rt to the enemy, do
these predictions of his amount to? Every word thus uttered falls as a
note of inspiration upon every confederate ear. Every sound thus uttered
is a word (and falling from his lips, a mighty word) of kindling and
triumph to a foe that determines to advance. For me, I have no such
word as a Senator to utter. For me, amid temporary defeat, disaster,
disgrace, it seems that my duty calls me to utter another word, and that
word is, bold, sudden, forward, determined war, according to the laws
of war, by armies, by military commanders clothed with full power,
advancing with all the past glories of the Republic urging them to
conquest.

I do not stop to consider whether it is subjugation or not. It is
compulsory obedience, not to my will; not to yours, sir; not to the
will of any one man; not to the will of any one State; but compulsory
obedience to the Constitution of the whole country. The Senator chose
the other day again and again to animadvert on a single expression in
a little speech which I delivered before the Senate, in which I took
occasion to say that if the people of the rebellious States would not
govern themselves as States, they ought to be governed as Territories.
The Senator knew full well then, for I explained it twice--he knows full
well now--that on this side of the Chamber; nay, in this whole Chamber;
nay, in this whole North and West; nay, in all the loyal States in all
their breadth, there is not a man among us all who dreams of causing any
man in the South to submit to any rule, either as to life, liberty, or
property, that we ourselves do not willingly agree to yield to. Did
he ever think of that? Subjugation for what? When we subjugate South
Carolina, what shall we do? We shall compel its obedience to the
Constitution of the United States; that is all. Why play upon words?
We do not mean, we have never said, any more. If it be slavery that men
should obey the Constitution their fathers fought for, let it be so. If
it be freedom, it is freedom equally for them and for us. We propose to
subjugate rebellion into loyalty; we propose to subjugate insurrection
into peace; we propose to subjugate confederate anarchy into
constitutional Union liberty. The Senator well knows that we propose
no more. I ask him, I appeal to his better judgment now, what does he
imagine we intend to do, if fortunately we conquer Tennessee or South
Carolina--call it "conquer," if you will, sir--what do we propo