Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 10 (of 20)Sumner, Charles
History
Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 10 (of 20)
Sumner, Charles
Slavery -- United States; Speeches, addresses, etc., American
“Mr. Sumner’s speech is not, therefore, a mere rehearsal
and arraignment of national wrongs already endured. It is
a protest and a warning against those which are imminently
threatened. In showing how deeply, flagrantly, France and
England have already sinned against us, he admonishes
them against persistence in the evil course on which they
have entered, against aggravating beyond endurance the
indignities and outrages they have already heaped upon us.…
Mr. Sumner’s is the authentic voice, not of the mob, but of
the people. He utters the sentiments of the conscientious,
the intelligent, the peace-loving. His inoffensive protest
against the wrongs to which we have been subjected is
utterly devoid of swagger or menace. It is a simple, but
most cogent demonstration, by the application thereto of
the established principles of International Law, of the
systematic injustice to which we as a people have been
subjected. A miracle of historical and statesmanlike
erudition, his address is severe without being harsh,--an
indictment judicial in its calmness, its candor, its
resistless cogency.”
The _Boston Journal_ said:--
“We trust no one will be deterred by its length from
reading Mr. Sumner’s speech on our Foreign Relations; and
we are sure that no one will be, who fairly enters upon
the subject.… The speech is the most able and elaborate
ever delivered by Mr. Sumner, and will be read with great
interest abroad as well as in this country. Let us hope
that it will help to open the eyes of the people of England
and France to the treachery of their rulers to the progress
of civilization and the spirit of the age.”
Then, in another article, the same journal said:--
“The recent speech of Mr. Sumner meets with the warmest
expressions of commendation from all quarters, excepting,
of course, the journals which are wedded to the interests
of Slavery.… The speech was, in fact, timely, and, while it
was designed primarily to communicate facts of the gravest
interest to the people of the loyal States, it will have
the secondary and not less important effect of making an
impression upon the Cabinets of England and France. The
fairness, candor, earnestness, and ability with which
great questions of international rights are discussed by a
statesman so well known abroad and so much respected as Mr.
Sumner must secure for the speech an attentive perusal by
those who shape public opinion in the Old World.”
A correspondent of the _Boston Journal_, calling himself “An
European Democrat,” wrote:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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