“The Roman Cato, after declaring his belief in the immortality of the soul, added, that, if this were an error, it was an error he loved. And now, declaring my belief in Liberty and Equality as the God-given birthright of all men, let me say, in the same spirit, if this be an error, it is an error I love,--if this be a fault, it is a fault I shall be slow to renounce,--if this be an illusion, it is an illusion which I pray may wrap the world in its angelic forms.”[267] The discussion still proceeded, and only a month later, March 7, 1866, I made another elaborate effort with the same object, from which I read my constant testimony:-- “I do not stop to exhibit the elective franchise as essential to the security of the freedman, without which he will be the prey of Slavery in some new form, and cannot rise to the stature of manhood. In opening this debate I presented the argument fully. Suffice it to say that Emancipation will fail in beneficence, if you do not assure to the former slave all the rights of the citizen. Until you do this, your work will be only _half done_, and the freedman only _half a man_.” This speech closed as follows:-- “Recall the precious words of the early English writer, who, describing ‘the Good Sea-Captain,’ tells us that he ‘counts the image of God nevertheless His image, cut in ebony, as if done in ivory.’[268] The good statesman must be like the good sea-captain. His ship is the State, which he keeps safe on its track. He, too, must see the image of God in all his fellow-men, and, in the discharge of his responsible duties, must set his face forever against any recognition of inequality in human rights. Other things you may do, but this you must not do.”[269] I do not quote other efforts, other speeches, but pass to the next session of Congress, when, at the beginning, under date of December 5, 1866, I introduced resolutions thus entitled:-- “Resolutions declaring the true principles of Reconstruction, the jurisdiction of Congress over the whole subject, the illegality of existing governments in the Rebel States, and the exclusion of such States with such illegal governments from representation in Congress and from voting on Constitutional Amendments.” Of these resolutions the fourth is as follows:-- “That, in determining what is a republican form of government, Congress must follow implicitly the definition supplied by the Declaration of Independence, and, in the practical application of this definition, it must, after excluding all disloyal persons, take care _that new governments are founded on the two fundamental truths therein contained: first, that all men are equal in rights; and, secondly, that all just government stands only on the consent of the governed_.”[270]