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the peophoreland pay for the support of a religion which they do not believe tarberue? The Union was carried by the most abominable cordiskribery, by financial robbery on an extensive scale, which more heinous and oppressive; and the result is that Ire

ruption

makes land is

her tra to mise Yes,

with an unjust debt, her commerce is taken from her, stroyed, and a large number of her people thus reduced distress.

ople of Ireland are cruelly oppressed, and are we tamely to stan d allow our dearest interests to be trampled upon? Are we not to ask for redress? Yes, we will ask for that which alone will give us redress-a Parliament of our own. And you will have it too, if you are quiet and orderly, and join with me in my present struggle. (Loud cheers.) Your cheers will be conveyed to England. Yes, the majority of this mighty multitude will be taken there. Old Wellington began by threatening us, and talked of civil war, but he says nothing about it now. He is getting inlet holes made in stone barracks. Now, only think of an old general doing such a thing! As if, were there anything going on, the people would attack stone walls! I have heard that a great deal of brandy and biscuits have been sent to the barracks, and I sincerely hope the poor soldiers will get some of them. Your honest brothers, the soldiers, who have been sent to Ireland, as are orderly and as brave men as any in Ireland. I am sure that not one of you has a single complaint to make against them. If any of you have, say so. (Loud cries of "No, no!"). They are the bravest men in the world, and therefore I do not disparage them at all when I state this fact, that if they are sent to make war against the people, I have enough women to beat them. There is no mockery or delusion in what I say. At the last fight for Ireland, when we were betrayed by a reliance on English honor, which we would never again confide in-for I would as soon confide in the honor of a certain black gentleman who has got two horns and hoofs-but, as I was saying, at the last battle for Ireland, when, after two days' hard fighting, the Irish were driven back by the fresh troops brought up by the English to the bridge of Limerick, at that point when the Irish soldiers retired fainting it was that the women. of Limerick threw themselves in the way, and drove the enemy back fifteen, twenty, or thirty paces Several of the poor women were killed in the struggle, and their shrieks of agony being heard by their countrymen, they again rallied and determined to die in their defense, and, doubly valiant in the defense of women, they together routed the Saxons. Yes, I repeat, I have agh women to beat all the army of Ireland. It is idle for any ministeover statesman to suppose for a moment that he can put down such struggle as this for liberty. The

only thing I fear is the conduct of some ruffians who are called Ribbonmen. I know there are such blackguards, for I have traced them from Manchester. They are most dangerous characters, and it will be the duty of every Repealer, whether he knows or by any means can discover one of them, immediately to hand him over to justice and the law. The Ribbonmen only by their proceedings can injure the great and religious cause in which I am now engaged, and in which I have the people of Ireland at my back.

This is a holy festival in the Catholic Church-the day upon which the Mother of our Savior ascended to meet her Son, and reign with Him for ever. On such a day I will not tell a falsehood. I hope I am under her protection while addressing you, and I hope that Ireland will receive the benefit of her prayers. Our Church has prayed against Espartero and his priest-terrorizing, church-plundering marauders, and he has since fallen from power-nobody knows how, for he makes no effort to retain it. He seems to have been bewildered by the Divine curse, for without one rational effort the tyrant of Spain has faded before the prayers of Christianity. I hope that there is a blessing in this day, and, fully aware of its solemnity, I assure you that I am afraid of nothing but Ribbonism, which alone can disturb the present movement. I have proclaimed from this spot that the Act of Union is a nullity, but in seeking for Repeal I do not want you to disobey the law. I have only to refer to the words of the Tories' friend, Saurin, to prove that the Union is illegal. I advise you to obey the law until you have the word of your beloved Queen to tell you that you shall have a Parliament of your own. (Cheers, and loud cries of "So we will!") The QueenGod bless her!-will yet tell you that you shall have a legislature of your own-three cheers for the Queen! (Immense cheering.)\

On the 2d of January last I called this the Repeal year, and I was laughed at for doing so. Are they laughing now? No; it is now my turn to laugh; and I will now say that in twelve months more we will have our Parliament again on College Green. The Queen has the undoubted prerogative at any time to order her Ministers to issue writs, which, being signed by the Lord Chancellor, the Irish Parliament would at once be convened without the necessity of applying to the English Legislature to repeal what they appear to consider a valid Act of Union. And if dirty Sugden would not sign the writ, an Irish Chancellor would soon be found who would do so. And if we have our Parliament again in Dublin, is there, I would ask, a coward amongst you who would not rather die than allow it to be taken away by an Act of Union? (Loud cries of "No one would ever submit to it!" "We'd rather die!" etc.) To the last man? (Cries of "To the last man!") Let every man who would

not allow the Act of Union to pass hold up his hand. (An immense forest of hands was shown.) When the Irish Parliament is again assembled, I will defy any power on earth to take it from us again. Are you all ready to obey me in the course of conduct which I have pointed out to you? (Cries of "Yes, yes!") When I dismiss you to-day, will you not disperse and go peaceably to your homes-("Yes, yes, we will!") -every man, woman, and child?-in the same tranquil manner as you have assembled? ("Yes, yes!") But if I want you again to-morrow, will you not come to Tara Hill? ("Yes, yes!") Remember, I will lead you into no peril. If danger should arise, it will be in consequence of some persons attacking us, for we are determined not to attack any person; and if danger does exist, you will not find me in the rear rank. When we get our Parliament, all our grievances will be put an end to; our trade will be restored, the landlord will be placed on a firm footing, and the tenants who are now so sadly oppressed will be placed in their proper position. "Law, Peace, and Order" is the motto of the Repeal banner, and I trust you will all rally round it. (Cries of "We are all Repealers!") I have to inform you that all the magistrates who have recently been deprived of the Commission of the Peace have been appointed by the Repeal Association to settle any disputes which may arise amongst the Repealers in their respective localities. On next Monday persons will be appointed to settle disputes without expense, and I call on every man who is the friend of Ireland to have his disputes settled by arbitrators without expense, and to avoid going to the Petty Sessions.

I believe I am now in a position to announce to you that in twelve months more we will not be without having an Hurrah! for the Parliament on College Green. (Immense cheering.) Your shouts are almost enough to call to life those who rest in the grave. I can almost fancy the spirits of the mighty dead hovering over you, and the ancient kings and chiefs of Ireland, from the clouds, listening to the shouts sent up from Tara for Irish liberty! Oh! Ireland is a lovely land, blessed with the bounteous gifts of Nature, and where is the coward who would not die for her? (Cries of "Not one!") Your cheers will penetrate to the extremity of civilization. Our movement is the admiration of the world, for no other country can show so much force with so much propriety of conduct. No other country can show a people assembled for the highest national purpose that can actuate man; can show hundreds of thousands able in strength to carry any battle that ever was fought, and yet separating with the tranquillity of schoolboys. You have stood by me long-stand by me a little longer, and Ireland will be again a nation.

§ 18

THE COOPER INSTITUTE ADDRESS

By Abraham Lincoln

(Delivered in New York City, February 27, 1860.)

MR. PRESIDENT AND FELLOW-CITIZENS OF NEW YORK: The facts with which I shall deal this evening are mainly old and familiar; nor is there anything new in the general use I shall make of them. If there shall be any novelty, it will be in the mode of presenting the facts, and the inferences and observations following that presentation. In his speech last autumn at Columbus, Ohio, as reported in the New York Times, Senator Douglas said:—

Our fathers, when they framed the government under which we live, understood this question just as well, and even better, than we do now.

I fully endorse this, and I adopt it as a text for this discourse. I so adopt it because it furnishes a precise and an agreed starting-point for a discussion between Republicans and that wing of the Democracy headed by Senator Douglas. It simply leaves the inquiry: What was the understanding those fathers had of the question mentioned?

What is the frame of government under which we live? The answer must be, "The Constitution of the United States." That Constitution consists of the original, framed in 1787, and under which the present government first went into operation, and twelve subsequently framed amendments, the first ten of which were framed in 1789.

Who were our fathers that framed the Constitution? I suppose the "thirty-nine" who signed the original instrument may be fairly called our fathers who framed that part of the present government. It is almost exactly true to say they framed it, and it is altogether true to say they fairly represented the opinion and sentiment of the whole nation at that time. Their names, being familiar to nearly all, and accessible to quite all, need not now be repeated.

I take these "thirty-nine," for the present, as being "our fathers who framed the government under which we live." What is the question

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Born in Hardin County, Kentucky, February 12, 1800; died at Washington, D. C., April 15, 1865; in 1832 he took part in the Black Hawk War; in 1834 was a member of the Illinois Legislature; in 1837 was admitted to the bar; in 1846 was elected to Congress; President of the United States, 1860

which, according to the text, those fathers understood "just as well, and even better, than we do now"?

It is this: Does the proper division of local from Federal authority, or anything in the Constitution, forbid our Federal Government to control as to slavery in our Federal Territories?

Upon this, Senator Douglas holds the affirmative, and Republicans the negative. This affirmation and denial form an issue; and this issuethis question is precisely what the text declares our fathers understood "better than we." Let us now inquire whether the "thirty-nine," or any of them, ever acted upon this question; and if they did, how they acted upon it-how they expressed that better understanding. In 1784, three years before the Constitution, the United States then owning the Northwestern Territory, and no other, the Congress of the Confederation. had before them the question of prohibiting slavery in that Territory, and four of the "thirty-nine" who afterward framed the Constitution were in that Congress, and voted on that question. Of these, Roger Sherman, Thomas Mifflin, and Hugh Williamson voted for the prohibition, thus showing that, in their understanding, no line dividing local from Federal authority, nor anything else, properly forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in Federal territory. The other of the four, James McHenry, voted against the prohibition, showing that for some cause he thought it improper to vote for it.

In 1787, still before the Constitution, but while the convention was in session framing it, and while the Northwestern Territory still was the only Territory owned by the United States, the same question of prohibiting slavery in the Territory again came before the Congress of the Confederation; and two more of the "thirty-nine" who afterward signed the Constitution were in that Congress, and voted on the question. They were William Blount and William Few; and they both voted for the prohibition-thus showing that in their understanding no line dividing local from Federal authority, nor anything else, properly forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in Federal territory. This time the prohibition became a law, being part of what is now well known as the Ordinance of '87.

The question of Federal control of slavery in the Territories seems not to have been directly before the convention which framed the original Constitution; and hence it is not recorded that the "thirty-nine," or any of them, while engaged on that instrument, expressed any opinion on that precise question.

In 1789, by the first Congress which sat under the Constitution, an act was passed to enforce the Ordinance of '87, including the prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern Territory. The bill for this act

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