sm of the
people, have, upon one pretext or another, been seized, and are
now held by lawless force. Upon the recommendation of Members of
Congress, Fort Pulaski was seized by troops, under an order from
the Governor of Georgia. I suppose there is not a Member upon the
opposite side who will declare that it would be given up peacefully
to the troops of the United States if it were demanded by our
national authorities. More recently still, the navy yard at
Pensacola was taken by an armed force, under the order of the
Governor of Florida. I have here a telegraphic dispatch sent to
this government:

'_January 12, 1861_.--Commissioners appointed by the Governor of
Florida with a regiment of armed men at the gate, demanded the
surrender of this navy yard, having previously taken possession of
one of the magazines. I surrendered the place and struck my flag
at half-past one o'clock, p. m., this day.'

"Mr. chairman, suppose Great Britain, suppose France, suppose all
the powers of the world combined, had thus outraged the flag of
the United States; would not every one of us have demanded men and
money to wipe out the indignity, and to repel further like assaults,
at whatever hand? Yet, sir, the Governor of Florida, before the
State of Florida had seceded, goes with an armed force, seizes upon
our property, and turns the guns of the people of the United States
against the army and the navy of the United States. I am also told
--with what truth I do not know--that cannon are planted upon the
banks of the Mississippi River, at or near the city of Vicksburg,
in the State of Mississippi, and that our steamboats are now
compelled to land there and to give an account of themselves. We
do not know at what moment they may be subject to tribute and
seizure. To whom? To the State of Mississippi? I agree with all
my colleagues from the State of Ohio, from both sides of the House,
that there is one thing immutable--a law that is a higher law. It
is, that the Mississippi River, gathering all the rivulets of the
northwest into one current, must be permitted to float our commerce,
uninterrupted and untrammeled, to the sea, or thousands of men will
float down upon its waters and make it free.

"No one doubts, I suppose, that the forts at the mouth of the
Mississippi are in the possession, not of the troops of the United
States, but troops that will resist the troops of the United States.
There is no doubt that Baton Rouge has