Mr. BEAMAN. This action of the Senate of Tennessee is an ample indorsement of the statement made by the central union committee; and the editor of the Whig, in a.note it pended to the report of the proceedings, ad s characteristically that— “This voting for a r cbeldocument and ngainstthe Union party and sentiment. out of courtesy, is what we don t understand!” The Gentfrom Illinois [Mr. BAKER] has rendered valuable service to the conniry by giving publicity to 2 letters; one from Governor Brownlow, dated January 1, 1866,and the other of the 29th December last, from Hon. A. J. Fletcher, SecyState of Tennessee, from which I present some extracts. Governor Brownlow says: “I giveit. as my candid opinion. that if themilitnry forceswere nllwithdrawn fromTennessee,the legislature would at once be dispersed by a rebel mob. Out of 6 daily pnpersin Nashville. 4 of them are rebel. while the peopleare morethan two3rds on the rebel side. Rebel grund jurics are indicting Federal soldiers and officersin Middle Tennessee,and either binding them over to court in heavy bondsor casting them into prison for executing orders ivon them by our genera s as far back as the daysof oscerunzand Stoneriver and many of the rebels now speak out openly and say Unien men and Yankees shall not live in the country. "Assuming the restraints oflhc General Government are all to be removed from Tennessee.you risk me if northern school teachers would be allowed to educate negroesl I answer, no; not in Middle and West tennessee. In 2 cases out of every 3. the school houses would be burned and the teachers rode upon a rai. In the same letter, he says: “I believe the whole South is full of rebellion and that the rebels are seeking to accomplish by legislation and through Congress what they failed to do upon the field of carnage—destroy the Government and should this Legislature of ours iidjourn without giving us the rinht sort of franchise aw. the next General Assembly will be rebel, and will repeal all laws this one has enacted. The next congressional delegation will he rebel and our Senators will he instructed to resign and some such man as General Forrest Will be electedGovernor.” Mr. Fletcher says: “There iire about 40,000 Union voters in the State against one 100,000 whosesym pathies are With a just but lost cause. Theselatter will form a compact partyin the state.hcld together byhntred for those whom they have branded as To ries for desertin the South in her extremity, by a determination to coptho negro in n condition nsnear toslavery aspossible,andprobablybyadesire to keep the South united With a view to ulterior designs. “The attempt to disfrnnchise the magorityhas failed. Another attempt will be made tin will fail. rind this. too. With the military present and a loyal State government. Withdrawt e press ure of the General Government and a 100,000 rebels talented and wealthy. will laugh at any restraint imposed by less than half their number of citizens. “The next Legislature will be 2/3rds rebel in each House. They will opp ress the Union men in every way they dare and set Tennesseewill make on effortfor n sepa rnte organization. 2 Union men and 6 rebels Wlll be elected to the next Congress. The present loyal delegation owes its succoesto the presence of the military and the partial executionof the suffrogo lawand to policy." A letter has been published of the date of January 15, 1866, addressed by Governor Brown low to Hon. Seaman COLFAX, for the par ose, as I suppose, of establishing the claim of ennessee to representation in the 2 Houses of congress. lwo or 3 extracts from that letter, owever, will show how for it tends to accomplish the object for which its publication was designed. Says the writer— “I am decidedly in favor ofadmitting the Tennessee delegation and have so expressed myselfin all myprivate and published letters unwellmainmy messages to the Legislature." “ "The Tennesseedelegates,as a whole. are loyal, can take the required oath, and would, ifin their seats,add to the strenglh of the Union Mpurty." i " Finally theyoughtto be mittedasa moansofpro venting a rupture beiwcen Congress and the Presi dent. which. for the sake of the country, ought to be avoided. The President ought to besatisfiedwith the admission of the Tennesseedelegatesto their seats and I haveno doubt would be.” But in the same letter Governor Brownlow does not omit to say that — “ If the removal of the Federal troopsfromTennesseemust necessarilyfollow upontheadmissionof our connrcssion nl delegationto their seats.wh vt.hen and in that ease.the loyalinen of Tennessee beg to bewith outRepresentatives in Congress." “I tell you and through you till whom it may concern, that without a law to disfranchise rebels and a force to carry out the provisions of that law. this State will passinto the handsof the rebels, and a terrible state ofuffiiirsis boundtofollow. Uiiioninen willbe driven from the State. Forced to sacrifice what they have and seek homes elsewhere.” " “Those who supposetheSouthis reconstructed, and that her people cheerfully accept the results of the war are fcnrfully deceived. The whole South is full of the spirit of rebellion and the people are growing more bitter and insolent every day. Mr. Speaker, the condition of Tennessee as shown by the documents from which I have quoted, is starth ng and a pulling; but the picture is not overwrought. from every part of the rebel territory comes the same story of wrong, outrage, and oppressmn. The shootin of the negro, the deprivingliirn of all civil rights, the murder of Union men, the banishment of northern emigrants, the utterance of disloyal sentiments, and the commission of every conceivable crime, have become the order of the day and now, what does the testimony of these loyal men of Tennessee establish? Why, it shows that out of 140,000 voters, one 100,000 are rebels in deed and rebels at heart; that treason is as rampant in that region as it was in 1801; that the socalled State government has thus far been compelled, at every step, to lean upon the strong arm of national authority for support; that notwithstanding the presence of t 6 military, outrage and crime everywhere prevail; that the rebels will have a 2/3rds vote in the next General Assembly; that the party opposed to the Government is every day growing stronger, more bitter, more compact; that in spite of laws for disfranchisement, at the next election for Representatives in Congress at least 6 out of the 8 will be rebels and plotters against the Government; that today, were the U.S. troops withdrawn, the Legislature would be dispersed by “a rebel mob;" and that to recognize the nuisance of a State government, and to turn over the people to its care and protection, is to decreeto every loyal man in that region, black or white, ban ishment or death. Sir, such a proposition is base; it is uiigrate fol; it is heathenish; it is monstrous; it is mad ness! and is this the return to be made to loyal southern men for their sacrifices, services and patriotism, who have braved prisons and loss of property, and the scorn and threats of bloody and ed traitors, and even death itself, rather than betray their country? Shall we punish men because of their loyalty? Better, far better, would they have fared had they their hands in the very dregs of treason. Stoop nedd is this the way to make treason odious? and if the loyal southern man is to be ignored or ostracized, when shall we see that “new set of men brought forward who are to vitalize and develOp the Union feelingin the South?” and when and in what manner shall we put down the rebels “ in law, in public judgment, and in the morals of the world)?" But it is alleged that the loyal men of tennessee solicit recognition as a State and re re sentation in congress. If that be true, their views are entitle to consideration, but not necessarily to adotion. It is the duty of congress to protect the loyal men of Tennessee, at it has a higher and more comprehensive duty to discharge. It must regard the welfare of the nation. “ We must not forget that what may be mercy to the individual is cruelty to the State ” But I do not think it is fairly to be inferred from the letters and memorial to which I have referred, or from any other evidence that has been produced, that Governor Brownlow and his associates are anxious for the admission of their Representatives into this House, having due regard to all the surrounding circumstances. While the all say that they desire to be repre sented in congress, they also all declare, in sub stance. with equal emphasis, that, in case the admission of their delegation “ will compel the withdrawal of the supervising control of the national Government over their internal affairs thereby insuring the ascendency of the rebel majority,” the “prefer, and they are sure the loyal people of the State prefer, to live in a territoria condition, and even under a military government.” N ow, they must understand, as everybody knows, that the national Government cannot properly exercise a an ervising control overt e internal affairs of a state. It is not to be supposed that the Government at Washington is to run the State government of Tennessee when restored to the Union; to stand at the polls to receive or reject votes; to amend or repeal or control the franchise laws of the State Legislature; to preside on the benches in the courts, and administer justice when loyal men, black or white, are prosecuted for acts committed during the rebellion; nor to prevent the election of General Forrest as the next Governor of Tennessee. I need hardly add that when we let these rebel districts escape from our hands, and allow them to assume the dignity and powerlot States, our suffervising control over their internal affairs will have passed away, never to return until the torch of rebellion shall afain throw its lurid light over the country. he safety of the people of the U.S., including the Union men of Tennessee, lies in making sure and substantial work; in imposing conditions, and rehuiring guarantees, and establishing order and justice while we have the legal power. But, as furtherendence of the true senti.ments of the loyal men of Tennessee, I beg leave to read the following editorial, which I clip from the Knoxville Whig a paper already referred to, of the date of February l4: “ Tun Passiniwr Aim run Ramona—Under this sort ofheading the rebel sheetsof the South keep up acoustantclumor, redictin and hoping fornn issue between.theIrcsi out and on ress and predicting the certain triumph of the poop. on the ground that the people are with him. 1 cy are extolling the President for his courage and firmness,and doing all they can to bring on a conflict. Meetings are being hold all over the country. so ing. Let the struggle come.for.howeverfierce,the residentwill triumph. as the people are with him. All this is to be regretted for the sakeof the country 1st and next for the sake of the President and his future usefulness. If the people are with the President in his policy. it is the southern peoplewho fou htfour yearsto destroy the Government,and who O amoredfor the capture of the President that they might have the pleasure of hanging him and we are eccived in the Presi dent i he allows this party of traitors to create a quarrel between him and the great Union party that nominatedhim in the Baltimore convention and nub scquently electedhim to his presenthigh postion.: The party denouncedin Congressas radicals. abolitionists and as a faction, composes 2/3s of both houses, and they are the representatives of lsrgg minorities in gilltho loyal States. who will stand Y them. even in a conict with t a resi dent and the new born friends.galvanized loyalists, and amnestied patriots whonow crowd out from the White House all the tried loyalists of the country. Those who labor to bring on a conflict between the lPlresident and Congress are not the friends of either thatutnro will show. For if the Monlo ovar did plant themselves firmly on any platform, it is on the lntforni now occupied by the socalled radicals, or faction, constituting the majority in the present Congress. We gowith that fnerion of radicals: we ap irove their principles and policy; and live or die. sin or swim. survive or perish. we risk our life. our fortune, and our sacred honor on board of that ship. It is a bark sailing under the banner of beauty and glory, the stars and stripes of our country—a banner that the conflicts of the last 80 years have never seencon uered. Alwa 5 victorious, becausealways in the rig it.it is not to e disgraced by tho combined assaultsof borne traitors or malignant foreign fees." The admission of the Tennessee delegation has also been urged on the ground of the personal character of the gentlemen claiming seats in this House; and it has even been said that so much is due to them as a recognition of their faithful and valuable services. I know some of these gentlemen, and they challenge my admiration, as well as my regard and esteem. But I submit that such considerations do not rise to the dignity of statesmanship. The question is not whether Hon. Horace Maynard and his associates shall be admitted to seats in this Hall, nor whether they have deserved well of their countr. The principle of admission respects the right of representation, and not the person selected for that purpose. What is a Representative in Congress? The title is not an arbitrary one. It was adopted with reference to its fitness to the object to which it is ap lied. It is descriptive of the nature of the o co. It implies a constituency with views in consonance with those of the delcoate. Now, if these gentlemen are dis loyal, they ought not to be here. If they are loyal,as we know some cfthem, and, as I an pose, all of them, are, then they can hard y have any just claim as Representatives in this congress. They have a very small, if any, loya constituency. A 100,000 of their 140,000 voters are rebels. The documents to which I have referred show the circumstances and means under and by which they were elected. Neither the mil vitary arm at the Federal Government, re peated proclamations of the Governor, nor tel egraphic orders from the President, were ade quate to produce the object in view. The result was not obtained without declaring the election void in 29 counties in the State. This result certainly is not satisfactory as a mani festation of the free will of the people. Yet all these irregularities and unusual, not to say violent, proceedings might be overlooked if we had nothing to considerbut the character and fitness of this gentlemen themselves. Indeed, we might well conclude that strong and rare measures are justifiable when the object is to defeat traitors and reserve liberty. But the legitimate effect of their admission is to give representation or misrepresentation, as the case may be, to one 100,000 rebels; and a later and inevitable result will be to put into the next Congress at least 6 disloyal men representing 100,000 disloyal constituents; and by the recognition of the State, to lose all control and supervision over its domestic affairs. But this is not the only, nor the greater evil that is likely to flow from the project proposed. The admission of tennessee would be followed, in rapid succession, by the complete restoration to power of all the other seceded States; and without much delay we should have on this floor 58 Representatives, representing rebel constituencies. Those who remember the struggles between the friends and the enemies of the nion that have been seen in this Chamber driring the last 5 years need not be told what effect such an addition to secession power would have upon the legislation of the country. I know that some gentlemen have conceived the illogical idea that ennessee may be admitted to the exclusion of her coadjutors in crime. But let us not deceive ourselves. On every principle of reason and justice SCarolina should come in with or closely in the wake of Tennessee. Each has made war upon the Government, each has a disloyal population, and each followed the for tunes of the confederacy until reduced by force and if, as it is conceded on all hands, the loyal people of Tennessee are not able to manage their own concerns and protect themselves, by reason of the treasonable character of her population, in what respect are her claims to the riflht cfself government superior to those of any other rebel State? Governor Browulow suggests that the tennessee lte reseutatives should be admitted as a means O preventing a ru ture between Con. ess and the President, an remarks that “ the residdnt ought to be satisfied with the admission of the Tennessee delegates to their seats.” Mr. Speaker, it is the duty of the POTUS to see that the laws are faithfully executed; but “all legislative pow ers” granted by the Constitution are vested in Congress. Congress is authorized to admit new States into this Union, and each House is to judge “of the election, returns, and qualifications of its own members.” It is difficult, therefore, to perceive why the admission or rejection of the Tennessee delegation, should make or prevent “a rupture between the Prea ident an Congress.” We are to perform our duties here under the sanction of an oath, which each of us has taken; and under the Constitution of the U.S., ever guarding the rights and interests as well of our respective constituencies, as of the people of the whole country. Could I believe it safe so to do, I would embrace the 1st opportunity to vote for the admission of the claimants to seats from Tennessee. Though I am satisfied that their claim is based on no strict right, I would do everything fer harmony and conciliation consistent with national security. But believing, as I do, that the reco ition of Tennessee as an organized State at lg: present time, and the reception into this HoRep, followed as it will be by the immediate recognition of all the seceded States, and a representationon this floor of 7 million rebels, would have the inevitable effect of placing this Government in the power of its deadly enemies, I will not consent to the adoption of a measure so fraught with danger to liberty, not only in this country, but throughout the world. This question rises above all personal and party considerations, above allconsiderations of mere temporary policy. It touches the preservation of our pational existence; and it requires a romptand fearless decision. I am no alarmist; but we are threatened with immediate danger; with irretrievable ruin. If the 11 seeeded States are immediately invested with their re crtionate power in the administration of the government, that glorious fabric of nationality created by the and s of our fathers, and so gallant] y defended by the best blood of this generation, will he s eedily demolished and utterly destroyed. nd this, too, is to transpire after the most gigantic struggle of ancient or modern times after the loss of half a million men; after all expense of 4 billions of money; afiier the enemy has been put down by the sword; and when we have it in our power, without further war, without bloodshed, to obtain security, to establish peace and justice, and in one generation to advance our country and people in the race of civilization to a stage which, under other circumstances, would not be reached by the labors of statesmen and hilanthropists in 1,000years! Can it be that we sha prove so reckless, so improvident, so blind to our duties and interests, as to neglect an opportunity so propitious? Will we take no lessons from the past? Will we receive no inspiration for the future? Sir. I desire to indulge in no idle declamntion, in no language of defiance; but the present is a time for the utterance of truth an the use of plain sober speech. It is no time for sophistry. It is idle to talk of the constitutional rights of the rebel States. It is repos terous to pretfid, in this way, to give the loyal people the exercise of the right of self government. By this mode you but turn them over to the domination of their most inveterate enemies. It is not the loyal people, but the rebels who are clamorous for so government. The Union men see their inab ty for their own defense and appeal to us for protection. They ask to be delivered from the rebel yoke, and beseech us notto turn them over to their tormentors. I will listen to their prayers. I will not be accessory to their ruin. I will not aid the rebels to complete their extermination and I here deliberately declare, that with my present information of the condition and sea timents of the people of the seceded districts, and without more light and without further security, no earthly power shall induce me to consent to the terrible wrong of turning over to those traitors the Government of the country and the lives and fortunes of those patriotic men who so piteously implore our protection. If so great a crime is to be consummated its sin shall not rest upon my conscience. If, after all the sufferings of the last 5 years, when the phys ical power of the enemy is broken, when the prize for which we contended is within our reach, if it is now to be cast away heedlessly, ruthlessly, then Gods will be done. But the scarred and mutilated heroes of this generation shall not charge upon me the cowar ly surren der of the fruits of their dearl boughtvic tories; their sons shall not avoidv my c ildren on account of the sins of their father; my de scendants shall not look upon the record of my votes, on this question at least, with sorrow and shame. But why should the President be sat isfied by the admission of the Tennessee dele gation to the exclusion of those from the other rebel States? There is no difference between them in principle, and such seems to be the opinion of the xecutive. Inhisveto message of February 19, he says: "It is hardly necessaryfor me to inform Congress that in my ownjudment most of those States,so far at least as dependsupon their own action, have already been fully restored,and are to be deemed as entitled to enjoy their constitutional rights as mem. bers of the Union." Let no man, then, deceive himself with the impression that the question is limited to the admission of the Representatives from Tennessee. It embraces the recognition of all the rebel States, and a vote for the admission of Tennessee is a vote. also for representation in this Congress of the traitors of SCarolina. Mr. Speaker, the doubts, the fears, the her ror, and, the gloom that marked the rise and progress of the late rebellion are still fresh in m recollection. I remember the latter days O February and the early days of March in the year 1861. During that period of feverish excitement, whether or not the President elect, the nations choice, could be inaugurated in accordance with the time honored custom of the country was a question that filled the minds of manygood men with painful doubt and serious alarm. I seem still to hear the lingering echoes of the 1st gun discharged upon Sum ter. I was in Washington when our defeated and routed army came straggling into the city from the field of Bull Run, without order and without discipline, inducing in some minds de spair, and consternation everywhere. Iremem her with what crushing effect the news of our disasters before Richmond in the “7 days fights” fell upon the loyal heart of the country. I remember that discouragement succeeded hope and confident expectation when the issue of the struggle at Fredericksburg was known. I do not forget the thick gloom that settled down upon the country in 1862, and which was hardly lifted in 1863. I never can for et the 45,000 brave but mutilate men who were gathered into hospitals in this city in 1864, martyrs to the cause of liberty in the masterly cam aign of GenlGrant. Those were sad, dark days, whose tinge was deepened by the frowns and hostile intrigues of foreign nations. Ilut sadderstill, and darker and more gloomy, will he that day on which the rebel States shall assume the control ofour national Government; when, without guards or security for future good conduct, without protection to the blacks and loyal whites who have freely shed their blood in our defense, the seceded districts shall be declared reconstructed and restored States, and again launched upon their career of oppression, tyranny, and crime. But I pray God—I trust, hope, and believe that such a day of woe may never come! I believe that same mysterious Providence which has hith erto guided our tottering steps through the intricate passages of disaster and war into paths of safety, at the very moment when all seemed lost, will still extend over us a protecting hand, will still thwart the machinations of the evil minded; will continueto instruct the consciences and strengthen the hearts of our people, and will prepare them to stand firm and O battle for the right against all combinations for injustice and Wrong, despite the plausibility of pre text, des ite the position of the parties.