It is sometimes said, “Half a loaf is better than no bread,” and this has been called “half a loaf.” But nobody would accept “half a loaf,” if it were poisoned.

And I venture to say further, that the rule of a majority has the constant consecration of history in the proceedings of parliamentary or electoral bodies.

It is the rule of the House of Commons in the choice of Speaker; and this is the most important precedent for us, for our Parliamentary Law is derived from England.

You cannot lightly see a great principle sacrificed.

He enjoyed what others did, and praised generously.

We were told that you could not bear freedom,--that you would be lawless, idle, and thriftless.

I have said, had it been a season of peace, then the Senator would be right, and we should not be justified in seeking exceptionally to open the Treasury for the relief of these contractors.

You cannot be blind to such a condition of things.

I am sure, that, wherever that evidence is read, the people will say, Congress is justified in insisting upon security for the future.

In the first place, he forgot that we had been in a war; and, in the second place, he forgot that four million human beings had been changed from a condition of slavery to freedom.

And let me say, that, as the National Government gave that freedom, the National Government must secure it.

The National Government cannot leave the men it has made free to the guardianship or custody or tender mercies of any other government.

I will not consent thus to despoil the National Government of a power which to my mind seems so essential to the national health.

To do so would open the door to innumerable applications; and once open, it would be difficult to shut it.

We are about to make a precedent for the first time.

This argument seems to me unanswerable in principle.

I doubt if any Senator who remembers that interesting chamber would not prefer it to this amphitheatre.

To my mind this is a most disastrous measure.

The people of Iowa will deal with it in their own way, when they see fit; and, as a loyal people, they have the right to do so; and so, I apprehend, have the people of Nebraska.

Let his name be associated with the Capitol by a statue which I am sure will be the source of national pride and honor.

The pirate Semmes returns from his ocean cruise to be chosen Probate Judge,--leaping from the deck of the Ship Alabama to the judicial bench of the State Alabama.

There are powers of Congress, not derived from the Rebellion, which are adequate to this exigency; and now is the time to exercise them, and thus complete the work.

To you, each and all, I appeal to arrest this madness.

I cannot doubt the power and duty of Congress and of the courts to set aside every inequality founded on color.

Let us at all hazards prevent the extension of Slavery and the increase of the Slave Power.