Duke University Libraries 
 
 Speech of Hon. 
 Conf Pam 12mo #379 
 
 0^053=1173 
 
SPEECH 
 
 OP 
 
 HON. B. H. HILL, 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 GEORGIA LEGISLATURE 
 
 IN MILLEDGEVILLE, 
 
 ON 1HE EVENING OF THE 1 lTH DECEMBER, 1SG2. 
 
 Printed by request of Members, 
 
 MILLEDGEVILLE : 
 
 R. M. ORME & SON, PRINTERS. 
 
 January. 1863. 
 
COK.B.ESI :> 02^r>B3SrCE. 
 
 Milledgeville, December 12, 1862. 
 Hon. B. H. Hill : 
 
 Dear Sir : — The undersigned, members of the General Assembly, take 
 pleasure in expressing their high gratification at the able address delivered 
 by you last night in the Representative Hall, and would respectfully request 
 a copy for publication. 
 
 . Very respectfully, yours, 
 S. F. ALEXANDER, 34th Diet. J. A. L. LEE, 
 J. A. SHEWMAKE, 17th Dist. J. H. R. WASHINGTON, 
 
 L. M, HILL, 29th Dist. JOHN FAVER, 
 
 B. T. HARRIS, 20th Dist. JAMES B. KEY, 
 
 D. R. MITCHELL, 42d Dist. JOHN W. McCORD, 
 
 JOS. A. GASTON, 36th Dist. P. E. LOVE, 
 
 WM. GIBSON. 18th Dist. MILTON A. CANDLER, 
 
 J. H. ECHOLS, 30th Dist. L. N. WHITTLE, 
 
 T. M. FURLOW, 13th Dist. BEN. B. MOORE, 
 
 D. J. BOTH WELL, 14th Dist. ROBT. J. BACON, 
 WM. P. BEASLY, 37th Dist. ROBERT HESTER, 
 WILLIAM M. BROWN, T. M. NORWOOD, 
 
 E. G. CABANISS, J. J. THRASHER. 
 
 LaGkange, Ga., Jaauary 7th, 1863. 
 Gentlemen : — Your letter requesting for publication a copy of the speech 
 I had the honor to deliver before the General Assembly, was handed to me 
 before I left Milledgeville. I made the speech with no thought of publica- 
 tion, and therefore was not prepared with a copy. 
 
 Learning that a gentleman had taken tolerably full stenographic notes, of 
 the speech, I applied to him to write them out. He kindly promised to fur- 
 nish them to me. After waiting a considerable time, he wrote me that he 
 had been prevented from complying with the promise. 
 
 In the midst of other engagements I have endeavored to write out the 
 speech. I have not been abie to recall the language spoken, but the line of 
 argument is precisely the same. Hoping the views uttered will, at least, do 
 no harm, I place them at your disposal. 
 
 Since the speech was delivered, several splendid victories have crowned 
 our arms with new and, if possible, more glorious triumphs. These give in- 
 creased confidence to the high and gratifying hopes of final success which I 
 then expressed. 
 
 In the midst of scenes which should excite universal accord and harmony 
 in all the measures of the administration, it is painful to Georgians to find 
 only in our State a few who still murmur and seek to divide. What can be 
 the end or the object of strife now '! Rational men must have a distinct 
 purpose in view. Are we so tired of the revolution that we wish to retrace 
 its steps and go back ? Or are we so in love with revolution that we desire 
 another ? Or, is it simply an Erostratan ambition for notoriety? 
 
 Perhaps these differences are inseparable from republican governments. 
 They existed in Washington's day, and charged the Father of his Country 
 with infidelity to the Constitution, and wit,h ambition to wear imperial pur- 
 ple. We can then afford to be patient, and the justice that rewarded then, 
 will be meted out again. 
 
 With great regard for you all, personally, gentlemen, I have the honor 
 to be, 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 B. H. HILL. 
 Messrs. E. G. Cabaniss, J. A. L. Lee, and othefs. 
 

 
 SPEECH. 
 
 Ladies. Gentlemen of the General Assembly, and Fellew-citizens : 
 
 When this revolution began I imposed on myself sternly what I regarded 
 as the virtue of silence. In my opinion success had to be won by active 
 arms, united hearts, liberal sacrifices, aud that without which all these might 
 prove unavailing- — silent tongues. As you have just been informed, a large 
 majority of the General Assembly invited me to address them, and in defer- 
 ence to their wish I am here to-night for that purpose. I am sure I intend 
 to say nothing but that which will promote the good of the country and the 
 harmony of our prople — which I consider inseparable. 
 
 I have been an humble and very quiet actor in this revolution from its be- 
 ginning. I have been a very close and anxious observer of men, of meas- 
 ures aud of things, and it shall be my purpose to-night to give you a brief 
 review in general terms of the embarrassments of the Confederate Govern- 
 ment from its organization; the progress that Government has made; the, 
 causes of that progress, and the probable result of the revolution, judged by 
 the past and the present. 
 
 Perhaps no assembly of men ever took place under circumstances of great- 
 er anxiety and higher responsibilities than thoee which surrounded and 
 pressed upon tne Convention which met in Montgomery on the 4th day of 
 February, 1861. For one, I felt most heavily the crisis 1 . There were miny 
 troubles on every hand. The present was stormy. The future was dark — 
 very dark When we first assembled we were forty-three delegates, repre- 
 senting six Slates. Texas was soon added. These seven States had sepa- 
 rated from and formed a border or fringe of what had been a very powerful 
 republic; a republic great in every sense; full of men: full of resources ; 
 full of genius and talent; and full of prosperity. We had a large coast, and 
 no navy with which to protect and defend it. We ha<J but a small popula- 
 tion — less than three millions against more than twenty-five millions. Our 
 resources were exceedingly limited. There was not known to be a saltpetre 
 cave capable of being worked in the Confederacy. We had very few mu- 
 nitions of war, and still fewer facilities for procuring more. In ail the ele- 
 ments of power necessary to prosecute the revolution by force, we were 
 weak. 
 
 But ail these together constituted not our greatest trouble nor our greatest 
 weakness. The most serious difficulty resting upon that Convention was 
 the conviction, very generally if not universally shared by the members, 
 that we were not certain of a constituency. Our people were divided — 
 greatly and almost angrily divided. There was not much division as to our 
 abstract right to set up for ourselves, nor in relation to the fact that the sec- 
 tional rule asserted by the North was a sufficient cause for separation ; but 
 many felt, and felt keenly, that the separation had been hasty, ill-advised, 
 and without that consultation and concert which was due to our sister slave 
 .States, and to the crisis. Thus, seven States not compactly situated, with 
 one-eighth the population, with a large sea coast exposed, with few supplies, 
 and fewer resources, and with a divided people, dared the wrath of this pow- 
 • erful republic, as full of hate and fanaticism as of men and materials. How 
 could these trainers feel otherwise than oppressively anxious I 
 
 Nor was the prospect of our enlargement in any degree flattering. Soon 
 •ilfter the assembling of that convention the border States voted on the prop- 
 osition to cast in their lot with us. Not only by a large, but by an overwhelm- 
 ing majority, they refused to do so. And we felt and knew that many had 
 cast that vote under the stinging reflection that we had not treated them with 
 due consideration. 
 
 ~?112 IS 
 
This was the state of thing* now known to us all, and therefore I speak of 
 it freely. But, fellow-citizens, the skies soon began to change. Light min- 
 gled with the darkness. True, it was on the bosom of a war cloud, and just 
 before a deluge of blood, yet the bow of hope was seen and all was not 
 darkness. 
 
 What wrought this change and inspired this hope? The first cause will 
 be found in the prompt and wise labors of that Convention. The formation 
 of the new Constitution was a very powerful agency for good. Many of our 
 own people had serious apprehensions that the purpose or the revolution was 
 not simply to get rid of the union with the North. Some anticipated a more 
 radical democracy — a fearful anarchy. Others looked for an aristocracy, or 
 even a limited monarchy. London, Exeter Hall, and Boston Pandemonium 
 had horrid images of a slave-trade oligarchy floating before them, and cer- 
 tainly destined to shock the sensibilities of mankind. 
 
 All these were disappointed. The Convention, with a promptness and 
 unanimity never surpassed, agreed upon and adopted the old Constitution 
 with only such changes, well interwoven, as time and discussion had shown 
 to be necessary and proper. Even the candid of our enemies were driven to 
 admit that the new Constitution was an improvement The world admitted 
 the statesmanship of the Convention, and our own people began to acquire 
 confidence. So, also, the great body of the old laws were adopted, and our 
 people found themselves living under their ancient usages and customs, and 
 changed in nothing but their federal associates. 
 
 In the election of Executive officers, also, the Convention manifested much 
 wisdom and a liberal spirit. While statesmen of ripe ability were selected, 
 both the latest divisions of parties found themselves represented in the per- 
 sons of leaders having no superiors in their ranks. None felt proscribed, and 
 if all were not convinced of the wisdom and necessity of separation, all were 
 satisfied that the destruction of constitutional liberty was no part of the de- 
 sign of that Convention, and that the shaping of the new government had 
 fallen into safe, conservative hands. 
 
 But, much as we owe to the wisdom and moderation of ou% own states- 
 men, we owe much more to the folly of Mr. Lincoln and his advisers. Left 
 to ourselves we never could have accomplished the great results we so soon 
 witnessed. To secure the confederation of those who had so emphatically 
 refused to join us ; to remove the jealousies and heart-burnings which long 
 party divisions had fostered, and which the last contest for separation had 
 not allayed but increased ; to break the affections of our people at once and 
 forever from a Union which they had always loved, and connected with 
 which were so many delightful memories and historic glories ; these formed 
 a task for which all ordinary means were unequal. If Mr. Lincoln had com- 
 prehended the crisis, and had adopted towards the seceded States a pacific, 
 instead of a belligerent policy; had shown a purpose to administer the gov- 
 ernment according to the just and equal rule of the Constitution, instead of 
 the hated dogmas of a mad sectional party, the border States would not have 
 left the Union, and it is exceedingly doubtful whether the cotton States 
 would have remained out of the Union. But madness and folly rnlefl 
 our enemies, and success and power were the results to us. In April, J8U1, 
 Mr. Lincoln called for seventy five thousand men to coerce sovereign States 
 to a loathsome sectional rule, and by this giant effort, of imbecility. Virginia 
 — glorious old Virginia — was thrown into our arms wide open to receive her. 
 Doubts were all removed, weakness was all gone — we weie confident, strong 
 and united ; Virginia was with us. Soon the great States of North Carolina, 
 Tennessee and Arkansas followed, and for the same reasons. At once Ave 
 had a territory not surpassed by any nation — large, compact and fertile. 
 Our white population was more than doubled, our resources quadrupled. 
 Munitions of war, with facilities for increasing them, were added in great 
 quantities, and though terrible war was the agency by which all this success 
 was acquired, yet with the war came to us the power to meet it. The same 
 policy which added thus to our material greatness, produced perfect unity 
 among our people, removed all jealousies and divisions, and kindled in eve- 
 
ry bosom a blaze of patriotism, and aroused the high resolve which prepared 
 all for those noble deeds and liberal sacrifices which cannot fail to insure in- 
 dependence and nationality. Missouri and Kentucky, in time, were added to 
 the Confederacy, and though those great States labor under great disadvan- 
 tages, and have, the heel of the oppressor heavily on them, they have fur- 
 nished many of the noblest heroes and most gallant spirits who have hallow- 
 ed our cause and brought glory to our struggle. In heart and interest they 
 are of us, and must be in destiny with us. 
 
 Thus, fellow-citizens, in a few short months we had adopted our Constitu- 
 tion, framed our laws, healed our divisions, enlarged our borders, multiplied 
 our resources, and exhibited to the world all the elemeuts of an admirable 
 government in successful operation. With equal rapidity did we now pre- 
 pare to defend that government from a most powerful and vindictive foe. 
 Our success in this respect has never been equalled by any nation or people 
 in history. The best evidence of this may be found in the confession^ of our 
 enemies ; for the greatest tribute ever rendered to any people was rendered 
 to the Confederate army and government by their disappointed and defeated 
 foe. When the hosts of the enemy fled in fright and dismay ln-fore our army 
 of heroes on the ever memorable field of Manassas Plains, the only excuse 
 they could find for their discomfiture was in shame and confusion to confess 
 they had fought before they were ready. Think of this my countrymen ! 
 An old government, organized for three-fourths of a century ; with a regular 
 army and navy; with twenty millions of people and countless millions of 
 material resources ; with a General in command who had fought his hundred 
 battles and had never known defeat; with a great army well equipped and 
 full of confidence ; a nation vain and proud, impatient and insolent; apolo- 
 gizing for a most ignominious defeat in sight of its Capital, by a despised 
 band of improvised rebels, sent out by a government less than six months 
 old; and finding no ground of apology save in the humiliating conlession 
 that they fought too soon — before they were ready ! Surely a fact like this 
 should satisfy the most exacting that this young republic had been most vig- 
 orous and active, most vigilant and faithful. 
 
 With the history of the struggle since this first great trial of arms you are 
 all familiar. It is not my purpose now to deal with incidents, but to state re- 
 sults, and show the way to correct conclusions. We have had disasters, at 
 which none can wonder. But we have had successes, many and great suc- 
 cesses, at which all the world do wonder; at which posterity will never cease 
 to wonder. We have had defeats and losses. Considered in themselves 
 they have been sore and depressing. The good and the noble have fallen, 
 and the dark shadows of sorrow have passed over the door sills and rest by 
 the hearthstones of almost every home in the land. But considered in the 
 light of the circumstances which surrounded us. and in view of the effects 
 upon our national success, I affirm that all our disasters are as nothing. In- 
 deed, when impartial hisrory shall weigh this struggle in the balances of un- 
 erring philosophy, it will be doubtful whether Mauassas and Leesburg, or 
 Fishing Creek and Donelson will press down the scales. Failures are not 
 always losses, and blessings sometimes chastise. But in the Cabinet and in 
 the field the rule has been success and defeat the exception. In every respect 
 we have steadily progressed. I have watched this revolution anxiously : I 
 have scanned the chief actors critically ; my own, and my children's, and my 
 country's all, are wrapped up in it ; and in full view of all my responsibili- 
 ties, and before you who have honored me, I assert this night, most confi- 
 dently, that the Confederate States have strengthened with every day of their 
 existence; yea, though it be early morning with us, every hour is brighten- 
 ing into day. There is no apology for discouragement, and no propriety in 
 grumbling. 
 
 This success, this progress, is not the glory of any one man, nor of any one 
 agency, but is the work of many men and the result of several causes. No 
 government was ever defended by a more heroic army. From the humblest 
 private to the General in command, they are above praise. Nor can history 
 furnish a parallel for the active, demonstrative patriotism of our people.. I 
 ■doubt whether either the government or the army could have been sustainsd 
 
 75 1 1 o i 
 
without the voluntary azid most liberal contribution* of the people. It was 
 not possible for any government in so short a time te hare provided for so 
 large an array. It required the most marvelous energy to pass the necessary 
 laws, provide appropriate means, and to organize the volunteering multitudes 
 and discipline them for the fight. Every man, every woman, and every 
 child in the laud became an assistant commissary, an assistant quartermaster 
 and a volunteer aid in every part of the glorious work. These are facts 
 which all admit, and which our children shall celebrate in song and story as 
 long as liberty is prized or patriotism is honored. Without this heroism of 
 our army and generous support of our people we never could have succeeded; 
 but with these alone, great as they were, failure would necessarily have en- 
 sued. Laws, order, system, wise policies, skillful plans, and vigorous and 
 judicious administration were indispensable to success. Without these, the 
 first would have produced but anarchy, waste and ruin. For these laws^ 
 this system, and this vigorous and judicious administration, the legislative 
 and Executive departments of the government were responsible. Both were 
 equal to the demands of the fearful occasion. Neither the provisional nor 
 the permanent Congress ever failed to provide every necessary law and all 
 proper means to meet the growing and ever-pressing calls of the contest. 
 The only serious charges of Avant of foresight and promptness of action 
 which have been made against the Congress, I will presently show were 
 made without a knowledge of the facts, and by the answer to these charges 
 I hope minor accusations will be judged. 
 
 In republics the disaffected and the dissatisfied generally level their shafts 
 against him who may for the time be the chief Executive. Different con- 
 clusions, which are always formed when free discussions are universal ; pri- 
 vate griefs, which must exist when all cannot be gratified ; personal jealous- 
 ies, which will arise when many aspire and few can be chosen, must be ex- 
 pected to do their usual share of fault-finding in the new Confederacy. In 
 addition to these sources of discord, inseparable from all free government, 
 there are others growing out of our anomalous form of double governments. 
 In the nature of things the State governments will be jealous. This jealousy 
 is often legitimate. In the old Union there were many occasions when the 
 Southern States were justly resentful, and State complaints became popular 
 to the Southern mind. It 'is not strange, therefore, that the earnest and the 
 ambitious — indeed all the classes first mentioned— should seek to invoke the 
 force of this popular feeling in their behalf, and in all their clamors against 
 the Confederate Government and the Confederate Executive, in season and 
 out of season, to cry " State Eights." Now, gentlemen, I will give you 
 frankly my opinion of our first President— Mr Davis. In the old Union he 
 and I always thought differently and acted with different political parties. I 
 was not prepossessed in his favor. He was not originally my first choice for 
 his present, high position. Furthermore, since his election, "if a single old 
 political friend of mine, in this State, has received a civil commission at his 
 hands, 1 am to this hour not aware of the fact, . These things are not calcu- 
 lated to win a favorable judgment ; but I experience a sense of self-respect 
 when I realize as I do the fact that I am capable of lifting myself above all 
 these petty, but too often popular considerations, and can judge the Presi- 
 dent by the merit of his ability and patriotic motives, and by the principles 
 of his administration. Thus judging him, I declare to you that if I had now 
 to select a Chief Magistrate for this trying crisis, I should feel it a duty to 
 select Jefferson Davis. I concede the charge sneeringly made, that he is 
 neither a Caesar, nor a Cromwell, nor a Napoleon. He is nobler than either 
 and greater th*u all, because he has respect unto the laws of the land, and 
 seeks to establish and not to destroy constitutional government. In my 
 opinion, his great desire, to which all earthly desires are subordinate, is our 
 final and complete success in this revolution Mr. Lincoln, with all the ad- 
 vantages of a long organized, powerful and well supplied government ; State 
 Executives, even in the Confederate States, not having upon their shoulders 
 the conduct of this gigantic war ; have pleaded necessity as an excuse for 
 exercising extraordinary powers, and have trampled upon constitutional re- 
 strictions and individual rights. But Mr. Davis, with all the disadvantages 
 
of a new and weak government to which I have alluded, and with th« fear- 
 ful doom of the chief of trtdtors full before him in case of failure, lias never 
 yet found it necessary to violate the Constitution of his country, nor to 
 trample upon the rights of the humblest citizen. Within the boundaries of 
 law, by the provisions of legislative grant, and according to the high and 
 ancient privileges of Anglo-American freemen, he has used the sword to the 
 shame and discomfiture of a million of enemies in arms. By a vigorous pol- 
 icy he has led a new-born nation from weakness to power. By a firm but 
 humane adherence to the great principles of nations into whose family we 
 had been refused admittance, he has degraded the faithless excesses of our 
 adversary to universal notoriety and perpetual infamy. And by the wisdom 
 of an accomplished statesmanship, and the pure rhetoric of an elegant pen, 
 he has secured admiration and esteem for himself and his countrymen in the 
 highest Cabinets and most refined Courts of the civilized world. Even our 
 eunuies, usually so bigoted and selfish, are driven in shame to apply every 
 epithet of ridicule to the awkward blunders of their President, and to admit 
 the ability, the tact and the statesmanship of the "rebel chief." 
 
 A wise government, then, a gallant army, and a liberal, cordial and united 
 people, constitute together the cause of our progress, the assurance of our 
 success, and our title to admiration and renown. 
 
 In a republic of free opinions, where the minds of men are as variant as 
 the leaves on the trees, and as unrestrained as the zephyrs that fan them, we 
 have much cause to be gratified that so few issues have been made with the 
 administration | and that the issues made have found so few advocates. On 
 almost all questions our people are unanimous. Politicians have prepared 
 a few issues. None, thus far, have been accepted or taken up by the people 
 Complaints are few, and some of the few may be traced to causes outside of 
 th^ merits of the questions involved. 
 
 It has been snid that the Navy Department has not done its duty. In my 
 opinion, no portion of our people are more patriotic than the navy, and no 
 portion of the government has been managed with more industry, under the 
 disadvantages to which it has been subjected, than the naval. Much of the 
 work and policy of this department is necessarily kept trom the public. The 
 people, or rather some persons, condemn because they do not know, and the 
 Secretary must submit in silence, because to defend would be to expose and 
 damage the public service. But it docs seem to me the people have seen 
 enough to satisfy them — even to excite their gratitude and pride. 
 
 When this revolution began, all said we could expect nothing from the 
 nary. We had no navy. We had neither time nor materials to build one, 
 nor means to purchase one. But while the whole country was resting satis- 
 fied that we could do but little on the- water, the navy was at work, and all at 
 once the country was waked up, the world was waked up, by the grandest 
 naval achievement in all history. Like Minerva, full grown and full armed 
 at her birth, the iron-clad Virginia leaped to life, and in a day taught the 
 world a lesson in naval warfare, the wonder of which mythology had never 
 imagined nor centuries of science discovered. At once hundreds of sea 
 monsters, long terrible on the water, were shown to be worthless. Nautical 
 science is conning her rules anew, and to re model, re-arrauge, and build 
 again condemned war vessels, engages the energies of every nation which 
 aspires to dominion on the seas. The necessities which required the de- 
 struction of such vessels as the Virginia and the Mississippi were great mis- 
 fortunes to us ; but the misfortunes were gnat in precise proportion as the 
 works were powerful. If the Virginia and the Mississippi had not been con- 
 structed we should not have known how great was their loss. Those who 
 produced them could not have been dull or idle. Regrets for losses caused 
 by the necessities of our condition as a naval power, cannot justify us in 
 blaming those who have done so much to improve that condition. The mag- 
 nitude of our losses is known only by the splendor of our successes. Impar- 
 tial history will do justice to this department of our government, and cotem- 
 poraneous history is never impartial and rarely truthful. While, in this re- 
 spect, we have not done what all desired, yet all candid minds must confess 
 we have done far more than any, in the beginning anticipated. 
 
The military appointments of the administration also, at one' time, excited 
 some dissatisfaction. Lee, and Johnston, and Jackson, and Longstreet, and 
 the two Hills, and many others, have silenced these complaints. Natural en- 
 dowments are great helps in all the positions of life, but education improves 
 all talents, including the military. Upon this idea I presume the President 
 acted in making appointments, and in a great majority of cases results have 
 vindicated the wisdom of the rule. 
 
 For several months there was a zealous clamor for an invasion of the North. 
 The administration was censured, in some quarters acrimoniously censured, 
 for not, at once, invading the enemy's territory. Wonderful campaigns were 
 planned; armies vanquished, States humbled, cities destroyed, and the ene- 
 my forced to sue for peace, by generals who remained at home, and by 
 statesmen who wrote much, thought little, and knew less. Upon this sub- 
 ject, I confess to you I once felt much anxiety. The appeal was plausible 
 to the passion and vengeance of our people, who had so much cause for pas- 
 sion and revenge. All the impulses of resentment were aroused, and pru- 
 dence and wise counsel were in danger of being overwhelmed. By invasion, 
 ^lnder the disadvantages which surrounded us, we should have been ruined 
 speedily and forever. On our own soil and in defense, we have ever been 
 and will ever be invincible. Recent events have satisfied all of this truth, 
 and on this subject there is no longer any danger of divisions among our 
 people. 
 
 I can now remember but one more issue upon which an attempt has been 
 made to excite an opposition to the administration of the government. The 
 occasion for this attempt is found in the acts of Congress known as the Con- 
 scription Laws. This disaffection has proven to be limited in extent, and 
 must soon pass away, and, like the other attempts to which 1 have alluded, 
 will be remembered only to be regretted. The relation which I bear to this 
 legislation, and to this State, in which the greatest clamor (indeed, the only 
 real clamor) has been made against the legislation, requires that I present 
 my own views upon the questions made. 
 
 Before entering upon the argument, I desire to rehearse some facts which 
 will most effectually expose the fallacy of some charges which have been 
 made and often repeated against the President and the Congress in relation 
 to the necessities which produced the resort to conscription to maintain our 
 armies. 
 
 It has been said that there was no occasion for the passage of these laws ; 
 that the spirit of volunteering was ample to keep up the army ; that,calls on 
 the States would have secured all the troops needed ; and that, if at the time 
 these laws were adopted the necessity did exist, that necessity was brought 
 about by the negligence and want of foresight in the Provisional Congress, 
 and from a desire on the part of the government to have an excuse to resort 
 to conscription. These charges are so utterly untrue — so utterly at variance 
 with the very records of the government, that I must presume the authors 
 were entirely ignorant of the legislation of Congress and the acts of the gov- 
 ernment. I am not willing to believe that men in position would originate 
 or repeat such grave charges with a knowledge of the facts. As I was the 
 humblest of the actors, it is becoming in me to invite your attention to a 
 simple recital of history. 
 
 As early as the 28th day of February, 1861, an act was passed " to raise 
 Provisional Forces for the Confederate States of America, and for other pur- 
 poses," and by this act the President was authorized to receive into the ser 
 vice of this Government such forces in the service of the States as may be 
 tendered, or who may volunteer, by consent Of their State, in such numbers 
 as he may require, tor any time not less than twelve months, unless sooner 
 discharged." The troops raised by the States and turned over, were to be 
 received "according to the terms of their enlistment." 
 
 On the 6th day of March. 1861, an act was passed, "to provide for the 
 Public Defense," and by the act the President was " authorized to ask for 
 and accept the services of any number of volunteers, not exceeding one hun- 
 dred thousand, to serve for twelve months unless sooner discharged." 
 
 On the 8th of May an act was passed " to raise an additional military force 
 
to serve during the war," and under this act the President is authorized to 
 accept volunteers icithout limit, and for every arm of the service. 
 ^ But very many complaints came up to Congress that some of the State 
 Governors were exceedingly partial in the tender and organization of the 
 regiments under former acts— that they were using their powers to put for- 
 ward their friends and promote themselves— and that many who offered reg- 
 iments and companies to the Governors were either rejected or discriminated 
 against in some odious manner, and that arms, then scarce, were furnished 
 only to favorites. To remedy these complaints, and secure the services of 
 all these gallant men, Congress, on the 11th day of May. 186], passed an act 
 "to make further provision for the Public Defense," and authorized the Pres- 
 ident to receive such volunteers as may tender themselves, and he may re- 
 quire, "without the delay of a formal call upon the respective States, to serve 
 lor such time as he may prescribe." 
 
 It was under one of these last acts— the first for the war— that the gallant 
 Bartow tendered his company of Oglethorpes and was accepted. I believe 
 his was the first company enlisted fur the war. 
 
 On the 8th of August, 1861, an act was passed "further to provide for the 
 Public Defense," by which the President was authorized to accept four hun- 
 dred thousand volunteers for not less than twelve months nor more than 
 three years, unless sooner discharged. 
 
 There was a clamor from some quarters that certain localities were not de- 
 fended, and that many persons would enlist for the defense of particular lo- 
 calities, who would not volunteer in the general service; and that many 
 persons would be useful on special service, who would not enlist to be sent 
 oft to unknown and discretionary service. Therefore, on the SJlst of August, 
 186], an act was passed "to provide for local defense and special service," 
 by which the President was authorized "to accept the services of volunteers, 
 of such kind and in such proportion as he may deem expedient, to serve for 
 such time as he may prescribe, for the defense of exposed places or localities, 
 or such special service as he may deem expedient." Mich forces were to be 
 mustered into the service of the Confederate States, "for such local defense 
 or special service, the muster-roll setting forth distinctly the cervices to be 
 formed. ' Under this act I affirm, with knowledge, that the Confederate 
 Government was always willing and desirous of employing all necessary 
 troops tor all local defense of each State— to incur all the expenses of such 
 defense, and relieve the separate States of all necessity to incur such enor- 
 mous expenses. 
 
 Again, on the 22d January, 1802, an act was passed authorizing the Presi- 
 dent to accept volunteers " singly, as well as in companies, squadrons, bat- 
 talions, or regiments." 
 
 Thus, gentlemen and fellow-citizens, you will perceive that Congress 
 adopted every conceivable mode of getting volunteers. Even the humors of 
 States and the caprices of individuals were all consulted. If men wished to 
 come by tender through the States, there was the law. If directly, by offer 
 to the President, there wasthe law. If as cavalry, artillery, infantry, or mixture 
 of all, or even as independent partizaus, there was the law. If they wished to 
 volunteer for three, six, or twelve mouths, for three years, for the war, or for 
 any other time, there was the law. If thev wished to enter the general service 
 or to be enlisted t© defend a particular State, or county, or city, or town, or 
 farm, or fireside, there was the law. If they wisked to come in legions, or 
 regiments, or battalions, or squadrons, or companies, or even singly — all 
 alone and all ablaze with patriotism— there was the law precisely fitting the 
 case, and made to fit the case. Come !— it matters not how, it matters not 
 from where, it matters not with whom, it matters not for how long— come, 
 o ome, and come quickly, and defend our invaded country— was, and is, and 
 has ever been the earnest appeal of the government— the President and the 
 Congress—to all our people ! Will any complaining, far-seeing assailant 
 tell me what other form of tender or acceptance Congress could have adopt- 
 ed to encourage men to volunteer ? 
 
 Under these various acts of Congress we raised in the aggregate about 
 Jour hundred regiments | very few if any, however, filled to the maximum 
 
10 
 
 number. We could raise ne more without other and extraordinary means. 
 It is a glorious tribute to the patriotism of our people that we raised so many 
 and so speedily by roluntary enlistment. It was certainly sufficient for any 
 other war ot modern times, if not for any age of the world. But our enemy 
 was growing stronger. A million, full of rage and hate, wore flying to arms 
 to enslave us. Our own ranks began to grow thin. Skeleton regiments 
 were seen in every direction, and about half of them were soon to disband 
 by reason of the expiration of their term of service. 
 
 Something must, therefore, be done to give now life to these modes of se- 
 curing volunteers which I have recited, and to retain those already in service. 
 Very early the Congress entered on this work. To this end on the 11th day 
 of December, 1861, an act was passed known as the Bounty and Furlough 
 act. By this act fifty dollars was paid to every private and non-commission- 
 ed officer in service, who would remain in service for three years from the 
 original enlistment, or for the war; and to every man who would volunteer 
 or enlist in the service for three years or far the war. Also, each twelve 
 months soldier re-enlisting was to have a furlough for sixty days, with trans- 
 portation home and back. Such as did not wish to go home were to have 
 the commutation value of the transportation in money; and even those 
 who had been in separate State service were included in the provisions of 
 the law. Onthe 19th day of December, 1861, an act was passed which 
 authorized the Secretary of War " to adopt measures for recruiting and en- 
 listing men for companies in service for the war, or for three years, which 
 by the casualties of the service have been reduced by death and discharges/' 
 
 But it was said that many would not join existing organizations, who 
 would, if encouraged, volunteer in new ones, and thus have an opportunity 
 . either to be chosen or to choose officers, &c. 
 
 So, on the 22d day of January, 186:2, Congress passed an act authorizing 
 the President " to appoint and commission persons as field officers or Cap- 
 tains to raise regiments, squadrons, battalions or companies, and all persons 
 thus enlisted by them were to have, in addition to bounty, "pay, transpor- 
 tation and subsistence from the date of the organization of the Company." 
 
 Again, a general authority to organize a recruiting system not proving 
 sufficient, Congress by the last act also authorized one commissioned and one 
 non-commissioned officer, and one or more privates from each Company for 
 three years or the war, to be detailed for the express purpose of going home 
 to recruit men for the Company. And on the 27th of January, 1862, an act 
 was passed authorizing three details of an officer and two privates to recruit 
 for the companies originally enlisted for twelve months. 
 
 So, we not only provided every mode for volunteering which even caprice 
 could suggest, but also offered every inducement and stimulant that ability 
 would allow or ingenuity could devise. Men were not only received and re- 
 ceived in their own way, but they were sent for and begged to come. Tried 
 veterans filled the country urging those at home to join their glorious ranks. 
 Money was freely offered, and ambition was commissioned to employ all its 
 energies in raising regiments, battalions, squadrons and companies to secure 
 command. All failed. Our army was still thinning and the enemy still in- 
 creasing. 
 
 Even yet the government was not willing to giva up the favorite popular 
 system of raising and keeping an army by voluntary enlistment. 
 
 One more method was resorted to — the one about which we hear so much 
 from men who do not seem to know what has been done. 
 
 On the 23d of January, 1862, an act was passed authorizing the President 
 li to call on the several States for troops to serve for three years or during the 
 war." This is the plan which we are flippantly told would accomplish 
 every thing. And the Congress and the President are abused for not adopt- 
 ing this plan. Well, Congress did pass the act, and the President did make 
 the call, and let us see what was accomplished and how it was done. 
 
 The quota required of Georgia, I believe was twelve thousand, and as 
 our State seems to have made as much effort, and as much noise about her 
 efforts as any other State, I will take Georgia as the test. The quota for 
 Georgia was filled, and we are told there was a large excess. If this were 
 
11 
 
 all, the argument might be worth something. Bat how were those troops 
 raised ? 
 
 In the first place I 6tate a fact of which you are not probably aware. — 
 Soon after this call was made the Q orernor sent a request, or perhaps a pro- 
 test to the Secretary of War that no more troops should be raised in Georgia 
 by persons having commissions for that purpose under the act to which I 
 have referred, until this requisition was filled ; and a number of regiment? 
 partially raised were only saved from being disbanded by the Secretary 
 agreeing that they should be credited to Georgia as part of the quota requir- 
 ed under the call. I do not state this to blame the Governor, but it is a fact 
 which shows that he thought, he would be unable to raise the quota if these 
 commissions were continued, and that there would be difficulty in filling the 
 requisition. But even with this help, how did the Governor proceed. I 
 have not the proclamation beforo me, but I cannot mistake or forget its char- 
 acter, lie allotted a proportion to each county, and designated a day when 
 all, I believe, of the militia age, should be called out, and the offer should 
 be made for volunteers. If they volunteered, all well: if not they were to 
 be drafted — conscribrd , and this is the first instance of practical conscription 
 during this revolution in the Confederate States known to me. The system 
 proposed by the Governor in one feature is similar to the conscription acts, 
 for those acts give every man an opportunity to avoid conscription by volun- 
 teering. But in all other respects the conscription acts are far preferable 
 and more in accordance with the genius of our institutions. Mr. Davis 
 would never think ot ordering a draft or conscription without legislative 
 authority. The Governor had no authority of law for his order. Nothing 
 was ever more illegal. Again, his draft classified very arbitrarily, if not 
 worse, and by executive order limited the right of suffrage — thus making a 
 refusal voluntarily to respond to an executive call an occasion for forcible 
 seizure of the person — a discriminating seizure of persons, and an excuse 
 for depriving the persons so seized of the right to vote — all, I repeat, without 
 legislative authority ! I refer to these facts, not to make a charge against 
 the Governor, but to show how these troops wore raised, and how little of 
 the volunteer spirit was manifested. Other States, I am informed never did 
 fill the requisitions of tho President. How many I do not know. 
 
 Do you suppose your members of Congress did not observe the illegal pro- 
 cess adopted in Georgia for filling this requisition? And would they have 
 been wise to have supposed another requisition could be filled by volunteering! 
 They would have merited and would have received universal execration, and 
 those who now condemn for what was done would have taken the lead in 
 the execration. 
 
 Again, it has been charged that Congress showed a great want of foresight 
 in receiving so many men for twelve months, and that from the beginning 
 they ought to have received volunteers only for the war, and this would have 
 saved the trouble about the twelve months regiments. 
 
 By reference to the acts of Congress as I have enumerated them, you will 
 see that the two acts under which twelve months troops were accepted were 
 passed, one on the 28th of February and the other one on the 6th Ot March, 
 1861. The first simply authorized the troops to be accepted by the President 
 which had been raised by, and were in the service of the States, and they 
 were to be received on the terms of their enlistment — of course by the State 
 laws before the confederation. Thus, most of these men were raised by the 
 States— those governments that always do right; and the want of foresight 
 is charged on the Congress by State rights men. 
 
 Again both these acts were passed before there was any war, and at a time 
 when most of our statesmen, and especially those who charge the Congress 
 with a want of foresight, were telling us there would be no war. They 
 abuse the Congress for not raising troops to serve during the war, when there 
 was no war, and they were telling us there would be no war ! Yet, ridicu- 
 lous as it is, this is about the fairest charge made against the government. 
 As I think we ought to have known that there would be a war— a bloody 
 war — and we ought to have raised troops accordingly. Nevertheless, we have 
 done well and all ought to be satisfied. 
 
12 
 
 Thus, every plan for authorizing volunteers had been tried ; every induce- 
 ment had been offered which the government was able to offer; every appeal 
 had been made, and still our regiments were but skeletons. Still, half those 
 regiments were going out of the service. . Roanoke and Fishing Creek, and 
 Donelson and Nashville had covered the land like so many thick palls of 
 darkness. On every side the enemy was gathering, boasting, pressing, robbing 
 and destroying. A mighty army, which no man could number, was rushing 
 to our classic Peninsular, and wild with the thought of sacking our capital, 
 and destroying our people as the hungry locusts devour the grass blades in 
 their pathway. Still, still, the heavy heart-crushing fact came back to your 
 Congress and to your President, that our regiments were but skeletons ; half 
 of these would soon go home, and none were coming to take their places. 
 The people did not and could not see and feel these facts as did those in 
 authority who were entrusted by the people to keep faithful watch in that 
 dark and stormy hour. 
 
 There was no remedy left but to keep all the regiments and organizations 
 we had, and fill them up. by a system of compulsory enlistment, and that 
 remedy to be effective must be speedy and thorough. 
 
 But it is said this legislation is unconstitutional. That Congress had no 
 power to raise an army by compulsion. Well, if this be true then the gov- 
 ernment was a failure. We had no government— no Confederate Govern- 
 ment. And what a spectacle would we thus have presented to the nations 
 of the earth. We were asking them to recognize us as a nation — to receive us 
 into their family as an independent member. To entitle us to be so recog- 
 nized and received, it is necessary by the established laws of nations, that 
 we show to the nations that we have a government capable of commanding 
 the obedience of our own citizens, and capable of repelling the assaults of 
 foreign foes. That foreign foe was assaulting us most heavily. We had de- 
 fended—nobly defended by voluntary enlistment, until tha*; system had ex- 
 hausted its strength. We must command to the fight or fail. If we had no 
 right to command, the Confederated States was a demonstrated failure, both 
 as to internal government and external power. 
 
 But why. upon what ground is this legislation unconstitutional ? 
 
 First, because it is said to be contrary to individual liberty, and oppressive 
 upon individual rights. Government, it is said, has no right to force men 
 from their homes and business, and compel them to defend their country. 
 This is a strange notion of liberty. Men owe obligations as well as possess 
 rights. The performance of obligation is the preservation of rights, and th« 
 only security to liberty. Government is formed for mutual defence, and every 
 member of government is under a paramount obligation to defend it as a 
 very condition to his right to protection by the government. He who will not 
 defend, has no claim to protection. To require a citizen to defend his gov- 
 ernment from hostile attack is not to deprive him of his liberty, but to re- 
 quire him to perform his obligation, and to defend liberty and all the rights 
 of society. But it is flippantly said, that governments derive their just 
 powers from the consent of the governed, and, therefore, there can be no 
 power where there is no consent. What an argument for a statesman ! 
 Governments do derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, 
 but do they exercise their derived powers only by the consent of the govern- 
 ed? When you call a man from his home and business, and make him a 
 juror to settle other men's disputes, and fine and imprison him if he does not 
 obey, do you ask him if he consented to the law under which he is summoned 
 and compelled to attend? When you require a citizen to work the highway 
 and public roads, do you ask him if he consented^ to the road laws ? Yet 
 military duty is far higher than these, for if the country is not defended, all 
 other rights are destroyed and all duties consequently discharged. 
 , Thus, it is a well established principle, which you will find in every 
 standard author on government, that the obligation is on every man equally 
 with his neighbor to render military service. No man is exempt except by 
 law. Can a man be discharged from his obligation simply because he is 
 unwilling to perform it? Are the willing to bear all the burden of defend- 
 ing the country ? Can no man be a soldier but a volunteer ? Is want of 
 
13 
 
 will, or withholding of consent, to relieve from duty ? When people form 
 a government they may say whether that government shall be democratic, 
 aristocratic or monarchical. They may say, as their theory, that all power is 
 derived from the people, or resides in a crnwn. But when the government is 
 formed, when the powers are conferred, it is the duty of those entrusted 
 with the powers to exercise them, and it is the duty, the virtue and the pa- 
 triotism of the citizen to obey. A citizen is under as much obligation to 
 defend a republic as a subject a crown, and the greater, since the republic is 
 formed by his consent. Originally when government declared war, the 
 very declaration of war made every man a soldier. No special act was re- 
 quired to make him a soldier. The act of war ipso facto made him a soldier. 
 None but women, children and invalids are natural exempts. But all were 
 not needed for the army ; aud besides it was important that some should 
 produce provisions. Now, who shall say that this man must be a soldier 
 and another must remain at home ? In other words who shall raise the army? 
 You cannot leave it to the individuals— the consent of the governed. Who 
 can determine this but the government— the power that declares the war? 
 Thus has sprung up the necessity for legislation to declare who shall be a 
 soldier, to fix exemptions, and to ascertain the non-combatants. For under 
 the laws of nations these non-combatants are entitled to many privileges, 
 even to non-interference by the enemy with their persons and property. 
 These principles are so familiar to students on government that. I am amazed, 
 that any one should assert a theory directly in the face of them. 
 
 N<>, my countrymen, it is every man's duty, and should be his pleasure to 
 defend the government of his choice. No man has a right to say, "You 
 shall go. because you arc willing, and I will stay because I am unwilling to 
 go." Willing or uuwilling the duty is the same, and the government alone 
 can systematize and enforce the obligation. 
 
 But. it is objected, secondly, that the States alone can exercise this power 
 of compelling military service, and that the exereise by the Confederate 
 Government is a violation of the rights of the States. 
 
 There is certainly a plain and easy method of settling this question. 
 Is this power delegated or reserved? If delegated, it belongs to the Confede- 
 rate Government; if reserved, it belongs to the States. The Constitution — 
 the grant— is the only test That, most explicitly declares that Congress 
 shall have power "to declare war,'' and "to raise and support armies." Here 
 ends the argument, but, strange to say, not the controversy. Men who claim 
 to favor strict construction, to oppose interpolation, now begin to construe 
 and to interpolate. They say the Constitution means that Congress shall have 
 power "to raise armies' by voluntary tnlistmtnt. By what authority of fact 
 or logic arc these words added ? Again, men who love controversy, say the 
 Constitution means that Congress shall have power '-to raise armies' : by calls 
 on the States. By what authority are these words added ! These broad and 
 destructive interpolations upon the Constitution are not only without excuse, 
 but in the very teeth of history. Under the articles of Confederation, the 
 General Government was dependent on the will of the States for troops, and 
 the system worked so badly, even during the revolutionary war, that the 
 framers of the Constitution determined to get rid of it, and did get rid of it 
 in the most clear intelligent and emphatic manner. 
 
 When the Convention were engaged in framing the Constitution . the very 
 question of what powers should be limited and what not limited, was before 
 them. Every power delegated was considered separately, and the necessary 
 limitations were also considered, and the intention was to leave no words out 
 which it was proper to insert : Hence eight of the eighteen powers are re- 
 stricted and qualified in the very terms of the grant The power to raise and 
 support armies is limited as to the latter branch — support. "No appropria- 
 tion of money for that purpose shall be for a longer period than two years." 
 Now, the power to raise armies is the m;ijor proposition, and either of the 
 limitations now proposed to be inserted, is greater than the limitation upon 
 the power to support. Did the clumsy framers insert the minor qualification 
 and leave out. the greater ? 
 
 But it is again said that this power to "raise armies" is limited by the pow- 
 
u 
 
 er to cull out the militia. With all due deference, I must say this confound- 
 ing the army with the militia, i* trifling with tho question. The militia is a 
 peace establishment — exists always in all the States. The States do keep the 
 militia, but not troops of war in time of peace. When the Constitution 
 was framed the States had a large frontier exposed to sudden invasions by 
 hostile Indian tribes. History had also shown that Republics were subject, 
 to insurrections and ^resistance to the process of law. The desire was to 
 provide a power ample to protect this large frontier from Indian incursions, 
 to preserve internal peace and security, and to do all this without a large 
 standing army. This was the very purpose of the militia. It was not to 
 prosecute war, but to preserve the peace — to be used in sudden emergen- 
 cies—and to this end it was organized to be kept always trained, always offi- 
 cered, and in every locality. And as the militia embraced the great body of 
 the people whose business was not war, but agriculture, commerce, and all 
 the industrial pursuits, and ought not, therefure, to be called away for a 
 long period from their pursuits, the power of Congress is expressly limited 
 to call forth the militia only to suppress insurrections, repel invasions and exe- 
 cute the laws. The militia may sometimes aid the army ; but always for 
 short periods ; and, therefore, the militia, as such, has never been called out 
 for a longer period than six months in this country. A proposition by Mr. 
 Giles to call out the militia for two years, was denounced by the very men 
 who opposed conscription, as an unconstitutional attempt to convert the mi- 
 litia into an army ! And, in this, they were right. But "to declare war" is a 
 wholly different power. To declare war is not to suppress insurrections, re- 
 pel invasions, or execute the laws. It is broader and greater. It may re- 
 quire us to invade— to resent insult and revenge injuries, and to accomplish 
 tnis great work — the most terrible necessity of a fallen nature— Congress had 
 to have distinct and efficient means. And for this purpose Congress was in- 
 vested with the power to raise and support armies. And this is right. If 
 the thirteen States had remained separate, it would hare required as large 
 an army to wage war by, or in defence of one, as all. The expense of 
 each would also be as great. Indeed, each State would have required a larg- 
 er army than all would require, for with so many rival and conflicting pow- 
 ers so contiguous to each other, wars and collisions would have been fre- 
 quent. To avoid these very evils — to provide a common defence— to make 
 that common defence easy and light, was one of the very objects of the Con- 
 federation, and to make that common defence equal and a unit ; the power to 
 raise the army and to support the army was given to the common Govern- 
 ment. To have left the execution of this power dependent on the will of the 
 States would have been ruinous. For one State might be willing to furnish 
 its quota of men and money, and another unwilling, as was soon the case, 
 and this state of things would have produced not only weakness and injus- 
 tice, but disagreements, criminations and collisions — the very evils which 
 were intended to be remedied. In the war now pending, Congress did not 
 want a militia to repel an invasion. Invasion, it is true, was one feature of 
 the war; but it was only one feature. Congress wanted an army to prose- 
 cute war — to conquer a peace and win independence. 
 
 I will not offend your intelligence by pursuing so palpable an argument. 
 I have thought this much was due from me because of my relation to this 
 legislation. I was never more troubled than when this necessity for con- 
 scription; in some form, became manifest. The country at the time was filled 
 with gloom.. It was the dark hour of the revolution. I had no doubt even 
 in that dark hour that some of the State authorities would resist the law as 
 then proposed. I said as much in the Senate, not by way of approval, but in 
 shame and sorrow. I feared the disaffection thus began by politicians and 
 local authorities might extend to the army. The law was harsh on the 
 twelve months men. I feared they might be reached by such untimely ap- 
 peals and hurtfnl controversy. This would have wrecked us forever. The 
 cause had already as much as it could bear in the common enemy, and the 
 struggle was fearful. Whatever might be my opinion of the patriotism or 
 wisdom of a controversy at that hour of darkness and gloom, I did desire, if 
 possible, to avoid it; and to avoid it I was willing to leave no room for the 
 
15 
 
 prejudices of the reckless or the whims of the capricious. Pending the sub- 
 ject, therefore, I preferred another proposition, or bill, a milder form of con- 
 scription, whieh I thought might accomplish the good and aroid the contro- 
 versy^ With the lights now before me, I doubt whether the milder form of 
 conscription for which I voted would have been sufficient for the crisis. At 
 all events, the present proposition became the law of my country, and 1 shall, 
 asa good citizen, support it; and with equal cheerfulness whether I voted 
 for or against it. I will not countenance that sickly patriotism, nor render 
 commendation to that higher law fanaticism which cannot support as law. 
 that which, as a proposition of expediency, did not meet the approval of in- 
 dividual preference. 
 
 Failing in the argument, the opponents of the law seek to provoke the 
 jealousies, and to alarm the fears of the people. Why, say they, if this pow- 
 er to raise armies by conpulsion is conceded to the Confederate Govern- 
 ment, that Government could destroy the people and the States. Thus they 
 pass away from the Constitution to the motives of those who happen to ad- 
 minister it, to ascertain the powers of the Government! Until the advent, in 
 political logic, of these new lights, whose theory seems to be that nothing was 
 ever before understood, and whose practice seems to be that nothing°shall 
 ever be considered as settled, it had been conceded by reasoners of sup- 
 posed ability, that to prove a power could be abused was no argument to 
 .show the power did not exist. Ex : stence itself may be abused, and unfortu- 
 nately, all existing things are liable to be abused. Still, all things do exist. 
 Uy this method of reasoning you could soon prove that Congress had no pow- 
 er whatever, for what power in the whole enumerated catalogue might not be 
 abused to the injury if not the destruction of the people and States ? Con- 
 gress would have no .power "to provide and maintain a navy ;" for they 
 might blockade and destroy all the ports of the States. Congress would 
 have no power to "regulate commerce ;" for they might destroy all the com- 
 merce of the States. And it would never do to permit the Confederate 
 States to build forts and iron clad vessels for the protection of our cities, and 
 man them with Confederate troops, for they might turn the guns on the eities 
 and destroy them ! The truth is, my friends, when men or rnlers tcish to de- 
 stroy, they do not. wait for authority to do so. The best evidence of a willing- 
 ness to assault right and liberty is the exercise of powers not granted, or of 
 functions not conferred. Revolutions neither make nor justify tyrants, but 
 they do develope them. Place no power in the hands Of those who betray a 
 love for the exercise of power— who plead necessity as the excuse for usurpa- 
 tion^and revolution as the occasion for oppression. The crowing grandeur 
 ot Washington's character was, that in the midst of revolution, ke obeyed 
 the laws; and the highest claim which Mr. Davis presents for your confi- 
 dence is, that with examples to the contrary all around him. he has, thus far, 
 strictly refused to exercise any power not expressly authorized by law. It is 
 a fact well attested by all history, that they find most fault with power in oth- 
 ers, who, themselves exercise ungranted powers most freely. This is the 
 sure unerring ear-mark of that ambition which made Ciesar and Cromwell 
 and Bonaparte trample upon the liberty they swore \o defend, and grasp 
 empire. 
 
 ^ Was the conscript law intended to destroy the States ? Did it. destroy the 
 States l On the contrary, history will record the fact, that it saved the States, 
 and saved the country. Yea, it drove back the foreign invader and secures 
 to its domestic foes the privilege of sitting here in peace, to defame the law 
 as an usurpation, the government that enacted it as oppressors, and the he- 
 roic army that obeyed it as slaves ! 
 
 Nor will I omit this occasion to enter my protest against that folly now so 
 common, of attempting to excite jealousies, controversies and conflicts be- 
 tween the States and their own common government. To hear these ill- 
 timed phillipics against that, government, a stranger would suppose that the 
 Confederate States was a government foreign to the States, and the necessa- 
 ry and unyielding enemy of the States. The people are constantly warned 
 not to trust, not to help, not to sustain, but to distrust and to resist their own 
 government as some insidious monster always stretching for power to de- 
 
16 
 
 stroy the States. Now, my friends, who are they that administer the Con- 
 federate States? Are they not citizens of the States, delegates from the 
 States? Are not their interests all in the States? Havel lost my affection 
 for my State because you have houored me as her delegate in that govern- 
 ment which was created by the States and whose business is to protect tho 
 States ? Is not my family, my property, my home, my every interest and ev- 
 ery hope still in my State ? Why have I less interest in, or less affection for 
 Georgia than I had when I occupied one of your seats in the State Assem- 
 bly? We have gotten rid of those whose interests and sympathies were dif- 
 ferent from our own. Let us also get rid of the excessive jealousies which 
 those differences furnished politicians with an excuse to inflame. 
 
 The government is your own. The agents who administer it are of your 
 own choosing from your own citizenship. Choose wise men, good men ; 
 then give them your confidence and support. And when they become un- 
 worthy, return them to private life. 
 
 Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty ! I grant it. But I deny that eter- 
 nal vigilance means perpetual snarling, snapping, fault finding and com- 
 plaining. I deny that vigilance means resistance to the government, disaf- 
 fection to the laws, contumely to authority, or the disorganizing freedom of 
 individual opinion to set itself up against legal enactments and judicial de- 
 cisions. 
 
 No, there is no foundation for these constant jealousies and threatened 
 conflicts between the State and Confederate governments. Nine of every 
 ten of these issues spring, not from any real well grounded differences, but 
 from passion, personal ambition and party manoeuvre. There is little diffi- 
 culty in understanding the respective rights and powers of the two govern- 
 ments where the desire is sincerely and only to understand them. The pow- 
 ers of the Confederate Government are plaiuly and specifically delegated. 
 The rights of the States are covered by two propositions: first, to exercise 
 the powers reserved or not prohibited; and, second, to have the powers del- 
 egated exercised according to the pusposes of the grant. The great busi- 
 ness of the Confederate Government is to manage the interests common to 
 the States, and especially to conduct the relations with foreign governments. 
 There is too much quibbling about terms. I sometimes speak of the Con- 
 federate Government as a nation. What is meant by this? When applied to 
 the Confederacy it has no territorial reference. Are we not struggling for 
 admission into the family of nations ? Are we not claiming and demanding 
 recognition by other nations ? As what will we ask them to recognize us? 
 By what name will we be called ? Agency ? Created by a revocable power 
 of attorney, which experiment entered into to-day and which caprice may re- 
 call to-morrow ? Partnership ? A society of convenience, without rank or 
 national dignity? A standard writer, concurred in by all standard writers, 
 tells us, '-that the independent States entitled to rank in the great family of 
 nations, are those powers to whom belongs the right of embassy*." The right 
 to receive and to send public ministers. Will not this be the great— the pe- 
 cu ]i ar — the appropriate province of the Confederate States? Who shall con- 
 clude our treaties of peace and of commerce; form alliances ; receive ministers 
 of foreign nations; resent insults and demand reparation for injuries ? Who 
 shall float the flag, and protect the citizen over all waters and in all lands ? 
 Who, but the Confederate States? And shall we say they shall enter this 
 great family with less rank, less dignity, and less power for success than oth- 
 er nations ? Less than England, or France, or Russia ; yea, less than Turkey, 
 Brazil, or Mexico? 
 
 Away with this perpetual effort to. belittle and paralyze our own govern- 
 ment. We have prescribed its boundaries, beyond which it cannot pass, and 
 within those boundaries let us not quarrel over forms nor quibble about terms, 
 but render that confidence and co-operation so essential to efficiency. _ Let 
 each government— State and Confederate— move in its own sphere, neither 
 interfering with, abusing, nor exciting jealousies against the other, for both 
 are seeking the one great end— the happiness of the same people. 
 
 Too many persons will not interpret the Constitution according to its plain 
 language, and clear intent and meaning. Adherence to some preconceived 
 
n ; the bias of association : the desire to no 
 eoinp'i tonal disappointment, 
 
 time, admin >vernment; ambition, 
 
 mtand form the opinion of nu-n, 
 declared an 
 titutiohal when it. 
 their views or promote th -. It is according to the phi- 
 
 losophy of the lnt man s ho are thq id rarely seethe 
 
 rarely admit an error. Such minds are always extreme, some- 
 »f logic which they will hot violate, no per- 
 urait, and no elevation of character 
 ; an qj i'nionj yet are never con- 
 sistent, fcy, and 
 nothi; but their own - lividual opinion. 
 
 augnrated the erusade 
 ,i based upon a plain grant 
 m, were nu as'de by Circuit 
 
 tkial harangues of State Governors* 
 the land fixed no obligation upon in 
 putes, and istinguisbed 
 
 led- as governed 
 Is of Northern fanaticism and find the 
 ■" i :r u turn your eves t>> the fields of 
 blood, and wail an intinent, ai i i see the only le- 
 
 gitimate results < pirit of discord. It is not the subject 
 
 which this spirit m ! works the mischief; it is tho spirit itself 
 
 which will ;, nd makean occj 
 
 VV] - they could 
 
 hey could more rights 
 
 and In i now administer the ' e Gov- 
 
 ernmei uth up, has been aistingun 
 
 itates. If yon cuter the Senate chamber you find there tho 
 
 well-balanced Clay of Alabama; hi.s colleague, thp i : that 
 
 able, experienced and renowned statesman, Mr, Hunter, of Virginia; Mr. 
 
 Barnwell, of South Carolina, than whom no better man nor purer statesman 
 
 ever blessed his country or adorned a Senate : and many more well d 
 
 Ing of mention; all of whom have ever Been champions of the rights of the 
 
 . and all of whom voted for and advocated the I tidn Laws. 
 
 Yet. the met day tell us that these nun are usurping power which 
 
 crush the States ! I no limit; effrontery no blush? Has 
 
 ■ avocation but fault-finding ! patriotism; no end but power i 
 
 ambition no satiety even in blood, and the. country no destiny but dissension 
 
 and endless divisions ? 
 
 But, if these high Confederate characters merit not your confidence, will 
 not the decision of your own highest State Court— a I 
 
 i than whom none are mure eminent as jurists .nor u • ■ 
 men — appease your wrath and convince your judgments? Is your own 
 it Court engaged, also, in the terrible work of destroying the States 
 and enslaving the people ? Can none be right but those who condemn the 
 law? Can none be trustworthy but those who persist in disco: 
 come to this, that statesmanship can settle no principle; character excite no 
 the courts end no controversy ? Does freedom of speech 
 consist iu I e constituted authorities of *he land, and freedom of 
 
 opinion confer the right to disregard adjudicated la^.v ? Beware, my coun- 
 n, lest with such wild, unbridled theories, you mistake licentiousness 
 for freedom, and enthrone bloody anarchy in the seat of law-restraining lib- 
 erty! Casuists have written, and cabinets hafe debated, to ascertain the 
 best form of government and the true philosophy of governing. Every form 
 has had its advocates, and every peopie their experiments, and the bloody 
 arbitrament of war has shed its crimson tides in the ever-recurrii g contio- 
 v.ersy. But to one great conclusion casuists and cabinets, people and armies 
 must agree. Ail government is vanity where the laws are notHwpectcd. 
 
is 
 
 W aim vain iuleel, willaU your sacrifice* be : ; your sobs will fall, in vain, 
 and in vain will you: heroes roll back the re<{ wave of battle and vanquish 
 the countless hosts of the invader, if, when peace returns, the law be not tho 
 rule of every man's life, and the guide of every man's opinions. This is the 
 rock on which we have split. This is the rock towards which we are .steer- 
 ing again : the growing, spreading disregard of law and disrespect for au- 
 thority. The phHosiphy of government is law. The stabdity of government 
 is law The glory of government is law. And oh that I could catch the 
 emphasis which would force universal conviction when I SB.% tin- FREEDOM 
 OF ttOyisJtNiVffiST IS LAW ! Where shall conflicting .opintons harmonize, 
 save in the decisions of legal authority; and how can we agree except outho 
 basis of well considered lav/ 1 
 
 These, my friends, are no new thoughts with me. I utter them with eamesc- 
 nesa, because 1 have felt them for years. Lawlessness is the power I never 
 cease to dread ; and X warn you this night, that it will require all your vigi- 
 lance to proveut it from enslaving yourselves, and establishing its throne of 
 ruined hopes in this land we leave for our children, and all in the name v( 
 liberty. 
 
 But there is another state of things which transpired in the history of 
 those Conscription laws widen is the reverse of that against which I have 
 been speaking, and which is well calculated to gladden our confidence and 
 inspire our hope. 
 
 I have said that I predicted resistance -by some in authority to these laws, 
 and that under the cireumstances then existing this disaffection might ex- 
 tend to the army, and we should be undone! My judgment was not at. fault 
 in iti conclusions as to what politicians would do; but the apprehension 
 that their teaching's might possibly affect the conduot of the troops was 
 groundless. I know of no incident of the kind in all history -more beautiful 
 and touching than the self-denying patriotism with which '.the troops who 
 originally enlisted for twelve months, obeyed the first Conscription Act. 
 
 In ancient Sparta the evidence of all worth, the test of all courage, and 
 the sum of all virtue, was obedience to the laws. And Socrates, the Athe- 
 nian, has been consecrated to immortality for more than twenty centuries as 
 the greatest and wisest of ancient philosophers, because he submitted himself 
 to the law of his country, though that law was procured by false accusation 
 and doomed him to the death of a felon. 
 
 For a short period in the beginning of the revolution, the government ask- 
 ed for volunteers to serve for twelve months. 
 
 In a very little time more than one hundred thousand enlisted. They camo 
 from every rank and condition in society. They came — the tender son of 
 fortune, the hardy mechanic from his shop, the student from his lamp, the 
 laborer from his plow, the bridegroom from his chamber, and the old man 
 irom his household — all peers and comrades — rushing to the front in this 
 dawning struggle for imperilled liberty. They braved the scorching heats 
 and life destroying miasmas of the tropical South. They endured the frozen 
 snows and iey winds of the chilly North. Amid the flowing gardens of 
 beautiful Pensacola; by the wave-washed shore of surf-beaten Hatteras ; 
 on the banks of the classic James and York; and over the dreary summits 
 and through the rugged gorges of the mountains of Virginia, these first, en- 
 listed bands of Confederate braves, marched and camped and fought and 
 suffered for their beleaguered country. J3y the deeds which heroes love, 
 , and the pains which martyrs only feel, they have made the names of Bethel 
 and Manassas, Leesburg and Belmont, Laurel Hill and Sewell Mountain, as 
 familiar as Marathon, sacred as Bunker Hill ;md immortal as Yorktown. 
 
 The months rolled by and the end of enlistment drew near. Fatigue to 
 the extent of physical strength had been borne, and glory enough even for 
 the spirit of the Cavalier had been won. It was natural that the heart should 
 turn its longings from the strife, and the tired soldier, " foot-sore and 
 weary," should desire to go home and rest. The sweet thought made the 
 laugh ring merry around the camp fires, and was whispered in earnest hope 
 from comrade to. comrade along the line of battle. In the quiet night the 
 sleeping veteran, all fitful in dreams, would start and mutter in half uttertd 
 
I I 
 
 ' ■ - ■■ and 
 l 
 
 by hw *it}]m - rounds, th 
 
 i*re ye the hcart-witm • 
 
 Ala-.' for the cruel, heartless demands of re 
 tred along our borders. These . 
 iution and ruin by as piratical an inva 
 
 earth. Therefore, the reluctant but stern enactment came, and . 
 earliest patriot, •' This return .must not bo yet! Th 
 
 m iio : the watch must stil! be kept, and for two ., must 
 
 endure the hardship* of camp and dare the dang What a 
 
 Ve>t of >v.tr-„tisni was this ! No wonder rh it srau smen felt anxious for the 
 
 of this trying announcement. No wander the ene . 
 Hrujj todispaua. .-uui just at im critical m 
 
 of dIjc politician waa heard, in ace suited to the ■ ■ •• whim- 
 
 pers which j nice iu Kde n, saying to these trouble 
 
 disappointed spirits: The law is unconstitutional — tmjnst— unnecessary, and 
 binding <>n no one ! Vet, not one of that hundred thousand Ustened 
 
 of the char nor, or questioned the duty oi obedien 
 cliuclu I mew the ritte and stan battte. Their \ •. 
 
 was against the foe that made the law a necessity. And by that ti 
 independence teas won. 
 
 Allalung from Malvern Hill to Sharpsbusg, and from the Totemac to tha 
 ire sleeping i ■ i glury to-night. To these, thai 
 happy return will never come, bit! ied an example of duty 
 
 and sacritice which all n ill praise and their children shall bless for- 
 
 ever. Others, more fortunate, have returned, Ai of them with arm 
 
 limb, or on-; eye, and with scars of hoaor such as Trojan never wore and 
 "i never won, are everywhere urging oed ence to the laws of the 
 country th< Ir ciiivalry obeyed, what excuse has ambition t> 
 
 resist/ If the army is satisfied, why .should politjeiana and people com- 
 plain ! Here let the gown and the ermine learn of the sword and the bayo- 
 net, a lesson of obedience and submission. Lot the sublime examples speak- 
 ing in the rattling musketry and deep cannon » iiicka- 
 homitiy and the Shenandoah silence your cavils — ye, • its and safe 
 positions! For shame, let demagogueism slink away in silence, and 
 forever to disturb a people so worthy todwell'in peace; and with one 
 and one heart let us consecrate to immortality, and £o mi emnla- 
 tfon of our children the memory of these confederate heroes of more than 
 Spartan courage, and greater than Socratic virtue. 
 
 Thus, gentlemen and fellow citizens, in feebleness but in candor, have I 
 given you my views of the condition and proBpeeta of our country. Wa 
 began in divisions and doubts These divisions are healed and these doubts 
 *-.regoue. We began in weakness, hi the very sti • life we are 
 
 growing strong. We began without arms, without munitions ot war, and 
 without known resources. We have procured. and are daily making plenty 
 of arms of faiost excellent quality, from the pistol to the heaviest ordnance. 
 "We have no lack of the munitions of war; and our mountains mid our caves, 
 our fields and our looms are furnishing resources and supplies abundant for 
 every purpose and for all our people. Providence seems to have hid away 
 in our earth every good and desirable tiling, and when the hour of our need 
 arrived, kindly guided us to them. We have suffered disasters, and in the 
 nature of war must surfer them again. Bui we have had four fold triumphs, 
 and shall have final success. But few differences and discussions have arisen,' 
 and time and patience have soon shown them to be unfounded and unneces- 
 sary. The only remaining difference— the conscription laws— was never ex- 
 tensive, is narrowing daily, and must soon pass away with the others. They 
 are founded on a specific grant, were obeyed by the army, and saved the 
 coumry. In the shadow of these great facts opposition must sicken and die. 
 We have a better anny than we have ever had, and are stronger in every ele- 
 ment, of power. We have already won success, and patience wiil bring the 
 full truition of our hopes. No other nutiou will molest us. No outside power, 
 
*20 
 
 r)ftTpf»rnt>in»f:6n of oMsitle ^otvefs, fan f>»vbjn£nfe »r$; YT,-- ran ne*e-r, foe Fn?>- 
 riued until wo oni'sjefpes shall will Hi Ail the eiv.H:z«Sef. nations epmmerxl 
 h and adftnt. onr vHsdoni, Onr eneiYiir-s^ hi tear and treinhlinar, 
 er. The darkest day of the crisis is behind ns ! anid as 
 such as ihe natural on the earTs rnorniijg.and brr.sfoawav 
 
 ji lc > i'i, : ,'h surround ns to-night, so surety will 
 
 e on an ear>y morrow, and drivin#away lirese ninr- 
 Uv eJimdsof war, give splendor ttf the earth, aiid light and life and bRj»i*i<* 
 hew tu our children'. 
 
Hollinger Corp. 
 P H8.5