Chapter VIII: Section 2: Debts and liabilities incurred in aid of rebellion are (4)

A glance at this table is enough. Taking the sum total of population in the eleven States, we find 5,447,220 whites to 3,656,112 colored persons; and you are now to decide, whether, in the discharge of imperative duties under the National Constitution, and bound to guaranty a republican form of government, you will disfranchise this latter mass, shutting them out from those Equal Rights promised by our fathers, and from all copartnership in the government of their country. They surpass in numbers, by at least a million, the whole population of the Colonies at the time our fathers raised the cry, “Taxation without Representation is Tyranny”; and now you are to decide whether to strip them of representation, while you subject them to grinding taxation by tariff and excise, acting directly and indirectly, dwarfing into insignificance everything attempted by the British Parliament. Our fathers could not bear a Stamp Act in making which they had no voice, and they braved terrible war with the most formidable power of the globe rather than pay a tax of threepence on tea imposed by a Parliament in which they were unrepresented. Are you ready, Sir, in disregard of this great precedent, and in disregard of all promises and examples of past history, to thrust a single citizen out of all representation in the Government, while you consume his substance with taxation, subject him to Stamp Acts, compel him to pay a duty of twenty-five cents a pound on tea, and then follow him with imposts in all the business of life? Clearly, if you do not recognize his title to representation, you must at least by careful legislation relieve him from this intolerable taxation. Some of the millions you thrust out already contribute largely to the public revenue. How, then, can you deny them representation? Their money is not rejected. Why reject their votes? But if you reject their votes, you cannot take their money. As you detect no color in their money, you ought to detect no color in their votes.

In this denial of the right to vote there is a surpassing tyranny, being nothing less than a confiscation of the highest property the citizen can possess. To take his money is robbery; to appropriate his house or land is spoliation; but house and land are less than the right by which the citizen is assured in all other rights. Lord Chief Justice Holt spoke as became one of England’s greatest magistrates, when he said from the bench: “A right that a man has to give his vote at the election of a person to represent him in Parliament, there to concur to the making of laws which are to bind his liberty and property, is a most transcendent thing and of an high nature.”[178] But this “most transcendent thing” is taken from a whole race on an excuse insulting to them as members of the human family.

Unhappily, too many people discern the wrong only when they personally feel its sting. Suppose now the case reversed, and white citizens in South Carolina despoiled of this “most transcendent thing” by the predominance of the colored race, so that “black” instead of “white” marks participation in government. But, if such discrimination is just where the white prevails, it would be equally just where the black prevails, and it would be as constitutional in one case as in the other. Unquestionably a black man’s government is as constitutional as a white man’s government. But the white man could not easily endure the degradation; nor can it be doubted that Congress would promptly insist that it was inconsistent with republican government, and would apply the proper remedy. Failing in this duty, what other discrimination could it arrest? The Anglo-Saxon might exclude the Celt; the Celt might exclude the Anglo-Saxon; both might exclude the German, and the fearful antagonisms of race would have full play. Other battles than the Boyne would be the signal of discord, and other parties than Orangemen would stalk upon the scene.

If, looking at these States together, the case is clear, it becomes clearer when we look at them separately. Begin with Tennessee, which disfranchises 283,079 citizens, being more than a quarter of its whole “people.” Thus violating a distinctive principle of republican government, how can this State be recognized as republican? The question is easier asked than answered. But Tennessee is the least offensive on the list. There is Virginia, which disfranchises 549,019 citizens, being more than a third its whole “people.” There is Alabama, which disfranchises 437,930 citizens, being nearly one half its whole “people.” There is Louisiana, which disfranchises 350,546 citizens, being one half its whole “people.” There is Mississippi, which disfranchises 437,406 citizens, being much more than one half its whole “people.” And there is South Carolina, which disfranchises 412,408 citizens, being nearly three fifths its whole “people.” A republic is a pyramid standing on the broad mass of the people as a base; but here is a pyramid balanced on its apex. To call such a government “republican” is a mockery of sense and decency. A monarch “surrounded by republican institutions,” as at one time was the boast of France, would be less offensive to correct principles, and give more security to Human Rights.

Plainly such a government is not a “democracy,” where all the people assemble and govern in person; nor is it a “republic,” where they assemble and govern by representatives, according to the distinction presented by Madison in the “Federalist.”[179] A representative government is a government by the people, not less than a democracy, provided all the people are represented. Representation is a modern invention of incalculable value to embody the will of the people. A republic, like a democracy, cannot tolerate inequality. Wherever a favored class appears, whether in one or the other, its republican character ceases. It may be an aristocracy or oligarchy, but it is not a democracy or a republic.

It is not difficult to classify our Rebel States. They are aristocracies or oligarchies. Aristocracy, according to etymology, is the government of the best. Oligarchy is the government of the few, being not even aristocracy, but an abuse of aristocracy, as despotism is the abuse of monarchy. Perhaps these States may be characterized in either way; and yet aristocracy, especially in origin, has something respectable, which cannot be attributed to a combination whose single distinctive element is color of the skin.

The eminent French publicist, Bodin, in his definition of aristocracy, says that it exists _where a smaller body of citizens governs the greater_;[180] and this definition has been adopted by others, especially by Montesquieu. But it is not satisfactory. Hallam, whose judgment is of the highest value, after discussing its merits, proposes the following most suggestive substitute:--

“We might better say, that the distinguishing characteristic
of an _aristocracy_ is the enjoyment of privileges _which are
not communicable to other citizens simply by anything they can
themselves do to obtain them_.”[181]

These words completely characterize the aristocracy of color; for this aristocracy is plainly in the enjoyment of privileges not communicable to other citizens by anything they can themselves do to obtain them. Are we not reminded that “the Ethiopian cannot change his skin,” neither can we “make one hair white or black,” and “which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature”? Aristotle, the great intelligence of Antiquity, whose illumination has reached everywhere, used congenial language, when, in reply to those who would have magistracy and power distributed unequally, according to some rule of personal superiority, he said, “If this is a correct rule, then complexion, or stature, or some similar advantage, might be made the excuse for superiority in civil rights”; and he illustrates the unreasonableness of such a rule by showing, that, in a company of musicians, the best flute is not given to the most noble, but to the artist who will use it best; thus making merit the only qualification, and discarding color, which is accidental and unchangeable.[182]

The famous French founder of the school of Doctrinaires, Royer-Collard, so remarkable for sententious thought, was in the habit of saying that “the sovereignty of Reason is superior to the sovereignty of the people.” But both declare the equal rights of all. The rule of inequality is plainly unreasonable; and what a mockery is that sovereignty of the people which sanctions any denial of equal rights! In different spirit, the consummate French writer, Louis Blanc, devoted to reform, has declared that “the republic is above universal suffrage,”--meaning that even universal suffrage cannot subvert it. But in each is Equality. Universal suffrage openly proclaims this right; and what is the republic without it?

To show that our Rebel States are aristocracies or oligarchies might suffice. But we must not forget, that, born of Slavery, they have the spirit of that iniquity, so that they are essentially of a low type. Founded on color of the skin, they are, beyond question, the most senseless and disgusting of all history. Would you learn to what they must incline? Listen to the frank words of the Venetian master, the famous Father Paul, while, in a state refined by art and elevated by glory, he counsels the privileged class how to use their powers. “If a noble,” says he, “injure a plebeian, justify him by all possible means; but should that be found quite impossible, punish more in appearance than in reality. If a plebeian insult a noble, punish him with the greatest severity, that the commonalty may know how perilous it is to insult a noble.”[183] Such is the terrible rule announced in a document which taught how to make the power of Venice perpetual. But this same spirit predominates still in the Rebel States. It rages there with more revolting cruelty than Venice ever witnessed. And such is the government now claiming recognition as “republican.”

The pretension is hateful on another ground. It is nothing less than a caste, which is irreligious as well as unrepublican. A caste exists only in defiance of the first principles of Christianity and the first principles of a republic. It is heathenism in religion and tyranny in government. The Brahmins and the Sudras in India, from generation to generation, have been separated, as the two races are still separated in these States. If a Sudra presumed to sit on a Brahmin’s carpet, he was punished with banishment. But our recent Rebels undertake to play the part of Brahmins, and exclude citizens, with better title than themselves, from essential rights, simply on the ground of caste, which, according to its Portuguese origin (_casta_), is only another term for race.

But the pretension is yet otherwise hostile to good government. Here is a monopoly on a gigantic scale and with an unprecedented field, in a country which sets its face against all monopolies as unequal and immoral. If any monopoly deserves unhesitating judgment, it must be that which absorbs the rights of others and engrosses political power. How vain to condemn the petty monopoly of commerce, while allowing this vast, all-embracing monopoly of Human Rights!

Clearly, most clearly, and beyond all question, such a government is not “republican in form.” Call it oligarchy, call it aristocracy, call it caste, call it monopoly; but never call it a republic.

IV.

Of course such a government can exist only in defiance of the National Constitution, and it is _the duty of Congress_ to interfere against it.

The guaranty is by the United States; therefore Congress must perform it; and, in the discharge of this eminent duty, it must affix the true meaning to the requirement, declaring what is a republican government, and supplying the long-sought definition. Here Congress is sole and final arbiter, binding all other branches of Government. Let a State make office hereditary,--let it shut from the courts all who have not the “blue blood” of ancient ancestry,--let it accord to a favored class controlling power and influence,--let it apply any discrimination on account of race or color, whether against Anglo-Saxons, Celts, or Germans, whether against black or white,--let it do any of these things, all so plainly inconsistent with constitutional requirement, and the legislative power of the nation must recall the State from its aberration, and bring it home to the republican standard.

President Johnson, in his recent annual message, says:--

“In case of the usurpation of the government of a State by one
man or an _oligarchy_, it becomes a duty of the United States
to make good the guaranty to that State of a republican form of
government.”

The President forgets to mention an aristocracy, and does not add, what is true, that the authority bound to make good the guaranty is the sole judge of the exigency. To this end everything centres in Congress, whose powers are commensurate with the occasion. In aid of the guaranty are those other words providing that Congress “shall have power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers vested by the Constitution in the Government of the United States.” Under this ample provision there is a duty to be performed, by any means that seem best. The jurisdiction is complete, and it is in Congress. If any authority were needed for this proposition, it would be found in the words of Chief Justice Taney himself, speaking for the Supreme Court of the United States:--

“The fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution
of the United States provides that the United States shall
guaranty to every State in the Union a republican form of
government, and shall protect each of them against invasion,
and, on the application of the Legislature, or of the Executive
(when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic
violence.

“_Under this article of the Constitution, it rests with
Congress to decide what government is the established one in
a State. For, as the United States guaranty to each State a
republican government, Congress must necessarily decide what
government is established in the State, before it can determine
whether it is republican or not._”[184]

In the exercise of this power two courses are open. One is to impose an irrepealable condition upon the unrepublican States, requiring them, before recognition, to re-form their governments to the satisfaction of Congress. The other, and more direct, is by Act of Congress, in performance of the guaranty, and according to the plenary authority “for carrying into execution the powers vested by the Constitution in the Government of the United States,” to provide all needful safeguards in the unrepublican States, and especially to place the Equal Rights of All under the guardianship of National Law.

Against the exercise of this power there are but two arguments. First, that the Constitution, by providing that “the electors in each State shall have the _qualifications_ requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature,” has reserved to each State the power of excluding citizens merely on account of color, even though constituting more than a majority of the population. The other argument is, that, since certain States at the North have disfranchised the few colored persons within their borders, the United States are so far constrained by this example that they cannot protect the millions of freedmen in the Rebel States from disfranchisement, and cannot save the Republic from the peril of crying injustice. I know not which of these two arguments is the least reasonable, or rather, which is the most reprehensible. They are both unreasonable, and both reprehensible. They both do violence to the true principles of the National Constitution, if not to common sense.

It is true, that, according to the text of the Constitution, each State may determine the “qualifications” of electors; but this can have no application to an exigency like the present, where, at the close of a prolonged and desperate rebellion, the United States are obliged to guaranty to certain States a republican form of government. In the performance of this guaranty, the United States will look only at the essential elements of such a government, nor more nor less, without regard to State laws. But I am unwilling to rest the argument here. Even assuming that there has been no lapse of State governments, so as to bring the guaranty into operation,--assuming that we are in a condition of assured peace,--then I utterly deny that the power to determine the “qualifications” of electors can give any power to disfranchise actual citizens. It is “qualifications” only which the States can determine,--meaning by this limited term those requirements of personal condition regarded as essential to the security of the franchise. These “qualifications” cannot be in nature permanent or insurmountable. Color cannot be a “qualification,” any more than size, or quality of hair. A permanent or insurmountable “qualification” is equivalent to deprivation of suffrage; in other words, it is the tyranny of taxation without representation, and this tyranny, I insist, is not intrusted to any State. This is the very ground taken by Mr. Madison, when defending the National Constitution in the Virginia Convention.

“Some States might regulate the elections on the principles of
_Equality_, and others might regulate them otherwise.… Should
the people of any State, by any means, be deprived of the right
of suffrage, _it was judged proper that it should be remedied
by the General Government_.… If the elections be regulated
properly by the State Legislatures, the Congressional control
will very probably never be exercised. The power appears to
me satisfactory, and unlikely to be abused as any part of the
Constitution.”[185]

With these decisive words from a chief framer of the National Constitution, backed by the reason of the case, I dismiss this objection to the little consideration it deserves. And I dismiss to the same indifference the other objection, that our hands are tied because certain Northern States have done a wrong and mean thing. Pray, Sir, how can the failure of these States affect the power of Congress in a great exigency under the National Constitution? Duty here is identical with power. No matter if the power has been long dormant, it is none the less vital. It is like the slumbering statute which Cicero describes as a sword in the scabbard, _tanquam gladius in vagina_. It only remains that it be drawn forth.

* * * * *

This duty is fortified by the Constitutional Amendment, which, after providing for the abolition of Slavery, empowers Congress to “enforce” it by “appropriate legislation,” thus heaping Ossa upon Pelion. Clearly, under these words, Congress may do what in its discretion seems “appropriate” to this end, and there is no power to call its action in question. On this point the authority of the Supreme Court, in the weighty judgment of Chief Justice Marshall, is explicit.

“The government which has a right to do an act, and has imposed
on it the duty of performing that act, must, according to the
dictates of reason, be allowed to select the means; and those
who contend that it may not select _any appropriate means_,
that one particular mode of effecting the object is excepted,
take upon themselves the burden of establishing that exception.…

“Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the
Constitution, and _all means_ which are appropriate, which are
plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but
consist with the letter and spirit of the Constitution, are
constitutional.”[186]

These words of the Chief Justice are reinforced by a kindred declaration from another great authority, Mr. Justice Story, speaking also for the Supreme Court, on an important occasion.

“The Constitution unavoidably deals in general language.…
The instrument was not intended to provide merely for the
exigencies of a few years, but was to endure through a long
lapse of ages, the events of which were locked up in the
inscrutable purposes of Providence.… Hence its powers are
expressed in general terms, leaving to the Legislature from
time to time _to adopt its own means to effectuate legitimate
objects_.”[187]

Apply these words to the present case, and the conclusion is irresistible. Whatever legislation seems “appropriate” to “enforce” the abolition of Slavery, whatever means seem proper to this end, must be within the powers of Congress under the Constitutional Amendment. You cannot deny this principle without setting aside those most remarkable judgments which stand as landmarks of constitutional history. But who can doubt that the abolition of the whole Black Code, in all its oligarchical pretensions, civil and political, is “appropriate” to “enforce” the abolition of Slavery? Mark the language of the grant. Congress may “enforce” abolition, and nobody can question the “means” it thinks best to employ. Let it not hesitate to adopt the “means” that promise to be most effective. As the occasion is extraordinary, so the “means” employed must be extraordinary.

But the Senate has already by solemn vote affirmed this very jurisdiction. You have, Sir, decreed that blacks shall enjoy the same civil rights as whites,--in other words, that with regard to civil rights there shall be no oligarchy, aristocracy, caste, or monopoly, but that all shall be equal before the law, without distinction of color. And this great decree you have made, as “appropriate legislation” under the Constitutional Amendment, to “enforce” the abolition of Slavery. Surely you have not erred. Beyond all question, the protection of the colored race in civil rights is essential to complete the abolition of Slavery; but the protection of the colored race in political rights is not less essential, and the power is as ample in one case as in the other. In each you legislate for the maintenance of that Liberty so tardily accorded, and the legislation is just as “appropriate” in one case as in the other. Protection in civil rights by Act of Congress will be a great event. It will be great in itself. It will be greater still, because it establishes the power of Congress, without further amendment of the National Constitution, to protect every citizen in all his rights, including of course the elective franchise. There are precedents of Congress, as well as of courts, which are landmarks; and this is one of them.

Therefore, as authority for Congress, you have two sources in the Constitution itself,--first, the guaranty clause, and, secondly, the Constitutional Amendment, each sufficient, the two together a twofold sufficiency. To establish the Equal Rights of All, no further Amendment is needed. The actual text is exuberant. Instead of adding new words, it will be enough, if you give those that exist the natural force belonging to them. Instead of neglecting, use them. Instead of supplementing, interpret them. An illustrious magistrate once retorted upon an advocate, who, dissatisfied with a ruling of the court, threatened to burn his books, “Better read them”; and so would I say now to all who think the Constitution needs amendment, Better read it. Yes, Sir, read it in the principles proclaimed by the Fathers before the Revolution, read it in the declarations of the Fathers when they took their place as a Republic, read it in the avowed opinions of the Fathers, read it in the public acts of the Fathers; and in all this beaming, diffusive light you will discern the true meaning. Then again read it in that other light which, as from another sun, newly risen at midday, streams from the obligation of Congress to “enforce” the abolition of Slavery. And yet again read it in the glowing illumination of the war. In whichever light you read it, you will find always the same irresistible meaning. Even if the text were doubtful, the war makes it clear. The victory which overthrew Slavery carried away all those glosses and constructions by which this wrong was originally fastened upon it. For generations the National Constitution has been interpreted for Slavery. From this time forward it must be interpreted in harmony with the Declaration of Independence, so that Human Rights shall always prevail. The promises of the Fathers must be sacredly fulfilled. This is the commanding rule, superseding all other rules. This is a great victory of the war,--perhaps the greatest. It is nothing less than the emancipation of the Constitution itself.

V.

MR. PRESIDENT, such is the testimony of history, authority, and Constitution, binding the judgment, and leaving no alternative. Thus far I have done little but bring together the diversified testimony and weave it into one body. It is not I who speak. I am nothing. It is the cause, whose voice I am, that addresses you. But there are yet other things, even at this late hour, craving utterance. And here, after this long review, I am brought back to more general considerations, and end as I began, by showing the necessity of Enfranchisement for the sake of public security and public faith. I plead now for the ballot, as the great guaranty, and _the only sufficient guaranty_,--being in itself peacemaker, reconciler, schoolmaster, and protector,--to which we are bound by every necessity and every reason; and I speak also for the good of the States lately in rebellion, as well as for the glory and safety of the Republic, that it may be an example to mankind.

Let me be understood. What I ask especially is impartial suffrage, which is, of course, embraced in universal suffrage. What is universal is necessarily impartial. For the present, I simply insist that all shall be equal before the law, so that in the enjoyment of this right there shall be no restriction not equally applicable to all. Any further question in the nature of “qualification” belongs to another stage of the debate. And yet I have no hesitation in saying that universal suffrage is a universal right, subject only to such regulations as the safety of society may require. These may concern (1.) age, (2.) character, (3.) registration, (4.) residence. In ancient Greece there was what is called a Timocracy, where a certain amount of property was required; and this condition has modern example, even among us. But it is entirely out of place now. Nobody doubts that minors may be excluded, and so also persons of infamous life. Registration and residence are both prudential requirements for the safeguard of the ballot-box against the Nomads and Bohemians of politics, and to compel the exercise of this franchise among neighbors and friends, where a person is known. Education also, under certain circumstances, may be a requirement of prudence, particularly valuable in a republic, where so much depends on the intelligence of the people; but it is of doubtful value, especially where patriotic votes are needed to crush treason or counteract fraud. There is something worse than inability to read and write. These temporary restrictions do not in any way interfere with the right of suffrage, for they leave it _absolutely accessible to all_. Even if impediments, they are easily overcome. At all events, they are not in any sense insurmountable; and this is the essential requirement of republican institutions. No matter under what depression of poverty, in what depth of obscurity, or with what diversity of complexion a man has been born, he is nevertheless a citizen, the peer of every other citizen, and the ballot is his inalienable right.

* * * * *

The ballot is _peacemaker_; and is it not said, “Blessed are the peacemakers”? High among the Beatitudes let it be placed, for there it belongs. Deny it, and the freedman will be the victim of perpetual warfare. Ceasing to be a slave, he only becomes a sacrifice. Grant it, and he is admitted to those equal rights which allow no sacrifice. Plutarch records that the wise man of Athens charmed the people by saying that _Equality causes no War_, and this “pleased both the rich and the poor.”[188] In another place the same ancient records the wise man as declaring it “that which would occasion no tumult or faction.”[189] But this is peace. How god-like in transforming power alike on master and slave! The master will recognize the new citizen. The slave will stand with tranquil self-respect in presence of the master. Brute force disappears. Distrust is at an end. The master is no longer tyrant. The freedman is no longer dependant. The ballot comes to him in his depression, and says, “Use me, and be elevated.” It comes to him in his passion, and says, “Use me, and do not fight.” It comes to him in his daily thoughts, filling him with the strength and glory of manhood.

* * * * *

The ballot is _reconciler_. Next after peace is reconciliation. But reconciliation is more than peace. It is concord. Parties long estranged are brought into harmony. They learn to live together. They learn to work together. They are kind to each other, even if only as the Arab and his horse; and this mutual kindness is mutual advantage. Unquestionably the ballot promises this great boon, because it brings all into natural relations of justice, without which reconciliation is a vain thing. Do you wish to see harmony truly prevail, so that industry, society, government, civilization may all prosper, and the Republic wear a crown of true greatness? Then do not neglect the ballot.

* * * * *

The ballot is _schoolmaster_. Reading and writing are of inestimable value, but the ballot teaches what these cannot teach. It teaches manhood. Especially is it important to a race whose manhood has been denied. The work of redemption cannot be complete, if the ballot is left in doubt. The freedman already knows his friend by the unerring instinct of the heart. Give him the ballot, and he will be educated into the principles of government. Deny him the ballot, and he will continue alien in knowledge as in rights. His claim is exceptional, as your injustice is exceptional. For generations you have shut him out from all education, making it a crime to teach him to read the Book of Life. Let not the tyranny of the past be apology for further exclusion. Prisoners long immured in a dungeon are sometimes blinded, as they come forth into day; but this is no reason for continued imprisonment. To every freedman the ballot is the light of day.

* * * * *

The ballot is _protector_. Perhaps, at the present moment, this is its highest function. Slavery has ceased in name; but this is all. The old master still asserts an inhuman power, and now by positive statutes seeks to bind his victim in new chains. Let this conspiracy proceed unchecked, and the freedman will be more unhappy than the early Puritan, who, seeking liberty of conscience, escaped from the “lords bishops” only to fall under the “lords elders.” The master will still be master, under another name,--as, according to Milton,

“New presbyter is but old priest writ large.”

Serfdom or apprenticeship is slavery in another guise. To save the freedman from this tyranny, with all its accumulated outrage, is a solemn duty. For this we are now devising guaranties; but, believe me, the only sufficient guaranty is the ballot. Let the freedman vote, and he will have in himself under the law a constant, ever-present, self-protecting power. The armor of citizenship will be his best security. The ballot will be to him sword and buckler,--sword with which to pierce his enemies, and buckler on which to receive their assault. Its possession will be a terror and a defence. The law, which is the highest reason, boasts that every man’s house is his castle; but the freedman can have no castle without the ballot. When the master knows that he may be voted down, he will know that he must be just, and everything is contained in justice. The ballot is like charity, which never faileth, and without which man is only as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. The ballot is the one thing needful, wanting which, rights of testimony and all other rights are no better than cobwebs, which the master will break through with impunity. To him who has the ballot all other things shall be given,--protection, opportunity, education, a homestead. The ballot is the Horn of Abundance, out of which overflow rights of every kind, with corn, cotton, rice, and all the fruits of the earth. Or, better still, it is like the hand of the body, without which, man, who is now only a little lower than the angels, must have continued only a little above the brutes. We are fearfully and wonderfully made; but as is the hand in the work of civilization, so is the ballot in the work of government. “Give me the ballot and I will move the world” may be the exclamation of the race despoiled of this right. There is nothing it cannot open with almost fabulous power, like that golden bough which in the hands of the classical adventurer unclosed the regions of another world, while, like that magic rod, it is renewed as in the verse,--

“One plucked away, a second branch you see
Shoot forth in gold and glitter through the tree.”[190]

If I crowd these illustrations, it is only that I may bring home that supreme efficacy which cannot be exaggerated. Though simple in character, there is nothing the ballot may not accomplish,--like the homely household lamp in Arabian story, which, at call of its possessor, evoked a spirit that did all things, from the building of a palace to the rocking of a cradle, and filled the air with an invisible presence. As protector it is of immeasurable power,--like a fifteen-inch Columbiad pointed from a Monitor. Ay, Sir, the ballot is the Columbiad of our political life, and every citizen who has it is a full-armed Monitor.

* * * * *

Having pleaded for the freedman, I now plead for the Republic; for to each alike the ballot is a _necessity_. It is idle to expect any true peace while the freedman is robbed of this transcendent right, and left a prey to a vengeance too ready to wreak upon him the disappointment of defeat. The country, sympathetic with him, will be in perpetual unrest. With him it will suffer; with him alone can it cease to suffer. Only through him can you redress the balance of our political system and assure the safety of patriot citizens. Only through him can you save the national debt from the inevitable repudiation awaiting it, when recent Rebels in conjunction with Northern allies once more bear sway. He is our best guaranty. Use him. He was once your fellow-soldier; he has always been your fellow-man. If he was willing to die for the Republic, he is surely good enough to vote. And now that he is ready to uphold the Republic, it is madness to reject him. Had he voted originally, the Acts of Secession must have failed, treason would have been voted down. You owe this tragical war, and the debt now fastened upon the country, to the denial of this right. Vacant chairs in once happy homes, innumerable graves, saddened hearts, mothers, fathers, wives, sisters, brothers, all mourning lost ones, the poor ground by taxation never known before, all testify against the injustice by which the present freedman was not allowed to vote. Had he voted, there would have been peace. If he votes now, there will be peace. Without this you must have a standing army, which is a sorry substitute for justice. Before you is the plain alternative of the ballot-box or the cartridge-box: choose ye between them.

* * * * *

_Reason_, too, in every way and with every voice, cries out in unison with necessity. All policies, all expediencies, all economies take up the cry. Nothing so impolitic as wrong; nothing so inexpedient as tyranny; nothing so little economical as the spirit of caste. Justice is the highest policy, the truest expediency, and the most comprehensive economy. In this inspiration act. Do you wish to save the national credit, still imperilled by fatal injustice, and to secure gold as the national currency? Then do not let the question of Equal Rights disturb the country with volcanic throes. You complain that labor is unorganized, and that the cotton crop fails. Do you wish labor to smile and cotton to grow? Then sow the land with Human Rights, and encircle it round about with Justice. The freedman will not, cannot work, while you deny his rights. Cotton will not, cannot grow in such an atmosphere. Absurd to expect it. Using the freedman as you now do, you imitate those barbarous Irish who insisted upon ploughing by the horse’s tail, until an Act of Parliament interfered to require ploughing by harness. The infinite folly must be corrected, if for no higher reason than because it is unprofitable. But it is contrary to Nature, and on this account renders the whole social system insecure. Where Human Rights are set at nought, there can be no tranquillity except that of force, which is despotism. The philosophy of history, speaking by one of its oracles, the great Italian Vico, confirms this lesson, when it says, most sententiously, that “nothing out of its natural state can either easily subsist or last long.” Truer words were never uttered, as statement of philosophy, or warning to injustice enacted into law.

* * * * *

_Gratitude_, in unison with necessity and reason, takes up the cry, insisting that we shall not fail in duty to benefactors. It is difficult to measure the extent of this obligation, which is vast in proportion to regard for Human Rights and the value set upon the Union. By their strong arms and patriot example the national strength was aggrandized. As Freedom stamped her foot, black armies sprang from the ground. To save the Republic they toiled, digging trenches and making of their bodies breastworks; for the Republic they bled. Toiling and fighting, they became copartners in the government. And shall we now disown the copartnership? Receiving them into our embattled lines, the Republic is estopped against all denial of their Equal Rights. Acts stronger than words created the unimpeachable estoppel. They aided the victories by which the Republic was assured in unity. Is there no assurance for them also?

If that “more perfect union” proclaimed in the National Constitution as a primary object has been obtained at last, it is through them. If the terrible crime of Slavery, for which the Republic suffered in strength and good name, is ended, and the Republic thereby exalted, it is through them. They helped our deliverance. To them, therefore, are we bound as debtor to creditor, as just man to benefactor. By their undoubted service we are under perpetual obligation of doing to them as they did to us. We must deliver them. Here justice commands; but another sentiment, proceeding from the heart, lends persuasive influence. Failing in present duty, the Republic will lose a precious possession, as full of sweetness as of strength.

“Sweet is the breath of vernal shower,
The bee’s collected treasures sweet,
Sweet music’s melting fall; but sweeter yet
The still, small voice of Gratitude.”[191]

Mr. President, already I have taken too much time, and still the great theme, in various and multitudinous relations, continues to open before us. At each step it rises in some new aspect, assuming every shape of interest and of duty,--now with voice of command, and then with voice of persuasion. The national security, the national faith, the good of the freedman, the concerns of business, agriculture, justice, peace, reconciliation, obedience to God,--these are among the forms it takes. In the name of all these I speak to-day, hoping to do something for my country, and especially for that unhappy portion which has been arrayed in arms against us. The people there are my fellow-citizens, and gladly would I hail them, if they would permit, as no longer a “section,” no longer “the South,” but an integral part of the Republic, under a Constitution which, knowing no North and no South, cannot tolerate “sectional” pretension. Gladly, in all sincerity, do I offer my best effort for their welfare. But I see clearly that there is nothing in the compass of mortal power so important to them in every respect, morally, politically, and economically, that there is nothing with such certain promise to them of beneficent result, that there is nothing so sure to make their land smile with industry and fertility, as the decree of Equal Rights I now invoke. Let the judgment go forth to cover them with blessings, sure to descend upon their children in successive generations. They have given us war: we offer them peace. They have raged against us in the name of Slavery: we send them back the benediction of justice for all. They menace hate: we ask them to accept in return all the sacred charities of country, together with oblivion of the past. This is our “Measure for Measure.” This is our retaliation. This is our only revenge.

All omens are with the Republic, destined yet to win its sublimest triumphs. Timid or perverse counsels may postpone the gladsome consummation; but the contest now begun can end only when Slavery is completely transformed by a metamorphosis which shall substitute justice for injustice, riches for poverty, and beauty for deformity. From history we learn not only the past, but the future. By the study of what has been we know what must be, according to unerring law. Call it, if you please, the logic of events, and infer the inevitable conclusion. Or call it, if you please, the Rule of Three, and from the result of certain forces determine the proportionate result of increased forces. There can be no mistake in the answer. And so it is plain that the Equal Rights of All will be established. Amid all seeming vicissitudes the work proceeds. Soon or late the final victory will be won,--I believe soon. Speeches cannot stop it; crafty machinations cannot change it. Against its irresistible movement politicians are as impotent as those old conjurers who imagined that

“By rhymes they could pull down full soon
From lofty sky the wandering moon.”[192]

These verses, which shine on the black-letter page of the great lawyer, Sir Edward Coke, aptly describe the incantations of our day to pull down Justice from her lofty sky. It cannot be done. In this conviction I observe what comes to pass without losing faith. I listen with composure to arguments which ought not to be made, and I see with equal composure how individual opinions swing between Congress and the President. It is not to the oscillations of the pendulum that we look for the measure of time, but to the face of the public clock and the striking of the church bell. The indications of that clock and the striking of that bell leave little room for doubt.

In the fearful tragedy drawing to a close there is a destiny, stern and irresistible as that of the Greek drama, which seems to master all that is done, hurrying on the death of Slavery and its whole brood of sin. There is also a Christian Providence which watches this battle for right, caring especially for the poor and downtrodden who have no helper. The freedman, still writhing under cruel oppression, lifts his voice to God the Avenger. It is for us to save ourselves from righteous judgment. Never with impunity can you outrage human nature. Our country, which is guilty still, is paying still the grievous penalty. Therefore by every motive of self-preservation we are summoned to be just. And thus is the cause associated indissolubly with the national life.

But, saving the Republic, we elevate it. Overthrowing an oppressive injustice, we give full scope to the principles of the National Government, and fulfil the “idea of a perfect commonwealth” which has charmed the visions of philosophy and poetry. “I am all that has been, that is, and that shall be, and none among mortals has hitherto lifted my veil”: such was the enigma cut on the pavement of the Temple of the Egyptian Minerva.[193] For ages it remained unanswered; but the answer is at hand. The Republic is all that has been, that is, and that shall be; and it is your duty to lift the veil. To do less were failure; for such was the aspiration and promise of the Fathers, assuming their first vows in the family of nations. To do this will fix the example of American institutions. So long as Slavery endured, it was impossible; so long as the Black Code, wretched counterpart of Slavery, endures in any form, it is impossible. To attain this idea we must proclaim the rule of justice. Slavery thus far has been the very pivot round which the Republic revolved, while all its policy at home and abroad has radiated from this terrible centre. Hereafter the Equal Rights of All will take the place of Slavery, and the Republic will revolve on this glorious centre, whose countless, far-reaching radiations will be the happiness of the people. There is nothing the imagination can picture which will not be ours. Where justice is supreme, nothing can be wanting. There will be room for every business and for every charity. The fields will nod with increase, industry will be quickened to unimagined triumph, and life itself raised to higher service. There will be that repose which comes from harmony, and also that simplicity which comes from one prevailing law, both essential to the idea of Republic. Our country will cease to be a patchwork where different States vary in the rights they accord, and will become a Plural Unit, with one Constitution, one liberty, and one franchise. With all these things the Republic will be the synonym for justice and peace, since these things will be inseparable from its name. In our longings we need not repair to philosophy or poetry. Nor need we go back to the memorable sage who declared that the best government was where every citizen rushed to the defence of the humblest as if he were the state, for all this will be ours. Nor need we go back to the patriot king, in ancient tragedy, who, inspired by the republican idea, called for the vote of the people:--

“For them I made supreme,
And on this city, _with an equal right_
_For all to vote_, its freedom have bestowed.”[194]

Here, at last, among us all this will be assured, and the Republic will be of such renown and virtue that all at home or abroad who bear the American name may exclaim with more than Roman pride, “I am an American citizen!”--and if danger approaches, they may repeat the same cry with more than Roman confidence, knowing well that this title will be a sufficient protection. Then will be renewed the story of the two sticks in the prophecy of Ezekiel: “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.”[195]

* * * * *

Sir, it is for you now to determine if all this shall be fulfilled. The whole case is before you in its grandeur and its humanity, infinite as human aspiration, beautiful as the vision of a republic. Turn not away from it. Vindicate the great cause, I entreat you, by the suppression of all oligarchical pretensions, and the establishment of those equal rights without which republican government is a name, and nothing more. Strike at the Black Code, as you have already struck at the Slave Code. There is little to choose between them. Strike at once; strike hard. You have already proclaimed Emancipation; proclaim Enfranchisement also. Nor longer stultify yourselves by setting at nought the practical principle of the Fathers, that all just government stands only on the consent of the governed, and its inseparable corollary, that _taxation without representation is tyranny_. What was once true is true forever, although we may for a time lose sight of it; and this is the case with those imperishable truths to which you have been, alas! so indifferent. Thus far the work is only _half done_. See that it is finished. Save the freedman from the outrage which is his daily life. As a slave he was “a tool without a soul.” If you have ceased to treat him according to this ancient definition, it is only because you treat him even as something less. In your cruel arithmetic he is only a “cipher,” without the protection which the slave sometimes found in the self-interest of the master; or rather let me say he is only a “cipher” where rights are concerned, but a numeral counted by millions where taxes are to be paid. Not only is the freedman compelled to pay, he must fight also, and he must obey the laws,--three things he cannot escape. But, according to the primal principle of republican government, he has an indefeasible right to a voice in determining how to be taxed, when to fight, and what laws to obey,--all of which can be secured only through the ballot. Thus again do I bring you to the same conclusion, confronting us at every point and at every stage, as a commandment not to be disobeyed.

Would you secure all the just fruits of this terrible war, and trample out the Rebellion in its pernicious assumptions, as in its arms? You cannot hesitate; and this is the last stage of the argument. The Rebellion began in two assumptions, both proceeding from South Carolina: first, the sovereignty of the States, with the pretended right of secession; and, secondly, the superiority of the white race, with the pretended right of caste, oligarchy, and monopoly, on account of color. The first was often announced in many ways. The second showed itself at the beginning, when South Carolina, conspicuous among the Thirteen States, allowed her Constitution to be degraded by an exclusion on account of color; but it did not receive authoritative statement until a later day, when that false evangelist, Mr. Calhoun, taking issue with the Declaration of Independence, audaciously announced in the Senate that to declare all born free and equal was “the most dangerous of all political errors”; that it had “done more to retard the cause of liberty and civilization, and is doing more at present, than all other causes combined”; and that “we now begin to experience the danger of admitting so great an error to have a place in the Declaration of our Independence.”[196] These two assumptions are kindred in effrontery. All agree that the dogma of State sovereignty must be repelled; but this is less offensive than the other, having the same origin, that the Declaration of Independence is “the most dangerous of all political errors.” To repel such effrontery is not enough; it must be scorned.

The Gospel according to Calhoun is only another statement of the imposture, that this august Republic, founded to sustain the rights of Human Nature, is nothing but “a white man’s government.” The whole assumption is ignoble, utterly unsupported by history, and insulting to the Fathers, while offensively illogical and irreligious. It is illogical, inasmuch as our fathers, when they declared that all men are created equal, gave expression to a truth of political science, which, from the nature of the case, admits no exception. As axiom it is without exception; for it is the essence of an axiom, whether in geometry or morals, to be universal. As abstract truth it is also without exception, according to the requirement of such truth. And, finally, as self-evident truth, so announced in the great Declaration, it is without exception; for only such truth can be self-evident. Thus, whether axiom, abstract truth, or self-evident truth, it is always universal. But the assumption is not only illogical, it is irreligious, inasmuch as it flies in the face of that living truth which appears twice at the Creation: first, when God said, “Let us make man in our image”; and, secondly, in the unity of the race, then divinely appointed, and which appears again in the Gospel, when it said, “God, that made the world, and all things therein, hath made of one blood all nations of men.” According to the best testimony, the present population of the earth--embracing Caucasians, Mongolians, Malays, Africans, and Americans--is about thirteen hundred millions, of whom only three hundred and seventy-five millions are “white,” or little more than one fourth; so that, in claiming exclusive rights for “white,” you degrade nearly three quarters of the human family, made in the “image of God” and declared to be of “one blood,” while you sanction a caste offensive to religion, an oligarchy inconsistent with republican government, and a monopoly which has the Human Family as the subject of its tyrannical usurpation.