ing generations of men to
approve or condemn. God grant that this verdict may be one over which
the friends of Liberty, impartial and universal, in this Country and
Europe, and in every Land beneath the sun, may rejoice; a verdict which
shall declare that America is Free; a verdict which shall add another
day of jubilee, and the brightest of all, to our National calendar."

The debate was participated in by nearly all the prominent men, on both
sides of the House--the speeches of Messrs. Cox, Brooks, Voorhees,
Mallory, Holman, Woods and Pendleton being the most notable, in
opposition to, and those of Scofield, Rollins, Garfield and Stevens,
in favor of, the Amendment. That of Scofield probably stirred up "the
adversary" more thoroughly than any other; that of Rollins was more
calculated to conciliate and capture the votes of hesitating, or
Border-State men; that of Garfield was perhaps the most scholarly and
eloquent; while that of Stevens was remarkable for its sledge-hammer
pungency and characteristic brevity.

Mr. Pendleton, toward the end of his speech, had said of Mr. Stevens:
"Let him be careful, lest when the passions of these times be passed
away, and the historian shall go back to discover where was the original
infraction of the Constitution, he may find that sin lies at the door of
others than the people now in arms." And it was this that brought the
sterling old Patriot again to his feet, in vindication of the acts of
his liberty-inspired life, and in defense of the power to amend the
Constitution, which had been assailed.

The personal antithesis with which he concluded his remarks was in
itself most dramatically effective, Said he:

"So far as the appeals of the learned gentleman (Mr. Pendleton) are
concerned, in his pathetic winding up, I will be willing to take my
chance, when we all moulder in the dust. He may have his epitaph
written, if it be truly written, 'Here rests the ablest and most
pertinacious defender of Slavery, and opponent of Liberty;' and I will
be satisfied if my epitaph shall be written thus: 'Here lies one who
never rose to any eminence, and who only courted the low ambition to
have it said that he had striven to ameliorate the condition of the
poor, the lowly, the downtrodden, of every race, and language, and
color."

As he said these words, the crowded floors and galleries broke out into
involuntary applause for the grand "Old Commoner"--who only awaited its
cessation, to c