined to follow it as fathers 
 and brothers, and as men who love their country in 
 this hour of trial and suffering why cannot we como 
 
SEKV1CES AND SPEECHES. 223 
 
 up and help to settle the questions of the hour and ad 
 just them according to the principles of honor and 
 of justice ? The institution of slavery is gone. The 
 former status of the negro had to be changed, and we, 
 as wise men, must recognize so patent a fact and 
 adapt ourselves to circumstances as they surround us. 
 [Voices, We are willing to do so. Yes, sir, we are 
 willing to do so. ] I believe you are. I believe when 
 your faith is pledged, when your consent has been 
 given, as I have already said, I believe it will be main 
 tained in good faith, and every pledge or promise fully 
 carried out [Cries, It will. ] All I ask or desire of 
 fche South or the North, the East or the West, is to be 
 sustained in carrying out the principles of the Consti 
 tution. It is not to be denied that we have been great 
 sufferers on both sides. Good men have fallen on both 
 sides, and much misery is being endured as the neces 
 sary result of so gigantic a contest. Why, then, can 
 not we come together, and around the common altar 
 of our country heal the wounds that have been made ? 
 Deep wounds have been inflicted. Our country has 
 been scarred all over. Then, why cannot we approach 
 each other upon principles which are right in them 
 selves, and which will be productive of good to all ? 
 The day is not distant when we shall feel like some 
 family that have had a deep and desperate feud, the 
 various members of which have come together and 
 compared the evils and sufferings they had inflicted 
 upon each other. They had seen the influence of their 
 error and its result, and, governed by a generous spirit 
 of conciliation, they had become mutually forbearing 
 and forgiving, and returned to their old habits of fra 
 ternal kindness, and become better friends than ever. 
 
ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 Then let us consider that the feud which alienated us 
 has been settled and adjusted to our mutual satisfac 
 tion, and that we come together to be bound by firmer 
 bonds of love, respect, and confidence than ever. The 
 North cannot get along without the South, nor the 
 South from the North, the East from the West, nor the 
 West from the East; and I say it is our duty to do all 
 that in our power lies to perpetuate and make stronger 
 the bonds of our Union, seeing 1 that it is for the com 
 mon good of all that we should be united. I feel that 
 this Union, though but the creation of a century, is to 
 be perpetuated for all time, and -that it cannot be de 
 stroyed except by the all-wise God who created it., 
 Gentlemen, I repeat, I sincerely thank you for the re 
 spect manifested on this occasion, and for the expres 
 sions of approbation and confidence please accept my 
 sincere thanks." 
 
 Mr. McFarland replied as follows : 
 
 " MR. PRESIDENT : On behalf of this delegation I 
 return you my sincere thanks for your kind, gen 
 erous aye, magnanimous expressions of kindly feel 
 ing towards the people of the South." 
 
 The remarks of the President, so full of kindly 
 feeling and generous confidence, were frequently 
 interrupted with applause ; and it is doubtful 
 whether, among all the interviews which Mr. 
 Johnson has had with Southern men since the 
 termination of the Avar, there has been one whom 
 the bright and nobler traits of his character have 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 225 
 
 shown out more conspicuously, or one which 
 made so deep and so lasting an impression on 
 the Southern mind. In this they read the lan 
 guage of the heart always, after all, more to be 
 relied upon and trusted than the cold, intellectual 
 responses of the head, be they never so unexcep 
 tionable or satisfactory. 
 10* 
 
226 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 CHAPTEK XV. 
 
 THERE is no trait of human character more 
 thoroughly worthy of respect than consistency. 
 So common is the yielding both in private and 
 public life to feelings of expediency, of interest, 
 of personal and political prejudices and antip 
 athies, that to see a man acting under all cir 
 cumstances with a firm and steady adherence to 
 principle is sure to excite admiration. The pres 
 ent age can afford no grander example of this 
 noble virtue than the conduct of President John 
 son in his policy of again restoring to its full life 
 and healthful action the broken and disordered 
 members of the o^ce glorious Federal Union. 
 He early took the ground that the secession of a 
 State was an entire impossibility, that an ordinance 
 declaring it was in its every conception null and 
 void, and that upon the close of armed opposition 
 to the General Government the States engaged in 
 it resumed, as a matter of course, their original 
 position. The Congress in session at the com 
 mencement of the late civil war took the same 
 view of the subject, when, after the first terrible 
 
SEKY r lCES AND SPEECHES. 227 
 
 defeat of Manassas, it unanimously adopted a 
 resolution to the effect that the war was not 
 waged for the purpose of interfering in any man 
 ner with the rights of the States, nor with their 
 domestic institutions, but solely and entirely for 
 the preservation and restoration of the Union 
 itself. The present Congress, however, refuses 
 to abide by the act of its predecessor, and though 
 hostilities have long since ceased, the late insur 
 gent States are denied all State attributes, and 
 condemned to the painful and ignominious fate 
 of conquered provinces. This stand of Congress, 
 directly in opposition to the well -known opinions 
 of the- President, has brought out all the inde 
 pendence and energy of his character in a man 
 ner calculated to electrify the people, and to 
 cause them to rely with the utmost confidence 
 upon his capacity to restore once again the 
 unity, the prosperity, and the happiness of the 
 country. 
 
 An opportunity was afforded him in his famous 
 veto of the Freedmen s Bureau Bill, and his speech 
 in response to the congratulations of his country 
 men upon that auspicious event, to proclaim to 
 the whole world the strength of his convictions, 
 the purity of his patriotism, and the indomitable 
 power and courage of his soul. We give these 
 remarkable utterances in full; for no sketch of 
 President Johnson can be complete without this 
 crowning evidence of the wonderful consistency 
 of his political career : 
 
228 AXDKi-:\V jnil \.-O.V. 
 
 "Constant as the Nortlu-rn Star ; 
 Of whose true, fix d, and resting quality 
 There is no fellow in the firmament." 
 
 " To THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES : 
 
 " I have examined with care the bill which origi 
 nated in the Senate, and has been passed by the two 
 Houses of Congress, to amend an act entitled An act 
 to establish a bureau for the relief of freedmen and 
 refugees, and for other purposes/ Having, with much 
 regret, come to the conclusion that it would not be 
 consistent with the public welfare to give my ap 
 proval to the measure, I return the bill to the Senate 
 with my objections to its becoming- a law. 
 
 " I might call to mind, in advance of these- objec 
 tions, that there is no immediate necessity for the pro 
 posed measure. The act to establish a bureau for 
 he relief of freedmen and refugees, which was ap 
 proved in the month of March last, has not yet expired. 
 It was thought stringent and extensive enough for 
 ihc purpose in view. Before it ceases to have effect, 
 further experience may assist to guide us to a wise 
 conclusion as to the policy to be adopted in time of 
 peace. 
 
 " I have, with Congress, the strongest desire to se 
 cure to the freedmen the full enjoyment of their free 
 dom and their property and their entire independence 
 and equality in making contracts for their labor. But 
 the bill before me contains provisions which, in my 
 opinion, arc not warranted by the Constitution and 
 arc not well suited to accomplish the end in view. 
 The bill proposes to establish by authority of Con 
 gress military jurisdiction over all parts of the Uuited 
 
SEKV1CES AND SPEECHES. 229 
 
 States containing refugees and freedrnen. It would, 
 by its very nature, apply with most force to those 
 parts of the United States in which the freedmen most 
 abound ; and it expressly extends the existing tem 
 porary jurisdiction of the Freedmen s Bureau, with 
 greatly enlarged powers, over those States in which 
 the ordinary course of judicial proceedings has been 
 interrupted by the rebellion. The source from which 
 this military jurisdiction is to emanate is none other 
 than the President of the United States, acting through 
 the War Department and the Commissioner of the 
 Freedmen s Bureau. The agents to carry out this 
 military jurisdiction are to be selected either from the 
 army or from civil life. The country is to be divided 
 into districts and sub-districts, and the number of sal 
 aried agents to be employed may be equal to the num 
 ber of counties or parishes in all the United States 
 where freedmen and refugees are to be found. The 
 subjects over which this military jurisdiction is to ex 
 tend in every part of the United States, include pro 
 tection to all employees, agents, and officers of this 
 bureau in the exercise of the duties imposed upon 
 them by the bill. In eleven States it is further to ex 
 tend over all cases affecting freedmen and refugees 
 discriminated against by local law, custom, or preju 
 dice. In those eleven States the bill subjects any 
 white person who may be charged with depriving a 
 freedman of any civil rights or immunities belonging 
 to white persons to imprisonment or fine, or both, 
 without, however, defining the civil rights and immu 
 nities which are thus to be secured to the freedmen 
 by military law. This military jurisdiction also ex 
 tends to all questions that may arise respecting con- 
 
230 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 tracts. The agent, who is thus to exercise the office 
 of a military judge, may be a stranger, entirely igno 
 rant of the laws of the place, and exposed to the errors 
 of judgment to which all men are liable. The exercise 
 of power over which there is no legal supervision, by 
 so vast a number of agents as is contemplated by the 
 bill, must, by the very nature of man, be attended by 
 acts of caprice, injustice, and passion. The trials 
 having their origin under this bill are to take place 
 without the intervention of a jury and without any 
 fixed rules of law or evidence. The rules on which 
 offences are to be heard and determined by the numer 
 ous agents, are such rules and regulations as the 
 President, through the War Department, shall pre 
 scribe. No previous presentment is required, nor any 
 indictment charging the commission of a crime against 
 the laws ; but the trial must proceed on charges and 
 specifications. The punishment will be not what the 
 law declares, but such as a court-martial may think 
 proper and from these arbitrary tribunals there lies 
 no appeal, no writ of error to any of the courts in 
 which the Constitution of the United States vests ex 
 clusively the judicial power of the country ; while the 
 territory and the class of actions and offences that are 
 made subject to this measure are so extensive, that the 
 bill itself, should it become a law, will have no limita 
 tion in point of time, but will form a part of the per 
 manent legislation of the country.* I cannot reconcile 
 a system of military jurisdiction of this kind with the 
 words of the Constitution, which declare that no per 
 son Khali be held to answer for a capital or otherwise 
 infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment 
 of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or 
 
SERVICE AXD SPEECHES. 231 
 
 naval forces or in the militia when in actual service 
 in time of war or public danger ; and that in all 
 criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right 
 to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of 
 the State or district wherein the crime shall have been 
 committed. 
 
 " The safeguards which the wisdom and experience 
 of ages taught our fathers to establish as securities 
 for the protection of the innocent, the punishment of 
 the guilty, and the equal administration of justice, are 
 to be set aside, and for the sake of a more vigorous 
 interposition in behalf of justice, we are to take the 
 risk of the many acts of injustice that would of ne 
 cessity follow from an almost countless number of 
 agents established in every parish or county in nearly 
 a third of the States of the Union, over whose deci 
 sion there is to be no supervision or control by the 
 Federal courts. The power that would be thus placed 
 in the hands of the President, is such as in time of 
 peace certainly ought never to be intrusted to any 
 one man. If it be asked whether the creation of such 
 a tribunal within a State is warranted as a measure 
 of war, the question immediately presents itself, whe 
 ther we are still engaged in war. Let us not unneces 
 sarily disturb the commerce and credit and industry 
 of the country, by declaring to the American people 
 and the world that the United States are still in a con 
 dition of civil war. At present there is no part of our 
 country in which the authority of the United States is 
 disputed. Offences that may be committed by indi 
 viduals should not work a forfeiture of the rights of 
 the same communities. The country has entered or 
 is returning to a state of peace and industry, arid the 
 
23*2 ANDREW JOHNSON . 
 
 rebellion is in fact at an end. The measure, therefore, 
 seems to be as inconsistent with the actual condition 
 of the country as it is at variance with the Constitu 
 tion of the United States. 
 
 " If, passing- from general considerations, we exam 
 ine the bill in detail, it is open to weighty objections. 
 In time of war it was eminently proper that we should 
 provide for those who were passing* suddenly from a 
 condition of bondage to a state of freedom. But this 
 bill proposes to make the Freedmen s Bureau, estab 
 lished by the act of 1865 as one of many great and 
 extraordinary military measures to suppress a formi 
 dable rebellion, a permanent branch of the public 
 administration, witli its powers greatly enlarged. I 
 have no reason to suppose, and I do not understand 
 it to be alleged, that the act of March, 1865, has proved 
 deficient for the purposes for which it was passed, 
 although at that time, and for a considerable period 
 thereafter, the Government of the United States re 
 mained unacknowledged in most of the States whose 
 inhabitants had been involved in the rebellion. The 
 institution of slavery, for the military destruction of 
 which the Freedmen s Bureau was culled into exist 
 ence as an auxiliary force, has been already effectually 
 and finally abrogated throughout the whole country 
 by an amendment of the Constitution of the United 
 States, and practically i s eradication lias received the 
 assent and concurrence of most of those States in 
 which it at any time had existed. I am not, therefore, 
 able to discern in the country any thing to justify an 
 apprehension that the powers and agencies of the 
 Freedmen s Bureau, which were effective for the pro 
 tection of freed men and refugees during the actual 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 233 
 
 continuation of hostilities and of African servitude, 
 will now, in a time of peace and after the abolition 
 of slavery, prove inadequate to the same proper ends. 
 If I am correct in these views, there can be no neces 
 sity for the enlargement of the powers of the Bureau 
 for which provision is made in the bill. 
 
 " The third section of the bill authorizes a general 
 and unlimited grant of support to the destitute and 
 suffering refugees and freedmen, and their wives and 
 children. Succeeding sections make provision for the 
 rent or purchase of landed estates for freedmen, and 
 for the erection, for their benefit, of suitable asylums 
 and schools, the expenses to be defrayed from the 
 treasury of the whole people. The Congress of the 
 United States has never, heretofore, thought itself 
 competent to establish asylums beyond the limits of 
 the District of Columbia, except for the benefit of our 
 disabled soldiers and sailors. It has never founded 
 schools for any class of our own people, not even for 
 the orphans of those who have fallen in the defence 
 of the Union, but has left the care of their education 
 to the much more competent and efficient control of 
 the States, of communities, of private associations, 
 and of individuals. It has never deemed itself au 
 thorized to expend the public money for the rent or 
 purchase of homes for the thousands, not to say mil 
 lions, of the white race who are honestly toiling from 
 day to day for their subsistence. A system for the 
 support of indigent persons in the United States was 
 never contemplated by the authors of the Constitu 
 tion. Nor can any good reason be advanced why, as 
 a permanent establishment, it should be founded for 
 one class or color of our people more than for another. 
 
234: ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 Pending the war, many refugees and freed men re 
 ceived support from the Government, but it was never 
 intended that they should henceforth be fed, clothed, 
 educated, and sheltered by the United States. The 
 idea on which the slaves were assisted to freedom 
 was, that on becoming- free they would be a self-sus 
 taining population. Any legislation that shall imply 
 that they are not expected to attain a self-sustaining 
 condition must have a tendency injurious alike to their 
 character and their prosperity. The appointment of 
 an agent for every county and parish will create an 
 immense patronage, and the expense of the numerous 
 officers and their clerks to be appointed by the Presi 
 dent will be great in the beginning, with a tendency 
 steadily to increase. The appropriations asked by 
 the Freedmen s Bureau, as now established, for the 
 year 1866, amount to $11,745,000. It may be safely 
 estimated that the cost to be incurred under the pend 
 ing bill will require double that amount, more than 
 the entire sum expended in any one year under the 
 administration of the second Adams. If the presence 
 of agents in every parish and county is to be con 
 sidered as a war measure, opposition or even resist 
 ance might be provoked, so that to give o fleet to their 
 jurisdiction troops would have to be stationed within 
 reach of every one of them, and thus a standing army 
 be rendered necessary. Large appropriations would 
 therefore be required to sustain and enforce mili 
 tary jurisdiction in every county or parish from 
 the Potomac to the Rio Grande. The condition of 
 our fiscal affairs, is encouraging ; but, in order to 
 sustain the present measure of public confidence, 
 it is necessary that we practise not merely custom- 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 235 
 
 ary economy, but, as far as possible, severe retrench 
 ment. 
 
 " In addition to the objections already stated, the 
 fifth section of the bill proposes to take away land 
 from its former owners, without any legal proceedings 
 being first had, contrary to that provision of the Con 
 stitution which declares that no persons shall be de 
 prived of life, liberty, or property without due process 
 of law. It does not appear that a part of the lands 
 which this section refers to may not be owned by 
 minors or persons of unsound mind, or by those who 
 have been faithful to all their obligations as citizens 
 of the United States. If any portion of the land is 
 held by such persons, it is not competent for any other 
 authority to deprive them of it. If, on the other hand, 
 it be found that the property is liable to confiscation, 
 even then it cannot be appropriated to public pur 
 poses until, by due process of law, it shall have been 
 declared forfeited to the Government. 
 
 "There are still further objections to the bill, on 
 grounds seriously affecting the class of persons to 
 whom it is designed to bring relief. It will tend to 
 keep the mind of the freedman in a state of uncertain 
 expectation and restlessness, while to those among 
 whom he lives it will be a source of constant and 
 vague apprehension. Undoubtedly the freedman 
 should be protected by the civil authorities, especially 
 by the exercise of all the constitutional powers of the 
 courts of the United States and of the States. His 
 condition is not so exposed as may at first be imagined. 
 He is in a portion T)f the country where his labor can 
 not well be spared. Competition for his services from 
 planters, from those who are constructing or repairing 
 
230 ANDREW JOHNSON". 
 
 railroads, or from capitalists in liis vicinage, or from 
 other States, will enable him to command almost his 
 own terms. lie also possesses a perfect right to 
 change his place of abode, and if, therefore, he does 
 not find in one community or State a mode of life 
 suited to his desires, or proper remuneration for his 
 labor, he can move to another where labor is more 
 esteemed and better rewarded. In truth, however, 
 each State, induced by its own wants and interests, 
 will do what is necessary and proper to retain within 
 its borders all the labor that is needed for the develop 
 ment of its resources. The laws that regulate supply 
 and demand will maintain their force, and the wages 
 of the laborer will be regulated thereby. There is no 
 danger that the great demand for labor will not oper 
 ate in favor of the laborer. Neither is sufficient con 
 sideration given to the ability of the frcedmcn to 
 protect and take care of themselves. It is no more 
 than justice to them to believe that, as they have 
 received their freedom with moderation and forbear 
 ance, so they will distinguish themselves by their 
 industiy and thrift, and soon show the world that in a 
 condition of freedom- they are self-sustaining* and 
 capable of selecting their own employment and their 
 own places of abode ; of insisting for themselves on 
 a proper remuneration, and of establishing and main 
 taining their own asylums and schools. It is earnestly 
 hoped that instead of wasting away, they will, by 
 their own efforts, establish for themselves a condition 
 of respectability and prosperity. It is certain that 
 they can attain to that condition o*nly through their 
 own merits and exertions. In this connection the 
 query presents itself, whether the system proposed by 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 237 
 
 the bill will not, when put into complete operation, 
 practically transfer the entire care, support, and con 
 trol of four millions of emancipated slaves to agents, 
 overseers, or taskmasters, who, appointed at Wash 
 ington, are to be located in every county and parish 
 throughout the United States containing freedrnen and 
 refugees. Such a system would inevitably tend to such 
 a concentration of power in the Executive as would 
 enable him, if so disposed, to control the action of a 
 numerous class, and use them for the attainment of 
 his own political ends. 
 
 " I cannot but add another very grave objection to 
 this bill. The Constitution imperatively declares, in 
 connection with taxation, that each State shall have 
 at least one representative, and fixes the rule for the 
 number to which in future times each State shall be 
 entitled. It also provides that the Senate of the 
 United States shall be composed of two senators from 
 each State, and adds with peculiar force that no State, 
 without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal 
 suffrage in the Senate. The original act was neces 
 sarily passed in the absence of the States chiefly to 
 be affected, because their people were then contuma 
 ciously engaged in the rebellion. Now the case is 
 changed, arid some, at least, of the States are attend 
 ing Congress by loyal representatives, soliciting the 
 allowance of the constitutional right of representa 
 tion. At the time, however, of the consideration and 
 the passing of the bill there was no senator or repre 
 sentative in Congress from the eleven States which 
 are to be mainly affected by its provisions. The very 
 fact that reports were and are made- against the good 
 disposition of the country, is an additional reason why 
 
238 AXDHL:\V JOHNSON". 
 
 they need and should have representatives of their 
 own in Congress to explain their condition, reply to 
 accusations, and assist by their local knowledge in 
 the perfecting- of measures immediately affecting- 
 themselves; while the liberty of deliberation would 
 then be free, and Congress would have full power to 
 decide according to its judgment. There could be no 
 objection urged that the States most interestcd had 
 not been permitted to be heard. The principle is 
 firmly fixed in the minds of the American people that 
 there should be no taxation without representation. 
 Great burdens are now to be borne by all the country, 
 and we may best demand that they shall be borne 
 without murmur when they are voted by a majority 
 of representatives of all the people. 
 
 " I would not interfere with the unquestionable right 
 of Congress to judge, each House for itself, of the 
 elections, returns, and qualifications of its own mem 
 bers. But that authority cannot be construed as in 
 cluding the right to shut out in time of peace any 
 State from representation to which it is entitled by 
 the Constitution. At present all the people of eleven 
 States are excluded, those who were most faithful 
 during the war not less than others. The State of 
 Tennessee, for instance, whose authorities engaged in 
 rebellion, was restored to all her constitutional rela 
 tions to the Union by the patriotism and energy of 
 her injured and betrayed people. Before the war was 
 brought to a termination they had placed themselves 
 in relations with the (Jcneral Government,, had estab 
 lished a State government of their own, and, as they 
 were not included in the emancipation proclamation, 
 they, by their own act, had amended their constitution 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 239 
 
 so as to abolish slavery within the limits of their 
 State. I know no reason why the State of Tennessee, 
 for example, should not fully enjoy all her constitu 
 tional relations to the United States. 
 
 " The President of the United States stands towards 
 the country in a somewhat different attitude from that 
 of any member of Congress chosen from a single dis 
 trict or State. The President is chosen by the people 
 of all the States. Eleven States are not, at this time, 
 represented in either branch of Congress. It would 
 seem to be his duty on all proper occasions to pre 
 sent their just claims to Congress. There always 
 will be differences of opinion in the community, and 
 individuals may be guilty of transgressions of the 
 law. But these do not constitute valid objections 
 against the right of a State to representation. I 
 would in no wise interfere with the discretion of Con 
 gress with regard to the qualifications of members ; 
 but I hold it my duty to recommend to you in the in 
 terests of peace, and in the interests of the Union, the 
 admission of every State to its share of public legisla 
 tion, when, however insubordinate, insurgent, or rebel 
 lious its people may have been, it presents itself not 
 only in an attitude of loyalty and harmony, but in the 
 persons of their representatives whose loyalty cannot 
 be doubted under existing constitutional or legal tests. 
 It is plain that an indefinite or permanent exclusion 
 of any part of the country from representation must 
 be attended by a spirit of disquiet and complaint. It 
 is unwise and dangerous to pursue a course of meas 
 ures which will unite any large section of the coun 
 try against another section of the country, no matter 
 how much the latter may predominate. The course of 
 
24:0 ANDREW JOHNSON". 
 
 immigration, the development of industry and busi 
 ness, and natural causes will raise up at the South 
 men as devoted to the Union as those of any other 
 part of the land. But if the} 7 are all excluded from 
 Congress, if in a permanent statute they are declared 
 not to be in full constitutional relations to the country, 
 they may think they have cause to become a unit in 
 feelings and sentiments against the Government. 
 Under the political education of the American people, 
 the idea is inherent and ineradicable that the consent 
 of the majority of the whole people is necessary to 
 secure a willing* acquiescence in legislation. The bill 
 under consideration refers to certain of the States as 
 though they had not been fully restored in all their 
 constitutional relations to the United States. If they 
 have not, let us at once act together to secure that 
 desirable end at the earliest possible moment. It is 
 hardly necessary for me to inform Congress that, in 
 my own judgment, most of those States, so far at 
 least as depends upon their own action, have already 
 been full} 7 restored, and are to be deemed to be en 
 titled to enjoy their constitutional rights as members 
 of the Union. Reasoning from the Constitution itself, 
 and from the actual situation of the country, I feel 
 not only entitled, but bound, to assume that with the 
 Federal courts restored in the several States, and in 
 the full exercise of their functions, the rights and 
 interests of all classes of the people will, with the 
 aid of the military in cases of resistance to the law, 
 be essentially protected against unconstitutional in 
 fringement and violation. Should this expectation 
 unhappily fail, which I do not anticipate, then the 
 Executive is already armed with the powers conferred 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 24:1 
 
 by the act of March, 1865, establishing the Freed- 
 men s Bureau ; and hereafter, as heretofore, he can 
 employ the land and naval forces of the country to 
 suppress insurrection and to overcome obstructions to 
 the laws. 
 
 " I return the bill to the Senate in the earnest hope 
 that a measure involving questions and interests so 
 important to the country will not become a law, un 
 less upon deliberate consideration by the people it 
 shall receive the sanction of an enlightened public 
 judgment. 
 
 "ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 "WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 19, 1866." 
 11 
 
242 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 SPEECH TO THE CITIZENS OF W/YSHINGTON, FEB. 
 22D, 1866. 
 
 ON Washington s birthday a meeting was held 
 in "Washington to indorse the action of the Presi 
 dent in vetoing the Freedmen s Bureau Bill. All 
 the prominent men in the city joined in it, and 
 the crowd was immense. After the conclusion of 
 the meeting, a committee appointed for the pur 
 pose waited upon the President to present him 
 the resolutions, when he appeared and made the 
 following speech to the assembled multitude : 
 
 "FELLOW-CITIZENS for I presume I have the right 
 to address you as snch to the committee who have 
 conducted and organized this meeting- so far, I have 
 to render my sincere thanks for the compliments and 
 approbation they have manifested in their personal 
 address to myself, and in the resolutions they have 
 adopted. Fellow-citizens I was about to tender my 
 thanks to the committee who waited upon me and 
 presented me with the resolutions adopted on this 
 occasion resolutions, as I understand, compliment 
 ary to the policy pursued by this administration since 
 it came into power. I am free to say to you on this 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 243 
 
 occasion, that it is extremely gratifying to me to 
 know that so large a portion of my fellow-citizens 
 approve and indorse the policy that has been adopt 
 ed, arid is intended to be carried out. (Applause.) 
 That policy has been one which was intended to 
 restore the glorious union of these States and their 
 original relations to the government of the United 
 States. (Prolonged applause.) This seems to be a 
 day peculiarly appropriate for such a manifestation 
 the day that gave birth to him who founded this Gov 
 ernment t|ie Father of his Country ; of him who 
 stood at the head of the government when all the 
 States entered into the Union. This day, I say, is 
 peculiarly appropriate to indorse the restoration of 
 the Union of these States founded by the Father of 
 his Country. Washington, whose name this city 
 bears, is embalmed in the hearts of all who love free 
 government. (A voice " So is Andrew Johnson.") 
 Washington, who, in the language of his eulogists, 
 was " First in peace, first in war, first in the hearts of 
 his countrymen." No people can claim him ; no nation 
 can appropriate him ; his reputation and life are the 
 common inheritance of all who love free government. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT S MOTTO THAT OF ANDREW JACKSON. 
 
 " I to-day had the pleasure of attending the National 
 Washington Monument Association, which is direct 
 ing its efforts to complete the monument erected to 
 his memory. I was glad to meet them, and, so far as 
 I could, to give them my humble influence. A monu 
 ment is being erected to him within a stone s throw 
 of the spot from which I address you. Let it be com 
 pleted. (Cheers.) Let the pledges which all these 
 
244 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 States, associations, and corporations have placed in 
 that monument of their faith and love for this Union 
 be preserved. Let it be completed, and in this 
 connection let me refer to the motto upon the stone 
 sent from my own State. God bless (A voice " And 
 bless you") a State which has struggled for the pres 
 ervation of the Union, in the field and in the councils 
 of the nation, and is now struggling in consequence 
 of the interruption that has taken place in her rela 
 tions with the Federal Government, growing out of 
 the rebellion, but struggling to recover those rela 
 tions and take her stand where she has stood since 
 1796. A motto is inscribed on that stone sent here 
 to be placed in that monument of freedom and in 
 commemoration of Washington. I stand by that 
 sentiment, and she is willing to stand by it. It was 
 the sentiment enunciated by the immortal Andrew 
 Jackson, The Federal Union it must be preserved. 
 (Wild shouts of applause.) Were it possible to have 
 the great man whose statue is now before me, and 
 whose portrait is behind me in the Capitol, and whose 
 sentiment is inscribed on the stone deposited in the 
 monument were it possible to communicate with the 
 illustrious dead, and he could be informed of or made 
 to understand the working or progress of faction, re 
 bellion, and treason, the bones of the old man would 
 stir in their coffin, and he would rise and shake off the 
 habiliments of the tomb ; he would extend that long 
 arm and finger of his, and he would reiterate that glo 
 rious sentiment, The Federal Union it must be pre 
 served. (Applause.) But we sec and witness what has 
 transpired since his day. We remember what he did 
 in 1833, when treason, treachery, and infidelity to the 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 2-15 
 
 Government and Constitution of the United States 
 then stalked forth. It was his power and influence 
 that then crushed the treason in its infancy. It was 
 then stopped : but only for a time the spirit con 
 tinued. There were men disaffected to the Govern 
 ment both North and South. We had peculiar insti 
 tutions, of which some complained and to which others 
 were attached. One portion of our countrymen advo 
 cated that institution in the South ; another opposed 
 it in the North ; and it resulted in creating two ex 
 tremes. The one in the South reached the point at 
 which they were prepared to dissolve the Govern 
 ment of the United States, to secure and preserve 
 their peculiar institution ; and in what I may say on 
 this occasion I want to be understood." 
 
 THE REPUBLICANS AS DISUNIOXISTS. 
 
 " There was another portion of our countrymen who 
 were opposed to this peculiar institution in the South, 
 and who went to the extreme of being willing to break 
 up the Government to get clear of it. [Applause.] I 
 am talking to you to-day in the common phrase, and 
 assume to be nothing but a citizen, and one who has 
 been righting for the Constitution and to preserve the 
 Government. These two parties have been arrayed 
 against each other ; and I stand before you to-day, as 
 I did in the Senate in 1860, in the presence of those 
 who were making war on the Constitution, and who 
 wanted to disrupt the Government, to denounce, as I 
 then did in my place, those who were so engaged, as 
 traitors. I have never ceased to repeat, and so far 
 as my efforts could go, to carry out, the sentiments I 
 then uttered. [Cheers.] I have already remarked 
 
ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 that there were two parties, one for destroying- the 
 Government to preserve slaveiy, and the other to 
 break np the Government to destroy slavery. The 
 objects to be accomplished were different, it is true, 
 so far as slavery is concerned, but they agreed in one 
 thing, and that was the breaking up of the Govern 
 ment. They agreed in the destruction of the Govern 
 ment, the precise thing which I have stood up to 
 oppose. Whether the disunionists come from the South 
 or the North I stand now where I did then, to vindicate 
 the Union of these States and the Constitution of the 
 country." [Applause.] 
 
 THE DOORS OPEN TO THE SOUTH. 
 
 "The rebellion or treason manifested itself in the 
 South. I stood by the Government. I said I was for 
 the Union with slavery, or I was for the Union with 
 out slavery. In either alternative, I was for my Gov 
 ernment and the Constitution. [Applause.] The 
 Government has stretched forth its strong arm, and 
 with its physical power has put down treason in the 
 field. Yes, the section of country which has arrayed 
 itself against the Government has been put down by 
 the Government itself. Now, what do these people 
 say ? We said, No compromise ; we can settle this 
 question with the South in eight and forty hours. 
 How? Disband your armies, acknowledge the Con 
 stitution of the United States, obey the law, and the 
 whole question is settled. Well, their armies have 
 been disbanded. They come forward now in a spirit 
 of magnanimity and say, We were mistaken; we 
 made an effort to carry out the doctrine of secession 
 and dissolve tho Union, but we have failed; and, 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 
 
 having traced this thing to a logical and physical 
 consequence and result, we now again come forward 
 and acknowledge the flag of our country, obedient to 
 tho Constitution and the supremacy of the law. 
 [Cheers.] I say, then, when you have yielded to the 
 law, when you acknowledge your allegiance to the 
 Government, / am ready to open the doors of the Union 
 and restore you to your old relations to the Government 
 of our fathers" [Prolonged applause.] 
 
 THE EXECUTIVE POWER, 
 
 " Who, I ask, has suffered more for the Union than 
 I have ? I shall not now repeat the wrongs or suffer 
 ing inflicted upon me ; but it is not the way to deal 
 with a whole people in the spirit of revenge. I know 
 much has been said about the exercise of the pardon 
 ing power, so far as the Executive power is concerned. 
 There is no one who has labored harder than I have to 
 have the principal conscious and intelligent traitors 
 brought to justice ; to have the law vindicated, and 
 the great fact vindicated that treason is a crime. 
 Yet, while conscious, intelligent traitors are to be 
 punished, should whole States, communities, and peo,- 
 ple be made to submit to and bear the penalty of 
 death ? I have, perhaps, as much hostility and as 
 much resentment as a man ought to have ; but we 
 should conform our action and our conduct to the ex 
 ample of Him who founded our holy religion not that 
 I would liken this to it or bring any comparison, for I 
 am not going to detain you long." 
 
 THE CONDITION OF AFFAIRS, AND HOW IT IS TO BE REMEDIED. 
 
 " But, gentlemen, I came into power under the Con- 
 
23 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 stitution of the country and by the approbation of the 
 people. And what did I find? I found eight millions 
 of people who were in fact condemned under the law 
 and the penalty was death. Under the idea of revenge 
 and resentment, they were to be annihilated and de 
 stroyed. Oh, how different this from the example set 
 by the holy Founder of our religion, whose divine arm 
 touches the horizon and embraces the whole earth ! 
 Yes, He who founded this great scheme came into the 
 world and found our race condemned under the law 
 and the sentence was death. What was His example ? 
 Instead of putting the world or a nation to death, He 
 went forth with grace and attested by His blood and 
 His wounds that He would die and let the nation live. 
 [Applause.] Let them become loyal and willing 1 sup 
 porters and defenders of our glorious Stripes and Stars 
 and the Constitution of our country. Let their leaders, 
 the conscious, intelligent traitors, suffer the penalty of 
 the law, but for the great mass who have been forced 
 into this rebellion and misled by their leaders, I say 
 leniency, kindness, trust, and confidence." [Enthusiastic 
 cheers.] 
 
 THE RADICAL REBELS. 
 
 "But, my countrymen, after having passed through 
 the rebellion and given such evidence as I have 
 though men croak a great deal about it now (laugh 
 ter) when I look back through the battle-fields and , 
 see many of those brave men, in whose company I 
 was in part of the rebellion where it was most diffi 
 cult and doubtful to be found ; before the smoke of 
 battle has scarcely passed away; before the blood 
 shed has scarcely congealed, what do we find ? The 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 249 
 
 rebellion is put down by the strong arm of the Gov 
 ernment in the field ; but is it the only way in which we 
 can have rebellion f They struggled for the breaking- 
 up of the Government, but before they are scarcely 
 out of the battle-field, and before our brave men have 
 scarcely returned to their homes to renew the ties of 
 affection and love, we find ourselves almost in the 
 midst of another rebellion. [Applause.] The war to 
 suppress our rebellion was to prevent the separation 
 of the States, and thereby change tlie character of 
 the Government and weakening its power. Now, 
 what is the change ? There is an attempt to concen 
 trate the power of the Government in the hands of a 
 few, and thereby bring about a consolidation, which is 
 equally dangerous and objectionable with separation. 
 [Enthusiastic applause.] We find x that powers are 
 assumed and attempted to be exercised of a most ex 
 traordinary character. What are they ? We find that 
 Government can be revolutionized, can be changed with 
 out going into the battle-field. Sometimes revolutions 
 the most disastrous to the people are effected without 
 shedding blood. The substance of our Government 
 may be taken away, leaving only the form and shadow. 
 Now, what are the attempts ? What is being pro 
 posed ? 
 
 USURPATIONS OF CONGRESS. 
 
 " We find that, in fact, by an irresponsible central 
 directory, nearly all the powers of Government are 
 assumed without even consulting the legislative or 
 executive departments of the Government. Yes, and 
 by resolution reported by a committee upon whom all 
 the legislative power of the Government has .been 
 11* 
 
250 ANDREW JOHN SOX. 
 
 conferred, that principle in the Constitution winch 
 authorizes and empowers each branch of the legisla 
 tive department to be judges of the election and quali 
 fications of its own members, has been virtually taken 
 away from those departments and conferred upon a 
 committee, who must report before they can act under 
 the Constitution and allow members duly elected to 
 take their seats. By this rule they assume that there 
 must be laws passed; that there must be recognition 
 in respect to a State in the Union, with all its practi 
 cal relations restored, before the respective houses of 
 Congress, under the Constitution, shall judge of the 
 election and qualifications of its own members. What 
 position is that ? You have been struggling for four 
 years to put down the rebellion. You denied in the 
 beginning of the struggle that any State had the right 
 to go out. You said that they had neither the right 
 nor the power. The issue has been made, and it has 
 been settled that a State has neither the right nor the 
 power to go out of the Union. And when you have 
 settled that by the executive and military power of 
 the Government, and by the public judgment, } T OU turn 
 around and assume that they are out and shall not come 
 in. 1 [Laughter arid cheers.] 
 
 NOT THE PRESIDENT S POSITION. 
 
 " I am free to say to you, as your Executive, that / 
 am not prepared to take any such position. I said in the 
 Senate, at the very inception of the rebellion, that 
 States had no right to go out and that they had no 
 power to go out. That question has been settled. 
 And I cannot turn round now and give the direct be- 
 to all I profess to have done in the last five years 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 251 
 
 [Laughter and applause.] I can do no such thing 1 . 
 I say that when these States comply with the Consti 
 tution, when they have given sufficient evidence of 
 their loyalty, and that they can be trusted, when they 
 yield obedience to the law, I say, extend to them the 
 rigid hand of fellowship, and let peace and union be 
 restored. [Loud cheers.] I have fought traitors and 
 treason in the South ; I opposed the Pavises and 
 Toombses, the Slidells, and a long list of others whose 
 names I need not repeat; and now, when I turn round 
 at the other end of the line, I find men I care not by 
 what name you call them [A voice, Call them trai 
 tors ] , who still stand opposed to the restoration of the 
 Union of these States. And I am free to say to you 
 that I am still for the preservation of this compact ; I 
 am still for the restoration of this Union ; I am still 
 in favor of this great Government of ours going on 
 and following out its destiny. [A voice, Give us 
 the names. ]" 
 
 THE DISUNIONISTS ANNOUNCED BY NAME. 
 
 "A gentleman calls for their names. Well, suppose 
 I should give them. [A voice, We know them. ] I 
 look upon them I repeat it, as President or citizen 
 as being as much opposed to the fundamental prin 
 ciples of this Government, and believe they are as 
 much laboring to pervert or destroy them as were the 
 men who fought against us. [A voice, What are 
 the names ? ] I say Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania 
 [tremendous applause] / say Charles Sumner 
 [great applause] I say Wendell Phillips, and others 
 of the same stripe, are among them. [A voice, Give it 
 to Forney. ] Some gentleman in the crowd says, 
 
252 A-NDKEW JOilXSON. 
 
 Give it to Forney. I have only just to say that I do 
 not waste my ammunition upon dead ducks" [Laughter 
 and applause.] 
 
 THE PRESIDENT FOR THE WHOLE COUNTRY. 
 
 " I stand for my country, I stand for the Constitu 
 tion, where I placed my feet from my entrance into 
 public life. They may traduce me, they may slander 
 ine, they may vituperate ; but let me say to you that 
 it has no effect upon me. [Cheers.] And let me say 
 in addition, that I do not intend to be bullied by my ene 
 mies. [Applause, and a cry, The people will sustain 
 you. ] I know, my countrymen, that it has been in 
 sinuated, and not only insinuated, but said directly 
 the intimation has been given in high places that if 
 such a usurpation of power had been exercised two 
 hundred years ago in a particular reign it would have 
 cost a certain individual his head. "What usurpa 
 tion has Andrew Johnson been guilty of? [ None, 
 none. ] The usurpation I have been guilty of has 
 always been standing between the people and the en 
 croachments of power. And because I dared to say 
 in a conversation with a fellow-citizen, and a senator 
 too, that I thought amendments to the Constitution 
 ought not to be so frequent ; that their effect would 
 be that it would lose all its dignity ; that Die old in 
 strument would be lost sight of in a short time ; be 
 cause I happened to say that if it was amende^ such 
 and such amendments should be adopted it was u 
 usurpation of power that would have cost a king his 
 head at a certain time. [Laughter and applause.] 
 And in connection with this subject it was explained 
 by the same gentleman that we were iu the midst of 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 253 
 
 an earthquake, that he trembled and could not yield. 
 [Laughter.] Yes, there is an earthquake coming. 
 There is a ground-swell coming of popular judgment 
 and indignation. [ That s true. ] The American peo 
 ple will speak by their interests, and they will know 
 who are their friends, and who their enemies. What 
 positions have I held under this government ? Begin 
 ning with an alderman and running through all 
 branches of the Legislature. [A voice From a 
 tailor up. ) Some gentleman says I have been a 
 tailor. [Tremendous applause.] Now, that did not 
 discomfit me in the least ; for when I used to be a 
 tailor I had the reputation of being a good one, and 
 making close fits [great laughter] always punc 
 tual with my customers, and always did good work. 
 [A voice No patchwork. ] No, I do not want any 
 patchwork. I want a whole suit. But I will pass 
 by this little facetiousness. My friends may say you 
 are President, and you must not talk about such 
 things. When principles are involved, my country 
 men, when the existence of my country is imperilled, 
 I will act as I did on former occasions, and speak 
 what I think. I was saying that I had held nearly 
 all positions, from alderman, through both branches 
 of Congress, to that which I now occupy, and who is 
 there that will say that Andrew Johnson ever made a 
 pledge that he did not redeem, or made a promise he 
 did not fulfil ? Who will say that he has ever acted 
 otherwise than in fidelity to the great mass of the 
 American people ? They may talk about beheading 
 and usurpation ; but when I am beheaded I want the 
 American people to witness I do not ,want by inuen- 
 does, by indirect marks in high places, to see the man 
 
254: ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 who has assassination brooding 1 in his bosom, ex 
 claim, This presidential obstacle must be gotten out 
 of the way. I make use of a very strong- expres 
 sion when I say that I have no doubt the intention 
 was to incite assassination, and so get out of the way 
 the obstacle from place and power. Whether by 
 assassination or not, there are individuals in this 
 Government, I doubt not, who want to destroy our 
 institutions and change the character of the Govern 
 ment. Are they not satisfied with the blood which 
 has been shed ? Does not the murder of Lincoln ap 
 pease the vengeance and wrath of the opponents of 
 this Government ? Are they still unslaked ? Do they 
 still want more blood ? Have they not got honor and 
 courage enough to attain their object otherwise than 
 by the hands of the assassin ? No, no ; I am not 
 afraid of assassins attacking me where a brave and 
 courageous man would attack another. I only dread 
 him when he would go in disguise, his footsteps 
 noiseless. If it is blood they want, let them have 
 courage enough to strike like men. I know they are 
 willing to wound, but they are afraid to strike. [Ap 
 plause.] If my blood is to be shed because I vindi 
 cate the Union and the preservation of this Govern 
 ment in its original purity arid character, let it be 
 shed ; let an altar to the Union be erected, and then, 
 if it is necessary, take me and lay me upon it, and tho 
 blood that now warms and animates my existence 
 shall be poured out as a fit libation to the Union ot 
 these States. [Great applause.] But let the oppo 
 nents of this Government remember that when it is 
 poured out, the blood of the martyrs will be the seed 
 of the Church. [Cheers.] Gentlemen, this Union 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 255 
 
 will grow it will continue to increase in strength 
 and power, though it may be cemented and cleansed 
 in blood. I have talked longer now than I intended. 
 Let me thank you for the honor you have done me." 
 
 MR. LINCOLN S IDEA OF COMPULSORY REPRESENTATION. 
 
 " So far as this Government is concerned, let me 
 say one word in reference to the amendments to the 
 Constitution of the United States. When I reached 
 Washington for the purpose of being inaugurated as 
 Vice-Presideut of the United States I had a conversa 
 tion with Mr. Lincoln. We were talking about the 
 condition of affairs and in reference to matters in my 
 own State. I said that we had called a convention, 
 had amended our Constitution by abolishing slavery 
 in the State a State not embraced in his proclama 
 tion. All this met his approbation and gave him en 
 couragement, and in talking upon the amendment to 
 the Constitution, he said : When the amendment to 
 the Constitution is adopted by three-fourths of the 
 States, we shall have all, or pretty nearly all. I am 
 in favor of amending the Constitution, if there was one 
 other adopted. Said I, What is that, Mr. President V 
 Said he, I have labored to preserve this Union. I 
 have toiled four years ; I have been subjected to cal 
 umny and misrepresentation, yet my great desire has 
 been to preserve the Union of these States intact un 
 der the Constitution as they were before. * But, said 
 I, Mr. President, what amendment do you refer to V 
 He said he thought there should be an amendment to 
 the Constitution which would compel all the States to 
 send their Senators and Representatives to the Con 
 gress of the United States. Yes, compel them. The 
 
256 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 idea was in his mind that it was a part of the doc 
 trine of secession to break up the Government by 
 States withdrawing- their Senators and Representa 
 tives from Congress ; and, therefore, lie desired a 
 Constitutional amendment to compel them to be sent." 
 
 THE DISUNION IDEA OF NO REPRESENTATION. 
 
 " How now docs the matter stand ? In the Constitu 
 tion of the country, even that portion of it which pro 
 vides for the amendment of the organic law, says that 
 no State shall, without its consent, be deprived of its 
 representation in the Senate. And now what do we 
 find ? We find the position taken that States shall not 
 be represented ; that we may impose taxes ; that we 
 may send our tax-gatherers to every region and por 
 tion of a State ; that the people are to be oppressed 
 with taxes ; but when they come here to participate in 
 legislation of the country, they are met at the door, and 
 told, No ! you must pay your taxes ; you must bear 
 the burdens of the Government ; but you must not 
 participate in the legislation of the country, which is 
 to affect you for all time. Is this just ? [ Xo, no. ] 
 Then, I say, let us admit into the councils of the 
 nation those who are unmistakably and unequivocally 
 loyal those men who acknowledge their allegiance 
 to the Government and swear to support the Constitu 
 tion. It is all embraced in that. The amplification of 
 an oath makes no difference, if a man is not loyal. But 
 yon may adopt whatever test oath you please to prove 
 their loyalty. That is a matter of detail for which I 
 care nothing. Let him be unquestionably loyal, 
 owing his allegiance to the Government and willing* 
 to support it in its hour of peril and of need, and I am 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 257 
 
 willing to trust him. I know that some do not attach 
 so much importance to this principle as I do. But 
 one principle we carried through. The Revolution 
 was fought that there should be no taxation without 
 representation. I hold to that principle, laid down as 
 fundamental by our fathers. If it was good then, it is 
 now. If it was a rule to stand by then, it is a rule 
 to stand by now. It is a fundamental principle that 
 should be adhered to as long as governments last." 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION OUR GUIDE AND SAFETY. 
 
 " I know it was said by some during the rebellion 
 that our Constitution had been rolled up as a piece of 
 parchment and laid away ; that in the time of war 
 and rebellion there was no Constitution. Well, we 
 know that sometimes, from the very great necessity of 
 the case, from a great emergency, we must do uncon 
 stitutional things in order to preserve the Constitution 
 itself. But if, while the rebellion was going on, the 
 Constitution was rolled up as a piece of parchment ; 
 if it was violated in some particular to save the Gov 
 ernment, there may have been some excuse to justify 
 it : but now that peace has come, now the war is 
 over, we want a written Constitution, and I say the 
 time has come to take the Constitution down, unroll 
 it, read it, and understand its provisions. Now, if you 
 have saved the Government by violating the Constitu 
 tion in war, you can only save it in peace by preserv 
 ing the Constitution of our fathers as it is now un 
 folded. It must now be read and understood by the 
 American people. I come here to-day, as far as I can 
 in making these remarks, to vindicate the Constitution 
 and to save it, for it does seem to me that encroach- 
 
258 ANDKEW JOHNSON. 
 
 merit after encroachment is proposed. I stand to-day 
 prepared, as far as I can, to resist these encroach 
 ments upon the Constitution and Government. Now 
 that we have peace, let us enforce the Constitution ; 
 let us live under and I)} its provisions ; let it be pub 
 lished ; let it be printed in blazing characters, as if it 
 were in the heavens, punctuated with stars, that all 
 may read and understand ; let us consult that instru 
 ment ; let us digest its provisions, understand them, 
 and, understanding-, abide by them. I tell the oppo 
 nents of the Government, I care not from what quarter 
 they come whether from the East, West, North, or 
 South, you who are engaged in the work of breaking up 
 the Government by amendments to the Constitution, that 
 the principles of free government, all deeply rooted in 
 the American heart, all the powers combine^, I care- 
 not of what character they are, cannot destroy that 
 great instrument, that great chart of freedom. They 
 may seem to succeed for a time ; but their attempts 
 will be futile. They might as well undertake to lock 
 up the winds or chain the waves of the ocean and con 
 fine them to limits. They may think now it can be 
 done by a concurrent resolution ; but when it is sub 
 mitted to the popular judgment and to the popular 
 will, they will find that they might as well introduce a 
 resolution to repeal the laws of gravity as to keep this 
 Union from being restored. It is just about as feasible 
 to resist the great law of gravity, which binds all to 
 a common centre, as that great law which will bring 
 back these States to their regular relations with the 
 Union. All these conspiracies and machinations, North 
 and South, I cannot prevent. All that is wanted is 
 time, until the American people can get to see what is 
 
SERVICES AXD SPEECHES. 259 
 
 going 1 on. I would the whole American people could 
 be assembled here to-day, as you are. I wish we had 
 an amphitheatre capacious enough to hold these thirty 
 millions of people, that they could be here and witness 
 the struggle that is going on to preserve the Consti 
 tution of their fathers. They would settle this ques 
 tion. They could see who it is, and how and what 
 kind of spirit is breaking up this free Government. 
 Yes, when they come to see the struggle and under 
 stand who is for and who against them, if you could 
 make them perform the part of gladiators, in the first 
 tilt you would find the enemies of the country crushed 
 and helpless." 
 
 AND? JOHNSON S LUCK. 
 
 " I have detained you longer than I intended. 
 [Voices, Go on. ] We are in a great struggle. I 
 am your instrument. Who is there I have not toiled 
 and labored for ? Where is the man or woman, either 
 in public or private life, who has not always received 
 my attention or my time ? Pardon tfce egotism. They 
 say that man Johnson is a lucky man, that no man 
 can defeat me. I will tell you what constitutes luck. 
 It is due to right, and being for the people ; that is 
 what constitutes good luck. Somehow or other the 
 people will find out and understand who is for and 
 who is against them. I have been placed in as many 
 trying positions as any mortal man was ever placed 
 in, but so far I have not deserted the people, and I 
 believe they will not desert me. What principle have 
 I violated? What sentiments have I swerved from ? 
 Can they put their finger upon it ? Have you heard 
 of them pointing out any discrepancy ? Have you 
 
260 AND.UKW JOHNSON. 
 
 heard them quote my predecessor, who fell a martyr 
 to his country s cause, as going in opposition or in 
 contradistinction to any thing- that I have done ? The 
 very policy which I am pursuing 1 now was pursued 
 under his administration was being pursued by him 
 when that inscrutable Providence saw fit to summon 
 him, I trust, to a better world. Where is there one 
 principle adopted by him in reference to this restora 
 tion that I have departed from. [ None, none. ] The 
 war, then, is not simply upon me, but upon my prede 
 cessor. I have tried to do my duty. I know that 
 some people, in their jealousy, have made the remark 
 that the White House is President. Just let me say 
 that the charms of the White House and all that sort 
 of flummery has less influence with me than with those 
 who are talking about it. The little I eat or wear 
 does not amount to much. That required to sustain 
 me and my little family is very little, for I am not 
 feeding many, though in one sense of consanguinity I 
 am akin to everybody. The conscious satisfaction of 
 having performed* my duty to my country is all the 
 reward I have." 
 
 STAND BY THE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 " Then, in conclusion, let me ask this vast concourse, 
 this sea of upturned faces, to join with me in stand 
 ing round the Constitution of our country. It is again 
 unfolded and the people are invited to read, to under 
 stand, and to maintain its provisions. Let us stand 
 by the Constitution of our lathers, though the heavens 
 themselves may fall. Let us stand by it, though fac 
 tion may rage. Though taunts and jeers may come, 
 though vituperation may como in its most violent char- 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 261 
 
 acter, / will be found standing by the Constitution as the 
 chief rock of our safety, as the palladium of our civil 
 and religious liberty. Yes, let us cling- to it as the 
 mariner clings to his last plank when night and tem 
 pest close around him. Accept my thanks for the 
 indulgence you have given me in making the extem 
 poraneous remarks I have upon this occasion. Let 
 us go forward, forgetting the past and looking to the 
 future, and try to restore our country. Trusting in 
 Him wlio rules on high that ere long our Union will 
 be restored, and that we will have peace, not only on 
 earth, but especially with the people of the United 
 States, and good-will, I thank you, my countrymen, 
 for the spirit you have manifested on this occasion. 
 When your country is gone, and you are about, 
 look out and you will find the humble individual 
 who now stands before you weeping over its final 
 dissolution." 
 
 A New York paper refers to the reception of 
 the above remarkable speech of President John 
 son in Europe in the following terms : 
 
 " The English papers praise in the strongest terms 
 the President s speech delivered on Washington s 
 birthday. That speech has put before the world the 
 true, clear view of the state of parties here, and has 
 extorted, for the leader of the people, expressions of 
 the most earnest admiration from quarters hitherto 
 content to cavil and sneer at all that originates on this 
 side the Atlantic. The speech that the radicals de 
 nounced as horrible, vulgar, unfortunate, and out 
 rageous ; that some of the President s friends even 
 
262 ANDHEW JOHXSON". 
 
 were inclined to excuse and explain, and that the 
 Herald declared to be greater and finer than any thing 
 in Demosthenes, receives from Europe the highest pos 
 sible meed of praise for its energetic simplicity, and 
 for its sentiments is declared to be not unworthy the 
 great founder of the American republic. Such a 
 speech, says the London Times, has not often been 
 heard in America a speech entirely free from tawdry 
 ornament or ambitious metaphor, but conveying the 
 firmest determination and the most enlightened prin 
 ciples in the plainest and simplest language. And 
 the same paper says in another article : There i-s a 
 stamp of reality and proud self-confidence in this 
 appeal to the sovereign people, which obliterates the 
 effect of some indiscreet expressions, and makes us 
 feel that Mr. Johnson is equal to guiding the destinies 
 of a great nation through a perilous crisis. * * * 
 No hereditary monarch, nor even an elective emperor, 
 inheriting the traditions and administrative system of 
 an hereditary monarchy, can ever be placed in the 
 same position as President Johnson, and it is to be 
 feared that few princes born in the purple would be 
 capable of facing a great emergency with equal cour 
 age and dignity. Mr. Johnson, it is said, if any 
 man ever did, occupies nobly and worthily a great 
 historic position. The destinies of millions of the 
 human race depend upon him, and he rises fully to the 
 height of the occasion. Men whose nerves are shaken 
 by the holiday politics of such a country as ours will 
 stand aghast at the audacity with which President 
 Johnson confronts his adversaries. Such is the Eu 
 ropean verdict, and the country may thus see that, 
 viewed from a proper distance a distance that en- 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 263 
 
 ables one to take in its full proportions and relations 
 to the state of the country tljg President s speech is 
 not less great and statesman-like than we declared it 
 to be from the first." 
 
26 ir ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE CIVIL EIGHTS BILL. THE PRESIDENT S VETO. 
 
 THE veto by President Johnson of tlie " Civil 
 Bights Bill," is generally acknowledged as one of 
 the ablest state papers ever emanating from the 
 Executive Department. It shows that Mr. John 
 son has a mind at once logical and capable of 
 a complete comprehension of any subject before 
 him. The veto is unanswerable, and though 
 Senator Trumbull, of Illinois, undertook a reply 
 to it, he utterly failed in demolishing it, and 
 only succeeded in advertising the inconsistency 
 of his own political opinion. "There," said a 
 Radical to a Johnson man, " read Mr. TrumbulTs 
 speech" (handing him a copy), " and see how 
 completely Mr. Johnson is answered." " Yes," 
 replied the Johnson man, " if Mr. Trumbull has 
 answered Mr. lohnson, he has also demolished 
 himself, for I have an extract from a speech de 
 livered by Mr. T. in the Senate, on the 12th of 
 December, 1850, in which I find this language : 
 
 " In my judgment, there is a distinction between 
 the white and black races, made by Omnipotence 
 itself. 1 do not believe these two races can live 
 happily or pleasantly together, " 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 265 
 
 This extract silenced his Radical friend, if it 
 did not convince him that Mr. Trumbull was like 
 the lawyer, that he is trying to make the worse 
 appear the better reason. Mr. Johnson s veto is 
 so able and statesmanlike a letter that I make no 
 apology in presenting it to my readers in full. 
 The following is the message : 
 
 To the Senate of the United States : 
 
 I regret that the bill which has passed both Houses 
 of Congress, entitled " An Act to protect all persons 
 in the United States in their civil rights, and furnish 
 the means of their vindication," contains provisions 
 which I cannot approve, consistently with my sense 
 of duty to the whole people, and my obligations to 
 the Constitution of the United States. I am, there 
 fore, constrained to return it to the Senate (the 
 House in which it originated) with my objections to 
 its becoming a law. 
 
 By the first section of the bill, all persons born in 
 the United States, and not subject to any foreign 
 power, excluding Indians not taxed, are declared to 
 be citizens of the United States. This provision com 
 prehends the Chinese of the Pacific States, Indians 
 subject to taxation, the people called Gipsies, as well 
 as the entire race designated as blacks, people of 
 color, negroes, mulattoes, and persons of African 
 blood. Every individual of these races, born in the 
 United States, is by the bill made a citizen of the 
 United States. It does not purport to declare or con 
 fer any other right of citizenship than Federal citizen 
 ship; it does not propose to give these classes of per 
 sons any status as citizens of States, except that 
 
2CG ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 which may result from their status as citizens of the 
 United States. The power to confer the right of 
 State citizenship is just as exclusively with the 
 several States, as the power to confer the right of 
 Federal citizenship is with Congress. The right of 
 Federal citizenship, thus to be conferred in the several 
 excepted ratios before mentioned, is now, for the first 
 time, proposed to be given by law. If, as is claimed 
 by many, all persons who are native born, already 
 are, by virtue of the Constitution, citizens of the Uni 
 ted States, the passage of the pending bill cannot be 
 necessary to make them such. If, on the other hand, 
 such persons are not citizens, as may be assumed 
 from the proposed legislation to make them such, the 
 grave question presents itself whether, where eleven 
 of the thirty-six States are unrepresented in Congress 
 at the time, it is sound policy to make our entire col 
 ored population, and all other excepted classes, citi 
 zens of the United States. Four millions of them 
 have just emerged from slavery into freedom. Can 
 it be reasonably supposed that they possess the re 
 quisite qualifications to entitle them to all the privi 
 leges and immunities of citizenship of the United 
 States ? Have the people of the several States ex 
 pressed such a conviction? It may also be asked, 
 whether it is necessary that they should be declared 
 citizens in order that they may be secured in the en 
 joyment of the civil rights proposed to be conferred 
 by the bill ? Those rights are, by Federal as well as 
 by State laws, secured to all domiciled aliens and 
 foreigners, even before the completion of the process 
 of naturalization ; and it may safely be assumed that 
 the same enactments are sufficient to give like protec- 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 267 
 
 tiou and benefits to those for whom this bill provides 
 special legislation. Besides, the policy of the Gov 
 ernment, from its origin to the present time, seems to 
 have been that persons who are strangers to and un 
 familiar with our institutions and our laws, should 
 pass through a certain probation; at the end of which, 
 before attaining the coveted prize, they must give 
 evidence of their fitness to receive and to exercise the 
 rights of citizens as contemplated by the Constitution 
 of the United States. The bill in effect proposes a 
 discrimination against large numbers of intelligent, 
 worthy and patriotic foreigners, and in favor of the 
 negro, to whom, after long years of bondage, the ave 
 nues to freedom and intelligence have just now been 
 suddenly opened. He must of necessity, from his 
 previous unfortunate condition of servitude, be less 
 informed as to the nature and character of our insti 
 tutions than he who* coming from abroad, has to some 
 extent, at least, familiarized himself with the princi 
 ples of a Government to which he voluntarily intrusts 
 life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Yet it is 
 now proposed by a single legislative enactment to 
 confer the rights of citizens upon all persons of Afri 
 can descent, born within the extended limits of the 
 United States, while persons of foreign birth, who 
 make our land their home, must undergo a probation 
 of five years, and can only then become citizens upon 
 proof that they are of good moral character, attached 
 to the principles of the Constitution of the United 
 States, and well disposed to the good order and hap 
 piness of the same. The first section of the bill also 
 contains an enumeration of the rights to be enjoyed 
 by those classes so made citizens in every State and 
 
268 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 Territory of the United States. These rights are, 
 to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties and 
 give evidence, to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, 
 or convoy real and personal property, and to have full 
 and equal benefit of all laws and proceeding s for the 
 security of persons and property as is enjoyed by 
 white citizens. So, too, the} 7 " are made subject to the 
 same punishments, pains, and penalties common with 
 white citizens, and to none others. Thus a perfect 
 equality of the white and colored races is attempted 
 to be fixed by a Federal law in every State of the 
 Union, over the vast field of State jurisdiction covered 
 by these enumerated rights. In no one of them can 
 any State exercise any power of discrimination be 
 tween different races. In the exercise of State policy 
 over matters exclusively affecting the people of each 
 State, it has frequently been thought expedient to 
 discriminate between the two races. By the statutes 
 of some of the States, North as well as South, it is 
 enacted, for instance, that no white person shall inter 
 marry with a negro or mulatto. Chancellor Kent 
 says, speaking of the blacks, that marriages between 
 them and the whites are forbidden in some of the 
 States where slavery does not exist, and they are pro 
 hibited in all the slavehulding States by law ; and 
 when not absolutely contrary to law, they arc revolt 
 ing, and regarded as an ofienco against public de 
 corum. I do not say that this bill repeals State laws, 
 on the subject of marriage between the two races, for 
 as the whites are forbidden to intermarry with the 
 blacks, the blacks can only make such contracts as 
 the whites themselves are allowed to make, and there 
 fore cannot, under this bill, enter into the marriage 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 269 
 
 contract with the whites. I take this discrimination, 
 however, as an instance of the State policy as to dis 
 crimination, and to inquire whether, if Congress can 
 abrogate all State laws of discrimination between the 
 two races, in the matter of real estate, of suits, and of 
 contracts generally, Congress may riot also repeal the 
 State laws as to the contract of marriage between the 
 races ? Hitherto, every subject embraced in the 
 enumeration of rights contained in the bill has been 
 considered as exclusively belonging to the States; they 
 all relate to the internal policy and economy of the 
 respective States. They are matters which, in each 
 State, concern the domestic condition of its people, 
 varying in each according to its peculiar circum 
 stances and the safety and well-being of its own citi 
 zens. I do not mean to say that upon all these sub 
 jects there are riot Federal restraints ; as, for instance, 
 in the State power of legislation over contracts, there 
 is a Federal limitation that no State shall pass a law 
 impairing the_ obligations of contracts ; and, as to 
 crimes, that no State shall pass an ex-post-facto law ; 
 and, as to money, that no State shall make any thing 
 but gold and silver a legal tender. But where can we 
 find a Federal prohibition against the power of any 
 State to discriminate, as do most of them, between 
 aliens and citizens, between artificial persons called 
 corporations, and naturalized persons, in the right to 
 hold real estate ? If it be granted that Congress can 
 repeal all State laws discriminating between whites 
 and blacks, in the subjects covered by this bill, why, 
 it may be asked, may not Congress repeal, in the same 
 way, all State laws discriminating between the two 
 races on the subject of suffrage and office ? If Con- 
 
270 ANDREW JOHNSON". 
 
 gross shall declare by law who shall hold lauds, who 
 shall tostif} r , who shall have capacity to make a con 
 tract in a State, that Congress can also declare by 
 law who, without regard to race or color, shall have 
 the right to act as a juror or as a judge, to hold any 
 office, and finally to vote, in every State and Terri 
 tory of the United States. As respects the Terri 
 tories, they come within the power of Congress, for 
 as to them the law-making power is the Federal 
 power ; but as to the States, no similar provision 
 exists, vesting in Congress the power to make rules 
 and regulations for them. 
 
 "The object of the second section of the bill is to 
 afford discriminating protection to colored persons in 
 the full enjoyment of all the rights secured to them by 
 the preceding section. It declares that any person 
 who, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regu 
 lation, or custom, shall subject or cause to be subjected 
 any inhabitant of any State or Territory to the depriva 
 tion of any right secured or protected by this act, or 
 to different punishment, pains, or penalties on account 
 of such person having at any time been held in a con 
 dition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a 
 punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have 
 been duly convicted, or by reason of his color or race, 
 than is prescribed for the punishment of white persons, 
 shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on con 
 viction shall be punished by fine not exceeding one 
 thousand dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one 
 year, or both, in the discretion of the court. This sec 
 tion seems to bo designed to apply to some existing 
 or future law of a State or Territory, which may con 
 flict with the provisions of the bill now under consid- 
 
SEE VICES AND SPEECHES. 271 
 
 eration. It provides for counteracting such forbidden 
 legislation, by imposing fine and imprisonment upon 
 the legislators who may pass such conflicting laws, or 
 upon the officers or agent! who shall put or attempt 
 to put them into execution. It means an official of 
 fence, not a common crime, committed against law 
 upon the person or property of the black race. Such 
 an act may deprive the black man of his property, but 
 not of his right to hold property. It means a depri 
 vation of the right itself, either by the State Judiciary 
 or the State. Legislature. It is, therefore, assumed 
 that, under this section, members of a State Legisla 
 ture who should vote for laws conflicting with the 
 provisions of the bill, that judges of the State courts 
 who should render judgments in antagonism with its 
 terms, and that marshals and sheriffs who should as 
 ministerial officers execute processes sanctioned by 
 State laws and issued by State judges in execution 
 of their judgments, could be brought before other tri 
 bunals and there subjected to fine and imprisonment, 
 for the performance of the duties which such State 
 laws might impose. The legislation thus proposed 
 invades the judicial power of the State. It says to 
 every State court or judge : If you decide that this act 
 is unconstitutional ; if you hold that over such a sub 
 ject-matter the said law is paramount, under color of 
 a State law refuse the exercise of the right to the 
 negro; your error of judgment, however conscientious, 
 shall subject you to fine and imprisonment. I do not 
 apprehend that the conflicting legislation which the 
 bill seems to contemplate is so likely to occur, as to 
 render it necessary at this time to adopt a measure of 
 such constitutionality. In the next place, this pro- 
 
ANDREW JOHNSON". 
 
 vision uf the bill seems to be unnecessary, as adequate 
 judicial remedies could be adopted to secure the de 
 sired end without invading 1 the immunities of legisla 
 tors, always important to b& preserved in the interest 
 of public liberty, notwithstanding the independence 
 of the judiciary, always essential to the preservation 
 of individual rights, and without impairing the effi 
 ciency of ministerial officers, always necessary for the 
 maintenance of public peace and order. The remedy 
 proposed by this section seems to be in this respect 
 not only anomalous but unconstitutional, for the Consti 
 tution guarantees nothing with certainty if it does not 
 insure to the several States the right of making index 
 ruling laws in regard to all matters arising within 
 their jurisdiction, subject only to the restriction, in 
 cases of conllict with the Constitution and constitu 
 tional laws of the United States the latter to be held 
 as the supreme law of the land. 
 
 " The third .section gives the district courts of the 
 United States exclusive cognizance of all crimes and 
 offences committed against the provisions of this act, 
 and concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit courts of 
 the United States, of all civil and criminal cases affect 
 ing persons that are denied, or cannot enforce in the 
 courts or judicial tribunals of the State or locality 
 where they may be, any of the rights secured to them 
 by the first section. The construction which I have 
 given to the second section is strengthened by this, 
 third section, for it makes clear w T hat kind of denial, 
 or deprivation of rights secured by the iirst section, 
 was in contemplation. It is a denial or deprivation 
 of such rights in the courts or judicial tribunals of the 
 State. It stands, therefore, clear of doubt that the 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 273 
 
 offence and the penalties provided in the second sec 
 tion are intended for the State judge who, in the clear 
 exercise of his functions as a judge, not acting minis 
 terially but judicially, shall decide contrary to this 
 Federal law. In other words, when a State judge, 
 acting upon a question involving a conflict between a 
 State law arid a Federal law, and bound, according 
 to his own judgment arid responsibility to give an 
 impartial decision between the two, comes to the con 
 clusion that the State law is valid and the Federal law 
 is invalid, he must not follow the dictates of his own 
 judgment, at the peril of fine and imprisonment. The 
 legislative department of the Government of the United 
 States thus takes from the judicial department of the 
 States the sacred and exclusive duty of judicial de 
 cision, and converts the State judge into a mere min 
 isterial officer, bound to decide according to the will 
 of Congress. It is clear that in States which deny to 
 persons, whose rights are secured by the first section 
 of the bill, any one of those rights, all criminal and 
 civil cases affecting them will, by the provisions of 
 the third section, come under the executive cognizance 
 of the Federal tribunals. It follows that if in any 
 State, which denies to a colored person any one of 
 all these rights, that person should commit a crime 
 against the laws of a State murder, arson, rape, 
 or any other crime all protection and punishment, 
 through the courts of the State, are taken away, and 
 he can only be tried and punished in the Federal 
 courts. How is the criminal to be tried, if the offence 
 is provided for and punished by Federal law ? That 
 law, and not the State law, is to govern. It was only 
 when the offence does not happen to be within the 
 12* 
 
274: ANDREW JOHNSON". 
 
 province of Federal law that the Federal courts are to 
 try and punish him under any other law. The resort 
 is to be had to the common law, as modified and 
 changed by State legislation, so far as the same is not 
 inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the 
 United States. So that over this vast domain of 
 criminal jurisprudence, provided by each State for the 
 protection of its citizens and for the punishment of all 
 persons who violate its criminal laws, Federal law, 
 wherever it can be made to apply, displaces State law. 
 The question naturally arises, from what source Con 
 gress derives the power to transfer to Federal tribu 
 nals certain classes of cases embraced in this section. 
 The Constitution expressly declares that the judicial 
 power of the United States shall extend to all cases 
 in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the 
 laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which 
 shall be made, under their authority; to all cases affect 
 ing ambassadors or other public ministers and consuls; 
 to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to 
 controversies to which the United States shall be a 
 party; to controversies between two or more States; 
 between a State and citizens of another State ; be 
 tween citizens of different States; between citizens of 
 the same State claiming land under grants of differ 
 ent States; and between a State, or the citizens thereof, 
 and foreign States, citizens, or subjects. 
 
 " Here the judicial power of the United States is 
 expressly set forth and defined ; and the act of Sep 
 tember 24, 1789, establishing the judicial courts of 
 the United States, in conferring upon the Federal 
 courts jurisdiction over cases originating in State tri 
 bunals, is careful to confine them to the classes 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 275 
 
 enumerated in the above recited clause of the Consti 
 tution. This section of the bill^undoubtedly compre 
 hends cases and authorizes the exercise of powers 
 that are not, by the Constitution, within the jurisdic 
 tion of the courts of the United States. To transfer 
 them to these courts would be an exercise of author 
 ity well calculated to excite distrust and alarm on 
 the part of all the States, for the bill applies alike to 
 all of them, as well as to those who have not been 
 engaged in rebellion. It may be assumed that this 
 authority is incident to the power granted to Con 
 gress by the Constitution as recently amended, to en 
 force, by appropriate legislation, the article declaring 
 that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except 
 as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall 
 have been duly convicted, shall exist within the 
 United States, or any place subject to their jurisdic 
 tion. It cannot, however, be justly claimed that, 
 with a view to the enforcement of this article of the 
 Constitution, there is at present any necessity for the 
 exercise of all the powers which this bill confers. 
 Slavery has been abolished, and at present nowhere 
 exists within the jurisdiction of the United States. 
 Nor has there been, nor is it likely there will be any 
 attempts to revive it by the people of the States. If, 
 however, any such attempt shall be made, it will then 
 become the duty of the General Government to exer 
 cise any and all incidental powers necessary and 
 proper to maintain inviolate this great law of free 
 dom. The fourth section of the bill provides that 
 officers and agents of the Freedmen s Bureau shall be 
 empowered to make arrests, and also that other 
 officers shall be specially commissioned for that pur- 
 
276 AXDKEW 
 
 pose by the President of the United States. It also 
 authorizes the Circuit Courts of the United States and 
 the Superior Courts of the Territories to appoint, 
 without limitation, commissioners, \vho are to be 
 charged with the performance of quasi judicial duties. 
 The fifth section empowers the commissioners so to be 
 selected by the court, to appoint, in writing, one or 
 more suitable persons from time to time to execute 
 warrants and processes desirable by the bill. These 
 numerous official agents are made to constitute a sort 
 of police in addition to the military, and are author 
 ized to summon a posse commitatus, and even to call 
 to their aid such portion of the land and naval forces 
 of the United States, or of the militia, as may be 
 necessary to the performance of the duty with which 
 they are charged. This extraordinary power is to be 
 conferred upon agents irresponsible to the Govern 
 ment and to the people, to whose number the discre 
 tion of the commissioners is the only limit, and in 
 whose hands such authority might be made a terrible 
 engine of wrong, oppression, and fraud. The general 
 statutes regulating the land and naval forces of the 
 United States, the militia, and the -execution of the 
 laws are believed to be adequate for any emergency 
 which can occur in time of peace. If it should prove 
 otherwise, Congress can at any time amend those 
 laws in such a manner as, while subserving the pub 
 lic welfare, not to jeopard the rights, interests, and 
 liberties of the people. 
 
 "The seventh section provides that a fee of ten 
 dollars shall be paid to each commissioner in every 
 ease brought before him, and a fee of five dollars to 
 his deputy or deputies for each person he or they may 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 277 
 
 arrest and take before any such commissioner in gen 
 eral for performing such other duties as may be re 
 quired in the premises. All these foes are to be paid 
 out of the Treasury of the United States, whether 
 there is a conviction or not ; but in case of con 
 viction they are to be recoverable from the de 
 fendant. It seems to me that under the influence 
 of such temptations, bad men might convert any 
 law, however beneficent, into an instrument of 
 persecution and fraud. By the eighth section of 
 the bill, the United States Courts, which sit only 
 in one place for white citizens, must migrate with 
 the marshal and district attorney, and necessarily 
 with the clerk (although he is not mentioned), 
 to any part of the district, upon the order of the 
 President, and there hold a court for the purpose of 
 the more speedy arrest and trial of persons charged 
 with the violation of this act ; and there the judge 
 and officers of the court must remain, upon the order 
 of the President, for the time therein designated. 
 
 " The ninth section authorizes the President, or 
 such person as he may empower for that purpose, to 
 employ such part of the land or naval forces of the 
 United States, or of the militia, as shall be necessary 
 to prevent the violation and enforce the due execu 
 tion of this act. This language seems to imply a 
 permanent military force that is to be always at hand, 
 and whose only business is to be the enforcement of 
 this measure over the vast region where it intended 
 to operate. 
 
 " I do not propose to consider the policy of this 
 bill. To me the details of the bill are fraught with 
 evil. The white race and black race of the South 
 
278 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 havo hitherto lived tog-ether under the relation of 
 master and slave capital owning labor. Now that 
 relation is changed ; and as to ownership, capital and 
 labor are divorced. They stand now, each master of 
 itself. In this new relation, one being, necessary to 
 the other, there will be a new adjustment, which both 
 are deeply interested in making harmonious. Each 
 has equal power in settling the terms ; and, if left to 
 the laws that regulate capital and labor, it is confi 
 dently believed that they will satisfactorily work out 
 the problem. Capital, it is true, has more intelli 
 gence ; but labor is never so ignorant as riot to un 
 derstand its own interests, not to know its own value, 
 and not to see that capital must pay that value. This 
 bill frustrates this adjustment. It intervenes between 
 capital and labor, and attempts to settle questions of 
 political economy through the agency of numerous 
 officials, whose interest it will be to foment discord 
 between the two races ; for as the breach widens, 
 their employment will continue ; and when it is 
 closed, their occupation will terminate. In all our 
 history, in all our experience as a people living under 
 Federal and State law, no such system as that con 
 templated by the details of this bill has ever before 
 been proposed or adopted. They establish for the 
 security of the colored race safeguards which go in 
 definitely beyond any that the General Government 
 has ever provided for the white race. In fact, the 
 distinction of race; and color is by the bill made to 
 operate in favor of the colored and against the white 
 race. They interfere with the municipal legislation 
 of the States ; with relations existing exclusively be 
 tween a State audits citizens, or between inhabitants 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 279 
 
 of the same State; an absorption and assumption of 
 power by the General Government which, if acqui 
 esced in, must sap and destroy our federative system 
 of limited power, and break down the barriers which 
 preserve the rights of the States. It is another step, 
 or rather stride, towards centralization and the concen 
 tration of all legislative powers in the National Gov 
 ernment. The tendency of the bill must be to resus 
 citate the spirit of rebellion, and to arrest the pro 
 gress of those influences which are more closely 
 drawing around the States the bonds of union and 
 peace. 
 
 " My lamented predecessor, in his proclamation of 
 the 1st of January, 1863, ordered and declared that 
 all persons held as slaves within certain States and 
 parts of States therein designated, were, and thence 
 forward should be free ; and further, that the Execu 
 tive Government of the United States, including the 
 military and naval authorities thereof, would recog 
 nize and maintain the freedom of such persons. This 
 guaranty has been rendered especially obligatory and 
 sacred by the amendment of the Constitution abolish 
 ing slavery throughout the United States. I, there 
 fore, fully recognize the obligation to protect and 
 defend that class of our people whenever and where- 
 ever it shall become necessary, and to the full extent, 
 compatible with the Constitution of the United States. 
 Entertaining these sentiments, it only remains for me 
 to say that I will cheerfully co-operate with Congress 
 in any measure that may be necessary for the preser 
 vation of civil rights of the freedmen, as well as those 
 of all other classes of persons throughout the United 
 States, by judicial process under equal and impartial 
 
280 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 laws, or conformably with the provisions of the Fed 
 eral Constitution. 
 
 " I now return the bill to the Senate, and regret 
 that in considering* the bills and joint resolutions, 
 forty-two in number, which have been thus far sub 
 mitted for my approval, I am compelled to withhold 
 my assent from a second measure that has received 
 the sanction of both Houses of Congress. 
 
 " ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 " WASHINGTON, D. C., March 27, 1866." 
 
SEKViCES AXL> SPEECHES. 281 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 X 
 
 ANNUAL MESSAGE TO THE THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS. 
 
 " Felloiv-citizens of the Senate and House of Repre 
 sentatives : 
 
 " To express gratitude to God, in the name of the 
 people, for the preservation of the United States, is 
 rny first duty in addressing; you. Our thoughts next 
 revert to the death of the late President by an act of 
 parricidal treason. The grief of the nation is still 
 fresh ; it finds some solace in the consideration that 
 he lived to enjoy the highest proof of its confidence by 
 entering on the renewed term of the Chief Magis 
 tracy, to which he had been elected ; that he brought 
 the civil war substantially to a close ; that his loss 
 was deplored in all parts of the Union ; and that 
 foreign nations have rendered justfce to his memory. 
 His removal cast upon me a heavier weight of cares 
 than ever devolved upon any one of his predecessors. 
 To fulfil my trust I need the support and confidence 
 of all who are associated with me in the various de 
 partments of the Government, and support and con 
 fidence of the people. There is but one way in 
 which I can hope to gain their necessary aid ; it is, 
 to state with frankness the principles which guide my 
 conduct, and their application to the present state of 
 
282 ANDREW JOHNSON". 
 
 affairs, well aware that the efficiency of niv labors 
 will, in a great measure, dcp-^id on your and their 
 undivided approbation. 
 
 " The Union of the United States of America was 
 intended by its authors to last as long as the States 
 themselves shall last. THE UNION SHALL BE PER 
 PETUAL, are the words of the Confederation. To FORV 
 A MORE PERFECT UNION, by an ordinance of the people 
 of the United States, is the declared purpose of the 
 Constitution. The hand of Divine Providence was 
 never more plainly visible in the affairs of men than 
 in the framing and the adopting of that instrument. 
 It is, beyond comparison, the greatest event in Ameri 
 can history ; and indeed is it not, of all events in 
 modern times, the most pregnant with consequences 
 for every people of the earth ? The members of the 
 Convention which prepared it, brought to their work 
 the experience of the Confederation, of their several 
 States, and of other republican governments, old and 
 new ; but they needed and they obtained a wisdom 
 superior to experience. And when for its validity it 
 required the approval of a people that occupied a 
 large part of a continent and acted separately in 
 many distinct conventions, what is more wonderful 
 than that, after earnest contention and long discussion, 
 all feelings and all opinions were ultimately drawn in 
 one way to its support? 
 
 " The Constitution to which life was thus imparted 
 contains within itself ample resources for its own pres 
 ervation. It lias power to enforce the laws, punish 
 treason, and insure domestic tranquillity. In case of 
 th usurpation of the Government of a State by one 
 man, r an oligarchy, it becomes a duty of the United 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES 283 
 
 States to make good the guaranty to that State of a 
 republican form of government, and so to maintain 
 the homogeneousness of all. Does the lapse of time 
 reveal defects ? A simple mode of amendment is pro 
 vided in the Constitution itself, so that its conditions 
 can always be made to conform to the requirements 
 of advancing civilization. No room is allowed even 
 for the thought of a possibility of its coming to an 
 end. And these powers of self-preservation have al 
 ways been asserted in their complete integrity by 
 every patriotic Chief Magistrate by Jefferson and 
 Jackson, not less than by Washington and Madison. 
 The parting advice of the Father of his Country, while 
 yet President, to the people of the United States, was, 
 that the free Constitution, which was the work of 
 their hands, might be sacredly maintained ; and the 
 inaugural words of President Jefferson held up the 
 preservation of the General Government, in its con 
 stitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at 
 home and safety abroad. The Constitution is the 
 work of the People of the United States/ and it 
 should be as indestructible as the people. 
 
 "It is not strange that the framers of the Constitu 
 tion, which had no model in the past, should not have 
 fully comprehended the excellence of their own work. 
 Fresh from a struggle against arbitrary power, 
 many patriots suffered from harassing fears of an 
 absorption of the Stata Governments by the General 
 Government, and many from a dread that the States 
 would" break away from their orbits. But the very 
 greatness of our country should allay the apprehen 
 sion of encroachments by the General Government. 
 The subjects that come unquestionably . within its 
 
284: ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 jurisdiction are so numerous, that it must ever nat 
 urally refuse to be embarrassed by questions that Ho 
 beyond it. Were it otherwise, the Executive would 
 sink beneath the burden 5 the channels of justice 
 would be choked ; legislation would be obstructed 
 by excess ; so that there is a greater temptation to 
 exercise some of the functions of the General Govern 
 ment through the States than to trespass on their 
 rightful sphere. The absolute acquiescence in the 
 decisions of the majority was, at the beginning of 
 the century, enforced by Jefferson as the vital prin 
 ciple of republics/ and the events of the last four 
 years have established, we will hope forever, that 
 there lies no appeal to force. 
 
 " The maintenance of the Union brings with it 
 the support of the State Governments in all their 
 rights ; but it is not one of the rights of any State 
 Government to renounce its own place in the Union, 
 or to nullify the laws of the Union. The largest 
 liberty is to be maintained in the discussion of the 
 acts of the Federal Government ; but there is no ap 
 peal from its laws, except to the various branches of 
 that Government itself, or to the people, who grant 
 to the members of the Legislative and of the Exe 
 cutive Departments no tenure but a limited one, and 
 in that manner always retain the powers of redress. 
 
 "The sovereignty of the States is the language 
 of the Confederacy, and not the language of the Con 
 stitution. The latter contains the emphatic words : 
 The Constitution, and the laws of the United States 
 which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all 
 treaties made or which shall ho made under the au 
 thority of the United States, shall be the supreme 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 285 
 
 law of the land ; and the judges in every State shall 
 be bound thereby, any thing in the constitution or 
 laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 1 
 
 " Certainly the Government of the United States is 
 a limited government ; and so is every State govern 
 ment a limited government. With us, this idea of 
 limitation spreads through every form of administra 
 tion, general, State, and municipal, and rests on the 
 great distinguishing principle of the recognition of 
 the rights of man. The ancient republics absorbed 
 the individual in the State, prescribed his religion, 
 and controlled his activity. The American system 
 rests on the assertion of the equal right of every man 
 to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; to free 
 dom of conscience, to the culture and exercise of all 
 his faculties. As a consequence, the State Govern 
 ment is limited, as to the General Government in the 
 interest of the Union, as to the individual citizen in 
 the interest of freedom. 
 
 " States, with proper limitations of power, are es~ 
 sential to the existence of the Constitution of the 
 United States. At the very commencement, when we 
 assumed a place among the powers of the earth, the 
 Declaration of Independence was adopted by States ; 
 so also were the Articles of Confederation ; and when 
 1 the People of the United States ordained and es 
 tablished the Constitution, it was the assent of the 
 States, one by one, which gave it vitality. In the 
 event, too, of any amendment to the Constitution, the 
 proposition of Congress needs the confirmation of 
 States. Without States, one great branch of the 
 legislative government would be wanting. And, if 
 we look beyond the letter of the Constitution to the 
 
286 ANDREW JOHXbOX. 
 
 character of our country, its capacity for comprehend 
 ing within its jurisdiction a vast continental empire is 
 due to the system of States. The best security for the 
 perpetual existence of the States is the supreme au 
 thority of the Constitution of the United States. The 
 perpetuity of the Constitution brings with it the per 
 petuity of the States ; their mutual relation makes us 
 what we are, and in our political system their con 
 nection is indissoluble. The whole cannot exist with 
 out the parts, nor the parts without the whole. So 
 long as the Constitution of the United States endures, 
 the States will endure : the destruction of the one is 
 the destruction of the other ; the preservation of the 
 one is the preservation of the other. 
 
 " I have thus explained my views of the mutual rela 
 tions of the Constitution and the States, because they 
 unfold the principles on which I have sought to solve 
 the momentous questions and overcome the appal i ing 
 difficulties that met me at the very commencement of 
 my administration. It has been my steadfast object 
 to escape from the sway of momentary passions, and 
 to derive a healing policy from the fundamental and 
 unchanging principles of the Constitution. 
 
 " I found the States suffering from the effects of a 
 civil war. Resistance to the General Government 
 appeared to have exhausted itself. The United States 
 had recovered possession of their forts and arsenals ; 
 and their armies were in the occupation of every State 
 which had attempted to secede. Whether the terri 
 tory within the limits of those States should be held 
 as conquered territory, under military authority ema 
 nating from the President as the head of the army, was 
 the first question that presented itself for decision. 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 287 
 
 " Now, military governments, established for an in 
 definite period, would have offered no security for the 
 early suppression of discontent ; would have divided 
 the people into the vanquishers and the vanquished ; 
 and would have envenomed hatred, rather than have 
 restored affection. Once established, no precise limit 
 to their continuance was conceivable. They would 
 have occasioned an incalculable and exhausting ex 
 pense. Peaceful emigration to and from that portion 
 of the country is one of the best means that can be 
 thought of for the restoration of harmony ; and that 
 emigration would have been prevented ; for what 
 emigrant from abroad, what industrious citizen at 
 home, would place himself willingly under military 
 rule ? The chief persons who would have followed in 
 the train of the army would have been dependents on 
 the General Government, or men who expected profit 
 from the miseries of their erring fellow-citizens. The 
 powers of patronage and rule which would have been 
 exercised, under the President, over a vast, and popu 
 lous, and naturally wealthy region, are greater than, 
 unless under extreme necessity, I should be willing 
 to intrust to any one man ; they are such as, for my 
 self, I could never, unless on occasions of great emer 
 gency, consent to exercise. The wilful use of such 
 powers, if continued through a period of years, would 
 have endangered the purity of the general adminis 
 tration and the liberties of the States which remained 
 loyal. 
 
 " Besides, the policy of military rule over a conquered 
 territory would have implied that the States whose 
 inhabitants may have taken part in the rebellion had, 
 by the act of those inhabitants, ceased to exist. But 
 
2SS ANDIU-:\V JOHXSOX. 
 
 the true theory is, that all pretended acts of secession 
 were, from the beginning, null and void. The States 
 cannot commit treason, nor screen the individual citi 
 zens who may have committed treason, any more than 
 they can make valid treaties or engage in lawful com 
 merce with any foreign power. The States attempt 
 ing to secede placed themselves in a condition where 
 their vitality was impaired, but not extinguished 
 their functions suspended, but not destroyed. 
 
 " But if any State neglects or refuses to perform its 
 offices, there is the more need that the General Gov 
 ernment should maintain all its authority, and, as 
 soon as practicable, resume the exercise of all its 
 functions. On this principle I have acted, and have 
 gradually and quietly, and by almost imperceptible 
 steps, sought to restore the rightful energy of the 
 General Government and of the States. To that end, 
 Provisional Governors have been appointed for the 
 States, conventions called, Governors elected, Legis 
 latures assembled, and Senators and Representatives 
 chosen to the Congress of the United States. At the 
 same time, the courts of the United States, as far as 
 could be done, have been reopened, so that the laws 
 of the United States may be enforced through their 
 agency. The blockade has been removed and the 
 custom-houses re-established in ports of entry, so that 
 the revenue of the United States may be collected. 
 The Post-office Department renews its ceaseless 
 activity, and the General Government is thereby 
 enabled to communicate promptly with its officers 
 and agents. The courts bring security to persons 
 and property ; the opening of the ports invites the 
 restoration of industry and commerce ; the post-office 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 289 
 
 renews the facilities of social intercourse and of busi 
 ness. And is it not happy for us all, that the restora 
 tion of each one of these functions of the General 
 Government brings with it a blessing to the States 
 over which they are extended ? Is it not a sure 
 promise of harmony and renewed attachment to the 
 Union, that, after all that has happened, the return of 
 the General Government is known only as a benefi 
 cence ? 
 
 " I know very well that this policy is attended with 
 some risk ; that for its success it requires at least the 
 acquiescence of the States which it concerns ; that it 
 implies an invitation to those States, by renewing 
 their allegiance to the United States, to resume their 
 functions as States of the Union. But it is a risk that 
 must be taken ; in the choice of difficulties, it is the 
 smallest risk ; and to diminish, and, if possible, to 
 remove all danger, I have felt it encumbent on me to 
 assert one other power of the General Government 
 the power of pardon. As no State can throw a de 
 fence over the crime of treason, the power of pardon 
 is exclusively vested in the Executive Government of 
 the United States. In exercising that power, I have 
 taken every precaution to connect it with the clearest 
 recognition of the binding force of the laws of the 
 United States, and an unqualified acknowledgment of 
 the great social change of condition in regard to 
 slavery which has grown out of the war. 
 
 " The next step which I have taken to restore the 
 constitutional relations of the States, has been an 
 invitation to them to participate in the high office of 
 amending the Constitution. Every patriot must wish 
 for a general amnesty at the earliest epoch consistent 
 13 
 
200 ANDREW JOIIXSON. 
 
 with public safety. For this great end there is need 
 of a concurrence of all opinions, and the spirit of 
 mutual conciliation. All parties in the late terrible 
 conflict must work together in harmony. It is not 
 too much to ask, in the name of the whole people, 
 that, on the one side, the plan of restoration shall 
 proceed in conformity with a willing-ness to east the 
 disorders of the past into oblivion ; and that, on the 
 other, the evidence of sincerity in the future mainte 
 nance of the Union shall be put beyond any doubt by 
 the ratification of the proposed amendment to the Con 
 stitution, which provides for the abolition of slavery 
 forever within the limits of our country. So long as 
 the adoption of tins amendment is delayed, so long 
 will doubt, and jealousy, and uncertainty prevail. 
 This is the measure which will elface the sad memory 
 of the past ; this is the measure which will most cer 
 tainly call population, and capital, and security to 
 those parts of the Union that need thorn most. In 
 deed, it is not too much to ask of the States which are 
 now resuming their places in the family of the Union, 
 to give this pledge of perpetual loyalty and peace. 
 Until it is done, the past, however much we may de 
 sire it, will not be forgotten. The adoption of the 
 amendment reunites us beyond all power of disrup 
 tion. It heals the wound that is still imperfectly 
 closed ; it removes slavery, tho element which has so 
 long perplexed and divided the country ; it makes of 
 us once more a united people, renewed and strength 
 ened, bound more than ever to mutual affection and 
 support. 
 
 " The amendment to the Constitution being adopted, 
 it would remain for tho States, whose powers have 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 291 
 
 been so long in abeyance, to resume their places in 
 the two branches of the National Legislature, and 
 thereby complete the work of restoration. Here it is 
 for yon, fellow-citizens of the Senate, and for you, 
 fellow-citizens of the House of Representatives, to 
 judge, each of you for yourselves, of the elec 
 tions, returns, and qualifications of your own mem 
 bers. 
 
 " The full assertion of the powers of the General 
 Government requires the holding of circuit courts of 
 the United States within the districts where their au 
 thority has been interrupted. In the present posture 
 of our public affairs, strong objections have been urged 
 to holding those courts in any of the States where the 
 rebellion has existed ; and it was ascertained, by in 
 quiry, that the Circuit Court of the United States 
 would not be held within the District of Virginia dur 
 ing the autumn or early winter, nor until Congress 
 should have an opportunity to consider and act on 
 the whole subject. To your deliberations the restora 
 tion of this branch of the civil authority of the United 
 States is therefore necessarily referred, with the hope 
 that early provision will be made for the resumption 
 of all its functions. It is manifest that treason, most 
 flagrant in character, has been committed. Persons 
 who are charged with its commission should have fair 
 and impartial trials in the highest civil tribunals of 
 the country, in order that the Constitution and the 
 laws may be fully vindicated; the truth clearly estab 
 lished and affirmed that treason is a crime, that traitors 
 should be punished and the offence made infamous; 
 and, at the same time, that the question may be judi 
 cially settled, finally and forever, that no State, of its 
 
292 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 own will, has the right to renounce its place in the 
 Union. 
 
 "The relations of the General Government towards 
 the four millions of inhabitants, whom the war has 
 called into freedom, have engaged rny most serious 
 consideration. On the propriety of attempting to 
 make the freedmen electors by the proclamation of the 
 Executive, I took for my counsel the Constitution 
 itself, the interpretations of that instrument by its au 
 thors and their contemporaries, and recent legislation 
 by Congress. When, at the first movement towards 
 independence, the Congress of the United States in 
 structed the several States to institute governments 
 of their own, they left each State to decide for itself 
 the conditions for the enjoyment of the elective fran 
 chise. During the period of the confederacy, there 
 continued to exist a very great diversity in the quali 
 fications of electors in the several States; and even 
 within a State a distinction of qualifications prevailed 
 with regard to the officers who were to be chosen. 
 The Constitution of the United States recognizes these 
 diversities when it enjoins that, in the choice of mem 
 bers of the House of Representatives of the United 
 States, the electors in each State shall have the 
 qualifications requisite for electors of the most numer 
 ous branch of the State Legislature. After the for 
 mation of the Constitution, it remained, as before, the 
 uniform usage for each State to enlarge the body of 
 its electors, according to its own judgment; and, un 
 der this system, one State; after another has proceeded 
 to increase the number of its electors, until now uni 
 versal suffrage, or something very near it, is the gen 
 eral rule. So fixed was this reservation of power in 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 293 
 
 the habits of the people, and so unquestioned has been 
 the interpretation of the Constitution, that during- the 
 civil war the late President never harbored the pur 
 pose certainly never avowed the purpose of disre 
 garding it; and in the acts of Congress, during tha.t 
 period, nothing can be found which, during the con 
 tinuance of hostilities, much less after their close, 
 would have sanctioned any departure by the Executive 
 from a policy which has so uniformly obtained. More 
 over, a concession of the elective franchise to the 
 freedrnen, by act of the President of the United States, 
 must have been extended to all colored men, wherever 
 found, and so must have established a change of suf 
 frage in the T%rthern, Middle, and Western States, 
 not less than in the Southern and Southwestern. 
 Such an act would have created a new class of 
 voters, and would have been an assumption of 
 power by the President which nothing in the Con 
 stitution or laws of the United States would have 
 warranted. 
 
 " On the other hand, every danger of conflict is 
 avoided when the settlement of the question is re 
 ferred to the several States. They can, each for it 
 self, decide on the measure, and whether it is to be 
 adopted at once and absolutely, or introduced gradu 
 ally and with conditions. In my judgment, the freed- 
 men, if they show patience and manly virtues, will 
 sooner obtain a participation in the elective franchise 
 through the States than through the General Govern 
 ment, even if it had power to intervene. When the 
 tumult of emotions that have been raised by the sud 
 denness of the social change shall have subsided, it 
 may prove that they will receive the kindliest usage 
 
294 ANDREW JOHNSON". 
 
 from some of those on whom they have heretofore 
 most closely depended. 
 
 " But while I have no doubt thut now, after the close 
 of the war, it is not competent for the General Gov 
 ernment to extend the elective franchise in the several 
 States, it is equally clear that good faith requires the 
 security of the freedmen in their liberty and their 
 property, their right to labor, and their right to claim 
 the just return of their labor. I cannot too strongly 
 urge a dispassionate treatment of this subject, which 
 should be carefully kept aloof from all party strife. 
 We must equally avoid hasty assumptions of any 
 natural impossibility for the two races to live side by 
 side, in a state of mutual benefit and good-will. The 
 experiment involves us in no inconsistency ; let us, 
 then, go on and make that experiment in good faith, 
 and not be too easily disheartened. The country is 
 in need of labor, and the freedmen are in need of em 
 ployment, culture, and protection. While their right 
 of voluntary migration and expatriation is not to be 
 questioned, I would not advise their forced removal 
 and colonization. Let us rather encourage them to 
 honorable and useful industry, where it may be bene 
 ficial to themselves and to the country ; and, instead 
 of hasty anticipations of the certainty of failure, ] et 
 there be nothing wanting to the fair trial of the ex 
 periment. The change in their condition is the sub 
 stitution of labor by contract for the status of slavery. 
 The freedman cannot fairly be accused of unwilling 
 ness to work, so long as a doubt remains about his 
 freedom of choice in his pursuits, and the certainty of 
 his recovering his stipulated wages. In tin s the in 
 terests of the employer and the employed coincide. 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 295 
 
 The employer desires in his workmen spirit and alac 
 rity, and these can be permanently secured in no other 
 way. And if the one oupht to be able to enforce the 
 contract, so ought the other. The public interest will 
 be best promoted, if the several States will provide 
 adequate protection and remedies for the freedmen. 
 Until this is in some way accomplished, there is no 
 chance for the advantageous use of their labor ; and 
 the blame of ill-success will not rest on them. 
 
 " I know that sincere philanthropy is earnest for 
 the immediate realization of its remotest aims ; but 
 time is always an element in reform. It is one of the 
 greatest acts on record to have brought four millions 
 of people into freedom. The career of free industry 
 must be fairly opened to them ; and then their future 
 prosperity and condition must, after all, rest mainly 
 on themselves. If they fail, and so perish away, let 
 s be careful that the failure shall not be attributable 
 to any denial of justice. In all that relates to the 
 destiny of the freedmen, we need not be too anxious 
 to read the future many incidents which, from a 
 speculative point of view, might raise alarm, will 
 quietly settle themselves. 
 
 " Now that slavery is at an end, or near its end, the 
 greatness of its evil, in the point of view of public 
 economy, becomes more and more apparent. Slavery 
 was essentially a monopoly of labor, and as such 
 locked the States where it prevailed against the in 
 coming of free industry. Where labor was the prop 
 erty of the capitalist, the white man was excluded 
 from employment, or had but the second best chance 
 of finding it ; and the foreign emigrant turned away 
 from the region where his condition would be so pre- 
 
296 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 carious. With the destruction of the monopoly, free 
 labor will hasten from all parts of the civilized world 
 to assist in developing various and immeasurable re 
 sources which have hitherto lain dormant. The eight 
 or nine States nearest the Gulf of Mexico have a soil 
 of exuberant fertility, a climate friendly to long- life, 
 and can sustain a denser population than is found as 
 yet in any part of our country. And the future influx 
 of population to them will be mainly from the North, 
 or from the most cultivated nations in Europe. From 
 the sufferings that have attended them during our 
 late struggle, let us look away to the future, which is 
 sure to be laden for them with greater prosperity than 
 has ever before been known. The removal of the 
 monopoly of slave labor is a pledge that those regions 
 will be peopled by a numerous and enterprising popu 
 lation, which will vie with any in the Union in com 
 pactness, inventive genius, wealth, and industry. 
 
 " Our Government springs from and was made for 
 the people not the people for the Government. To 
 them it owes allegiance; from them it must derive its 
 courage, strength, and wisdom. But, while the Gov 
 ernment is thus bound to defer to the people, from 
 whom it derives its existence, it should, from the very 
 consideration of its origin, be strong in its power of 
 resistance to the establishment of inequalities. Mo 
 nopolies, perpetuities, and class legislation are con 
 trary to the genius of free government, and ought not, 
 to be allowed. Here, there is no room for favored 
 classes or monopolies : the principle of our Govern 
 ment is that of equal laws and freedom of industry. 
 Wherever a monopoly attains a foothold, it is sure to 
 be a source of danger, discord, and trouble. We shall 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 297 
 
 but fulfil our duties as legislators by according equal 
 and exact justice to all men, special privileges to 
 none. The Government is subordinate to the people; 
 but, as the agent and representative of the people, it 
 must be held superior to monopolies, which, in them 
 selves, ought never to be granted, and which, where 
 they exist, must be subordinate and yield to the Gov 
 ernment. 
 
 "The Constitution confers on Congress the right to 
 regulate commerce among the several States. It is 
 of the first necessity, for the maintenance of the 
 Union, that that commerce should be free and unob 
 structed. No State can be justified in any device to 
 tax the transit of travel and commerce between 
 States. The position of many States is such that, if 
 they were allowed to take advantage of it for pur 
 poses of local revenue, the commerce between States 
 might be injuriously burdened, or even virtually pro 
 hibited. It is best, while the country is still young, 
 and while the tendency to dangerous monopolies of 
 this kind is still feeble, to use the power of Congress 
 so as to prevent any selfish impediment to the free 
 circulation of men and merchandise. A tax on travel 
 and merchandise, in their transit, constitutes one of 
 the worst forms of monopoly, and the evil is increased 
 if coupled with a denial of the choice of route. When 
 the vast extent of our country is considered, it is 
 plain that every obstacle to the free circulation of 
 commerce between the States ought to be sternly 
 guarded against by appropriate legislation, within 
 the limits of the Constitution. 
 
 " The report of the Secretary of the Interior ex 
 plains the condition of the public lands, the transao 
 13* 
 
293 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 tions of the Patent Office and the Pension Bureau, 
 the management of our Indian affairs, the progress 
 made in the construction of the Pacific railroad, and 
 furnishes information in reference to matters of local 
 interest in the District of Columbia. It also presents 
 evidence of the successful operation of the Homestead 
 Act, under the provisions of which 1,160,533 acres of 
 the public lands were entered during 1 the last fiscal 
 year more than one-fourth of the whole number of 
 acres sold or otherwise disposed of during that period. 
 It is estimated that the receipts derived from this 
 source are sufficient to cover the expenses incident to 
 the survey and disposal of the lands entered under 
 this act, and that payments in cash to the extent of 
 from forty to fifty per cent, will be made by settlers, 
 who may thus at any time acquire title before the ex 
 piration of the period at which it would otherwise 
 vest. The homestead policy was established only 
 after long and earnest resistance : experience proves 
 its wisdom. The lands, in the hands of industrious 
 settlers, whose labor creates wealth and contributes 
 to the public resources, arc worth more to the United 
 States than if they had been reserved as a solitude 
 for future purchasers. 
 
 " The lamentable events of the last four years, and 
 the sacrifices made by the gallant men of our army 
 and navy, have swelled the records of the Pension 
 Bureau to an unprecedented extent. On the 30th day 
 of June last, the total number of pensioners was 
 85,980, requiring for their annual pay, exclusive of 
 expenses, the sum of $8,023,445. The number of ap 
 plications that have been allowed since that date will 
 require a large increase of this amount for the next 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 299 
 
 fiscal year. The means for the payment of the sti 
 pends due, under existing laws, to our disabled sol 
 diers and sailors, and to the families of such as have 
 perished in the service of the country, will no doubt 
 be cheerfully and promptly granted. A grateful 
 people will not hesitate to sanction any measures 
 having for their object the relief of soldiers mutilated 
 and families made fatherless in the efforts to preserve 
 our national existence. 
 
 " The report of the postmaster-general presents an 
 encouraging exhibit of the operations of the Post- 
 office Department during the year. The revenues of 
 the past year from the loyal States alone exceeded 
 the maximum annual receipts from all the States pre 
 vious to the rebellion, in the sum of $6,038,091 ; and 
 the annual average increase of revenue during the 
 last four years, compared with the revenues of the 
 four years immediately preceding the rebellion, was 
 $3,533,845. The revenues of the last fiscal year 
 amounted to $14,556,158, and the expenditures to 
 $13,694,728, leaving a surplus of receipts over expendi 
 tures of $861,430. Progress has been made in re 
 storing the postal service in the Southern States. 
 The views presented by the postmaster-general 
 against the policy of granting subsidies to ocean mail 
 steamship lines upon established routes, and in favor 
 of continuing the present system, which limits the 
 compensation for ocean service to the postage earn 
 ings, are recommended to the careful consideration of 
 Congress. 
 
 " It appears, from the report of the Secretary of the 
 Navy, that while, at the commencement of the pres 
 ent year, there were in commission 530 vessels of all 
 
300 AXDKI-JW JOHXSOX. 
 
 descriptions, armed with 3,000 guns and manned by 
 51,000 men, the number of vessels at present in coin- 
 mission is 117, with 830 guns and 12,128 men. By 
 this prompt reduction of the naval forces the expenses 
 of the Government have been largely diminished, and 
 a number of vessels, purchased for naval purposes 
 from the merchant marine, have been returned to the 
 peaceful pursuits of commerce. Since the suppres 
 sion of active hostilities our foreign squadrons have 
 "been re-established, and consist of vessels much more 
 efficient than those employed on similar service pre 
 vious to the rebellion. The suggestion for the en 
 largement of the navy-yards, and especially for the 
 establishment of one in fresh water for iron-clad ves 
 sels, is deserving of consideration, as is also the 
 recommendation for a different location and more 
 ample grounds for the naval academy. 
 
 " In the report of the Secretary of War, a general 
 summary is given of the military campaigns of 1864 
 and 18G5, ending in the suppression of armed resist 
 ance to the national authority in the insurgent States, 
 The operations of the general administrative bureaus, 
 of the War Department during the past year are 
 detailed, and an estimate made of the appropriations 
 that will be required for military purposes in the fis 
 cal year commencing the 30th day of June, 1866, 
 The national military force on the 1st of May, 1865, 
 numbered 1,000,516 men. It is proposed to reduce 
 the military establishment to a peace footing", compre 
 hending fifty thousand troops of all arms., organized 
 o as to admit of an enlargement by filling up the 
 Tanks to eighty-two thousand six hundred, if the cir 
 cumstances of the country should require an aug- 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 301 
 
 mentation of the army. The volunteer force has 
 already been reduced by the discharge from service 
 of over eight hundred thousand troop3, and the de 
 partment is proceeding rapidly in the work of further 
 reduction. The war estimates are reduced from 
 $516,240,131 to $33,814,461, which amount, in the 
 opinion of the department, is adequate for a peace 
 establishment. The measures of retrenchment in 
 each bureau and branch of the service exhibit a dili 
 gent economy worthy of commendation. Reference 
 is also made in the report to the necessity of provid 
 ing for a uniform militia system, and to the propriety 
 of making suitable provision for wounded and disabled 
 officers and soldiers. 
 
 " The revenue system of the country is a subject 
 of vital interest to its honor and prosperity, and 
 should command the earnest consideration of Con 
 gress. The Secretary of the Treasury will lay be 
 fore you a full and detailed report of the receipts arid, 
 disbursements of the last fiscal year, of the first quar 
 ter of the present fiscal year, of the probable receipts 
 and expenditures for the other three quarters, and 
 the estimates for the year following the 30th of June, 
 1866. I might content myself with a reference to 
 that report, in which you will find all the information 
 required for your deliberations and decision. But the 
 paramount importance of the subject so presses itself 
 on my own mind, that I cannot but lay before you 
 my views of the measures which are required for the 
 good character, arid, I might almost say, for the exist 
 ence of this people. The life of a republic lies cer 
 tainly in the energy, virtue, and intelligence of its 
 citizens ; but it is equally true that a good revenue 
 
302 ANDRE VT JOHNSON. 
 
 system is the life of an organized government. I 
 meet you ot a time when the nation lias voluntarily 
 burdened itself with a debt unprecedented in our 
 annals. Vast as is its amount, it fades away into 
 nothing when compared with the countless blessings 
 that will be conferred upon our country and upon 
 man by the preservation of the nation s life. Now, 
 on the first occasion of the meeting of Congress since 
 the return of peace, it is of the utmost importance to 
 inaugurate a just policy, which shall at once be 
 put in motion, and which shall commend itself 
 to those who come after us for its continuance. We 
 must aim at nothing less than the complete cflface- 
 ment of the financial evils that necessarily follow a 
 state of civil war. We must endeavor to apply the 
 earliest remedy to the deranged state of the currency, 
 and not shrink from devising a policy which, without 
 being oppressive to the people, shall immediately be 
 gin to effect a reduction of the debt, and, if persisted 
 in, discharge it fully within a definitely fixed number 
 of years. 
 
 " It is our first duty to prepare in earnest for our 
 recovery from the ever-increasing evils of an irre 
 deemable currency, without a sudden revulsion, and 
 yet without untimely procrastination. For that end, 
 we must, each in our respective positions, prepare the 
 way. I hold it the duty of the Executive to insist 
 upon frugality in the expenditures ; and a sparing 1 
 economy is itself a great national resource. 01 the 
 banks to which authority lias been given to issue 
 notes secured by bonds of the United States, we may 
 require the greatest moderation and prudence, and 
 the law must be rigidly enforced when its limits are 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 303 
 
 exceeded. We may, each one of us, counsel our ac 
 tive and enterprising* countrymen to be constantly on 
 their guard, to liquidate debts contracted in a paper 
 currency, and, by conducting business as nearly as 
 possible on a system of cash payments or short credits, 
 to hold themselves prepared to return to the standard 
 of gold and silver. To aid our fellow-citizens in the 
 prudent management of their monetary affairs, the 
 duty devolves on us to diminish by law the amount 
 of paper money now in circulation. Five years ago 
 the bank-note circulation of the country amounted to 
 not much more than two hundred millions ; now the 
 circulation, bank and national, exceeds seven hundred 
 millions. The simple statement of this fact recom 
 mends more strongly than any words of mine could 
 do, the necessity of our restraining this expansion. 
 The gradual reduction of the currency is the only 
 measure that can save the business of the country 
 from disastrous calamities ; and this can be almost 
 imperceptibly accomplished by gradually funding the 
 national circulation in securities that may be made 
 redeemable at the pleasure of the Government. 
 
 " Our debt is doubly secure first in the actual 
 wealth and still greater undeveloped resources of the 
 country ; and next in the character of our institu 
 tions. The most intelligent observers among politi 
 cal economists have not failed to remark, that the 
 public debt of a country is safe in proportion as its 
 people are free ; that the debt of a republic is the 
 safest of all. Our history confirms and establishes 
 the theory, and is, I firmly believe, destined to give it 
 a still more signal illustration. The secret of this 
 superiority springs not merely from the fact that in a 
 
304 ANDREW JOHNSON". 
 
 lepublic the national obligations are distributed more 
 widely through countless numbers in all classes of 
 society ; it has its root in the character of our laws. 
 Here all men contribute to the public welfare, and 
 bear their fair share of the public burdens. During 
 the war, under the impulses of patriotism, the men of 
 the great body of the people, without regard to their 
 own comparative want of wealth, thronged to our 
 armies and filled our fleets of war, and held them 
 selves ready to offer their lives for the public good: 
 Now, in their turn, the property and income of the 
 country should bear their just proportion of the bur 
 den of taxation, while in our impost system, through 
 means of which increased vitality is incidentally im 
 parted to all the industrial interests of the nation, the 
 duties should be so adjusted as to fall most heavily 
 on articles of luxury, leaving the necessaries of life 
 as free from taxation as the absolute wants of the 
 Government, economically administered, will justify. 
 No favored class should demand freedom from assess 
 ment, and the taxes should be so distributed as not 
 to fall unduly on the poor, but rather on the accumu 
 lated wealth of the country. We should look at the 
 national debt just as it is not as a national bless 
 ing, but as a heavy burden on the industry of the coun 
 try, to be discharged without unnecessary delay. 
 
 "It is estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury 
 that the expenditures for the fiscal year ending the 80th 
 of June, 1800, will exceed the receipts $112,194,947. 
 It is gratifying, however, to state that it is also es 
 timated that the revenue for the year ending the 30th 
 of June, 1807, will exceed the expenditures in the 
 euin of $111,632,818. This amount, or so much as 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 305 
 
 may be deemed sufficient for the purpose, may be ap 
 plied to the reduction of the public debt, which, on 
 the 31st day of October, 1865, was $2,740,854,750. 
 Every reduction will diminish the total amount of 
 interest to be paid, and so enlarge the means of still 
 further reductions, until the whole shall be liquidated ; 
 and this, as will be seen from the estimates of the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, may be accomplished by 
 annual payments even within a period not exceeding 
 thirty years. I have faith that we shall do all this 
 within a reasonable time ; that, as we have amazed 
 the world by the suppression of a civil war which was 
 thought to be beyond the control of any Government, 
 so we shall equally show the superiority of our insti 
 tutions by the prompt and faithful discharge of our 
 national obligations. 
 
 " The Department of Agriculture, under its present 
 direction, is accomplishing much in developing arid 
 utilizing the vast agricultural capabilities of the 
 country, and for information respecting the details of 
 its management reference is made to the annual re 
 port of the Commissioner. 
 
 " I have dwelt thus fully oil our domestic affairs 
 because of their transcendent importance. Under any 
 circumstances, our great extent of territory and variety 
 of climate, producing almost every thing that is neces 
 sary for the wants, and even the comforts of man, 
 make us singularly independent of the varying policy 
 of foreign powers, and protect us against every temp 
 tation to entangling alliances ; while at the present 
 moment the re-establishment of harmony, and the 
 strength that comes from harmony, will be our best 
 security against nations who feel power and forget 
 
306 ANDREW 
 
 right/ For myself, it has been and it will ho my con 
 stant aim to promote peace and amity with all foreign 
 nations and powers ; and I have every reason to be 
 lieve that they all, without exception, are animated 
 by the same disposition. Our relations with the 
 Emperor of China, so recent in their origin, are most 
 friendly. Our commerce with his dominions is re 
 ceiving new developments ; and it is very pleasing 
 to find that the Government of that great empire 
 manifests satisfaction with our policy, and reposes 
 just confidence in the fairness which marks our inter 
 course. The unbroken harmony between the United 
 States and the Emperor of Russia is receiving a new 
 support from an enterprise designed to carry the tele 
 graphic lines across the continent of Asia, through 
 his dominions, and so to connect us with all Europe 
 by*a new channel of intercourse. Our commerce with 
 South America is about to receive encouragement by 
 a direct line of mail steamships to the rising Empire 
 of Brazil. The distinguished party of men of science 
 who have recently left our country to make a scien 
 tific exploration of the natural history and rivers and 
 mountain ranges of that region, have received from 
 the emperor that generous welcome which was to 
 have been expected from his constant friendship for 
 the United States, and his well-known zeal in promot 
 ing the advancement of knowledge. A hope is en 
 tertained that our commerce with the rich and popu 
 lous countries that border the Mediterranean sea may 
 be largely increased. Nothing will be wanting, on 
 tlr.- part of this Government, to extend the protection 
 of our flag over the enterprise of our fellow-citizens. 
 \Ve receive from the powers in that region assurances 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 307 
 
 of good-will and it is worthy of note that a special 
 envoy has brought us messages of condolence on the 
 death of our late Chief Magistrate from the Bey of 
 Tunis, whose rule includes the old dominions of Car 
 thage, on the African coast. 
 
 " Our domestic contest, now happily ended, has left 
 some traces in our relations with one at least of the 
 great maritime powers. The formal accordance of 
 belligerent rights to the insurgent States was unpre 
 cedented, and has not been justified by the issue. But 
 in the systems of neutrality pursued by the powers 
 which made that concession, there was a marked dif 
 ference. The materials of war for the insurgent States 
 were furnished, in a great measure, from the work 
 shops of Great Britain ; and British ships, manned by 
 British subjects, and prepared for receiving British 
 armaments, sailed from the ports of Great Britain to 
 make war on American commerce, under the shelter 
 of a commission from the insurgent States. These 
 ships, having once escaped from British ports, ever 
 afterwards entered them in every part of the world, 
 to refit, and so to renew their depredations. The con 
 sequences of this conduct were most disastrous to the 
 States then in rebellion, increasing their desolation 
 and misery by the prolongation of our civil contest. 
 It had, moreover, the effect, to a great extent, to drive 
 the American flag from the sea, and to transfer much 
 of our shipping and commerce to the very power 
 whose subjects had created the necessity for such a 
 change. These events took place before I was called 
 to the administration of the Government. The sin 
 cere desire for peace by which I am animated, led me 
 to approve the proposal, already made, to submit the 
 
308 AXDHEW JOIIXSOX. 
 
 questions which had thus arisen between the coun 
 tries to arbitration. These questions are of such mo 
 ment that they must have commanded the attention of 
 the great p.nvers, and are so interwoven with the 
 peace and interests of every one of them as to have 
 insured an impartial decision. I regret to inform you. 
 that Great Britain declined the arbitrament, but, on 
 the other hand, invited us to the formation of a joint 
 commission to settle mutual claims between the two 
 countries, from which those for the depredations be 
 fore-mentioned should be excluded. The proposi 
 tion, in that very unsatisfactory form, has been de 
 clined. 
 
 " The United States did not present the subject as 
 an impeachment of the good faith of a power which 
 was professing the most friendly dispositions, but as 
 involving questions of public law, of which the settle 
 ment is essential to the peace of nations; and, though 
 pecuniary reparation to their injured citizens would 
 have followed incidentally on a decision against Great 
 Britain, such compensation was not their primary ob 
 ject. They had a higher motive, and it was in the 
 interests of peace and justice to establish important 
 principles of international law. The correspondence 
 will be placed before you. The ground on which the 
 British Minister rests his justification is, substantially, 
 that the municipal law of a nation, and the domestic 
 interpretations of that law, are the nu-asuic of its duty 
 as a neutral; and 1 feel bound to declare 1 rny opinion, 
 before you and before the world, that that justifica 
 tion cannot be sustained before the tribunal of nations. 
 At the same time, I do not advise to any present at 
 tempt at redress by acts of legislation. For the future, 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 309 
 
 friendship between the two countries must rest on the 
 basis of mutual justice. 
 
 " From the moment of the establishment of our free 
 Constitution, the civilized world lias been convulsed 
 by revolutions in the interests of democracy or of 
 monarchy ; but through all those revolutions the 
 United States have wisely and firmly refused to be 
 come propagandists of republicanism. It is the only 
 government suited to our condition ; but we have 
 never sought to impose it on others ; and we have 
 consistently followed the advice of Washington, to 
 recommend it only by the careful preservation and 
 prudent use of the blessing. During all the inter 
 vening period the policy of European powers arid of 
 the United States has, on the whole, been harmonious. 
 Twice, indeed, rumors of the invasion of some parts 
 of America, in the interest of monarchy, have pre 
 vailed ; twice my predecessors have had occasion to 
 announce the views of this nation in respect to such 
 interference. On both occasions the remonstrance of 
 the United States was respected, from a deep convic 
 tion, on the part of European governments, that the 
 system of non-interference and mutual abstinence 
 from propagandism was the true rule for the two 
 hemispheres. Since those times we have advanced 
 in wealth and power ; but we retain the same pur 
 pose to leave the nations of Europe to choose their 
 own dynasties and form their own systems of govern 
 ment. This consistent moderation may justly demand 
 a corresponding moderation. We should regard it 
 as a great calamity to ourselves, to the cause of good 
 government, and to the peace of the world, should any 
 European power challenge the American people, as it 
 
310 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 were, to the defence of republicanism against foreign 
 interference. We cannot foresee, and are unwilling 
 to consider, what opportunities might present them 
 selves, what combinations might oiler to protect our 
 selves against designs inimical to our form of govern 
 ment. The United States desire to act in the future 
 as they have ever acted heretofore ; they never wiH 
 be driven from that course but by the aggression of 
 European powers ; and we rely on the wisdom and 
 justice of those powers to respect the system of non 
 interference which has so long been sanctioned by 
 time, and which, by its good results, has approved 
 itself to both continents. 
 
 " The correspondence between the United States 
 and France, in reference to questions which have be 
 come subjects of discussion between the two Govern 
 ments, will, at a proper time, be laid before Congress. 
 
 "When, on the organization of our Government, 
 under the Constitution, the President of the United 
 States delivered his inaugural address to the two 
 Houses of Congress, he said to them, and through 
 them to the country and to mankind : The preserva 
 tion of the sacred lire of liberty and the destiny of the 
 republican model of government, are justly considered 
 as deeply, perhaps as finally staked on the experiment 
 intrusted to the American people. And the House of 
 Representatives answered Washington by the voice 
 of Madison : We adore the invisible hand which has 
 led the American people, through so many difficulties, 
 to cherish a conscious responsibility for the destiny 
 of republican liberty. More than seventy-six years 
 have glided away since these words were spoken ; 
 the United States have passed through severer trials 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 311 
 
 than were foreseen ; and now, at this new epoch in 
 our existence as one nation, with our Union purified 
 by sorrows, and strengthened by conflict and estab 
 lished by the virtue of the people, the greatness of 
 the occasion invites us once more to repeat, with so 
 lemnity, the pledges of our fathers to hold ourselves 
 answerable before our fellow-men for the success of 
 the republican form of government. Experience has 
 proved its sufficiency in peace and in war ; it has 
 vindicated its authority through dangers, and afflic 
 tions, and sudden and terrible emergencies, which 
 would have crushed any system that had been less 
 firmly fixed in the heart of the people. At the in 
 auguration of Washington the foreign relations of the 
 country were few, and its trade was repressed by hos 
 tile regulations ; now all the civilized nations of the 
 globe welcome our commerce, and their Governments 
 profess towards us amity. Then our country felt its 
 way hesitatingly along an untried path, with States 
 so little bound together by rapid means of communi 
 cation as to be hardly known to one another, and 
 with historic traditions extending over very few 
 years ; now intercourse between the States is swift 
 and intimate ; the experience of centuries has been 
 crowded into a few generations, and has created an 
 intense, indestructible nationality. Then our juris 
 diction did not reach beyond the inconvenient bound 
 aries of the territory which had achieved independ 
 ence ; now, through cessions of lands, first colonized 
 by Spain and France, the, country has acquired a more 
 complex character, and has for its natural limits the 
 chain of lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and on the east 
 and the west the two great oceans. Other nations 
 
312 AX DUE W JOHNSON. 
 
 were wasted by civil wars for ages before they could 
 establish for themselves the necessary degree of 
 unity ; the latent conviction that our form of govern 
 ment is the best ever known to the world, has enabled 
 us to emerge from civil war within four years, with a 
 complete vindication of the constitutional authority of 
 the General Government, and with our local liberties 
 and State institutions unimpaired. The throngs of emi 
 grants that crowd to our shores are witnesses of the 
 confidence of all peoples in our permanence. Here is 
 the great land of free labor, where industry is blessed 
 with unexampled rewards, and the bread of the work- 
 ingmari is sweetened by the consciousness that the 
 cause of the country is his own cause, his own 
 safety, his own dignity. Here every one enjoys the 
 free use of his faculties and the choice of activity as 
 a natural right. Here, under the combined influence 
 of a fruitful soil, genial climes, arid happy institutions, 
 population has increased fifteen-fold within a century. 
 Here, through the easy development of boundless re 
 sources, wealth has increased with twofold greater 
 rapidity than numbers, so that we have become 
 secure against the financial vicissitudes of other 
 countries, and, alike in business and in opinion, are 
 self-centred and truly independent. Here more and 
 more care is given to provide education for every one 
 born on our soil. Here religion, released from polit 
 ical connection with the civil government, refuses to 
 subserve the craft of statesmen, and becomes, in its 
 independence, the spiritual life of the people. Here 
 toleration is extended to every opinion, in the quiet 
 certainty that truth needs only a fair field to secure 
 the victory. Here the human mind goes forth ua- 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 313 
 
 shackled in the pursuit of science, to collect stores of 
 knowledge and acquire an ever-increasing mastery 
 over the forces of nature. Here the national domain 
 is offered and held in millions of separate freeholds, 
 so that our fellow-citizens, beyond the occupants of any 
 other part of the earth, constitute in reality a people. 
 Here exists the democratic form of government ; and 
 that form of government, by the confession of European 
 statesmen, gives a power of which no other form is 
 capable, because it incorporates every man with the 
 State, and arouses every thing that belongs to the soul/ 
 " Where, in past history, does a parallel exist to 
 the public happiness which is within the reach of the 
 people of the United States ? Where, in any part of 
 the globe, can institutions be found so suited to their 
 habits or so entitled to their love as their own free 
 Constitution? Every one of them, then, in whatever 
 part of the land he has his home, must wish its per 
 petuity. Who of them will not now acknowledge, in 
 the words of Washington, that every step by which 
 the people of the United States have advanced to the 
 character of an independent nation, seems to have 
 been distinguished by some token of Providential 
 agency ? Who will not join with me in the prayer, 
 that the invisible hand which has led us through the 
 clouds that gloomed around our path, will so guide us 
 onward to a perfect restoration of fraternal affection, 
 that we of this day may be able to transit our great 
 inheritance, of State Governments in all their rights, 
 of the General Government in its whole constitutional 
 vigor, to our posterity, and they to theirs through 
 countless generations ? ANDREW JOHSSOJ( _ 
 
 " WASHINGTON, December 4, 1865. * 
 
ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 PRESIDENT JOHNSON, providentially called to the 
 chief executive chair at an extraordinary crisis, 
 when the country was first emerging from the 
 l>lood and smoke of a terrible civil war, and when 
 the world was horror-stricken by the news of 
 Lincoln s assassination President Johnson as 
 sumed his onerous duties at a moment s notice, 
 and has since been discharging them with an 
 energy, tact, and discretion that cannot be too 
 highly extolled. Without a parallel in the history 
 of any other people, in its spirit of fraternal mag 
 nanimity, stands President Johnson s wise and 
 beneficent policy of reconciliation and reunion. 
 Thus it is that he is accepted by the Southern 
 people, not as a conquering despot, but as a wel 
 come benefactor ; and hence their progress in the 
 great task enjoined upon them of rebuilding their 
 State institutions upon the enduring corner-stones 
 of the sovereignty of the Union and universal 
 liberty. 
 
 Never did weighter burden press upon a 
 human being than has rested upon the President 
 every moment since he assumed the duties of his 
 
SERVICES AND SPEECHES. 315 
 
 exalted station. His doctrine, that the secession 
 of a State could not carry it out of the Union, 
 and that as soon as it grounded its arms it re 
 sumed its former status in the federal group, has 
 been of infinite service to him in his well-directed 
 efforts for a speedy restoration. This most de 
 sirable object is in a way of rapid accomplish 
 ment under his well-planned auspices. His first 
 annual message at the opening of the thirty-ninth 
 Congress, which we have given above, by its 
 calm statement of the situation, and the manifest 
 knowledge of its author how best to meet the 
 political crisis, is so admirably adapted as a safe 
 and rational guide for both legislative and popu 
 lar action, as to secure for its statements, its 
 reasonings, and its suggestions a strong and uni 
 versal approbation from the masses of the people. 
 The sympathy of the masses is the firm tower 
 upon which the President leans for support in 
 his future, as he has always done in his past. It 
 has never failed nor deserted him in former times, 
 when, to common observers, all seemed dark and 
 dismal around him, and it will not desert him 
 now. If a rabid fanaticism, if a bitter prejudice 
 shall attempt to oppose his wise and noble policy, 
 * he will meet their attacks 
 
 " Firm as a rock of the ocean, that braves 
 A thousand wild waves on the shore. 
 
 The people, whose Union he will have saved 
 and cemented by bonds that never can be broken, 
 
316 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 will rally around their honest and dauntless be 
 nefactor in the might of an irresistible host. 
 From New England to Texas, from the Old 
 Dominion to the Pacific shore, the name of An 
 drew Johnson will be dear to the hearts of the 
 people as a household word, and their confiding 
 gratitude will retain him as a worthy occupant 
 of the chair first graced by the Father of his 
 Country. 
 
14 DAY USE 
 
 RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED 
 
 LOAN DEPT. 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or 
 
 on the date to which renewed. 
 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
 
 
 
 SENT ON ILL 
 
 MAR 1 8 20G; 
 
 RECEIVED 
 
 69 -3 r 
 
 
 
 
 67-3 PI 
 
 RECEIV 
 
 LOAN 
 
LIBRARY USE 
 
 RETURN TO DESK FRfM V TI ^ T 
 
 ^ " i Buy 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY