the border States, offering the assistance of the United States to aid in compensating the loyal men of those States for their losses in labor and property. I say that the unwisest of all acts, so far as the border States were concerned, was the rejection of this liberal offer on the part of the Executive of the United States. I voted for the proposition at first; and then most unwisely changed my ground, showing the versatility of the man, and would perhaps, if it had come to a final vote, have opposed it, because my constituents were likely to be offended by the passage of such a law. They are now convinced, when their slaves are gone and their pockets are empty, that I was right in the first place, and they were wrong. 1 have read in the papers of this morning that the Legislature of Kentucky, after electing that distinguished and able man, James Guthrie, to the Senate of the United States, have passed a resolution in favor of the emancipation, 'with the consent of the owners, and with compensation.”

Of the first introduction said:

of slavery into the country he

"Mr. Speaker, I regret that the action of our ancestors in reference to slavery inflicted this evil upon us. And when I speak of our ancestors, I mean those of Plymoth rock and those of James river. And while in this house and in the other end of this Capitol, I have heard attacks on the pilgrim fathers, and while I saw lately, a disreputable statement concerning the early settlers of Virginia, yet I have no sympathy with the spirit which prompts such efforts. Doubtless there were bad men as well as honest and good men among the original settlers of both the northern and the southern sections of our country. Through the promptings of cupidity and avarice, slavery was first established in this country. Could our ancestors who countenanced this institution in its establishment, witness the scenes of the present time, they would doubtless feel that they committed an unpardonable sin. And for this sin the North and the South are equally responsible The people of both sections were engaged in this infamous traffic, and we are this day gathering the fruits of their iniquity. It is thus that

'Even handed justice

Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice
To our own lips;'

or, as the same great master expresses it

'That we but teach

Bloody instructions which, being taught, return
To plague the inventor."'

Speaking of Kentucky he said:

"I again, Mr. Speaker, refer to the State of Kentucky, she was admitted into the Union in 1799. She is the oldest daughter in the family of States. She was the first that was admitted after the adoption of the Federal Constitution. The great men of Kentucky of that day, proud and venerable names, advocated the propriety of a system of gradual emancipation. Will my friend from the Maysville district, [Mr, WADSWORTH,] will my friend from the Louisville district [Mr. MALLORY,] will any of my friends who oppose this amendment declare that it would not have been a great boon if the original constitution of Kentucky had disposed of slavery forever? Will my very excellent friend [Mr. CLAY] say that it would not have been better for his distinguished and venerable father, who was a member of the convention which framed the first Constitution of Kentucky, would it not have been better for his immediate ancestors, to have met firmly the question at that day, and thus relieved the State from slavery, and the people of that noble Commonwealth of the terrible sorrows which have since fallen upon them?'

Of the effects of slavery upon Missouri, he eloquently said.

"I come now to speak a word in reference to my own State of Missouri. She came into the Union as it were in the midst of a revolution. For the purpose only

of having a few thousand slaves there, the whole continent shook with the agitation of this Missouri question. We were fighting for the privilege of holding a few slaves in bondage in that great State. We forgot the paramount good in this miserable struggle. Does my friend [Mr. HALL,] from the district adjoining the one which I represent, does any man upon this floor tell me that it would not have been better for Missouri at once, in 1820 to have passed an ordinance for the gradual or immediate emancipation of her slaves, driving the institution beyond her boundaries? If there is such a man he is not as enlightened on the subject to-day as I am: he has not learned as much as I have done.

"Why, sir, what is Missouri to-day, and what would she have been had there been incorporated at that time with her organic law, an ordinance declaring the institution of slavery forever abolished within her limits? We would have been as Ohio, and Illinois and Iowa. We would have been rid of this curse which is ever reappearing, the curse of Slavery, the raw head and bloody bones, and we would have been clear of all these troubles. We would have had no bands of guerrillas watering the soil of our State with the blood of our peaceful citizens. We would have had no armed bodies of men stationed in all our borders to keep the peace. Look at Illinois, just across the Father of Waters. She came into the Union in 1818, two years before Missouri, and with. less population, fewer mineral resources, not so many rivers, no better facilities for commerce, yet she has four thousand miles of railroad, while Missouri has only twelve hundred. Illinois has a prosperous, happy and peaceful population of two million, while we have only half this number, and our people are leaving in every direction, seeking homes in the territories, in the distant mountains, in South America, in Mexico, in Illinois, flying away from the horrble spectre of this infernal rebellion. Why is this? I know of but one real, substantial, specific reason, and that is that the framers of the Missouri constitution allowed slavery to remain, while Illinois was made forever free by the ordinance of 1787, penned by Thomas Jefferson, a son of Virginia, and by which Virginia ceded an empire within itself (the Northwestern Territory) to the United States.

"I have been looking up for light from above, and I begin to see it streaking along the horizon, however it may be with other gentlemen in this hall."

He then indulged in the following predictions of the future:

"When the poor and humble farmers and mechanics of the States of Alabama and Mississippi shall have left the bloody trials in which they are now engaged to tear down this temple of human liberty; when they will return perhaps to their desolated homes; when they shall look once more upon and hug to their bosoms the wives and children whom they love, in poverty and in rags; when they will go, perhaps without an arm, or without an eye, or without a leg, and in poverty to those who are dependent upon them for support in life, taught by experience, they will ask the question of themselves, 'Why all this? What have we been fighting for?' They will bring to mind the sweet memories of other days. They will remember the peaceful and happy home which they were induced to leave, and which they enjoyed under the benign influences of wholesome and liberal laws passed here, and they will inquire 'By what sophistry, by what appeal, by what force, by what maddening influence is it that we have been induced to enter into this terrible rebellion? Not to promote any interest of wife and children, but to destroy all the blessings vouchsafed to us and to them by a free government and equitable laws;' and they will further ask, 'Who has been the author of my misfortunes, and the ruin of my family, my all?' Sir, they will point to those who hold the power at Richmond; they will direct their vengeance against them; and Davis and his traitorous crew, as I have said upon a former occasion, will, liko Acteon of old, be in the end destroyed by their own friends."

He concluded by saying:

"Let ours be the 'bright particular star' next to the star that led the shepherds to Bethlehem, which shall lead the downtrodden and oppressed of all the world into

an harbor of peace, security and happiness. And let us, kneeling around the altar, all thank God, that although we have had our trials, we have saved our country; that although we have been guilty of sins, we have wiped them out, and that we at length stand up a great and powerful people, honored by all the earth, 'redeemed, regenerated, and disenthralled by the genius of universal emancipation.' [Loud applause on the floor and in the galleries, which was checked by the Speaker.]

The foregoing speech made by a man who had been a large slaveholder, held the House and the crowded galleries in the most profound attention. Few more effective speeches have ever been made in the Halls of Congress.

Mr. Garfield of Ohio, traced in a graphic manner the history of the slave power-its former arrogance, and its present prostration: *

"Who does not remember that thirty years ago, a short period in the life of a nation, but little could be said with impunity in these Halls on the subject of slavery? How well do gentlemen here remember the history of that distinguished predecessor of mine, Joshua R. Giddings, lately gone to his rest, who, with his forlorn hope of faithful men took his life in his hands, and in the name of justice protested against the great crime, and who stood bravely in his place until his white locks, like the plume of Henry of Navarre, marked where the battle of freedom raged fiercest. We can hardly realize that this is the same people, and these the same Halls, where now scarcely a man can be found who will venture to do more than falter out an apology for slavery, protesting at the same time that he has no love for the dying tyrant. None, I believe, but that man of more than supernal boldness from the city of New York, [Mr. FERNANDO WOOD] has ventured this session to raise his voice in favor of slavery for its own sake. He still sees in its features the reflection of divinity and beauty, and only he. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! Many mighty men have been slain by thee; many proud ones have humbled themselves at thy feet! All along the coast of the political sea they lie like stranded wrecks, broken on the headlands of freedom. How lately did its advocates with impious boldness maintain it as God's own, to be venerated and cherished as divine. It was another and higher form of civilization. It was the holy evangel of America, dispensing its blessings to the wilderness of the west. In its mad arrogance it lifted its hand to strike down the fabric of the Union, and since that fatal day it has been a 'fugitive and a vagabond upon the earth;' and like the spirit that Jesus cast out, it has since then been 'seeking rest and finding none.' It has sought in all the corners of the Republic to find some hiding place in which to shelter itself from the death it has BO richly earned. It sought an asylum in the untrodden territories in the West, but with a whip of scorpians, indignant freedom drove it hence. I do not believe a loyal man can now be found that would consent that it should again enter them. It has no hopes of harbor there. It found no protection or favor in the hearts or consciences of the freemen of the Republic, and has fied from its last hope of safety to the shield of the Constitution. We propose to follow it there and hurl it as Satan was exiled from heaven.'

And now, after these long discussions, rose the still tall, and scarcely bent form of the venerable leader of the House, Thaddeus Stevens, to close the debate on this great

*Congressional Globe 2d session, 38th Congress. page 263.

measure. Instantly the members of the House gathered around him, filling the seats and aisles, and every available spot near the "old man eloquent." Intelligence was sent to the Senate that Thad. Stevens was speaking on the Constitutional Amendment, and directly many of the Senators came in, and Justices of the Supreme Court, to hear the venerable anti-slavery leader speak on the measure that was to consummate the labors of forty years with complete success. As soon as Senators and members could get their places, the House and crowded galleries were hushed into deepest silence. He said: *

From my earliest youth I was taught to read the Declaration of Independence and to revere its sublime principles. As I advanced in life and became somewhat enabled to consult the writings of the great men of antiquity, I found in all their works which have survived the ravages of time, and come down to the present generation, one unanimous denunciation of tyranny and of Slavery, and eulogy of liberty. Homer, Eschylus the great Greek tragedian, Cicero, Hesiod, Virgil, Tacitus, and Sallust, in immortal language, all denounced slavery as a thing which took away half the man, and degraded human beings, and sang peans in the noblest strains to the goddess of liberty. And my hatred of this infernal institution and my love for liberty were further inflamed, as I saw the inspired teachings of Socrates and the divine inspirations of Jesus.

"Being fixed in these principles, immovably and immutably, I took my stand among my fellow-citizens, and on all occasions, whether in public or in private, in season, and, if there could be such a time, out of season, I never hesitated to express those ideas and sentiments, and when I went first into public assemblies, forty years ago, I uttered this language. I have done it amid the pelting and hooting of mobs, but I never quailed before the infernal spirit, and I hope I never shrank from the responsibility of my language.

"When, fifteen years ago, I was honored with a seat in this body, it was dangerous to talk against this institution, a danger which gentlemen now here will never be able to appreciate. Some of us, however, have experienced it; my friend from Illinois on my right [Mr. WASHBURNE] has. And yet, sir, I did not hesitate, in the midst of bowie-knives and revolvers, and howling demons upon the other side of the House, to stand here and denounce this infamous institution in language which possibly now, or looking at it, I might deem intemperate, but which I then deemed necessary to rouse the public attention and cast odium upon the worst institution upon earth, one which is a disgrace to man and would be an annoyance to the infernal spiri's.

"Perhaps I ought not to occupy so much time, and I will only say one word further. So far as the appeals of the learned gentleman (Mr. PENDLETON] are concerned, his pathetic winding up, I will be willing to take my chance, when we all molder in the dust. He may have his epitaph written, if it be truly written, 'Here rests the ablest and most pertinacious defender of slavery and opponent of liberty;' and I will be satisfied if my epitaph shall be written thus: 'Here lies one who never rose to any eminence, and who only courted the low ambition to have it said that he had str.ven to ameliorate the condition of the poor, the lowly, the downtrodden of every race and language and color. [Applause.]

"I shall be content with such a eulogy on his lofty tomb, and such an inscription on my humble grave, to trust our memories to the judgment of other ages."

* Congressional Globe, 2d session, 38th Congress, page 265-6.

The spectacle presented during the delivery of the above speech was deeply impressive. The Diplomatic circle was. crowded, the House was filled, the galleries were packed with distinguished citizens from every section, the floor and lobbies of the Hall itself, were filled with distinguished soldiers and civilians who gathered to hear the debate, and who now listened to the Pennsylvania statesman, as he narrated the progress of the anti-slavery cause from its feeble beginning, down to its now near approaching and final triumph. As the vote was taken on the final passage of the Joint Resolution, the most intense anxiety was felt in regard to the result. No one knew with certainty what would be that result. Whether a sufficient number of Democratic votes could be obtained to secure its passage was uncertain. As the clerk called the roll, there was perfect silence; no sound except that made by a hundred pencils quickly marking the ayes and noes as the members responded. When the call was finished it was found there were 119 ayes, and 56 nays: twothirds of the members having voted for the resolution it was adopted.*

*The following is a list of the ayes and noes, on the passage of the Resolution, taken from the Globe, Second Session, Thirty-eighth Congress, p. 531.

YEAS-Messrs. Alley, Allison, Ames, Anderson, Arnold, Ashley. Bailey, Augustus C. Baldwin, John D. Baldwin, Baxter, Beaman, Blane, Blair, Blow, Boutwell, Boyd, Brandegee, Broomal, William G. Brown, Ambrose W., Clark, Freeman Clarke, Cobb, Coffroth, Cole, Colfax, Creswell, Henry Winter Davis, Thomas T. Davis, Dawes, Deming, Dixon, Donnelly, Driggs, Dumont, Eckley, Eliot, English, Farnsworth, Frank, Ganson, Garfield, Gooch, Grinnell, Griswold, Hale, Herrick, Higby, Hooper, Hotchkiss, Asahel W. Hubbard, John H. Hubbard, Hulburd, Hutchins, Ingersoll, Jenckes, Julian, Kasson, Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg, Orlando Kellogg, King, Knox, Littlejohn, Loan, Longyear, Marvin, McAllister, McBride, McClung, McIndoe, Samuel F. Miller, Moorhead, Morrill, Daniel Morris, Amos Myers, Leonard Myers, Nelson, Norton, Odell, Charles O'Neill, Orth, Patterson, Perham, Pike, Pomeroy, Price, Radford, William H. Randall, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Edward H. Rollins, James S. Rollins, Schenck, Scofield, Shannon, Sloan, Smith, Smithers, Spalding, Starr, John B. Steele, Stevens. Thayer, Thomas, Tracy, Upson, Van Valkenburgh, Elihu B. Washburne, William B. Washburne, Webster, Whaley, Wheeler, Williams, Wilder, Wilson, Windom, Woodbridge, Worthington, and Yeaman-119.

NAYS-Messrs. James C. Allen, William J. Allen, Ancona, Bliss, Brooks, James 8. Brown, Chanler, Clay, Cox, Cravens, Dawson, Denison, Eden. Edgerton, Eldridge, Finck, Grider, Hall, Harding, Harrington, Benjamin G. Harr's, Charles M. Harris, Holman, Philip Johnson, William Johnson, Kalbfleisch, Kernan, Knapp, Law, Long, Mallory, William H. Miller, James R. Morris, Morrison, Noble, John O'Neill, Pendleton, Perry, Pruyn, Samuel J. Randall, Robinson, Ross, Scott, William G. Stee.e, Stiles, Strouse, Stuart, Sweat, Townsend, Wadsworth, Ward, Chilton A. White, Joseph W. White, Winfield, Benjamin Wood, and Fernando Wood—56.

NOT VOTING-Messrs. Lazear, Le Blond, Marcy, McDowell, McKinney, Middleton, Rogers, and Voorhees-8.