Therefore I cannot hesitate to say, that, when the slaves of our country became “citizens,” they took their place in the “body politic” as a component part of the “people,” entitled to equal rights, and under protection of two guardian principles,--first, that all just government stands on the consent of the governed, and, secondly, that taxation without representation is tyranny; and these rights it is the duty of Congress to guaranty as essential to the idea of a republic. The aspiration of Abraham Lincoln, in his marvellous utterance at Gettysburg, was, that “government of the people, by the people, and for the people should not perish from the earth.” But who will venture to exclude from the “people” millions of citizens? If governments in the Rebel States are brought to this criterion, they must fail. The departure from the true standard is not merely theoretical, as it might be regarded in States where the disfranchised are few in number, but there is an absolute failure to come within the conditions required. It is not decent to call a State republican, where more than a majority of its “people,” constituting the larger part of the “body politic,” is permanently disfranchised; nor is it decent to call a State republican, where any considerable portion of the “people,” constituting an essential part of the “body politic,” is permanently disfranchised. If in times past such a State could have been treated as republican, it will not do to treat it so now. It lacks the vital elements, and must be treated accordingly. I do not dwell on this point, for it seems absurd to call it in question. Clearly it is your duty to enforce the guaranty. By your oaths to support the Constitution, you must take care that in all the States where governments have lapsed this guaranty shall be carried out. In performance of this duty you may proceed either by an _enabling act_, establishing in advance the conditions of restoration to “practical relation with the Union,” or by an act directly annulling all constitutions and laws inconsistent with a republican government. The power is in Congress. It has been recognized in formal terms by the Supreme Court; and you are the final judge of the “means” to be employed. To say that you have not the power is to abdicate at a great exigency and renounce the very means of salvation. It is to fling away your arms in the very face of the enemy. It is to spike the Constitution at a moment when its full cannonade is needed for the overthrow of wrong. Clearly the power is yours, and upon your heads will be the fearful responsibility, if you fail to exercise it. * * * * *