Mr. DOOLITTLE. Sir, on the 11th ofApril last he spoke to the people of Washinwton. It was on the occasion oi the illumination, but 3 days before his assassination. The great army of the rebellion had surrendered. He had himself visited Richmond, wherc, from the very house occupied by JeffersonDavis, he had, from time to time, telegraphed the gladdening news of victory upon victory to a rejoicing cople. He had returned from the chief seat of the rebellion to the capitel of the Union, bringing With him, as the spoils of victory, not gold, nor crowns, nor jewels, utthe “broken chains offour million slaves.” In that hour of triumph, in that moment of supreme exaltation, he could not refrain, when invited, from appearing before the people to add to the general joy. Among other things he said: "We meetthis evening. not in sorrow. but in gladness of heart. The evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond and the surrender of the principal insur gent army navehope 9f a righteous and speedy peace. Whose Joyous expression cannot be restrained. n the midst of this. however. Ho from whom all blessings flow must not be forgotten. A call for a national thanksgiving is being prepared, and will be duly promulgated or limit those whose harder p urt gives us the cause of rejoicing; be overlooked. Their honors must not be parceled out with others. I myself was near the front and had the high pleasure of transmitting much of the good news to you: but no wart of the honor. for plan or execution, is mine. To (on GenlGrant. Ghiss skillful officers and the bravo men. all be company in the inagnnual proclamation message, of December. 1863 and ac I presented a den of recifon asdtorputcetdiobny. (aansythSetapther. As she oguoldes be) accept which aplroomtoisaenddtion sustained by the Executive Government of the naeuaeaoco “This plan was. in advance. Submitted to the then Cabinet, and distinctly approved by every member of it.“ Every part and parcel of the plan which ha;., ince been employed or touched by the action of Louisiana.” The Senate will remember that Mr. Lincolns Cabinet then consisted of Mr. Seward, SecyState, Mr. Chase, then SecyTreasury and new Chief Justice, Mr. Stanton, SecyWar, Mr. Welles, SecyNavy, Mr. Usher, SecyInterior, Mr. Blair, then PostMGenl, and Mr. Bates, then AttyGen. Let us remember each and every one of those men approved every part and parcel of that policy. I read still further from this last great speech, in which he gave, in most forcible language, the reasons which made him adhere to and cherish that policy up to the time of his death: "Some 12,000 voters in the heretofore slave State of Louisiana have sworn allegiance to the Union; assumed to be the rightful political power of the State: hold elections; organized a free government; adopted a free State constitution, giving the benefit of public schools equally to black and white and empowering the Legislature to confer the elective franchise upon the colored man. Their Legislature has already voted to ratify the constitutional amendment, recently passed by congress abolishing slavery througliout the nation. These 12,000 persons are thus fully committed to the Union, and to very petthuianlgs freedom in the States committed to the and nearly all the things. the nation wants and they ask the nations recognition and its assistanceto make good that committed. Now, if we rtnce t and spurn them. we do our utmostto disorgniiizoand dispersetheni. wc, in ctfect. say to the white man, You are worthless, or worse; we will neither help ou nor be helped by you. To the blacks we say his cup of liberty which these, your old masters. hold to your lips, we will dashfrom yc quand leave you to the chances of gutherin the spilled and scattered contents, insoms vague on an, edoeufirnaegdinwgheann. dwphaerrael. yaznind hboowth. toIf white course dis and black, has any tendency to bring ouisiuna into proor prac tical relations With the Union. I have, so or been unable to perceive it. "If. on the contrary, we rocognize and sustain the pew government of Louisiana. t icconveiseof all this is made true. We encourage the hearts and nerve the armsof the 12,000 to adhere to their work, and argue for it, and prosel the for it and tight for it, and feedit and grow it, an ripep it to a complete puceesg. The colored map. too. seeingall united or hiin. 1s inspired with vigilance and energy and daring, to the same and Grant that ho desires the elective franchise. Will he not attain it sooner by raring the already advancedste 5 toward it than by running backward over them? oucedothat the new government of Louisiana is only to what it should be asjhe c is to the fowl. we shnl mqner huvothefowl. by hntcing the egg than by smashing it.” "I repeat the question, Can Louisiana bebronsht into proper practical relation with the Union sooner by mntmnmgor by discarding her new State govern mont! What has beensaid of Louisiana wi apply generally to other States.” Sir, I have given you his own words. Iwonld to God they could be read again and again in the hearing of every American citizen. They come to us as his dying legacy upon the great problem of the hour. “hey state the important fact that this policy was entered upon him with the full approbation of every mom of his Cabinet as to every part and parcel of that policy. 1 repeat, and ask the Senate and the counto hear, we have Mr. Lincolns positive testimony, that Mr. Seward approved it, in general and in detail; Mr. Chase approved it and every part and parcel of it; Mr. Stanton and Mr. Velles also, who still remain in the Cabinet, fully and cordiall approved and now, sir, Ipropose to show you that a higher tribunal than Congress, or the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or the President and his Cabinet, approved and sustained that policy. The loyal people of the U.S., represented at Baltimore, approved it by the renomination of Mr. Lincoln tor the Presidency. and, as ifto make the indorsement of this part of Mr. Lincolns policy more emphatic. Mr. Johnson was nominated for the Vice resideney, the very man of all others who had for a long time been engaged in the great work of reconstructing civil ovemment in the State of tenneseo, upon e basis of that policy. It was objected by some in that convention, as it is here, that Tennessee had no right to representation, but, on motion of the distingished citSenfrom NewYork, (Preston King) now no more, her delegates were admitted. One of her sons, in spite of the objection of Mr. Timnnizus Srzvsss, that he was from a foreign State at war with the U.S and therefore an alien enemy, was nominated for VEEP. By those nominations that policy was sustained by the convention. The election came on. That policy, and the Administration which proclaimed it, and the convention which indorsed it, were sustained by the people of the U.S. Next to the great work of crushing the military power of the rebellion, this policy of reconstruction was dearer to Mr. Lincoln, and more cherished by him, than any other. No sooner had the burden of his soul been lifted, no sooner had be seen the surrender of the great army of the rebellion. than in the fullness and gladness ofhis soul he made haste to have to the people his views upon the next reatt icme, reconstruction. I have just reudt cm in your hearing. The Senfrom Massachusetts may denounce them as uerile and wanting in states manship. But there they are, and there they will remain forever, the farewell address of Abraham Lincoln to the peeple of the U.S. itates u n this subject of reconstruction. That President fell, by the euth of Mr. Lincoln, should, substantially, pursue the policy begun by his predecessor, was, therefore, not only natural, but, by the 10 ic of events, almost a necessity. How can d he do otherwise? Sud denly, in a moment, as in the twinkling of on ere, the load is thrown from Mr. Lincolns shoulders upon him; his great responsibility, Johnson, upon whom the office of and his duty, and why not his cherished pol ic? He was surrounded by the same Cabinet. he would expect them to advise any other policy? That policy had been fully entered upon, and in some States the work really done. ll Mr. John son had himself long been engaged in thatwork, in aiding Mr. Lincoln to realize it in Tennessee. Besides, the convention at Baltimore had sustained it. The great Union party, which reelected Mr. Lincoln as President, and made Mr. Johnson VEEP, had indorsed it and unstained it triumphantly at the election. Mr. Johnson could not abandon it without reversing the policy of Mr. Lincolns administration. That policy wasadvised by every member of his Cabinet, includin, as have stated, among other names, the very istin ishednames of Mr. Seward, Mr. Stanton, an Mr. Welles, still members of the Cabinet and of Mr. Chase, the Chief Justice, who, just from the bedside of the d ng President, administered to Mr. John son e oath of his high office. How could he recall that last speech and look upon the dead body of his predecessor; how could he look in the faces of the Chief Justice, as he swore him into office, and of those men in the Cabinet, all of whom had:1 proved every part and parcel of that policy, aiiif)upon whom alone he could then rely for counsel and support in the most trying and difficult crisis through which any man was ever called to pass; how, I repeat, could he look upon all those surroundings, and then deliberately abandon the cherished policy of Mr. Lincolns administration, trample upon the advice of theold members of his Cabinet, as well as of the ChiefJustice himself; abandon his well known convictions of duty; falsify his owrirec ord and betray the eat Union party which nomi nated and elected him, in the contingency which had happened, to be the POTUS? Had he done so, the whole country would have cried out against him, and with reason. In and out of Congress, men might then have denounced him for betraying the public confideiice, and especially for betraying the party which elected him. His Cabinet would have remonstrated against it. The last great speech of Mr. Lincoln, like a voice from his grave, ” an angel trumpet tongued, ” would plead against it and more than all, the President would, in my judgment, have been what Mr. Johnson was never known to be, false to his own convictions of duty. I put aside, therefore, as not worthy of considoration, the suggestions sometimes made that Mr. Johnson, by adhering to this oliey of reconstruction, is ready to betray the nion cause or the great measures of the Union party. Having thus stated the question,and shown the grounds occupied by l Mr. Lincoln, and that Mr. Johnson is substantially pursuing his policy, I return to the main question, and will state, as briefly as I can, the grounds upon which I stand, and give my support to what I call the Lincoln Johnson policy of reconstruction. Where are those 11 States, and what is their situation? and 1st, where are they 7 In this Union, under the constitution, or not? That they once were in this Union all concede. If they have gone out from this Union it must have been by one or more of 3 ways: 1st, by the way of peaceful secession, by voting an resolving themselves out; or, 2nd, by successful revolution, by fighting their way out, to a separate independence; or, 3rd, they have been put out by act of congress. There is not, and never has been, any other way or ways conceived or stated than one or more of these 3. Strong men of the South have maintained that the 1st way was always o on to them. They asserted the right of peaceful secession. It was always me however. It was overpowered by the logic of Mr. Webster in this body, and resisted by the iron will of Andrew Jackson during his administration. t has often been reasserted in this bodysince I became a member, and as often met and refuted. In their folly and madness, from the decision here, and before the people, the South appealed to arms, to discuss the same question on the field ofbattle. They tried the 2nd way, namely, by way of revolution, to cut their way out with the sword. That for a time they made fearful progress in that direction no one denies. But did they succeed? No man, North or South, dare affirm it. No, sir; no. Thanks to that Almighty Being who rules the universe, the great genera s were found at last capable of organizing and wieldin our immense forces. Grant and Sherman an Thomas and Sheridan, and the great officers and brave men under their command, crushed the rebellion, wrenched the sword from the hand of revolution, and then, in the last tribunal known to mankind, in an appeal to the God of battles, by the ultimo ratio regum decided, and in such a way as to leave no doubt in any sane mind, North or South, that no State can go out of this Union by the way of peaceable secession, nor by the way of successful revolution. ghey neither have the right nor the power to o so. It remains to consider the only other way the 3rd way, which, for brevity I will call, with no disrespect to my honorable friendfrom Massachusetts, Sunsss to so our or run Usiox, namely, by act of congress. At the funeral ceremonies here, upon the death of Judge Collamer, he took occasion to announce his theory of disunion, awarding, in great measure, honor, if honor it be, to the deceased, of separating the rebel States from the Union. I “ quote his words: The t act of July 13 1861. which gave to the war fort c suppression of the rebellion its 1st congressional sanction, and invested the President with pow powers, was drawn by him. It was he that set in motion the great him. not yet lifted, by which the rebel Stateswereshut outfrom the communionof the Union. his is a landmark in our history, and it might propeily be known by the name of its author, colamors statute. “ Upon such funeral occasions it belongs to each Senator to judgeforhimself what he shall say. It is a matter of taste. But one thing seems to me certain; whatever may be said at a funeral, it is no proper time to makea reply, and thus bring on ebate. I, therefore, remained silent. I yield to no man in a profound rerd for the memory and character of that real y great and good man, Judge Colla mer, and I intend now to do what my heart prompted me to do then, but which a sense of the proprieties of the occasion compelled me to orego, namely, to defend the statute which he drew, and the Congress which enacted it, the President who approved it, as well as himself, from this charge, that this lawhas o ened a way, or that he, or Congress, or the)resident intended to open a way by which any State could go out, or be thrust out, from this Union of States under the constitution. Sir, Congress, under the constitution, has power to admit new States into this Union. Congress has no power to expel old States, or to open a wa for them to o out; and no man knew better than Judge colamer that Congress had no such power. He could not have intended to draw such an act without violating his oath to support the constitution. However lightly some may speak of the obligations of that oath, he was not one of those. He was a radical in the high and noble sense of the term, because he was radically right, radically firm and radically true to his convictions toward God and toward man. "On one occasion he said: I do not know how other members of the Senate look upon the obligation of the ir oath to support the constitution of the U.S. To me it is an oath registeredin heavenaswell as upon earth, and there is no necessitythat, in my estimation, will Jus tify me in the breach of it. I think those men who are now risking their lives upon the high places of the field to support the constitution are not to be treatedin this all by iiswith the concession that we are ready. if the necessitycalls forit. to break it. All that our rebel enemiesare engaged in is the over hension. throw of the constitution, and all tbatweare contending for is its maintenance and preservation.” Now, I will not say that the Senfrom Massachusetts in the form of seeming praise intended to do any injustice to his name; it was rather to bring, if possible, that great name to the supportofliis favorite theory. But the effect of what he said would, in my judgment, if accepted, be the greatest possible dishonor; that while Judge Collamer knew that the constitution gave no right to the States to secede, and gave to Congress no power to expel them or to open a way for them to withdraw from the Union, o, in violation of his oath to support the Constitution, drew this act of July 13, 1861, for the purpose of shutting 11 great States and their ten million people out from this Union under the constitution and now, sir, let us look into that statute. It is the 5th section, if any, which clothes the President with this power to excl States from the Union. how any such power can be found in the language of that section is to me beyond compreThe idea which inspired the pen that drew it, so far from being that those States were outside the Union or ought to be placed outside this Union, was directly the opposite, namely, that the people of those Stateswercin the Union, owing allegiance to the constitution because they were in the Union: that they were strug ling to cast off that allegiance by going out from the Union, and that a new war power should be placed byCongress in the hands of the President for the very purpose of forcing them to remain in the Union and resume their allegiance to it, and for no other pnrpose. That statute was not drawn to shut those States out, but to shut them in the Union; to close every avenue by which supplies could reach them, until the President turning against them the sword, by which they undertook to cut their way out of the Union. should crush all armed resistance and compel the inhabitants to come under the flag and acknowledge once more their allegiance to the Union. Whatis its language? After certain recitals, it declares: “Then and in such czuo it may and shall be lawful for the President by reclamation to declarethat the inhabitants of such tale or States, or any sectionor part thereof where such insurrection exists, are in a state of insurrection against the U.S., and thereupon, all commercial intercourse by and between the sameand the citizens thereof and the citizens of therest of the U.S shall coast and be unlpflwle uslo, longas mch conditionof hmtilily shall conwith a proviso allowing the President in his discretion to license such intercourse as he might think most conducive to the ublic interest, under rules and regulations of the SecyTreasury. We notice, 1st of all, the authority here given is not to declare certain States out of the Union, but to declare their inhabitants in a state of insurrection. Pray, what is an insurrection but an uprising in arms of people against their own Government, an effort to cast off allegiance they owe to it? It is clear, therefore, that if they were not in this Union, they could not make an insurrection against it. Could the people of Nova Seotia or ltlexico make an insurrection against the U.S.? Because they were in this Union is the very ground and the only ground upon which they could be in insurrection at all. Again, sir, that statute which gave to the President a new war power, by its very terms was to cease with the war necessity. It was a power to stop commercial intercourse, in order to prevent our owa citizens from feeding, clothing, and arming the rebellion, which our armies went to put down. When that work was done, the necessity for non-intercourse was gone; and, by the very terms of the set, all power under it was to cease with the cessation of hostility.