Ever yours, CHARLES SUMNER. THE TRENT CASE, AND MARITIME RIGHTS. SPEECH IN THE SENATE, ON THE SURRENDER OF MASON AND SLIDELL, REBEL AGENTS, TAKEN FROM THE BRITISH MAIL STEAMER TRENT, JANUARY 9, 1862. WITH APPENDIX. _Hamlet._ Come on, Sir. _Laertes._ Come, my Lord. [_They play._] … _Osric._ A hit, a very palpable hit. _Laertes._ Well,--again. [LAERTES _wounds_ HAMLET; _then, in scuffling, they change rapiers, and_ HAMLET _wounds_ LAERTES.] SHAKESPEARE, _Hamlet_, Act V. Scene 2. It is, perhaps, well that you settled the matter by sending away the men at once. _Consistently with your own principles you could not have justified their detention._--RICHARD COBDEN, _MS. Letter to Mr. Sumner_, January 23, 1862. This announcement is not made, my Lord, to revive useless recollections of the past, nor to stir the embers from fires which have been in a great degree smothered by many years of peace. Far otherwise. Its purpose is to extinguish those fires effectually, before new incidents arise to fan them into flame. The communication is in the spirit of peace and for the sake of peace, and springs from a deep and conscientious conviction that high interests of both nations require this so long contested and controverted subject now to be finally put to rest.--DANIEL WEBSTER, _Letter to Lord Ashburton_, August 8, 1842: Works, Vol. VI. p. 325. The case of the Trent was an important incident of the war,--most interesting for a time to the people of the United States, attracting the attention of foreign nations, and exciting England to hostile demonstrations, even to the verge of practical coöperation with a Rebellion for the sake of Slavery. The facts are few, and are authenticated by official documents.