* * * * * Tum, ex consulto Senatus adversariis hostibus judicatis, in præsentem Tribunum, aliosque diversæ factionis, jure sævitum est.--FLORUS, _Epitome_, Lib. III. cap. 21. * * * * * Ego semper illum appellavi hostem, cum alii adversarium; semper hoc bellum, cum alii tumultum. Nec hæc in Senatu solum; eadem ad populum semper egi.--CICERO, _Oratio Philippica XII._ cap. 7. * * * * * Except the Tax Bill, no subject occupied so much attention during this session as what were known generally as “Confiscation Bills,” all proposing, in different ways, the punishment of Rebels and the weakening of the Rebellion, by taking property and freeing slaves. In supporting these bills, Mr. Sumner did not disguise his special anxiety to assert the power of Congress over Slavery. As early as January 15th, Mr. Trumbull reported from the Judiciary Committee a bill to confiscate the property and free the slaves of Rebels, which was considered from time to time and debated at length, many Senators speaking. Amendments were made, among which was one moved by Mr. Sumner, February 25th, requiring, that, whenever any person claimed another as slave, he should, before proceeding with his claim, prove loyalty.[1] Then came motions for reference of the pending bill and all associate propositions to a Select Committee. That of Mr. Clark prevailed. In a speech which will be found in the _Congressional Globe_[2] sustaining the reference, Mr. Sumner said:-- “Such are the embarrassments in which we are involved, such is the maze into which we have been led by these various motions, that a committee is needed to hold the clew. Never was there more occasion for such a committee than now, when we have all these multifarious propositions to be considered, revised, collated, and brought into a constitutional unit,--or, if I may so say, changing the figure, passed through an alembic, to be fused into one bill on which we can all harmonize.” Mr. Clark reported from the Select Committee a bill “to suppress Insurrection and punish Treason and Rebellion,” which, on the 16th of May, was taken up for consideration. Mr. Sumner was among those who thought the bill inadequate, and on the day it was taken up he introduced a substitute in ten sections, which was printed by order of the Senate. The title was, “For the Confiscation of Property and the Liberation of Slaves belonging to Rebels.” The sections relating to Liberation were these.