I felt, and so declared, that these mean crimes were infinitely more despicable than the violence in the south, which sprang from a fear of the southern people that their institutions would be impaired by the votes of men debased by…

I charge, among other things, that these constitutional rights and privileges have been disregarded by the Democratic party, especially in the southern states.

Here, I felt, were two antagonistic races widely differing in every respect, the old relations of master and slave broken, with new conditions undeveloped, the master impoverished and the slave free without the knowledge to direct him, and…

I have always respected and loved the State of Virginia, its memories, its history, its record, and its achievements.

Again, although I was a Union man from my heart and every pulsation, just as my friend Wise was a Confederate soldier, yet I never heard in Ohio a man call in question either the courage or purity of motive of any Confederate soldier who…

I said also, that by constitutional amendment agreed to by Virginia, every man of proper age in this country was armed for his protection with the right to cast one honest vote, and no more, and have that vote counted, and you, as well as…

There is the ground I stood on in Ohio, and the ground I stand on now.

If the criminal classes can deprive a colored man or a white Republican of his right to vote, as soon as they have accomplished it, then these rascals--because every man who resorts to this policy is a rascal --then these rascals will soon…

My countrymen, there is no duty so sacred resting upon any man among you, I don't care what his politics are.

I say there is no man who can be deprived of his right to vote without injuring you, from the wealthiest in the city of Richmond down to the humblest man among you, white or black.

There is no crime that is meaner, there is no crime that is so destructive to society, there is no crime so prejudicial to the man who commits it as the crime of preventing a citizen from participating in the government.

I appeal to you, of whatever party, or color, or race, or country, to give us in Virginia at this election an honest vote and an honest count, and if Lee is elected, well and good; if Wise is elected, better yet.

In common with all the people of the United States I share in profound sorrow for the death of the Vice President, especially designated by the constitution to act as president of the Senate.

It is an impressive lesson of the uncertain tenure by which we all hold office and life.

My aim will be to secure the ready and kindly obedience and enforcement of them, so that in an orderly way the sense of the majority may be ascertained and the rights of the minority may be protected.

I do not recall any example in history where a peaceful nation, ignorant of military discipline, becoming divided into hostile sections, developed such military power, courage and endurance as did the United States and Confederate States…

You can neither take the back pay, nor leave it where it is, nor draw it and redeposit it, without subjecting yourself to the yelping of the damned curs, that bark at the heels of every honest man.

If our armies were commanded by such generals we could not fail to have a speedy restoration of the authority of the government, and an end of the war.

His arrest for words spoken, and not for acts done, created great excitement throughout Ohio and the country.

A public meeting was held in New York on May 16, which denounced this action as illegal--as a step towards revolution.

I heard men of character and influence say distinctly that if Vallandigham came into the state he would be killed, and they, if necessary, would kill him.

We told him the condition of feeling in Ohio, and of our confident belief that if his order of banishment was revoked, it would result in riots and violence, in which Vallandigham would be the first victim.

We are in the midst of a great civil war, in which it is safe to say that one million of men are now arrayed in arms against each other.

The immediate stake involved is nothing less than national existence; while the ultimate stake involves nothing less than civil liberty for generations yet to come.

Vallandigham has been illegally convicted and illegally banished; and that if we are fit to be free we must stop and examine the record in his case, and not be turned from it by clamors about prosecuting the war, or of concluding peace.