Rebellion to its ancient purity.”[266]
On the one side are loyal multitudes, and the generous freedmen who bared themselves to danger as our allies, with Grant still at their head; and on the other are Rebels, under the name of the Democratic Party, all dripping with blood from innumerable fields of slaughter where loyal men gasped away life,—from Fort Pillow, from Andersonville, from pirate decks,—hurrying, with Seymour at their head, to govern the Republic in the name of the Lost Cause. Not so fast, ye men of blood! Stand back! They who encountered you before will encounter you again.
I would not make this statement too strong. I wish to keep within bounds. But the facts are too patent to admit of doubt. Yes, it is the old Democracy, which, after giving to the Rebellion its denationalizing pretension of State Rights, and all its wicked leaders, from Davis to Forrest and Semmes,—after thwarting every measure for its suppression as “unconstitutional,” from the Proclamation of Emancipation to the firing of a gun or the condemnation of Vallandigham,—after interfering with enlistments also as “unconstitutional,”—after provoking sympathetic riots,—after holding up “blue lights” for the guidance of the enemy,—after hanging upon the country like a paralysis,—and after, finally, under the lead of Seymour, declaring the war a “failure,”—this same Democracy, still under the lead of Seymour, champions the Lost Cause. Under the pretence of restoring Rebels to rights, it seeks to restore them to power; and this is the very question on which you are to vote. The Tories at the end of the Revolution were more moderate. They did not insist upon instant restoration to rights forfeited by treason; nor did they bring forward a candidate against Washington. This is reserved for the Tories of our day.
All this is general. Descending to details, we find that the issue now presented reappears in other questions. Of these none is more important than that of the Reconstruction Acts, which have been openly assailed as “unconstitutional, revolutionary, and void.”[267] In nothing more than in this declaration, associated with the letter of its candidate, do we behold the audacity of the Rebel Party. Even while professing allegiance and asking your vote, they proclaim war in a new form. Instead of Secession maintained by arms, it is now Nullification maintained by arms. In no other way can we interpret the party platform, and the programme of Mr. Blair, when, with customary frankness, he calls upon the President “to declare these Acts null and void, compel the army to undo its usurpations at the South, and disperse the carpet-bag State governments.”[268] Here is Nullification with a vengeance,—that very Nullification which, in a much milder type, made Andrew Jackson threaten to hang its authors high as Haman. Secession is declared to be settled by the war; but Nullification is openly recognized. What is the difference between the two? The answer is plain. Secession is war out of the Union; Nullification is war in the Union. And this is the open menace of the Rebel Party.
The Reconstruction Acts err from what they fail to do rather than from what they do. They do too little rather than too much. They should have secured a piece of land to the landless freedman, whose unrewarded toil has mingled for generations in the soil; and they should have secured a system of common schools open to all. In these demands, as in every other measure of Reconstruction, I would do nothing in severity or triumph, nothing to punish or humble. Nor is it only in justice to the freedman, who has a bill against his former master for unpaid wages, and also against the country for an infinite debt, but it is for the good of all constituting the community, including the former master. Nothing can be truer than that under such influences society will be improved, character will be elevated, and the general resources will be enlarged. Only in this way will the Barbarism of Slavery be banished, and a true civilization organized in its place. Our simple object is expressed in the words of Holy Writ: “Let us build these cities, and make about them walls and towers, gates and bars, while the land is yet before us.”[269] By contributing to this work, by laboring for its accomplishment, by sending it our God-speed, we perform a service at once of the highest charity and the highest patriotism, which hereafter the children of the South, emancipated from error, will rejoice to recognize. With Human Rights under a permanent safeguard, there can be no limit to prosperity. As under this sunshine the land yields its increase and the gardens bloom with beauty, while commerce and manufactures enjoy a new life, they will confess that we did well for them, and will hail with pride the increased glory of the Republic. If, as in ancient Rome, we demanded the heads of senators and orators,—if, as in England, we took the life and estate of all traitors,—if, as in Germany, we fatigued the sword with slaughter, and cried “havoc,”—if, as in France, we set up guillotines, and worked them until the blood stood in puddles beneath,—if, as in all these historic countries, we acted in pitiless vengeance,—if in anything we have done or attempted there was one deed of vengeance,—then we, too, might deserve a chastening censure. But all that we have done, next after the safety of the Republic, is for the good of those who were our enemies, and who despitefully used us. Never before was clemency so sublime; never before was a rebel people surrounded by beneficence so comprehensive. Great as was the Republic in arms, it is greater still in the majesty of its charity.
So far as the Reconstruction Acts have been assailed, I am ready to defend them against all comers. And I repel at the outset every charge or suggestion of harshness. They are not harsh, unless it is harsh to give every man his due. If they are harsh, then is beneficence harsh, then is charity harsh. It is only by outraging every principle of justice, stifling every sympathy with Human Rights, and discarding common sense, and, still further, by forgetting all the sacred obligations of country, that we can submit to see political power in the hands of Rebels. No judgment is too terrible for us, if we consent to the sacrifice. For the sake of the freedman, for the sake of his former master, for the sake of all, and for the sake of the Republic, this must not be. Therefore were the Reconstruction Acts adopted by immense majorities in both Houses of Congress as the guaranty of peace. The aspiration of our candidate was in every line and word, “Let us have peace.”
Two questions are presented by the enemies of these Acts: first, on the Power of Congress; and, secondly, on the Equal Rights of the Freedman.