Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 05 (of 20)Sumner, Charles
History
Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 05 (of 20)
Sumner, Charles
Slavery -- United States; Speeches, addresses, etc., American
“STATE OF NEW YORK, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.
ALBANY, MAY 28, 1856.
“HONORABLE CHARLES SUMNER:--
“MY DEAR SIR,--From the moment the lightning flashed the
intelligence of the barbarous and brutal assault made upon you
by the sneaking, slave-driving scoundrel Brooks, the blood
has tingled in my veins, and I have desired to express to
you, not my abhorrence of the villain, for I could not find
words adequate, but my personal sympathy for you, and, in
their behalf, that of the people of this State (except a few
‘doughfaces,‘--we have still a very few, the breed is not yet
quite extinct here),--assuring you that the hearts of our
people are warmly and strongly with you, and that your noble
and eloquent speech has already been very generally read by
our citizens,--that it is not only entirely approved, but
highly applauded,--and that its doctrines, sentiments, and
expressions, and its author, will be _sustained_ and DEFENDED
by the people of this State.
“Ardently hoping for your recovery and speedy restoration to
health, I have the honor to remain, with the highest regard,
“Your friend and servant,
“MYRON H. CLARK.”
Of the resolutions at public meetings a few only are presented.
The following, from the pen of William Lloyd Garrison, were adopted by
the New England Antislavery Society.
“1. _Resolved_, That this Convention fully participates in
the general feeling of indignation and horror which is felt
in view of the recent dastardly and murderous assault made
in the Senate Chamber at Washington upon the person of the
distinguished Senator from Massachusetts, Hon. Charles Sumner,
by a fitting Representative of and from the lawless State of
South Carolina; that, whether regard be had to the place or to
the manner in which it was committed, or to the position and
character of the victim, an assault characterized by greater
cowardice and ruffianism, or more daring in its contempt
for all that is sacred in constitutional liberty, or more
comprehensively malignant against the cause of human freedom,
cannot be found on the page of history; that it indicates a
conspiracy, on the part of the Slave Oligarchy, to ‘crush out’
freedom of speech on the floor of Congress as effectually as
it is done on the slave plantation, by putting in peril the
life of every Northern Senator or Representative who shall
dare to lift up a manly voice against Executive usurpation and
border-ruffianism; and, therefore, that whoever shall attempt
to find any justification, or to frame any apology for it, will
reveal himself to be on a level with the base assailant of as
pure and generous and noble a man as ever yet occupied a seat
in our national legislature.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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