Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 06 (of 20)Sumner, Charles
History
Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 06 (of 20)
Sumner, Charles
Slavery -- United States; Speeches, addresses, etc., American
“I have just read ----’s speech. He stands up to the mark
_well_, for a politician; but we want one who believes a
Man is greater than a President, and who would not lift
his finger to obtain the best office in the gift of our
nation, to raise this question above the political slough
into its true position. Charles O’Conor, in his late speech
in New York, affirmed, that, ‘if Slavery were not a wise
and beneficent institution for the black as well as the
white, it could not be defended.’ We want you to take up
the gauntlet that he has thrown down so defiantly.”
A letter from William H. Brooks, of Cambridgeport,
unconsciously harmonized with Mr. Stearns.
“Feeling that our nation is now in the very throes of her
deliverance, and I trust her prompt deliverance, from
bondage to her, not Thirty, but Three Hundred Thousand
Tyrants, may I frankly say, that, if not inconsistent with
your health and safety, which are on no consideration to
be perilled, you could aid more than any single person,
or score of them, in effectually accomplishing the
great triumph.… The unseen forces of public opinion are
gathering and forming for the great November conflict. Your
long, enforced, and martyr silence will give a depth of
impression and moving power and ten thousand echoes to your
words beyond their accustomed might.”
Something about the menace of violence after this speech, with
illustrations of its reception at the time, is postponed to an
Appendix.
* * * * *
Kansas was not admitted as a State into the Union until January
29, 1861, after the slaveholding Senators had withdrawn to
organize the Rebellion, when the bill on which the present
speech was made became a law.
SPEECH.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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