R. PRESIDENT, I shall not stop to consider

MR.

any question touching the power to appoint Governors of States. My object is different. It is to expose a case of peculiar interest and importance, with regard to which I have a statement worthy of confidence. From this it appears that one of the first acts of Mr. Stanly, on arrival at Newbern, North Carolina, and assuming his responsible duties as Provisional Governor, was to announce that the school there for the education of colored children, recently opened by Northern charity, must be closed, being forbidden by the laws of North Carolina, which he was instructed by the authorities at Washington to maintain. I have here an official report of this extraordinary transaction.

"In a conversation between Governor Stanly and Mr. Colyer, the Governor stated that there was one thing in Mr. C.'s doings, as superintendent of the poor, a question would be raised about, indeed, it had been already, - and that was his (C.'s) keeping school for the blacks. 'Of course you are aware,' said the Governor, 'that the laws of the State make the opening of such schools a criminal offence. My instructions from Washington were, that I was to carry out the laws of North Carolina precisely as they were administered before the breaking out of this unhappy affair; so, if I were called upon for a decision in the matter of your schools for the blacks, I would have to decide against you; but at the same time I don't want anything done abruptly. As a man, I might do, perhaps, as you have done; but as a Governor, I must act in my official capacity according to my instructions, and administer the laws as I find them.'

"A true copy.

"NEWBERN, May 28, 1862."

"C. H. MENDELL,

Clerk to Mr. Colyer.

H

Then follows a further statement.

"Mr. C. C. Leigh, who was with General Saxton in the Oriental, on his way to South Carolina, as confidential agent of the National Freedmen's Relief Association, and who has just returned, asked Mr. Colyer what he should do. Mr. C. replied: 'I must close the schools, as I cannot consent to continue to place myself in a situation where I am liable to be punished according to the laws of North Carolina.'

"Mr. Leigh is the Chairman of our Home Committee."

If any person, in the name of the United States, has undertaken to close a school for little children, whether white or black, it is important that we should know the authority under which he assumes to act. Surely nobody here will be willing to take the responsibility for such an act. It is difficult to conceive that one of the first fruits of national victory and the reëstablishment of national power should be an enormity not easy to characterize in any terms of moderation. Jefferson tells us that in a certain contest there is no attribute of the Almighty" which can take side with us."1 And permit me to say, that, if, in the war unhappily existing, the military power of the United States is employed in closing schools, there is no attribute of the Almighty which must not be against us; nor can we expect any true success. Sir, in the name of the Constitution, of humanity, and of common sense, I protest against such impiety under sanction of the United States.

The proper rule of conduct is simple. It is found in the instructions, to which I referred the other day, from the British Commissioner in a conquered province of India. After indicating certain crimes to be treated

1 Notes on Virginia, Query XVIII.: Writings, Vol. VIII. p. 404.

with summary punishment, he proceeds to say: "All other crimes you will investigate according to the forms of justice usual in the country, modified as you may think expedient; and in all cases you will endeavor to enforce the existing laws and customs, unless where they are clearly repugnant to reason and natural equity." Here is the proper limitation. Anything else is unworthy of a civilized country. Whatever is clearly repugnant to reason and equity must be rejected. Surely such a thing cannot be enforced. But what can be more clearly repugnant to reason and equity than the barbarous law which an officer, in the name of the National Government, has threatened to enforce ?

The resolution was agreed to.

June 4th, a report from the Secretary of War, in answer to this resolution, contained a letter of appointment, dated May 19, 1862, conferring "all and singular the powers, duties, and functions pertaining to the office of Military Governor, including the power to establish all necessary offices and tribunals, and suspend the writ of Habeas Corpus." This was followed, May 20th, by instructions, wherein it is said: "Upon your wisdom and energetic action much will depend. . . . . . It is not deemed necessary to give any specific instruction, but rather to confide in your sound discretion to adopt such measures as circumstances may demand. Specific instructions will be given, when requested. You may rely upon the perfect confidence and full support of the Department in the performance of your duties." 2

1 Elphinstone v. Bedreechund, 1 Knapp's Privy Council Rep., 320. See, ante, p. 51.

2 Executive Documents, 37th Cong. 2d Sess., Senate, Vol. V. No. 54.

STAND BY THE ADMINISTRATION.

LETTER TO

JUNE 5, 1862.

THIS letter, after enjoying an extensive circulation in the newspapers, was preserved as a political document in McPherson's "Political History of the Rebellion."1

It first appeared in the Boston Journal,2 with the caption, "Senator Sumner and the President," and with these introductory words:

"We are permitted to publish the following private letter from Hon. Charles Sumner, in reply to a letter addressed to him by a personal friend. Senator Sumner's hearty indorsement will not be without its influence upon those who are impatient at what they term the Proslavery policy of the President. At the same time there is nothing in this indorsement which should shake the confidence of conservative men in his wisdom and prudence. . . . . It is something to obtain from one who may be regarded as a representative of this class so handsome a tribute to the purity of the President's motives, and so hearty an indorsement of the correctness of his convictions and sympathies."

....

MY

SENATE CHAMBER, June 5, 1862.

Y DEAR SIR, — Your criticism of the President is hasty. I am confident, if you knew him as I do, you would not make it.

The President cannot be held responsible for the misfeasance of subordinates, unless adopted, or at least tolerated, by him. And I am sure nothing unjust or ungenerous will be tolerated, much less adopted, by

him.

I am happy to let you know that he has no sympathy with Stanly in his absurd wickedness, closing the

1 Page 233.

2 June 13, 1862.

schools, nor, again, in his other act of turning our camps into a hunting-ground for slaves. He repudiates both, positively. The latter point has occupied much of his thought, and the newspapers do not go too far in recording his repeated declarations, which I have often heard from his own lips, that slaves finding their way within the national lines are never to be reënslaved. This is his conviction, expressed without reserve.

Could you - have as has been my privilege often seen the President, while considering the great questions on which he has already acted, beginning with the invitation to Emancipation in the States, then Emancipation in the District of Columbia, and the acknowledgment of the Independence of Hayti and Liberia, even your zeal would be satisfied; for you would feel the sincerity of his purpose to do what he can to carry forward the principles of the Declaration of Independence. His whole soul was occupied, especially by the first proposition, so peculiarly his own. In familiar intercourse with him, I remember nothing more touching than the earnestness and completeness with which he embraced this idea. To his mind it was just and beneficent, while it promised the sure end of Slavery. To me, who had already proposed a Bridge of Gold for the retreating Fiend, it was most welcome. Proceeding from the President, it must take its place among the great events of history.

If disposed to be impatient at apparent short-comings, think, I pray you, what has been done in a brief period, and from the past discern the sure promise of the future. Knowing something of my convictions, and of the ardor with which I maintain them, you may, perhaps, derive assurance from my confidence. I say to