30 ] caiiiiot therefore accept this doctrine of an arinistice and a convention of the States as a remedy for onr national diiiiculties. I have serious objections to the very idea of any convention of tlie States at this time to tinker with tlie organic law of the land, not to act upon speciiic amendments, but to take up the whole structure of our political system for revision ; and I must add that the idea seems to me very strange as the proposition of those who profess great zeal for the Constitution as it is and the Union as it was. Pray, what do these men want of a convention? It will be of no use simply to expoimd this instrument, — this is the business of the Courts. It will be of no use simply to read it—any man can do this. If it has any practical character, it must take up the Constitution for revision and alteration ; and this surely will not give us the Constitution as it is, or the Union as it was, but something else, perhaps a mere league or confederation of States, as the basis of peace. Oh, no, my friends: —this will not do. I see no relief in this idea; and since I will never concede the theory of Secession, or consent to a dissolution of the Union, I am in favor of war to compel submission to the national authority, and not an armistice or a convention to negotiate with armed traitors. This I deem the only course that is safe for the nation. THE SEQUEL OF VICTORY. What shall be the sequel of this victory if we gain it? I shall not go very largely into this question ; yet it is more or less before the public mind, and hence a word or two in regard to it may not be out of place. The immediate sequel will of course be the absolute annihilaof the Confederate Government, and all that pertains to- it. It is an usurped authoi'ity now ; and if we conquer and break up its armies, then this common cause of the country will be out of the way. Let it go to the shades of eternal infamy. HaWng been the great criminal and cause of this generation, let it be remembered as a warning to posterity. History will write its bloody record, and future ages gaze with astonishment. In respect to the Rebel States themselves, immediate efibrts should, and as I doubt not, will be made to re-establish thenj
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