on James river all the while. He is indeed
the peace candidate in one sense; it has been
suggested with a great deal of force and pro-
priety, that he never did the rebels much
harm, and therefore ought to be regarded as
a peace man.
As the gentleman from Baltimore city, who
has just taken his seat, has said, this is a gen-
eral and comprehensive proposition, it ap-
plies with equal force to us and to the gentle-
man upon the other side. It makes no dis-
crimination. It does not allow men to do as
has been done in previous elections, select out
some individual against whom they have
some enmity, and for the purpose of exciting
him and perhaps preventing his voting, chal-
lenge that man. But it makes every man
take the oath. What oath? An oath of
allegiance to the government of the United
States. An oath to protect this government
which protects them. If I entertained in my
heart the sentiments which I know are rank-
ling in the bosoms of men in my county and
throughout this whole State, 'the blush of
shame would mantle on my cheek, and I
should feel like a felon if I should dare to
offer to vote in the State of Maryland. They
have no sympathies here. Their prayers rise
to high heaven for success to the rebel army.
They look with delight on conflagration, to
see the fiery figures of flame dart up in the
air, destroying the homes of our own citi-
zens, and kindled by rebel hands. They look
upon it, in the shades of night, while it
makes thousands homeless, and they feel that
there is music in it. The constitution can be
violated in every letter and in all its spirit by
Jeff. Davis and his minions, and they are sat-
isfied. Yet if Abraham Lincoln departs one
scintilla from its provisions, for the purpose
of protecting the government and preserving
it from destruction, he is to be arrayed before
the world for all time as a tyrant and a
usurper,
After all, how much better is General Mc-
Clellan. If the gentleman who represents the
first district of Maryland in Congress is to be
believed—and will any man tell me that he is
not—he says, and he says truly, that be can-
not go home to Maryland and ask his consti-
tuents to vote for the man who drove the
Maryland legislature out of their seats. But
says the gentleman from Prince George's (Mr.
Marbury) he acted then as a subordinate.
Where is the evidence? He acted on his own
authority. His whole life shows that his heart
was at first engaged in this contest; and if he
had listened lo the speech of gentlemen to-day
he might well say in the language of Henry
Clay, "God save me from my friends;" for the
is put in the same category with that most
execrable Don Carlos Buell, who said, while
he wore the shoulder stars of a major-general,
that he had no heart in this contest. I believe
George B. McClellan is made of better stuff
than that, I believe he has fallen into the |
[hands of men who are using him for their
own base purposes. I believe that let alone
he has a high, generous, honorable nature; but
1 do not think he has the material in him to
crush out this rebellion; and I would rather
trust it to the powers that be. I believe that
those who nominated him desire his election.
1 believe his election will be promoted by fed-
eral defeat. I believe as a necessary conse-
quence therefore that those who desire his elec-
tion desire a federal defeat.
Ought any man in this loyal State of Ma-
ryland to be permitted to vote who does not
support the Union? I find no fault with
gentlemen for entertaining sympathies with
the south if they choose to do so. I find no
fault with gentlemen for disagreeing with me
on that subject; but if a man has them he
must keep them within his own bosom. He
has no right to contaminate the purity of the
ballot-box by testifying practically to his trea-
son to this government.
Now as to the vote of the soldiers. Last
winter, when this discussion was going on in
the senate, I looked on, and considered the
subject, and took a great deal of interest in
it. I heard the gentleman representing Bal-
timore city in the senate, nobly and patroti-
cally impress upon the minds of the senate
his views upon that subject. Who is more
entitled to vote than the brave soldier in the
field? Why do we retain our privilege of
voting? Why are we not driven away from
our homes? it is because they have bared
their breasts against the bullets of the foe.—
Leaving all the endearments of life, they have
perilled their lives on the altar of their coun-
try for our advantage; to sustain the Union
and all that makes life beautiful and holy.—
Why should not Bradley Johnson, general
commanding in the forces invading our State,
be permitted, pistol in hand, to vote accord-
ing to law? He is only temporarily absent,
discharging a high public function in the
south. A renegade Marylander, leading a
tatterdemalion host of renegade Marylanders,
he appears before Cumberland, and demands
the surrender of our American flag on the pen-
alty of utter annihilation. Yet that man,
unless we restrict the vote, is just as much
entitled to vote as I am. It is a proposition
upon its face and its terms utterly absurd,
that we should permit it. No man has a right
to vote, and no man should be permitted to
vote who does not believe in the supremacy
' of this government, and whose heart is not in
the maintenance of its integrity and in the
suppression and crushing out utterly and for-
ever of this foul and accursed rebellion.
Mr. BRISCOE. I should like to know upon
what authority it is said that a man who
comes within the provisions of our present
constitution, unless he takes the oath of alle-
giance, is not entitled to vote in this State.—
Has any court so decided? But if they do
not pay any more attention to the oath of al- |
