Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 1.

“ [227] and is compelled to admit the success of this great experiment, to come forward, not in heat, not in fanaticism, not in haste, not in precipitancy, but in deliberation, in full view of all that is before us, in the spirit of brotherly love and fraternal affection, and rally round the altar of our common country, and lay the Constitution upon it as our last libation, and swear by our God, by all that is sacred and holy, that the Constitution shall be saved and the Union preserved.” From this lofty attitude of patriotism he never stooped a line during the fierce struggle that ensued.

Senator Baker, of Oregon, who attested his devotion to his country by giving his life in its defense on the battle-field a few months later,

October 21, 1861.

made a most eloquent appeal for the preservation of the Union.

January 12.

He and others had been powerfully moved by the treasonable speech of Toombs. He drew a graphic picture of the terrible effects that might be expected from secession-nationality destroyed, and on its ruins several weak republics established, without power to carry on any of the magnificent schemes in hand for the development of the resources of the continent. He spoke of the continual incentives to war between the separated States, and the contempt into which all would fall in the estimation of the world. “With standing armies consuming the substance of our people on the land,” he said, “and our Navy and our postal steamers withdrawn from the ocean, who will protect, or respect, or who will even know by name our petty confederacies? The American man-of-war is a noble spectacle. I have seen it enter an ancient port in the Mediterranean. All the world wondered at it and talked about it. Salvos of artillery, from forts and shipping in the harbor, saluted its flag. Princes and princesses and merchants paid it homage, and all the people blessed it, as a harbinger of hope for their own ultimate freedom. I imagine now the same noble vessel again entering the same haven. The flag of thirty-three stars and thirteen stripes has been hauled down, and in its place a signal is run up which flaunts the device of a lone star or a palmetto-tree. Men ask, ‘Who is the stranger that thus steals into our waters?’ The answer, contemptuously given, is, ‘She comes from one of the obscure republics of North America-let her pass on.’ ”

The plan of this work does not contemplate the recording of Congressional debates in detail; so we will proceed to notice, in few words, the result of the great discussion on pacification. It was continued from time to