hink the case was without remedy, however, since
"the last constitutional amendment embraced all, gave the most ample
powers, even if they did not exist before; for, after having secured
the freedom of all men wherever the old flag floats, it provided that
Congress might 'secure' the same by 'appropriate legislation.'

"What more could it have said? And who are better judges of
appropriate legislation than the very men who first passed the
amendment and provided for this very case?

"Sir, what is 'appropriate legislation' on the subject, namely,
securing the freedom of all men? It can be nothing less than throwing
about all men the essential safeguards of the Constitution. The 'right
to bear arms' is not plainer taught or more efficient than the right
to carry ballots. And if appropriate legislation will secure the one,
so can it also the other. And if both are necessary, and provided for
in the Constitution as now amended, why, then, let us close the
question of congressional legislation.

"Let us not take counsel of our own fears, but of our hopes; not of
our enemies, but of our friends. By all the memories which cluster
about the pathway in which we have been led; by all the sacrifices,
suffering, blood, and tears of the conflict; by all the hopes of a
freed country and a disenthralled race; yea, as a legacy for mankind,
let us now secure a free representative republic, based upon impartial
suffrage and that human equality made clear in the Declaration of
Independence. To this entertainment let us invite our countrymen and
all nations, committing our work, when done, to the verdict of
posterity and the blessing of Almighty God."

On the day following, Mr. Saulsbury took the floor. His speech,
ostensibly against the pending measure, was a palliation of the
conduct of the Southern States, and a plea for their right of being
admitted to representation in Congress. All that the Senator said
directly upon the subject under discussion was contained in the
following paragraph:

"Now, suppose your constitutional amendment passes. If it passes, it
ought to meet with the respect of some body. If this constitutional
amendment shall be presented to the States who are now represented in
Congress, and shall be adopted by simply three-fourths of those
States, is there any body that will have the least respect for it?
Then suppose you could go with the bayonet--which I think now, under
the brighter dawn of a better day which w