Excerpt from Speech of Hon. John L. Thomas, Jr., Of Maryland, on Reconstruction: Delivered in the House of Representatives, April 21, 1866 While I am as desirous as any man that the States unrepresented should have their dele gates participate with us in our deliberations, I am at the same time sensible Of a duty that I owe to my country and to such Of the loyal masses of the South as Stood true to the Union in its hour Of peril, that is paramount to any courtesy that I might be willing to extend to them. Sir, the smoke of the great revolution through which we have just emerged has not yet sufficiently passed away to allow us to dis cern clearly the prospects or hopes of the future. For myself, as I never entertained a doubt during the long and dreary night that for nearly five years hung like a death-pall over Our country, that the rebellion would be finally crushed out, and traitors made to feel the enormity of their guilt, SO tel-day, if I feel a sad disappointment that they have not met that doom that their treason entitled them to receive, I have an abiding confidence in the devotion and patriotism of the loyal masses of the people that they will never allow these rebels, who have forfeited everything by their rebellion, to dictate the terms upon which they shall resume their relationship to the Govern ment. They are either to be consulted as to what conditions will best please them, Or we are to make known to them upon what terms we please to receive them.. We are either to consent that such men as they select shall be our peers in this House, Or we are to tell them what character of peers they shall send here. We are either to exact no guarantees for future security, or we are to impose such guarantees as Congress in its wisdom may deem best for the public good. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.