MR. GREELEY IN CONGRESS.

Mr. Vinton rose, and addressed the Chair.

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Mr. Greeley. I hope the Committee will not rise until the witnesses have come forward.

Mr. Vinton wished to make one word of explanation; and having moved a pro-forma amendment for the purpose, he proceeded to make a statement with reference to the action of the House at the last session and the present, and the action of the Committee of ways and means and of himself, in reference to the purchase of books. He spoke of the item of about $76,000 which had been included in the deficiency bill for payment for the copies of the Documentary History ordered at the last session. He said he was one of those who, in the last Congress, had very much doubted the expediency of purchasing those books. He referred to the resolution which at this session had been brought up to rescind the resolution of the last session by which the books had been ordered, and said he was one of those who had voted to rescind that resolution the effect of which would have been to have relieved Congress from making the appropriation of some $70,000 or $80,000, which the Clerk of the House estimated to be necessary to carry that resolution into execution. A large majority of the House, however, had thought otherwise, and by their vote had directed the appropriation to be made. He had then, the same day in which this resolution to rescind the previous resolution had been voted down, called upon the Clerk (as he deemed it his duty to do) to give him an estimate of the appropriation that would be necessary to carry the resolution into effect. He did not consider that he had the right to set up his private opinion against what the House had directed, when they had said, by resolution, that the appropriation should be made. The Clerk had furnished him with the estimate; he had laid it before the Committee of ways and means, and had reported it under the direction of the Committee, who deemed that, as the organ of the House, they had no right to withhold bills for any appropriations which were demanded by the House, whatever their private opinions might be as to their expediency. In this manner, as the organ of the House, he very often reported appropriations which, if he could exercise his judgment as to the expediency of them, he should not report.

Mr. Greeley renewed the pro-forma amendment, he said, because an attempt had been made to call gentlemen out in opposition to him, who would not come before this House and say that he had said one word to them in conversation, which was inconsistent with what he had before stated on this floor, or with this article. He presumed the proceeding was irregular, but other gentlemen had been allowed to attack him, and he wished the same opportunity of defence. Now, these gentlemen who had been named as witnesses to contradict what he had said in this article, he required, he demanded that they should come forward and say whether there was one word said there which he had contradicted in private conversation.

Mr. Edwards. The gentlemen are on hand.

Mr. Greeley. No doubt the House is bound to make the appropriation, but I knew what kind of opposition would be made to me, and I tried to vote against it. Now, if there is any gentleman who will say that he has understood me to say that I voted for it understandingly, I call upon him to come forward

Mr. Edwards. The gentleman calls for the testimony. Mr. Hudson is the man-Dr. Darling is the man.

[Members had again flocked in the area. There were cries of "Hudson, Hudson," "down in front," and great disorder throughout the House.]

The Chairman again earnestly called to order; and all proceedings were arrested for the moment in order to obtain order.

The House having become partially stilled- Mr. Hudson rose and said, I suppose it is not in order for me to address the Committee; but, as I have been called upon, if there is no objection, I have no objection on my part to state what I have heard the gentlemen from New York [Mr. Greeley] say.

[Cries from all quarters, "Hear him, Hear him."]

The Chairman. If there is no objection, the gentlemau can proceed.

No objection being made-Mr. Hudson said, I can say, then, that on a particular day, when this book resolution had been before the House-as it was before the House several times I cannot designate the day, but one day when we had been passing upon the

question of books, in walking from the Capitol, I fell in with my friend from New York [Mr. Greeley]; that we conversed from the Capitol down on to the avenue in relation to these books; that he stated-as I understood him (and I think I could not have been mistaken) that he was in favour of the purchase of the books; that he either had or should vote for the books, and he stated two reasons: the one was, that some of these publications were of such a character that they would never be published unless there was some public patronage held out to the publishers; and the other reason was, that the other class of these books at least contained important elements of history, which would be lost unless gathered up and published soon, and as the distribution of these books was to diffuse the information over the community, he was in favour of the purchase of the books; and that he himself had suffered from not having access to works of this character. That was the substance of the conversation.

Mr. Hudson having concluded - [There were cries of "Darling, Darling."] Mr. Darling rose, and (no objection being made) proceeded to say: On one of the days on which we voted for the books now in question - the day that the appropriation passed the House → I was on my way from the Capitol, and passing down the steps I accidently came alongside the gentleman from New York [Mr. Greeley], who was in conversation with another gentleman-a member of the House-whose name I do not recollect. I heard him [Mr. G.] say he justified the appropriation for the books to the members, on the ground of their diffusing general information. He said, that in the city of New-York he knew of no place where he could go to obtain the information contained in these books; that although it was supposed that in that place the sources of information were much greater than in almost any other portion of the country, he would hardly know where to go in that city to find this information; and upon this ground that he would support the resolution in favour of the books. This conversation, the gentleman will recollect, took place going down from the west door of the Capitol and before we got to the avenue. I do not now recollect the gentleman who was with the gentleman from New York.

Mr. Putnam rose amid loud cries of invitation, and no objection being made, said: As my name has been referred to in relation to this question, it is due perhaps to the gentleman from New York [Mr. Greeley], that I should state this: That some few days since the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Edwards] called upon me here, and inquired of me whether I had heard my colleague [Mr. Greeley] say any thing in relation to his vote as to the books. I that morning had received the paper, and I referred him to the editorial contained therein which has been read by the Clerk, but I have no recollection of stating to the gentleman from Ohio that I heard my colleague say he justified the vote which he gave; nor have I any recollection whatever that I ever heard my colleague say any thing upon the subject after the vote given by him.

The gentleman from Ohio must have misunderstood me, and it is due my colleague that this explanation should be made.

[Several voices: "What did he say before the vote?"]

I have no recollection (said Mr. P.) that I ever heard him say any thing.

Mr. Edwards rose, and wished to know if any of his five minutes was left?

No reply was heard; but, after some conversation (being allowed to proceed), he said,

1 have stated that I have no apologies to make for giving this vote. I voted for these books for the very reasons which the gentleman from New York [Mr. Greeley] gave to these witnesses. I stated that I could prove by witnesses that the gentleman has given reasons of this kind, and that that editorial was an afterthought. If the House requires any more testimony, it can be had; but out of the mouths of two witnesses he is condemned. That is scriptural as well as legal.

I have not risen to retaliate for any thing this editor has said in reference to this subject of mileage. I have been classed among those who have received excessive mileage. I travelled in coming to Washington forty-three miles further than the committee paid me; but I stated before the committee the reasons why I made the change of route. I had been capsized once

The Chairman interposed, and said he felt bound to arrest this debate.

[Cries of "Greeley! Greeley!"]

Mr. Greeley rose

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The Chairman stated that it would not be in order for the gentleman to address the House while there was no question pending.

[Cries of "Suspend the rules; hear him."]

Mr. Tallmadge rose and inquired if his colleague could not proceed by general consent? The Chairman replied in the affirmative.

No objection was made, and Mr. Greeley proceeded. The gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Hudson] simply misunderstood one thing. He states me to have urged the considerations which he urged to me. He urged these considerations-and I think forcibly. I say now, as I did the other day on the floor of this House, I approve of the appropriation for the books, provided they are honestly disposed of according to the intent of the appropriation.

Mr. Edwards. Why, then, did you make the denial in the Tribune and say that you voted against it?

Mr. Greeley. I did vote against it. I did not vote for it, because I did not choose to have some sort of gentlemen on this floor hawk at me. The gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Hudson] submitted considerations to me, of which I admitted the force. I admit them now; I admit that the House was justifiable in voting for this appropriation, for the reasons ably stated by the Chairman of the Committee of ways and means; and I think I was justifiable, as this Hall will show, in not voting for it. In no particular was there collision between what I said on this floor, the editorial, and what I said in conversation. The conversation to which the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Darling] refers is doubtless the same of which the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Hudson] has spoken.

40

APPENDIX B.

MR. GREELEY ON THE PLATFORM.

I. HUMANITY.

The volume-Hints Towards Reforms- from which several extracts in this work have been made concludes with the subjoined essay on "Humanity."

The watchword of the Nineteenth Century is Brotherhood. Rapid and wonderful as is the progress of Physical Science - valuable to Man as are the Steamboat, the Ra lroad, the Magnetic Telegraph-mighty as are the results attained, mightier the hopes excited and justified, by the march of discovery and invention -the great discovery being made, and to be made by the children of men, is that of their community of origin, of interests, of aspirations. "God hath made of one blood all people," is its essence, proclaimed many years ago; the new truth is but the old realized and made practical. Humanity refuses longer to be separated and arrayed against itself. Whoever oppresses or injures any human being, however abject or culpable, wrongs and tramples all men, himself included.

A grave, momentous truth-let it be heard and heeded. Hear it, grim and ruthless warrior! eager to rush over myriads of gashed and writhing bodies to coveted fame and power! These thou wouldst so readily trample into the earth are not really enemies, not merely victims-not something which may be separated from thee and thine: they are thy fellows, kinsmen, brethren-with thee, "members of one another," and of Humanity. The sword which hews them down, maims thee; the hoof that tramples them, wounds thee. No armour ever devised by cunning or selfishness can prevent this; no walls of stone or living men can ward off the blow. As surely as the verdant tree must mark its shadow in the sunshine - as surely as the stone projected upward will not rest in mid-air, but descend-so surely falls the evil on him by whom evil is done or meditated.

Miser! heaping up fresh hoards of yellow dross! thou art starving, not others only, but thyself! Bread may fill thy garners, and thy vaults be stored with ruddy wines; but Plenty cannot come where dwells the insatiable thirst for more; and baleful are the possessions which contract the brow and harden the heart; speedy and sure is the judgment which avenges the woes of thy pale, hollow-cheeked victims!

Libertine! believe not that the anguish thou so recklessly invokest on others shall leave thee unscathed! The contrary is written in the law whose date is Eternity, whose sphere the Universe. Fleeting and hollow are the guilty joys thou seekest, while the crimes by which they are compassed shall darken thy soul and embitter thy thoughts forever!

And thou, humble self-denying votary of the highest good-the good of thy brethren, thy fellow beings- vainly shalt thou strive to sacrifice thy own happiness to brighten the dark pathway of the needy, the wretched; the kindly fates will not permit it; Heaven will persist in promptly repaying thee more and better than thou hast given. Give all thou hast to lighten the burdens of others to-day, and the bounteous reward will not wait for to-morrow's sun. It will insist on making thee richer, in thy hunger and nakedness, than the king amid his pomp, the banker amid his treasures. Thy riches are safe from every device of villainy, from every access of calamity; they cannot be separated from

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nor made unavailable to thee. While thou art, they shall be to thee a chastened gladness, a tranquil rapture for ever!

And thou, saintly devotee, and shrine of all virtues! look not down in loathing, but in pity, on the ruined votary of vice and crime. He is here to teach thee not pride, but humility. The corrupt, revolting thing he is, tells thee what thou mightest easily have been, had not Divine Goodness, for its own high ends, not thine, willed otherwise. The drunkard's maudlin leer-the lecher's marred and hideous visage - the thief's cat-like tread and greedy eyes-even the murderer's strong heart and reeking hand-all these, rightly viewed, are but indications of the possibilities of thy own nature, commanding gratitude to God, and compassion for all human errors.

Ay, "we are members together of one body" of Humanity, whether blackened by the fervid sun of tropical deserts, or bleached by the fogs of a colder clime-whether worshiping God or the Grand Lama, erecting Christian altars in the savage wilderness or falling in frenzy beneath the wheels of Juggernaut - whether acting the part of a Washington or a Nicholas, a Howard or a Thug - the same red current courses through all our veins-the same essential nature reveals itself through all. The slave in his coffie, the overseer brandishing his whip, the abolitionist denouncing oppression--who shall say that any one of these might not have been trained to do the deeds and think the thoughts of any other? who shall say that the red-handed savage of the wilds might not have been the meek, benign village pastor, blessing and blest by all around him, if his lot had been cast in Vermont instead of Oregon? who shall say how far his crimes are treasured up against him in the account, and how far they are charged to the perverting, darkening force of Christian rapacity and fraud, or esteemed the result of a Christian indifference and lethargy only less culpable?

Away then from human sight with the hideous implements of human butchery and destruction! Break the sword in its scabbard, bury the cannon in the earth, sink the boombs in the ocean! What business have these to disturb by their hateful presence the visible harmony of God's universe? How dare men go out into the balmy air and bright sunshine, and there, in the full view of Heaven, essay to maim and massacre each other? How would their wretched babblement of National interests or Nationai honour sound, if addressed directly to the All-Ruling, as an apology for wholesale slaughter? Who would dare be their mouthpiece in proffering an excuse so pitiful? And do not the abettors of war realize that their vile appeals to the baser passions of our nature resound in the ears of the Recording Angel?

But not war alone, the grossest form of human antagonism, but every form, is destined to a speedy extinction. The celestial voice that asked of old the terrific question, "where is thy brother Abel?" shall yet be heard and responded to by every one who would win profit or enjoyment from that which oppresses or degrades a single human being. The oppressor, the dram-seller, the gamester, are already beginning to listen, perforce, to its searching appeal-listen, at first, perhaps, with frowns, and sneers, and curses; but even these are symptoms of the inward convulsion-first mutterings of the mighty earthquake at hand.

In the day of light now dawning, no relation so palpably vicious as theirs can possibly abide. But theirs are the rude, salient out-works, which cover, while they withstand, the smoother, ampler, sturdier citadel of error. That all-pervading selfishness, which forgets or disregards the general well-being, is yet to be tracked to its most secret recesses, and extirpated.

The vocations of Life, the usages and structure of Society, the relations of power to Humility, of Wealth to Poverty, of served and Servant, must all be fused in the crucible of Human Brotherhood, and whatever abides not the test, rejected. Vainly will any seek to avert or escape the ordeal -idly will any hope to preserve from it some darling lust or pampered luxury or vanity. Onward, upward, irresistibly, shall move the Spirit of Reform, abasing the proud, exalting the lowly, until Sloth and Selfishness, Tyranny and Slavery, Waste and Want, Ignorance and Corruption, shall be swept from the face of the earth, and a golden age of Knowledge, of Virtue, of Plenty, and Happiness, shall dawn upon our sinning and suffering Race. Heaven speed its glorious coming and prepare us to welcome and enjoy it!