And yet down to this day there is no acknowledgment of this wrong,--not a single word.

Such a generous expression would be the beginning of a just settlement, and the best assurance of that harmony between two great and kindred nations which all must desire.

But first and foremost above all is the public service: that must be maintained; it must not be sacrificed; and how can it be maintained, unless you advance to prominent posts in this service those who are the most meritorious, and who can…

Perhaps I am mistaken, but I see no reason why there should be three Ohio generals in command before Vicksburg, and not three Ohio citizens in eminent civil service.

I merely wish to allude to the notorious fact that for half a century before the Rebellion the proportion of persons in civil office in the Departments in Washington from the Southern States was very nearly, if not quite, two to one to…

But Boston was at that time Massachusetts, and it was her stand for Liberty that made her name the synonym for all.

Massachusetts cannot afford to occupy an uncertain position.

Therefore I begin by asking you to think of our country, our whole country,--in other words, of National Affairs at Home and Abroad.

But the defection of Andrew Johnson had then begun, and out of that defection the Rebellion assumed new life, with new purposes and new hopes.

If it did not spring forth once more fully armed, it did spring forth filled with hate and diabolism towards all who loved the Union, whether white or black.

Then was the time for a few decisive words in the name of the Republic, on which for four years they had waged bloody war.

How easy to see that these men should have been admonished frankly and kindly to return home, there to plant, plough, sow, reap, buy, sell, and be prosperous, but not to expect any place in the copartnership of government until there was…

It was upon security that I then insisted,--believing, that, though the war of armies was ended, this was a just object of national care, all contained in the famous time-honored postulate of war, Security for the Future, without which…

To that security one thing is needed,--simply this: All men must be safe in their rights, so that affairs, whether of government or business, shall have a free and natural course.

It was for Congress to fix the definition of a republican government; nor need it go further than our own Declaration of Independence, where is a definition from which there is no appeal.

There it is, as it came from our fathers, in lofty, self-evident truth; and Congress should have applied it.

As Congress made a Civil Rights Law, so should it have made a Political Rights Law.

If it can be done in the one, it can be done in the other.

No mere text of Constitution or Law is sufficient.

Behind these must be a prevailing Public Opinion and a sympathetic Administration.

The Administration must reinforce Public Opinion, and Public Opinion must reinforce the Administration.

Without these the strongest text and most cunning in its requirements is only a phantom, it may be of terror, as was the case with the Fugitive Slave Bill,--but not a living letter.

It is not practically obeyed; sometimes it is evaded, sometimes openly set at nought.

And now it is my duty to warn you that the national freedman still needs your care.

That traditional experience, that infinite audacity, that insensibility to Human Rights, which so long upheld Slavery, are aroused anew.