civil strife. We stand this day on the crumbling brink of that gulf-we see its bloody eddies wheeling and boiling before us shall we not pause before it be to late? How plain again is here the path, I may add the only way, of duty, of prudence, of true patriotism. Let us abandon all idea of acquiring further territory, and by consequence cease at once to prosecute this war. Let us call home our armies, and bring them at once within our own acknowledged limits. Show Mexico that you are sincere when you say you desire nothing by conquest. She has learned that she cannot encounter you in war, and if she had not, she is too weak to disturb you here. Tender her peace, and, my life on it, she will then accept it. But whether she shall or not, you will have peace without her consent. It is your invasion that has made war; your retreat will restore peace. Let us then close forever the approaches of internal feud, and so return to the ancient concord and the old ways of national prosperity and permanent glory. Let us here, in this temple consecrated to the Union, perform a solemn lustration; let us wash Mexican blood from our hands, and on these altars, and in the presence of that image of the Father of his Country that looks down upon us, swear to preserve honorable peace with all the world, and eternal brotherhood with each other. 47 ROBERT G. COUSINS ON THE "MAINE" DISASTER [Robert G. Cousins, an American publicist and orator of distinction, was born in Iowa in 1859. Having graduated at Cornell, in Iowa, he became a member of the bar of his native state. He attained distinction not only for professional acumen, but for oratorical gifts which made him, while still a very young man, a prominent political figure. His work as a Republican campaign winner led to his nomination for the state legislature. He came prominently before the country in connection with the Brown impeachment, which was tried before the Iowa senate. In this trial young Cousins was revealed as a man of solid as well as brilliant qualities. He was elected to Congress in 1892, and has been reëlected continuously ever since. The speech given below was delivered in the House of Representatives in March, 1898, the month following the destruction of the U. S. man-of-war " Maine."] MR. ́R. SPEAKER: Whether this measure shall prevail, either in the form in which it has come from the committee or in the form as proposed in the amendment, it is both appropriate and just; but hardly is it mentionable in contemplation of the great calamity to which it appertains. It will be an incidental legislative foot-note to a page of history that shall be open to the eyes of this republic and of the world for all time to come. No human speech can add anything to the silent gratitude, the speechless reverence, already given by a great and grateful nation to its dead defenders and to their living kin. No act of Congress providing for their needs can make a restitution for their sacrifice. Human nature does, in human ways, its best, and still feels deep in debt. Expressions of condolence have come from every country and from every clime, and every nerve of steel and ocean cable has carried on electric breath the sweetest, tenderest words of sympathy for that gallant crew who |