hands; money is like much, of no good, unless it is spread.' The meaning of which is, that the industrious and producing classes should be entitled to spend their money in their own way, and that the appropriations by the Government should be in such way as will best promote their interests, prosperity, and happiness. But we have reversed the proposition. We go on gathering muck from, instead of for, the barn-yards of the nation; we go on gathering revenue from the industry of the whole people, and we collect it here and squander it in appropriations wholly unnecessary, as I believe, so far as the interests and happiness of the people are concerned.

“Go to the governments that have risen and fallen before us, and what has been the cause of their decline and downfall? It is the influence of armies and navies, standing armies and navies, sustained by money drawn from the people; these are the two great arteries through which the nations that have gone before us have been bled to death. They are the two arteries through which the people of this country are now bleeding most freely. Shall we not profit by the experience of the past-shall we not stop and consider?

"Our Federal and State Constitutions were made by our fathers, who had studied the oppressions of the old world; who had witnessed the encroachments and dangers of standing armies in those governments. Hence we find in all our bills of rightsif not in all, certainly in most of them-that standing armies are dangerous and should not be allowed; and we see that the Constitution of the United States relies upon, and provides for, calling forth the militia to suppress rebellion or insurrection against the Government. This contemplates, most clearly, that the great military power of this Government is to reside in its citizensoldiery. I am for confiding in, and relying upon, the volunteers of the country, who go, when war comes, and who come, when war goes; who are not willing to enter the army for a livelihood, and thus rely upon the army for a support.

"What is the material of which standing armies are composed in European countries? There you find a broken-down and

brainless-headed aristocracy, members of decaying families, that have no energy by which they can elevate themselves, relying on ancestral honors and their connection with the Government. On the other hand, you find a rabble, in the proper acceptation of the term-a miserable lazzaroni, lingering and wallowing about their cities, who have no employment. They are ready, at any time, to enter the army for a few shillings to buy their grog and slight clothing to hide their nudity. Such is the material of which their armies are composed-the rabble composing the rank and file, on the one hand, and a broken-down and decaying aristocracy composing the officers, on the other. Where does the middle man stand? What is the position of the industrious bee that makes the honey-from whose labor all is drawn? He is placed between the upper and the nether mill-stone, and is ground to death by the office-hunter above him and the miserable rabblesoldiery below him. We want nothing like this, here in our country. Let us carry out those great principles of government and philanthropy which are calculated to elevate the masses, and dispense with all useless offices.

"A standing army is an incubus, a fungus, on the body politic. When you call for volunteers, the lowest man in the company does not start out with the feelings or subdued spirit of a common soldier; but each man that goes, goes as a hero. He goes with the expectation of distinguishing himself, even as a private, before he returns to his home.

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Those men who enter the service as volunteers, are cheered on to the discharge of their duty by knowing that they have mothers and sisters and fathers and brothers to care about them. And then, again, they have somebody to care for, too. They have, moreover, their country, that they love and are willing to defend, and in whose cause they are willing to perish. We do not want your 'cheap' men, who have none to care for or shed a tear over them when they fall. I do not wish to see a standing army composed of a rabble who have no country, no friends, no relatives, but who are mere machines to obey the orders of their commanders, whatever

they may be! I want it composed of men who feel that they have a country that is worth defending.

"If I had time to set forth the many gallant achievements of the brave volunteers in the wars we have had, and to describe them, in regular order, before the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Iverson), I think he would be almost horror-stricken with regret at what he said to-day in reference to the volunteer service of the country. In the war of 1812 where was there a battle-field in which volunteer prowess and ability were not displayed, and volunteer blood poured out like water? Go from Maine to Louisiana-go from the Atlantic coast to the golden shores of California —and where can you find a battle-field on which our volunteer. citizen-soldiers have not afforded the highest evidence of love and devotion to their country? Are these men, who are ever ready to rally to your country's standard in all her perilous conflicts, and whose efforts have been so often crowned with victory, to be regarded as occupying an inferior position to the regular soldiery composed of this lower, 'cheaper material,' of which many seem to wish to have our army composed?"

These views of President Johnson, in regard to large standing armies, are important, and worthy of consideration at the present time. Many of our most reflecting men feel anxious about the future policy of the Government, concerning a large standing army, and the heavy expense to be incurred by it. Many entertain serious fears on the subject. That a large standing army, in time of peace, is opposed to the genius and theory of our Government, is a cardinal maxim that has been recognized as true from the beginning of our national existence. A large army necessarily involves a heavy expense, and a heavy expense involves heavy taxation. From Mr. Johnson's well-known consistency in the maintenance of his political opinions, we may suppose he entertains the same views which he did when this speech was delivered in 1858. The public mind may rest secure in the hope that,

so far as his influence and wishes may go, he will, at the earliest practicable moment, reduce the army to the lowest possible point compatible with the public safety. His policy, in harmonizing our domestic troubles, is operating so successfully that we may hope there will be no necessity for a large army in preserving order at home. And if, contrary to all expectation, there should be any serious outbreak, volunteers may be relied on as they were during the war. Mr. Johnson has cause to feel gratified on witnessing the fulfilment of his predictions in regard to “volunteers," in the prosecution of the war. Who would have supposed that half a million of volunteers would have sprung forward, with the alacrity that they did, for the purpose of sustaining the Union? Andrew Johnson, in predicting that they would do it, has only proven that he knew well the temper and character of our people. The surviving volunteers of our several wars-whether of the war of 1812, the Mexican war, our many Indian wars, or the late civil war-cannot and will not forget, or fail to appreciate, Mr. Johnson's complimentary and eloquent allusions to them, or the graphic picture he drew of their services and sacrifices in their country's behalf. They will not forget their friend who indignantly repelled the idea of their being placed on an equality with the rabblesoldiery of the regular standing armies of Europe. At the proper time they will sustain him at the ballot-box against the assaults of faction with the same vigor and determination with which they defended their country's flag.

There is something beautiful and touching in the manner in which Mr. Johnson always alludes to his native State (North Carolina), and his adopted State (Tennessee). His grateful affection to that State and people that had received him in early life, and that have honored, sustained, and promoted him, is a prominent

trait in his character. It proves the warmth and kindliness of his nature, and that he possesses the virtue of gratitude. During the debate alluded to, something had been said which Mr. Johnson regarded as an unkind allusion to the State of Tennessee, and her being generally called the "Volunteer State." He said:

"Not content with that invidious comparison between regular and volunteer troops, the Senator from Georgia must needs arraign the State I represent. It is true I am not her native son, but I am her adopted son. She took me by the hand, and that generous, that brave, that patriotic people, have made me all that I am, be that much or little. Having placed me here, I intend to stand by her through evil and through good report. Come weal or come woe, I shall be found standing by her interests, her honor -her sacred honor-let the consequences be what they may. Yes, I love her. The tenderest sympathies of my soul are entwined with her interests and her welfare. There is where I live, there is where I hope to die, and beneath the clods of some of her valleys I hope my remains will be deposited. It is the home of my children, it is a home that is sacred to me."

On a previous occasion, when in the House of Representatives, in a speech delivered on his favorite measurethe Homestead bill-he thus spoke of North Carolina:

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"Some object to this measure, as calculated to take away population from the old States. Let me ask the Old Dominionlet me ask North Carolina-God bless her! for although she is not, as the Romans would call it, my alma mater, yet she is my mother! Although Poverty, gaunt and haggard monster-expatriated me from her limits, to seek a home in my adopted State, where every fibre, every tendril of my heart is entwined with the interests of her people-yet, still North Carolina is my native State, and in my heart I respect and love her."

Such sentiments, uttered in such warm and glowing language, could not have come from a cold and selfish