^LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. I 
 
 # # 
 
 # /^ # 
 
 # # 
 
 I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. | 
 
^Uy^^-^ /^ 
 
 SPEEO H 
 
 OP 
 
 HON. E. 0. PERRIN, 
 
 AT 
 
 WASHINOTOSM'S MONUMENT, 
 
 TO 
 
 se:i^o^jea.tvt 33^^te:s, 
 
 AFTER HE HAD BEEN 
 
 Driven, with his Flag, from the National Capitol, 
 
 af»r,ixj 14, ises. 
 
 im 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 INTELLIGENCER PRINTINa HOUSE, 
 Nos. 401 anil 403 D Street, uear ?th. 
 
 18G8. 
 

> r CONSERVATIVE ARMY AND NAVY UNION CLUB 
 
 4 T^^ASHIIVGTOIN, 1>. C. 
 
 SPEEC H 
 
 OF 
 
 HON. E. O. PERRIN, 
 
 AT WASHINGTON'S MONJJIVIENT, 
 
 TO 
 
 After he had been driven, tcith his Flag, from the National 
 Capitol, April 14, 1868. 
 
 Sergeant Bates : As ynexpectedly to myself as to yon, 
 the Reception Committee have this moment requested me 
 to welcome you and your flag, after having been driven 
 from l/he portals of the nation's Capitol. 
 
 After such a repulse from such a source, no place could 
 be more appropriate than here, at the base of this unfinished 
 monument, erected to commemorate the virtues of George 
 Washington, the Father of his Country. 
 
 Could the spirit of that great patriot look down upon this 
 melancholy scene to-day, he might deliver another farewell 
 address to ali the hopes and prospects of a distracted country. 
 
 Look but a moment on the picture. That silken banner, 
 wrought by fair hands upon the banks of the Mississippi, and 
 placed in your keeping by the citizens of Vicksburg on the 
 28th of last January, has been borne by you, over moun- 
 tain and valley, 'mid sunshine and rain, by night and by 
 day, for nearly three weary months, through the States of 
 Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Caro- 
 lina, and Virginia, and everywhere throughout these once 
 rebellious States it has been hailed with joy and gladness — 
 every city, village, and town joining in the glad shout — ^old 
 
2 
 
 men an I young men, sol'diei's atid citizens, matrons and 
 maidens, all, all weIcominj=^ it as the harbinger of better 
 days. Even at Montgomery and Richmond, the boasted 
 capitals of the late Confederacy, you were escorted to the 
 dome of each Capitol, and ihe stripes and stars kissed again 
 the balmy breeze of the once rebellious South, amid the loud 
 plaudits of a conquered people. 
 
 I learn, from good authority, that but one paper in all ths 
 South cast any imputation upon you or your banner — 
 " Pollard's Southern Opinion," a rebel sheet which echoes 
 only the opinion of Pollard, and hardly that. He called 
 upon the "people of Carolina to meet yorl on the border, 
 welcome your insolent approach, and seat you upon some 
 tall, solitary chimney left by Sherman as a bleak monument 
 of his vandal raid, and there let you Wave your ray of op- 
 pression amid the hootings and curses of an insulted people." 
 Not a man, woman, or child responded to the unjust call. 
 Mark my prediction, the whole revolutionary Northern press, 
 down to "my two i)apers, both daily," will catch this in- 
 spiration, join the vile strain, and echo back some fiendish 
 chorus. Indignant rebuke followed the appeal down there; 
 and, believe me, that liere the reddest thunder-bolt in God's 
 fiery wrath is reserved to come down upon the heads of 
 those who fatten on spoils, revel in plunder, and prostitute 
 their patronage, all in the name of " libert}' " and the flag 
 of their country, 
 
 I have it from your own lips that everywhere upon your 
 triumphal journey you have received the same warm, joy- 
 ous, patriotic greeting, and all without the expenditure of 
 one dollar, from Yicksburg to Washington. 
 
 Yet here, in the capital of the nation, by men full of pro- 
 fessions and boasting of loyalty, you have met your first, 
 your only rebuke. At the m.oment you expected to crown 
 your triumphal march by planting that flag upon the Dome 
 of the Capitol, the massive doors of that temple of liberty 
 are slammed in your face by the very men who have bolted 
 and barred out infinitely more loyal Representatives than 
 
themselves, and you ara driven to Washington's Monument ; 
 and there, with bowed head, you have unfurled your banner. 
 Had the so-called rebels torn from it twenty-six bright 
 stars, a Kadical Congress would have welcomed the dis- 
 mantled ensign with shouts of joy, as being evidence of an 
 unrepentant people. But it was a standing rebuke to them 
 to find it pass safely and triumphantly throughout your 
 entire journey without an insult, and recLuiring no recon- 
 struction at their hands. 
 
 Yours is the same banner denounced thus by the Radical 
 Tribune : 
 
 "Tear down the flaunting lie ; 
 Furl up the starry flag ; 
 Insult no sunny sky 
 
 With hate's polluted rag." 
 
 Could you expect a better fate for the flag of your country 
 from such a source ? 
 
 Had it met this repulse and insult at Montgomery or 
 Richmond, then would your coming have been welcomed 
 with Radical delight. 
 
 It matters not, therefore, if you did defend that flag 
 during the war, and love and revere it in time of peace, you 
 are guilty of a " high crime and misdemeanor," and deserve 
 impeachment for presuming to float it from yonder Dome 
 with thirty-six stars upon it, representing as many States, 
 while the Rump htlow have sworn that ten of those stars 
 represent only " conquered 'provinces,''^ pinned to the Union 
 by loyal bayonets, and governed by five military dictators. 
 
 Your mistake, Mr. Sergeant, is an innocent and a natural 
 one. You believed in the professions of these men. You 
 thought their loud boasting of love for the Union was sin- 
 cere. The people once thought like you, but, like yourself, 
 they too have been undeceived, and find that, while they 
 keep the word of promise to the ear, they break it to the 
 hope. Had you taken some dusky son of Ham, and borne 
 him Atlas-like upon your back through the sunny South, 
 and landed him safely here, a Radical Congress would have 
 
4 
 
 opened wide those bolted doors, and, when yon thrast your 
 sable brother — the American citizen of African descent — into 
 the outstretched arms of the Goddess of Liberty which crowns 
 the dome of yonder Capiiol, one loud, long shout of joy 
 would have gone up from those gilded halls below, and you 
 Avotild have been hailed as a hero and crowned with the laurel. 
 
 Seated in that same Capitol from which you are driven, 
 they strike down the Supreme Court, trample upon the 
 Constitution of our fathers, ride over the sacredness of law, 
 and, in the madness of iheir wrath, drunken with power, 
 they are this moment enacting the solemn farce of impeach- 
 ing a President for the high crime and misdemeanor of re- 
 fusing to bow down to their party lash, and daring to stand 
 between them and an outraged Constitution. 
 
 This "traitor President'"' gave you and the flag a warm 
 welcome to-da}', and the loyal Senate, that bars you out of 
 the Capitol, may, for that high crime, frame another charge 
 in their bill of indictment. 
 
 The President stood beneath the ilag in time of war, and 
 such men love it in time of peace. 
 
 When the rebellion raged, he did not continue "to dwell 
 in those marble halls," but resigned his cushioned seat in the 
 Senate, gave up his five thousand a year, and, bearing a 
 commission I'rom President Lincoln, he went back to his 
 own Tennessee, then surrounded by rebel armies, and be- 
 neath just such a banner be " fouglit out the good fight " till 
 be brought back the land of Jackson to the Union of our 
 Fathers; the only State yet restored since the Confederacy 
 of Jeif. Davis crumbled to the ground. Yet h,e\s a "traitor," 
 and the men who did not insult and repulse your f^ag are 
 " rebels." 
 
 Compare his record v«'ith the military career of that radi- 
 cal body that has just repulsed you, and are now sitting in 
 solemn mockery as a " High Court of Impeachment on him." 
 Call the roll of that " High Court," and then call the roll of 
 itll the armies of ihc Nation, and show Uie the name of v, 
 
5 
 
 siuf.i'le Senatorial Impeacher that ever followed that flag into 
 battle, or fought 1 eneath its stripes and stars. 
 
 From what source, then, do they obtain their warrant to 
 condemn better and braver men? On what bloody fields 
 did they win their laurels? During four years of sanguin- 
 ary war, and almost four of unreconstructed peace, what 
 arms did they ever face except the tbony, and alabaster 
 arms in the ladies' gallery ? 
 
 I beg pardon; one of that grand inquest did raise a regi- 
 ment in the Old Bay Siate, endured the privations and 
 hardships of a forced inarch "hy raiV^ from Boston to 
 Washington, faced gallantl}^ all the dangers and peril of a 
 full dress parade down Pennsylvania avenue, crossed the 
 Long Bridge in triumph, without drowning a man, and hear- 
 ing that Beauregard and his rebel army were approaching 
 the capital, transferred his regiment by endorsement to a 
 fighting General, and then Flora Temple never made better 
 time on the Fashion Course than this Impeacher made from 
 the batcie Held of Bull Run to the gilded halls of the Uni- 
 ted States Senate, On that fatal day a terrified Federal 
 soldier, "fleeing from the wrath to come," said he thought 
 he was doing some tall running " till a member of Congress 
 passed him, and then he thought he was standing still." 
 That valiant hero sits to day impeaching the only man who 
 resigned his seat in the Senate to face the enemies of his 
 
 country. 
 
 " Judge ye between them." 
 
 But we must not despair. Their transient voice is not 
 the voice of the people. No ; 
 
 " A breath cau unmake them as a breath has made." 
 
 They but imitate the rash youth " who fired the Ephesian 
 Dome, that his name might outlive the memory of the pious 
 fool who reared it." 
 
 I well remember, in the compromise days of 1850, Daniel 
 Webster, the great expounder of the Constitution, after voting 
 for those measures that spread the bow of promise in the 
 
political heavens, returned to Boston and asked the poor 
 privilege of defending his course, and the same Radical 
 fanatics that drove jou and your flag from the Capitol to- 
 day barred the doors of Faneuil Hall, that cradle of liberty, 
 against Daniel Webster. Like yourself, he was driven into 
 the inclement air, and gave them that rebuke which I may 
 well repeat here : 
 
 "0! ye solid men of Boston, you have conquered an inhospitable 
 climate ; you have conquered a sterile and barren soil ; you have con- 
 quered the very wavef that wash your chores ; but you have yet to 
 conquer your pi-ejudiccs." 
 
 Alas ! his appeal fell upon leaden ears. With uncou- 
 quered prejudices they followed him through life ; and long 
 after his form had mingled with the dust at Marshfield, and 
 his patriotic spirit gone back to the God who gave it, they 
 insulted his memory, and, hyena-like, desecrated his sepul- 
 chre, by petitioning the Legislature to tear down the bronze 
 monument erected by a grateful people in the capital of the 
 State he had honored far more than it could ever honor him. 
 " O ! Shame, where is thy blush." 
 
 Sir, after receiving such an ovation through the entire 
 South, I can well imagine your feelings of sadness, mortifi- 
 cation, and disgust, when thus rudely repulsed by those false 
 pretenders who claim such exalted patriotism, and are for- 
 ever prating of their devotion to the National flag. 
 
 The people must soon see their shameless hypocrisy and 
 empty boasting; and, in the face of such an insult, you might, 
 while driven from the Capitol, look back contemptuously on 
 that " Radical Rump," and, with far more truth than poetry, 
 exclaim : 
 
 ' ' Blush ! if of manly blocxl one drop remains 
 To steal its lonely course along your veins ; 
 Blush ! if the bronze, long hardened on the cheek, 
 Has left one spot where that poor drop can speak. 
 Blush ! to be branded with the perjurer's name, 
 And if you dread not sin, at least dread sAame." 
 
 You, sir, have laced rebel bullets in time of war, and you 
 can bear Radical insults in time of peace. 
 
l^e-ppair not ; you will find yourself in good company, and 
 plenty of it, and will have received the same measure of 
 reward meted out to every Union soldier, high or low, from 
 George B. McClellan to the humblest private, who, having 
 served his country on the field of battle, refuses to serve the 
 " Radicals " at the ballot-box. If you love the " old flag,'' 
 you are a rebel in disguise ; if you revere the Constitution, 
 you area traitor to Congress; and oh! if you have the 
 audacity either to think for yourself, sustain the President, 
 scorn "Negro Sufl'rage," or, worse than all, vote the Demo- 
 cratic ticket, you are then guilty of " high crimes and mis- 
 demeanors," and, " in the name of all snvh people," you 
 deserve immediate impeachment* When old Marius. ban- 
 ished from Rome, and driven in exile to Carthage, was or- 
 dered by a royal minion to depart from the desolation where 
 be had taken refuge, the brave old hero exclaimed : 
 
 "Tell your Master you have seen Caiu3 Marina sitting on the ruins of 
 Carthage." 
 
 Return, then, to your people, and tell them you have seen 
 their Congress, sitting inside of the Capitol, legislating " out- 
 side of the Constitution " tipon the ruins of the Union. 
 
 A Union far more dissevered by them in three years of 
 profound peace, than it was ever broken by Jeff. Davis and his 
 rebel hosts during four years of bloody war. 
 
 But the day will soon come when your bright banner can 
 and ivill float from yonder Dome, every star having a State, 
 and every State having her star. 
 
 God grant that it may come quickly ; for on that proud 
 day Congressional usurpation will stand rebuked, an out- 
 raged Constitution will be vindicated, a fettered judiciary 
 made free, and last, but by no means least, the Nation's 
 Executive will be rescued from an outrage, oppression, and 
 wrong unparalleled in the annals of modern persecution, 
 and the irapeachers themselves stand forever impeached 
 in the eyes of both God and man. 
 
 Then, sir, will your late triumphant march live fresh and 
 green in the memory of a grateful nation, while the very names 
 
of tlie men who drove you from the Cnpitol will be forj]^otten, 
 or remembered only with the scorn and contemp!; which will 
 ever follow the betrayers of a confidini^ people. 
 
 I have linished ; unfurl now your banner to the breeze, 
 with no paid minions to molest. Let it float from tliis neg- 
 lected, unfinished shaft, a standing reproach to that reck- 
 less Congress tliat squanders millions of the people's money 
 on Freedmen's Bureaus and sable cemeteries, but cannot spare 
 a dollar to the memory of George Washington, whose sacred 
 ashes slumber to-day " in a conquered province '' outside of the 
 Union he created and loved so well, and in sight of the 
 \ery capital that bears his honored name* They have dis- 
 graced themselves, humiliated you, and outraged the people, 
 yet your banner is unstained. Bear it on proudly to vour 
 far Western home. It will be welcomed everywhere by the 
 people who went forth to defend it, with even greater glad- 
 ness than by those who seek once more its protecting folds, 
 and yearn for the happy days "that are no more." 
 
 In the name of all the people. North, South, East, and 
 West, we bid you " God speed," Long may you live to 
 enjoy the pleasant memories of the past, and shate with us 
 all the blessings of the future. 
 
 For, as sure as yonder sun now shines upon us, our Union 
 will be restored, Congress rebuked, and the nation saved^ 
 Then will our children, and our children's children, for gen- 
 erations to come, more than realize the wild enthusiastic 
 dream of the patriot poet when he exclaimed : 
 
 " Oh ! may we flourish at a ponderous rate, 
 TowLS add to towns, and State succeed to State, 
 Until at last, among its crimson bars. 
 Our country's banner, crowded fall of stars, 
 O'er freedoms sons ia happy triumph Wave, 
 A hundred million, and not a single sijAVk." 
 
 At the conclusion of Mr. Perrin's remaiks, the flag was 
 waved from the Monument amid tremendous appLause, and 
 nine rousing cheers. 
 
And the Star-spangled Banner, long may it wave 
 O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.