As Mr. Sumner resumed his seat, after his speech in reply to his assailants, Mr. Chase, who sat next to him, said: "You have struck Slavery the strongest blow it ever received; you have made it reel to the centre." The rage of its representatives was without bounds. The suggestion of Mr. Pettit to expel him was the first idea, which at last gave way to that of Mr. Clay to put him in Coventry. The first was not abandoned at once. It was seriously entertained. The newspapers of the time represent that it was under consideration from the day of his speech,--that "the opposition to Mr. Sumner is general and bitter in the Senate, and that it would be rash, therefore, to assert that the resolution will not be presented, and that, if presented, it will not be carried." It was added, that four Northern Senators were pledged to the resolution. The _Evening Post_ said, jestingly: "The Washington _Union_, and those of whom it is the special organ, are as much puzzled what to do with Senator Sumner as the Lilliputians were how to dispose of Mr. Lemuel Gulliver, when he made his appearance among them." Other papers treated the subject more gravely. The _National Era_, at Washington, said: "When we heard that a project for the expulsion of Mr. Sumner was under consideration among some Senators, we scouted the report as simply ridiculous; but there is no limit to the insolence and folly of some men. On inquiry, we learned that such a project was seriously canvassed." * * * * * This debate was profoundly felt throughout the country. Mr. Sumner's speech was telegraphed to the North, and extensively read. People there were smarting under the repeal of the Missouri Prohibition and the attempt to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act. They were glad to find the audacious pretensions of the slave-masters repelled in Congress. Newspapers were enthusiastic. The correspondent of the New York _Times_ wrote:-- "This able, triumphant vindication, which covered the assailants with confusion, told with the more effect because it was unexpected. It had been supposed that Mr. Sumner would submit quietly to any indignity that might be heaped upon him; but the people, doubtless, when they read his speech, will acknowledge that he held in reserve, and knew when and how to use, weapons of defence far keener than the bowie-knife, and far more certain and fatal than the duellist's rifle; and his countrymen will honor the moral courage that enabled him to bear unflinchingly all the cruel taunts of his misreckoning assailants, until the time had arrived for drawing the arrows of Truth.... I have not been accustomed to praise the Senator who is now my theme; but that heart must be cold, and that judgment lamentably distorted, which could withhold from Mr. Sumner his well-earned tribute for to-day's acquittance." The Springfield _Republican_ thus characterizes the speech:--