Mr. Henderson. The Senator from Kentucky thinks the Constitution of Louisiana is the offspring of military usurpation, but he does not say that the Constitution itself is antirepublican.
Mr. Sumner. I do.
Mr. Henderson. You do?
Mr. Sumner. Certainly.
Mr. Henderson. In what particular? Mr. President, I have been in the Senate for nearly four years, and I believe now candidly that the Rebellion is about at an end, and, if there were no other evidence of it, that evidence would be presented to-night in the close alliance and affiliation of my friend from Massachusetts and my friend from Kentucky. Truly, the lion and the lamb have lain down together.
Mr. Johnson (of Maryland). Who is the lion, and who is the lamb?
Mr. Henderson. That is for the gentlemen themselves to settle. [Laughter.] The Senator from Massachusetts says that these State Constitutions are not republican in form. Will he tell me in what respect?
Mr. Sumner. Because they do not follow out the principles of the Constitution of the United States.
Mr. Henderson. I should like to know in what particular. The answer is a very general one, indeed. He refuses, then, to specify. The Senator can answer more particularly hereafter, if he chooses. He says these Constitutions do not follow the Constitution of the United States. I have looked over them, and I find no objection to them.… The Senator from Massachusetts says the act of secession took the States out. In the name of sense, cannot the act of the loyal men bring them back?…