Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 20 (of 20)Sumner, Charles
History
Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 20 (of 20)
Sumner, Charles
Slavery -- United States; Speeches, addresses, etc., American
My allusion was to the exclusion of Mr. Douglass from the common
table of the mail-packet on the Potomac, almost within sight of the
Executive Mansion, simply on account of color,--and I added, that the
President, on whose invitation he had joined the Commission, never
uttered a word in rebuke of this exclusion, and when entertaining
the returned Commissioners at dinner carefully omitted Mr. Douglass,
who was in Washington at the time, and thus repeated the indignity.
On this you are represented as remarking, that General Sigel was
also omitted, but that, in fact, Mr. Douglass and General Sigel had
already left for their homes (forgetting that Mr. Douglass continued
in Washington); and you do not allow yourself to doubt, that, had
they been in town, they would have been included in the invitation.
Your apology clearly shows your opinion that they ought to have
been invited; but please not to forget that there was a reason for
inviting Mr. Douglass that did not exist in the case of General
Sigel. The General was white, and he had suffered no indignity on
board a mail-packet which it was in the power of the President to
rebuke by example.
But you are mistaken in the facts, as appears by the newspapers of
the time. The Commissioners reached Washington on the evening of
March 27th. They were entertained at dinner by the President March
30th. On the day before the dinner Mr. Douglass presided at the
Convention to nominate a Delegate to Congress from the District of
Columbia, and on taking the chair made a speech. Mr. Chipman was
nominated against Mr. Douglass, who made another speech thanking his
supporters for their votes. To gratify the friends of Mr. Douglass,
there was an understanding that he should succeed Mr. Chipman as
Secretary of the District. These things show that Mr. Douglass was
not only in Washington, but conspicuously so, presiding at a public
Convention, and being voted for as a candidate for Congress.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account