Charles Sumner; his complete works, with introduction by Hon. George Frisbie Hoar
Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874 | Hoar, George Frisbie, 1826-1904
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Speech in the Senate, on his Bill for the Couliscation of Property and. the Liberation of Slaves belonging to Rebels, May 19, 1862 1 No SuRRElfDER OF FUGITIVE SlAVES IN WASHINGTON. EeSO- lution and Remarks in the Senate, May 23, 1862 . . 78 Information in regard to Freeing Slaves by our Ad- vancing Armies. Eesolution in the Senate, May 26, 1862 82 Help from Slaves, with Reciprocal Protection in their Rights as Men. Resolution in the Senate, May 26, 1862 83 Tax on Cotton. Speeches in the Senate, May 27 and June 4, 1862 84 Tax on Slave-Masters. Speeches in the Senate, on Amend- ment to the Internal Tax Bill, May 28 and June 6, 1862 93 Proper Despatch of Business. Remarks in the Senate, on the Order of Business, May 30, 1862 . . . .110 Shutting up of Colored Schools by the Provision.\l Government of North Carolina. Resolution and Remarks in the Senate, June 2, 1862 . . . .112 Stand by the Administration. Letter to , June 5, 1862 116 Power of Congress vs. Military Government of States. Resolutions in the Senate, June 6, 1862 . . . .119 ill iv CONTENTS. PAGB Air-Line Railroad between Washington and New York. Resolution in the Senate, June 9, 1862 .... 121 Abolition and Prohibition of Slavery in West Vir- ginia. Remarks in the Senate, on the Bill for the Admission of West Virginia as a State, June 26, July 1 and 14, 1862 122 War Powers of Congress : Confiscation and Libera- tion. Speech in the Senate, on the House Bill for the Confiscation of Property and the Libei'ation of Slaves belonging to Rebels, June 27, 1862 128 Prize Money and its Policy. Remarks in the Senate, June 30, 1862 148 The Rank op Admiral. Remarks in the Senate, on the Bill to establish the Grades of Navy Officers, July 2, 1862 150 1 Testimony of Colored Persons in the Courts of the United States. Speeches in the Senate, on an Amend- ment to two different Bills, one relating to the Judiciary, and the other to the Competency of Witnesses, July 3 and 15, 1862 152 Provisional Governments and Reconstruction. Remarks in the Senate, on a Bill to establish Provisional Govern- ments in Certain Cases, July 7, 1862 .... 162 Taxes on Knowledge. Remarks in the Senate, on the Duties upon Imported Books and Rags, July 8, 1862 . 166 Constitutional Quorum of the Senate. Speech in the Senate, on a Resolution declaring the Constitutional Quorum, July 12, 1862 169 Protest against Final Adjournment of Congress. Re- marks in the Senate, on a Resolution for the Final Adjournment of the Two Houses, July 12, 1862 . . 176 Patriotic Unity and Emancipation. Letter to a Public Meeting at New York, July 14, 1862 . . . .180 CONTENTS. PAGE Harmony with the President and Emancipation. Speech in the Senate, on the Joint Resolution explanatory of the Act for Confiscation and Liberation, July 16, 1862 . . 182 Union of Good Citizens for a Final Settlement. Let- ter to the Republican State Committee, September 9, 1862 187 The Proclamation op Emancipation : its Policy and Necessity as a War Measure for the Suppression of the Rebellion. Speech at Eaneuil Hall, October 6, 1862. "With Appendix, on the Nomination and Reelec- tion of Mr. Sumner as Senator 191 The Emancipation Proclamation our Corner-Stone. Letter to Fellow-Citizens at Salem, October 10, 1862 . 247 Farmers, their Happiness and Liberal Sentiments. Speech at the Dinner of the Hampshire County Agricul- tural Society, at Northampton, Mass., October 14, 1862 . 248 Ambulance and Hospital Corps. Resolution in the Sen- ate, December 3, 1862 255 Celebration of Emancipation. Letter to a Public Meeting of Colored Citizens in Boston, January 1, 1863 . . 256 Prudence in our Foreign Relations. Remarks in the Senate, on Resolutions against French Laterference in Mexico, February 3, 1863 257 Employment of Colored Troops. Bill in the Senate, Feb- ruary 9, 1863 262 Immediate Emancipation, and not Gradual. Speech in the Senate, on the Bill providing Aid for Emancipation in Missouri, February 12, 1863 . . - . . .266 Letters of Marque and Reprisal. Speeches in the Sen- ate, on the Bill to authorize the President, in all Domestic or Foreign Wars, to issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal, February 14 and 17, 1863 278 Appointments to the Naval Academy. Remarks in the Senate, on the Bill to regulate the Appointment of Mid- shipmen to the Naval Academy, February 16, 1863 . 301 VI CONTENTS. Exemption of Clergymen from Military Conscription. Kemarks on the Conscription Law, February 10, 1863 . 303 Protest against Foreign Intervention, and Declara- tion of National Purpose. Concurrent Resolutions of Congress, reported in the Senate, February 28, 1863 . 307 Inexpediency of Letters of Marque. Letter to a Citizen of New York, March 17, 1863 313 Unity for the Sake of Freedom, and Freedom for the Sake of Unity. Letter to a Public Meeting at Cleveland, Ohio, May 18, 1863 316 Pacific Railroad. Letter to Messrs. Samuel Hallett & Co., May 23, 1863 318 Union of the Mississippi and the Lakes by Canal. Let- ter to a Convention at Chicago, May 27, 1863 . . . .320 The Issues of the War. Dedication of a New Edition of the Speech on the Barbarism of Slavery, July 4, 1863 . 322 Let Colored Men Enlist. Letter to a Convention at Poughkeepsie, New York, July 13, 1863 . . . .325 EIGHTS OF SOVEREIGNTY AND RIGHTS OF WAR: TWO SOUECES OF POWER AGAINST THE REBELLION. Speech in the Senate, on his Bill for the Confiscation of Property and the Liberation of Slaves belonging to Rebels, May 19, 1862. Wherefore he deserves to be punished, not only as an enemy, but also as a traitor, both to you and to us. And indeed treason is as much worse than war as it is harder to guard against what is secret than what is open, — and as much more hateful, as with enemies men make treaties again, and put faith in them, but with one who is discovered to be a traitor nobody ever enters into covenant, or trusts him for the future. — Xenophon, Hellenica, Book II. ch. 3, § 29. Turn, ex consulto Senatus adversariis hostibas judicatis, in praesentem Tribunum, aliosque diversae factionis, jure ssevitiim est. — Flobus, Epito- me, Lib. III. cap. 21. Ego semper ilium appellavi hostem, cum alii adversarium; semper hoc bellum, cum alii tumultum. Nee hffic in Senatu solum; eadem ad popu- lum semper egi. — Cicero, Oratio Philippica XII. cap. 7. Except the Tax Bill, no subject occupied so much attention during this session as what were known generally as " Contiscation Bills," all proposing, in different ways, the punishment of Rebels and the weak- ening of the Rebellion, by taking property and freeing slaves. In sup- porting these bills, Mr. Sumner did not disguise his special anxiety to assert the power of Congress over Slavery. As early as January 15th, Mr. Trumbull reported from the Judiciary Committee a bill to confiscate the property and free the slaves of Reb- els, which was considered from time to time and debated at length, many Senators speaking. Amendments were made, among which was one moved by Mr. Sumner, Februaiy 25th, requiring, that, whenever any person claimed another as slave, he should, before proceeding with his claim, prove loyalty. ^ Then came motions for reference of the pending bill and all associate propositions to a Select Committee. That of Mr. Clark prevailed. In a speech which will be found in the Con- gressional Globe,^ sustaining the reference, ilr. Sumner said : — " Such are the embarrassments in which we are involved, such is the maze into which we have been led by these various motions, that a com- mittee is needed to hold the clew. Never was there more occasion for such a committee than now, when we have all these multifarious propositions to be considered, revised, collated, and brought into a constitutional unit, — or, if I may so say, changing the figure, passed through an alembic, to be fused into one bill on which we can all harmonize." Mr. Clark reported from the Select Committee a bill "to suppress Insurrection and punish Treason and Rebellion," which, on the 16th of May, was taken up for consideration. Mr. Sumner was among those who thought the bill inadequate, and on the day it was taken up he introduced a substitute in ten sections, which was printed by order of the Senate. The title was, " For the Confiscation of Property and the Liberation of Slaves belonging to Rebels." The sections relating to Liberation were these. " Sec. 6. And be it further enacted. That, if any person within any State or Territory of the United States shall, after the passage of this Act, wilfully 1 See, ante. Vol. TT. p. 379. 2 May 6, 1862, pp. 1957, 1958. 4 RIGHTS OF SOVEEEIGNTY engage in armed rebellion against the Government of the United States, or shall wilfully aid or abet such rebellion, or adhere to those engaged in such rebellion, giving them aid or comfort, every such person shall thereby for- feit all claim to the service or labor of any persons commonly known as slaves; and all such slaves are hereby declared free, and forever discharged from such servitude, anything in the laws of the United States, or of any State, to the contrary notwithstanding. And whenever thereafter any per- son claiming the labor or service of any such slave shall seek to enforce his claim, it shall be a sufficient defence thereto that the claimant was engaged in the said rebellion, or aided or abetted the same, contrary to the provisions of this Act. " Sec. 7. AtkJ be it further enacted, That, whenever any person claiming to be entitled to the service or labor of any other person shall seek to enforce such claim, he shall, in the first instance, and before any order shall be made for the surrender of the person whose service or labor is claimed, establish not only his claim to such service or labor, but also that such claimant has not in any way aided, assisted, or countenanced the existing Rebellion against the Government of the United States. And no person engaged in the mili- tary or naval service of the United States shall, under any pretence what- ever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of any other person, or deliver up any such person to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the service." May 19th, Mr. Sumner made the following speech, vindicating the powers of Congress. A debate ensued, turning on the inadequacy of the pending bill, in which Mr. Sumner likened it to a glass of water with a bit of orange- peel, which, according to a character in one of Dickens's novels, by making believe very hard, would be a strong drink, and said: "At a moment when the life of the Republic is struck at, Senators would proceed by indictment in a criminal court." Mr. Wade said : "I do not know that we shall get anything ; but if we only get this bill, we shall get next to nothing." In the course of the debate, Mr. Davis departed from the main ques- tion to say that he understood the Senators from Massachusetts sympa- tliized with the mob in Boston, and its resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act. He never knew that Mr. Wilson had appeared "to back the Marshal of the United States in the execution of that law." Then ensued a brief colloquy. " Mr. Davis. I never heard that he did, or that either of them did, per- form or attempt to perform that high, patriotic duty. " Mr. Sumner. I was in my seat here. " Mr. Davis. Did you not give your sjnnpathy to those who resisted the law? AND EIGHTS OF WAR. 5 " Mr. Sumner. My sympathy is always with every slave. *' Mr. Davis. That is a frank acknowledgment. His sympathy is with every slave against the Constitution and the execution of the laws of his country ! If that is not a sentiment of treason, I ask what is." ^ Meanwhile the House of Representatives were considering the same subject, and on the '26tli May p;issed a bill " to confiscate the property of Rebels for the payment of the expenses of the present Rebellion, and for other purposes," which, on motion of Mr. Clark, was taken up in the Senate June 23d, when he moved to substitute the pending Senate bill. The debate on the general question was resumed. June 27th, Mr. Sumner made another speech, which will be found in its place, ac- cording to date,^ especially in reply to Mr. Browning, who had claimed the War Powers for the President rather than for Congress. June 28th, the substitute moved by Mr. Clark was agreed to, Yeas 19, Nays 17, and the bill as amended was then passed, Yeas 28, Nays 13. July 3d, the House non-concurred in the Senate amendment. A Conference Committee reported in substance the Senate amendment, which was accepted in the Senate, Yeas 28, Nays 13, and in the House, Yeas 82, Nays 42. July 17th, the bill was signed by the President. The sections of this bill, as it passed, relating to liberation, were these. " Sec. 9. And he it further enacted, That all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the Government of the United States, or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking refuge within the lines of the army, and all slaves captured from such persons, or deserted by them, and coming under the control of the Government of the United States, and all slaves of such per- sons found on [or] being within any place occupied by Rebel forces, and afterwards occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude, and not again held as slaves. " Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any other State, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offence against the laws, unless the person claiming said fu- gitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has not borne arms against the United States in the present Rebellion, nor in any way 1 CongreaBional Globe, 37th Cong. 2d Sess., May 20, 1862, p. 2223. 2 Post, p. 128. 6 RIGHTS OF SOVEREIGNTY given aid and comfort thereto ; and no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United States shall, under any pretence whatever, as- sume to decide on the validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of any other person, or surrender up any such person to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the service." ^ This speech in the Washington pamphlet was entitled " Indemnity for the Past and Security for the Future," which points directly at its object. An edition was printed in New York by the Young Men's Republican Union, with the title, " Rights of Sovereignty and Rights of War, Two Sources of Power against the Rebellion," which describes the way in which this object might be accomj)lished. It was noticed at the time as removing difhculties which perplexed many with regard to the powers of Congress. In Paris, the Journal des Debats'^ referred to it as explaining the con- fiscation proposed in the United States, and quoted passages especially in reply to the Constitutionnel, which had attacked the measure. A few opinions are given, merely to illustrate the tone of comment. Hon. John Jay, afterwards our Minister at Vienna, who sympathized promptly with all that was done to crush the Rebellion, wrote from New York : — "Your Confiscation speech is an admirable exposition of the subject, and will go far to remove any lingering doubts in the public mind in regard to the constitutionality and necessity of the measure." Then again he wrote : — "I have re-read, with thorough satisfaction, your speech on Confiscation and Emancipation in the pamphlet you were good enough to send me. It is admirable in its tone, arrangement, and completeness, and the arguments and illustrations are overwhelming and unanswerable. The necessity of Emancipation is fast forcing itself upon our people by the stem logic of facts, but your speech will remove any lingering doubts." Hon. Amos P. Granger, former Representative in Congress, and a stern patriot, >vi-ote from Syracuse, New York : — " Your remarks of the 19th, as reported in the Tribune day before yester- day, are read in this vicinitj' with a great deal of pleasure and appro- bation. They are replete with prudence, skill, and wisdom. Such senti- ments arc rarely heard in Washington. It would seem that they would be decisive." 1 Statutes at Large, Vol. XH. p. 591. » 12 Juin, 1862. AND RIGHTS OF WAR. 7 Hon. William L. Marshall, an able Judge of Maryland, wrote from Baltimore : — " You have exhausted the subject, it seems to me, so far as it involves legal questions. I have been greatly pleased and much interested by yoxir argument." L. D. Stickney, of Florida, wrote from Washington : — " I have read your speech on the confiscation of the property of Rebels with the liveliest interest and with entire approbation. Long a citizen of the South, I have nevertheless been a steadfast Republican of the school of Jef- ferson and of J. Quincy Adams, — a Republican to elevate men to the proper status of freemen, not to degrade them to slavery. While the unthinking and those of violent prejudices call you fanatical, no man properly qualified to judge of men and events can survey your parliamentary history without acknowledging your claim to the highest plane of statesmanship. I rever- ence Sir James Mackintosh as the brightest example of great men whom the world will not willinglj' let die. Tried by no other standard than your speeches in the Thirty-Seventh Congress alone, you will stand unchallenged by the enlightened judgment of mankind, his co-rival in that fame which makes his name cherished by scholars everywhere, and by all men of good report." While expressing sympathy with this speech, many at this time, like the last writer, referred to the series of eftbrts by Mr. Sumner during this session. Among these was Hon. Samuel E. Sewall, of Boston, the able lawyer and tried Abolitionist, who repeated the kindly apprecia- tion which he had expressed on other occasions. "Your course during the present session has not only delighted your friends, but I think has given great satisfliction to the mass of your con- stituents, as well as to all throughout the country whose opinions are of any value. "Any man might think his life well spent, who, in its whole course, had said and done no more in the cause of freedom and justice than you have in the six months past." Hon. Charles W. Upham, the author, and former Eepresentative in Congress, wrote from Salem : — "You have nobly presented and thoroughly exhausted all the subjects you have treated. I rejoice in your success, and cordially indorse your sen- timents. May you live to witness the progressive triumphs of the great cause to which you are devoted!" Lewis Tappan, often quoted already, wrote from New York : — " You have done a great work m the Senate during the last session. I 8 RIGHTS OF SOVEREIGNTY admire your consistency. Every utterance has been instinct with liberty and loyalty Thanking you again for the speech, and for your other speeches, and thanking God for the brilliancy of your entire Senatorial ca- reer . . . ." Hon. Asaph Churchill, lawyer and fellow-student, expressed his sympathy, and gave a reminiscence, in a letter from Boston. "Allow me to congratulate you upon the grand success of our country's movement, and no less upon your own career, which has been crowned with such splendid success, during the past season, in the new, important, and delicate questions which you have been called upon to speak and act upon. Certainly your highest ambition ought to be satisfied with that which in- sures to you your place in the immortality of history; and you have had the most abundant opportunity for accomplishing upon the grandest scale that aspiration which I so well remember you gave utterance to at our Law School, when, boy-like, we were all telling what we most ardently sought to do or to be, that you ' wished to do that which would do the most good to mankind.' " Wendell Phillips, after his return from a lecture-tour, wrote : — " Be of good courage. We all say amen to you. And your diocese, / can testify, extends to the Mississippi." Alfred E. Giles, lawyer, wrote from Boston : — " During your Congressional career, I have so uniformly found my views and feelings on public affairs in accordance with those of your speeches, that I now feel myself obliged, for once at least (for I shall not often trouble you ), to express my gratitude, and give a word of good cheer to you, who, amid so many discouragements, and under so much obloquy as has been attempted to be thrown upon you, have ever so faithfully and manfully stood up for the oppressed and for liberal principles. "It appears to me, on reading your speeches, that I find my own views and principles announced, stated, and clothed with a richness and beauty of style and illustration that I admire, but cnnnot emulate. " Again, I am much pleased that you always deal fairly with your oppo- nents, not using misrepresentation and ad captandum argument, but draw- ing your weapons from the armory of truth and right." Professor Ordronaux, of Columbia College, New York, wrote : — " Last year, while in England, I had the honor of meeting many gentle- men of your acquaintance, and, amid the many bitter things I was compelled to listen to, it was a source of constant satisfaction and pride to hear them acknowledge the great confidence they reposed in you, and the earnest wish they expressed for the success of that novus ordo sceclorum in the Senate, for which we are so much indebted to you. Reading over for the third time AND RIGHTS OF WAR. 9 your famons Kansas speech, of May, 1856,1 this morning, I was stmck with the almost prophetic character of its language. The crime against Nature has indeed culminated. It struck you down, and then went dancing like a maniac, all the while approaching that bottomless abyss into which it is now descending. Can you doubt that Nemesis still wields her sword and flaming torch ? " These expressions of sympathy and good-will, overflowing from oppo- site (quarters, are a proper prelude to other utterances, widely difi'ereut in tone, aroused against Jlr. Sumner by the very persistency of his course. Appearing in their proper place, these will be better compre- hended from knowing already the other side. 1 The Crime against Kansas, May 19 and 20, 1856 : anie, Vol. TV. p. 125. SPEECH. ME. PRESIDENT, — If I can simplify this discus- sion, I shaU feel that I have done something to- wards establishing the truth. The chief ditiiculty springs from confusion with regard to different sources of power. This I shall try to remove. There is a saying, often repeated by statesmen and often recorded by pubHcists, which embodies the direct object of the war we are now unhappily compelled to wage, — an object sometimes avowed in European wars, and more than once made a watchword in our own country : " Indemnity for the past, and Security for the future." Such should be our comprehensive aim, — nor more, nor less. Without indemnity for tlie past, this war will have been waged at our cost ; without secu- rity for the future, this war will have been waged in vain, treasure and blood will have been lavished for nothing. But indemnity and security are both means to an end, and that end is the National Unity under the Constitution of the United States. It is not enough, if we preserve the Constitution at the expense of the National Unity. Nor is it enough, if we enforce the National Unity at the expense of the Constitution. Both must be maintained. Both will be maintained, if we do not fail to take counsel of that prudent cour- 12 EIGHTS OF SOVEREIGNTY age which is never so much needed as at a moment like the present. Two things we seek as means to an end : Indemnity for the past, and Security for the future. Two things we seek as the end itself : National Uni- ty, under the Constitution of the United States. In these objects all must concur. But how shall they be best accomplished ? The Constitution and International Law are each in- volved in this discussion. Even if the question itself were minute, it would be important from such relations. But it concerns vast masses of property, and, what is more than property, it concerns the liberty of men, while it opens for decision the means to be employed in bring- ing this great war to a close. In every aspect the ques- tion is transcendent; nor is it easy to pass upon it without the various lights of jurisprudeiice, of history, and of policy. Sometimes it is called a constitutional question ex- clusively. This is a mistake. In every Government bound by written Constitution nothing is done except in conformity with the Constitution. But in the pres- ent debate there need be no difficulty or doubt under the Constitution. Its provisions are plain and explicit, so that they need only to be recited. The Senator from Pennsylvania [Mr. Cowan] and the Senator from Ver- mont [Mr. Collamer] have stated them strongly; but I complain less of their statement than of its applica- tion. Of course, any proposition really inconsistent with these provisions must be abandoned. But if, on the other hand, it be consistent, then is the way open to its consideration in the lights of history and policy. If there be any difi&culty now, it is not from the ques- AND EIGHTS OF WAK. 13 tion, but simply from the facts, — as often in judicial proceedings it is less embarrassing to determine the law than the facts. If things are seen as they really are and not as Senators fancy or desire, if the facts are ad- mitted in their natural character, then must the consti- tutional power of the Government be admitted also, for this power comes into being on the occurrence of cer- tain facts. Only by denying the facts can the power itself be drawn in question. But not even the Sena- tor from Pennsylvania or the Senator from Vermont denies the facts. The facts are simple and obvious. They are all ex- pressed or embodied in the double idea of Rebellion and War. Both of these are facts patent to common observation and common sense. It would be an insult to the understanding to say that at the present moment there is no Rebellion or that there is no War. What- ever the doubts of Senators, or their fine-spun consti- tutional theories, nobody questions that we are in the midst of de facto Rebellion and in the midst of de facto War. We are in the midst of each and of both. It is not enough to say that there is Rebellion ; nor is it enough to say that there is War. The whole truth is not told in either alternative. Our case is double, and you may call it Rebellion or War, as you please, or you may call it both. It is Rebellion swollen to all the proportions of war, and it is War deriving its life from rebellion. It is not less Rebellion because of its present full-blown grandeur, nor is it less War because of the traitorous source whence it draws its life. The Rebellion is manifest, — is it not ? An exten- sive territory, once occupied by Governments rejoicing 14 EIGHTS OF SOVEREIGNTY in allegiance to the Union, and sharing largely in its counsels, has undertaken to overthrow the National Constitution within its borders. Its Senators and Eep- resentatives have withdrawn from Congress. The old State Governments, solemnly bound by the oaths of their functionaries to support the National Constitu- tion, have vanished ; and in their place appear pre- tended Governments, which, adopting the further pre- tension of a Confederacy, have proceeded to issue letters of marque and to levy war against the United States. So far has displacement of the National Government prevailed, that at this moment, throughout this whole territory, there are no functionaries acting under the United States, but all are pretending to act under the newly established Usurpation. Instead of the oath to support the Constitution of the United States, required of all officials by the Constitution, another oath is sub- stituted, to support the Constitution of the Confederacy ; and thus the EebeUion assumes a completeness of or- ganization under the most solemn sanctions. In point of fact, throughout this territory the National Govern- ment is ousted, while the old State Governments have ceased to exist, lifeless now from Rebel hands. Call it suicide, if you will, or suspended animation, or abey- ance, — they have practically ceased to exist. Such is the plain and palpable fact. If all this is not rebel- lion, complete in triumphant treason, then is rebellion nothing but a name. But the War is not less manifest. Assuming all the functions of an independent government, the Confed- eracy has undertaken to declare war against the United States. In support of this declaration it has raised ar- mies, organized a navy, issued letters of marque, bor- AND RIGHTS OF WAR. 15 rowed money, imposed taxes, and otherwise done all that it could in waging war. Its armies are among the largest ever marshalled by a single people, and at different places throughout a wide-spread territory they have encountered the armies of the United States. Bat- tles are fought with the varying vicissitudes of war. Sieges are laid. Fortresses and cities are captured. On the sea, ships bearing the commission of the Rebellion, sometimes as privateers and sometimes as ships of the navy, seize, sink, or burn merchant vessels of the Unit- ed States ; and only lately an iron-clad steamer, with the flag of the Eebellion, destroyed two frigates of the United States. On each side prisoners are made, who are treated as prisoners of war, and as such exchanged. Flags of truce pass from camp to camp, and almost daily during the winter this white flag has afforded its bel- ligerent protection to communications between ISTorfolk and Fortress Monroe, while the whole Eebel coast is by proclamation of the President declared in a state of blockade, and ships of foreign countries, as well as of our own, are condemned by courts in Washington, Phil- adelphia, New York, and Boston, as prize of war. Thus do all things attest the existence of war, which is mani- fest now in the blockade, upheld by judicial tribunals, and now in the bugle, which after night sounds truce, indubitably as in mighty armies face to face on the bat- tle-field. It is war in all its criminal eminence, chal- lenging all the pains and penalties of war, enlisting all its terrible prerogatives, and awaking all its dormant thunder. Further effort is needless to show that we are in the midst of a Itebellion and in the midst of a War, — or, in yet other words, that unquestionable war is now waged 16 EIGHTS OF SOVEREIGNTY to put do\^Ti unquestionable rebellion. But a single illustration out of many in history will exhibit this double character in unmistakable relief. The disturb- ances which convulsed England in the middle of the seventeenth century were occasioned by the resistance of Parliament to the arbitrary power of the Crown. This resistance, prolonged for years and maintained by force, triumphed at last in the execution of King Charles and the elevation of Oliver Cromwell. The historian whose classical work was for a long time the chief authority relative to this event styles it "The Eebellion," and under this name it passed into the memory of men. But it was none the less war, with all the incidents of war. The fields of Naseby, Marston Moor, Dunbar, and Worcester, where Cavaliers and Puritans met in bloody shock, attest tliat it was war. Clarendon called it Ee- bellion, and the title of one of his works makes it " The Grand Eebellion," — how small by the side of ours ! But a greater than Clarendon — John Milton — called it War, when, in unsurpassed verses, after commemorating the victories of Cromwell, he uses words so often quoted without knowing their original application: — " Yet much remains To conquer still: Peace hath her victories Ko less renowned than War." i The death of Cromwell was followed by the restoration of King Charles the Second ; but the royal fugitive from the field of Worcester, where Cromwell triumphed in war, did not fail to put forth the full prerogatives of sovereignty in the suppression of rebellion ; and all who sat in judgment on the king, his father, were saved from the fearful penalties of treason only by exile. Hugh 1 Sonnet XYI. 9-11: To the Lord General Cromwell. AND EIGHTS OF WAR. 17 Peters, the Puritan preacher, and Harry "Vane, the Puri- tan senator, were executed as traitors for the part they performed in what was at once rebellion and war, while the body of the great commander who defeated his king in battle, and then sat upon his throne, was hung in chains, as a warning against treason. Other instances might be given to illustrate the double character of present events. But enough is done. My simple object is to exhibit this important point in such light that it will be at once recognized. And I present the Eebellion and the War as obvious facts. Let them be seen in their true character, and it is easy to apply the law. Because Senators see the facts only imperfectly, they hesitate with regard to the powers we are to em- ploy, — or perhaps it is because they insist upon seeing the fact of Eebellion exclusively, and not the fact of War. Let them open their eyes, and they must see both. If I seem to dwell on this point, it is because of its practical importance in the present debate. For myself, I assume it as an undeniable postulate. The persons arrayed for the overthrow of the Govern- ment of the United States are unquestionably criminals, subject to all the penalties of rebellion, which is of course treason under the Constitution of tlie United States. The same persons arrayed in war against the Govern- ment of the United States are unquestionably enemies, exposed to all the incidents of war, with its penal- ties, seizures, contributions, confiscations, captures, and prizes. They are criminals, because they set themselves trai- torously against the Government of their country, voi,. IX. — 2 18 EIGHTS OF SOVEREIGNTY They are enemies, "because their combination assumes the front and proportions of war. It is idle to say that they are not criminals. It is idle to say that they are not enemies. They are both, and they are either ; and it is for the Government of the United States to proceed against them in either character, according to controlling considerations of policy. This right is so obvious, on grounds of reason, that it seems superfluous to sustain it by authority. But since its recognition is essential to the complete comprehension of our present position, I shall not hesi- tate to illustrate it by judicial decisions, and also by an earlier voice. A judgment of the Supreme Court of the United States cannot bind the Senate on this question ; but it is an important guide, to which we all bow with respect. In the best days of this eminent tribunal, when Marshall was Chief Justice, in a case arising out of the efforts of France to suppress insurrection in the colony of San Domingo, it was affirmed by the Court that in such a case there were two distinct sources of power open to exercise by a government, — one found in the rights of a sovereign, the other in the rights of a belHgerent, or, in other Avords, one under Municipal Law, and the other under International Law, — and the exercise of one did not prevent the exercise of the other. Belligerent rights, it was admitted, might be superadded to the rights of sovereignty. Here are the actual words of Chief- Justice Marshall : — " It is not inteuded to say that belligerent rights may not be superadded to those of sovereignty. But admitting a sovereign, who is endeavoring to reduce his revolted sub- jects to obedience, to possess both sovereign and belligerent AND EIGHTS OF WAK. 19 rights, and to be capable of acting in either character, the manner in which he acts must determine the character of the act. If as a legislator he publishes a law ordaining pun- ishments for certain offences, which law is to be applied by courts, the nature of the law and of the proceedings under it will decide whether it is an exercise of belligerent rights or exclusively of his sovereign power." ^ Here are the words of another eminent judge, Mr. Justice Johnson, in the same case : — "But there existed a war between the parent state and her colony. It was not only a fact of the most universal notoriety, but officially notified in the gazettes of the Unit- ed States Here, then, was notice of the existence of war, and an assertion of the rights consequent upon it. The object of the measure was .... solely the reduction of an enemy. It was, therefore, not 7uerely municipal, but belligerent, in its nature and object^ ^ Although the conclusion of tlie Court in this case was afterwards reversed, yet nothing occurred to mod- ify the judgment on the principles now in question ; so that the case remains authority for double proceed- ings, municipal and belligerent. On a similar state of facts, arising from the efforts of France to suppress the insurrection in San Domingo, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania asserted the same principle; and here we find the eminent Chief- Justice Tilghman — one of the best authorities of the Ameri- can bench — giving to it the weight of his enlightened judgment. These are his words : — " We are not at liberty to consider the island in any other 1 Rose V. Himely, 4 Cranch, S. C. R., pp. 272, 273. 2 Ibid., pp. 288," 289. 20 EIGHTS OF SOVEREIGNTY light than as part of the domuiions of the French Republic. But supposing it to he so, the Republic is jiossessed of belligerent rights "Although the French Government, from motives of policy, might not choose to make mention of war, yet it does not follow that it might not avail itself of all rights to which by the Law of Nations it was entitled in the exist- ing circumstances This was the course pursued by Great Britain in the Revolutionary War with the United States Considering the words of the arrete, and the circumstances under which it was made, it ought not to be understood simply as a municipal regulation, but a munici- pal regulation connected with a state of war with revolted subjects." ^ The principle embodied in these cases is accurately stated by a recent text-writer as follows. " A sovereign nation, engaged in the duty of suppressing an insurrection of its citizens, may, with entire consisten- cy, act in the twofold capacity of sovereign and belliger- ent, according to the several measures resorted to for the accomplishment of its purpose. By inflicting, through its agent, the judiciary, the penalty which the law affixes to the capital crimes of treason and piracy, .... it acts in its capacity as a sovei'eigu, and its courts are but enforcing its municipal regulations. By instituting a blockade of the ports of its rebellious subjects, .... the nation is exer- cising the right of a belligerent, and its courts, in their adjudications upon the captures made in the enforcement of this measure, are organized as Courts of Prize, governed by and administering the Law of Nations." ^ The same principle has received most authentic decla- 1 Cheriot v. Foussat, 3 Binney, R., pp. 252, 253. 2 Upton, The Law of Nations affecting Commerce during War, pp. 211, 212. 