"Sir, much more than amiable, much more than religious, must be the sentiment that would prompt any man to say that 'the courage and devotion' which so long withstood our arms, prolonging the terrible conflict of war, and sacrificing the lives of thousands of loyal men, are hereafter to be the common boast of the nation, 'the priceless possession of the American Republic through all time to come;' that it is the pride of our country so many infamous rebels were so ferocious in their murders.
"Sir, we are to consider these dead on both sides as the dead of the nation, the common dead! And so, I suppose, we are to raise monuments beside the monuments to Reynolds and others, to be erected in the cemetery on the battle-field of Gettysburg. We must there build high the monumental marble for men like Barksdale, whom I have seen in this hall draw their bowie-knives on the Representatives of the people; men who died upon the battle-field of Gettysburg in arms against the Government, and where they now lie buried in ditches, 'unwept, unhonored, and unsung!' They are, I suppose, to be raised and put into the fore-front ranks of the nation, and we are to call them through all time as the dead of the nation! Sir, was there ever blasphemy before like this? Who was it burnt the temple of Ephesus? Who was it imitated the thunder of Jove? All that was poor compared with this blasphemy. I say, if the loyal dead, who are thus associated with the traitors who murdered them, put by the gentleman on the same footing with them, are to be treated as the 'common dead of the nation'—I say, sir, if they could have heard the gentleman, they would have broken the cerements of the tomb, and stalked forth and haunted him until his eye-balls were seared."
The question was first taken on the substitute offered by Mr. Schenck, which was rejected by a vote of one hundred and thirty-one to twenty-nine.
The question was then taken on agreeing to the joint resolution as modified by the committee, and it was decided in the affirmative by the following vote:
YEAS—Messrs. Alley, Allison, Ames, Anderson, James M.
Ashley, Baker, Banks, Barker, Baxter, Beaman, Benjamin,
Bidwell, Bingham, Blaine, Blow, Boutwell, Brandegee,
Bromwell, Broomall, Buckland, Bundy, Reader W. Clarke,
Sidney Clarke, Cobb, Conkling, Cook, Cullom, Darling, Davis,
Dawes, Defrees, Delano, Deming, Dixon, Donnelly, Eckley,
Eggleston, Farnsworth, Farquhar, Ferry, Garfield, Grinnell,
Griswold, Abner C. Harding, Hart, Hayes, Hill, Holmes,
Hooper, Hotchkiss, Asahel W. Hubbard, Chester D. Hubbard,
Demas Hubbard, John H. Hubbard, James R. Hubbell, Hulburd,
James Humphrey, Ingersoll, Julian, Kasson, Kelley, Kelso,
Ketcham, Kuykendall, Laflin, George V. Lawrence, William
Lawrence, Longyear, Lynch, Marston, Marvin, McClurg,
McIndoe, McKee, Mercur, Miller, Moorhead, Morrill, Morris,
Moulton, Myers, O'Neill, Orth, Paine, Patterson, Perham,
Pike, Plants, Pomeroy, Price, Alexander H. Rice, John H.
Rice, Rollins, Sawyer, Schenck, Scofield, Shellabarger,
Sloan, Spalding, Starr, Stevens, Stilwell, Thayer, Francis
Thomas, John L. Thomas, Upson, Van Aernam, Burt Van Horn,
Robert T. Van Horn, Ward, Warner, Elihu B. Washburne,
William B. Washburn, Welker, Wentworth, Williams, James F.
Wilson, Stephen F. Wilson, Windom, and Woodbridge—120.
NAYS—Messrs. Baldwin, Bergen, Boyer, Brooks, Chanler,
Dawson, Dennison, Eldridge, Eliot, Finck, Grider, Hale,
Aaron Harding, Harris, Hogan, Edwin N. Hubbell, James M.
Humphrey, Jenckes, Johnson, Kerr, Latham, Le Blond,
Marshall, McCullough, Niblack, Nicholson, Noell, Phelps,
Samuel J. Randall, William H. Randall, Raymond, Ritter,
Rogers, Ross, Rosseau, Shanklin, Sitgreaves, Smith, Strouse,
Taber, Taylor, Thornton, Trimble, Voorhees, Whaley, and
Wright—46.
NOT VOTING—Messrs. Ancona, Delos R. Ashley, Culver, Driggs,
Dumont, Glossbrenner, Goodyear, Henderson, Higby, Jones,
Loan, McRuer, Newell, Radford, Trowbridge, and Winfield—16.
Two-thirds having voted in the affirmative, the Speaker declared the joint resolution adopted.
The strong vote by which this measure was passed, after so general an expression of dissent from it, excited some surprise. Many gentlemen evidently surrendered their individual preferences for the sake of unanimity. They believed that this was the best measure calculated to secure just representation, which would pass the ordeal of Congress and three-fourths of the States. They accepted the "rule of statesmanship," to "take the best attainable, essential good which is at our command."
A disposition to rebuke supposed Executive dictation had some effect to produce an unexpected unanimity in favor of the measure. One Rhode Island and two Massachusetts members insisted on national negro suffrage, and voted against the amendments. Mr. Raymond and Mr. Hale, of New York, were the only Republicans who voted against the measure in accordance with the President's opinions. Of the border slave State members, ten voted for the amendment and sixteen against it.