238 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



The laggard and the faithless are not pursued 

 by assassins. 



"The Emperor of Russia was born in 1818, 

 and is now forty-eight years of age. He suc- 

 ceeded to the throne on the death of his late 

 father in 1855. Immediately after his acces- 

 sion he was happily inspired to bring about 

 emancipation in his great country. One of his 

 first utterances when declaring his sentiments, 

 was, that it was important that this great work 

 should begin from above, to the end that it 

 should not proceed from below. Therefore he 

 insisted that the Imperial Government itself 

 should undertake the blessed work, and not 

 leave it to the chance of insurrection or of 

 blood. He went forth bravely, encountering 

 much opposition ; and now, that emancipation 

 has been declared in form, he is still going for- 

 ward bravely in order to crown it by assuring 

 all those rights without which emancipation is 

 little more than a name. It was, therefore, on 

 account of his thoroughness in the work that 

 he became a mark for the assassin ; and, sir, 

 our country does well when it offers its homage 

 to the sovereign who has attempted so great a 

 task, under such difficulties and at such haz- 

 ards, making a landmark of civilization." 



Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware, said : "I move 

 to amend the resolution by striking out the 

 words ' by an enemy of emancipation ; ' and 

 upon this amendment I will submit a remark. 

 The Senate of the United States, sir, is called 

 upon to vote for this resolution as it stands, and 

 to assert by its vote that the attempt made upon 

 the life of the Emperor of Russia was ' by an 

 enemy of emancipation.' Now, sir, I ask you, 

 I ask any member of the Senate, whether there 

 is one particle of evidence before this body, or 

 whether there is a particle of evidence extant 

 in this country, and accessible to the people of. 

 this country, which shows that such an attempt 

 was made by an enemy of emancipation. I 

 have seen none such. The statement that I 

 have seen in the papers is that it was by a man 

 in the humble walks of life, and I presume by 

 a man that did not own many serfs. If it be 

 the fact that this attempt at the assassination 

 of the Emperor of Russia was made by an 

 enemy of emancipation, that fact can be easily 

 ascertained, for Russia is represented here by 

 a minister. Inquiry could have been made of 

 that minister; and if the fact be as alleged in 

 the resolution we could have had knowledge 

 of that fact from a proper and reliable source." 



The amendment was rejected and the resolu- 

 tion passed. It was subsequently agreed to, as 

 amended by the House. The resolution was 

 transmitted to the Emperor in the iron-clad 

 steamer Miantonomah. 



In the House, on May 14th, Mr. Chanler, of 

 New York, submitted the following resolutions : 



Resolved, That the independent, patriotic, and con- 

 stitutional course of the President of the United 

 States, in seeking to protect by the veto power the 

 rights of the people of this Union against the wicked 



and revolutionary acts of a few malignant and mia- 

 chievous men meets with the approval of this House 

 and deserves the cordial support of all loyal citizens 

 of the United States. 



Resolved, That this House believes the Freedmen's 

 Bureau unnecessary and unconstitutional, and hereby 

 directs the chairman of the committee having charge 

 of that bureau to bring in a bill to repeal all acts and 

 parts of acts inconsistent with this resolution. 



Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, raised the 

 question of reception, which was decided by 

 the following vote : 



YEAS Messrs. Bergen, Chanler, Denison, Eldridge, 

 Finck, Goodyear, Grider, Aaron Harding, Kerr, Le 

 Blond, Niblack, Hitter, Rogers, Ross, Shanklin, Sit- 

 greaves, Strouse, Tabor, and Trimble 19. 



NAYS Messrs. Alley, Allison, Ames, Delos R. Ash- 

 ley, James M. Ashley, Baker, Baldwin, Banks, Bax- 

 ter, Benjamin, Bingham, Blaine, Blow, Boutwell, 

 Bromwell, Broomall, Bundy, Reader W. Clark, Sid- 

 ney Clarke, Cobb, Conkling, Cook, Cullom, Darling, 

 Dawes, Dawson, Defrees, Doming, Donnelly, Dumont, 

 Eggleston, Farnsworth, Ferrr, Garfield, Abner C. 

 Harding, Hart, Hayes, Henderson, Higby, Holmes, 

 Hooper, Asahel W. Hubbard, Chester D. Hubbard, 

 John H. Hubbard, James R. Hubbell, Hulburd, 

 Jenckes, Julian, Kasson, Laflin, George V. Lawrence, 

 William Lawrence, Loan, Longyear, Lynch, McKee, 

 Mercur, Miller, Moorhead, Morrill, Orth, Paine, Pat- 

 terson, Perham, Pike, Plants, Alexander H. Rice, 

 Rollins, Sawyer, Schenck, Spalding, Stevens, Van 

 Aernam, Burt Van Horn, Ward, Warner, Elihu B. 

 Washbnrne, Henry D. Washburn, William B. Wash- 

 burn, Welker, Williams, James F. Wilson, Windom, 

 and Woodbridge 84. 



In the House, on May 14th, Mr. Stevens, of 

 Pennsylvania, introduced the following reso- 

 lution, on which he demanded the previous 

 question : 



Resolved, That a committee of three members be 

 appointed by the Speaker, whose duty it shall be to 

 proceed, without unnecessary delay, to Memphis, in 

 the State of Tennessee, to make an investigation 

 into all matters connected with the recent bloody 

 riots in that city, which began on the 1st instant, 

 and particularly to inquire into the origin, progress, 

 and termination of the riotous proceedings, the 

 names of the parties engaged in it, the acts of atro- 

 city perpetrated, the number of killed and wounded, 

 the amount and character of the property destroyed, 

 and report all the facts to the House ; and the Ser- 

 geant-at-arms or his deputy, and the stenographer 

 of the House, are directed to accompany said com- 

 mittee ; and that all the expenses of this investi- 

 gation be paid out of the contingent fund of the 

 House. The said committee shall have power to 

 send for persons and papers, and examine witnesses 

 under oath. 



It was passed by the following vote : 

 YEAS Messrs. Alley, Allison, Ames, Delos R. 

 Ashley, James M. Ashley, Baker, Baldwin, Banks, 

 Baxter, Benjamin, Bidwell, Bingham, Blaine, Blow, 

 Boutwell, Bromwell, Broomall, Reader W. Clark, 

 Sidney Clarke, Cobb, Conkling, Cook, Cullom, Dar- 

 ling, Davis, Dawes, Defrees, Delano, Doming, Don- 

 nelly, Dumont, Eckley, Eggleston, Farnsworth, Fer- 

 ry, Garfield, Abner C. Harding, Hart, Hayes, Hen- 

 derson, Higby, Holmes, Hooper, Asahel 'W. Hub- 

 bard, Demas Hubbard, John H. Hubbard, James R. 

 Hubbell, Hulburd, Jenckes, Julian, Kasson, Kuyken- 

 dall, Laflin, William Lawrence, Loan, Longyear, 

 Lynch, McKee, Mercur, Miller, Moorhead, Morrill, 

 Orth, Paine, Patterson, Perham, Pike, Plants, "Wil- 

 liam H. Randall, Alexander H. Rice, Rollins, Rous- 

 seau, Sawyer, Schenck, Stevens, Van Aernam, Bur* 



