Sir, it is the pride of my life that at that time I was able to do something for the State which the Senator represents on this floor. I did it sincerely, honestly believing it my duty at the time, because I saw well the peril of dependent condition, and that it could be saved only by the interference of Congress, the swiftest intervention, which would not brook delay. Therefore, Sir, for the sake of peace, and as I would succor a fellow-man in agony, I exerted myself in every way to invest Kansas with all the privileges and self-protecting powers of a State. The case was peculiar and exceptional; it was also historic. It cannot be cited as a precedent now. As well cite what you do to save a drowning man just sinking for the last time, as a proper precedent for conduct in daily life. The case of Colorado is to be met on the facts; it is not an exceptional case; it is a simple case. Meet it, therefore, on the facts and on its simplicity. At the suggestion of others, and in order to reach an immediate vote on the bill, Mr. Sumner withdrew his amendment. On the question of its engrossment for a third reading, the bill was rejected,--Yeas 14, Nays 21. * * * * * March 14th, Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, who had voted with the majority, moved that the Senate reconsider the vote rejecting the bill, thus keeping the question open for further debate. * * * * * April 17th, the motion to reconsider was taken up during the morning hour, when Mr. Sumner declared his continued opposition to the proposed State, and his sense of the mistake the Senate would make in reconsidering the late vote. In the course of these remarks, he said:--