And, Sir, this is the precise exigency that arises in Kansas,--exactly this,--nor more, nor less. The Act of Congress constituting the very _organic law_ of the Territory, which, in peculiar phrase, as if to avoid ambiguity, declares, as its “true intent and meaning,” that the people thereof shall be left “perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way,” has been from the beginning _opposed_ and _obstructed_ in its execution. If the President had power to employ the national forces in Boston, when he supposed the Fugitive Slave Bill was obstructed, and merely in anticipation of such obstruction, it is absurd to say that he has not power in Kansas, when, in the face of the whole country, the very _organic law_ of the Territory is trampled under foot by successive invasions, and the freedom of the people there overthrown. To assert ignorance of this obstruction--premeditated, long-continued, and stretching through months--attributes to him not merely imbecility, but idiocy. And thus do I dispose of this Apology. * * * * * Next comes the _Apology absurd_, which is, indeed, in the nature of pretext. It is alleged that a small printed pamphlet, containing the “Constitution and Ritual of the Grand Encampment and Regiments of the Kansas Legion,” was taken from the person of one George F. Warren, who attempted to avoid detection by chewing it. The oaths and grandiose titles of the pretended Legion are all set forth, and this poor mummery of a secret society, which existed only on paper, is gravely introduced on this floor, in order to extenuate the Crime against Kansas. It has been paraded in more than one speech, and even stuffed into the report of the Committee. A part of the obligations assumed by the members of this Legion shows why it is thus pursued, while also attesting its innocence. It is as follows. “I will never knowingly propose a person for membership in this order _who is not in favor of making Kansas a Free State_, and whom I feel satisfied will exert his entire influence to bring about this result. I will support, maintain, and abide by any honorable movement made by the organization to secure this great end, _which will not conflict with the laws of the country and the Constitution of the United States_.”[83]