Part 26

"But it is said that this resolution must be taken as 'a test of Patriotism.' To this I have but one answer. If Patriotism ask me to assert a falsehood, I have no hesitation in telling Patriotism, 'I am not prepared to make that sacrifice.' The duty we owe to our country is, indeed, among the most solemn and impressive of all obligations; yet, high as it may be, it is nevertheless subordinate to that which we owe to that Being with whose name and character _truth_ is identified. In this respect I deem myself acting upon this resolution under a higher responsibility than either to this House or to this people."[194]

[194] Speech on the Resolution concerning the Conduct of the British Minister, Dec. 28, 1809: Annals of Congress, Eleventh Congress, Second Session, col. 958.

These words were worthy of Boston. May her Representatives never more fail to feel their inspiration! "But," say the too swift defenders, "Mr. Winthrop voted against the falsehood _once_." Certainly no reason for not voting against it _always_. But the excuse is still pressed, "Succors to General Taylor should have been voted." The result shows that even these were unnecessary. Before the passage of this disastrous Act of Congress, his troops had already achieved a success to which may be applied the words of Milton:--

"That _dishonest_ victory At Chæronea, _fatal to liberty_."

But it would have been less wrong to leave him without succors, even if needful to his safety, than to vote falsehood and unjust war. In seeing that the republic received no detriment, you should not have regarded the army only; _your highest care should have been that its good name, its moral and Christian character, received no detriment_. You might have said, in the spirit of virtuous Andrew Fletcher, that "you would lose your life to _serve_ your country, but would not do a base thing to _save_ it." You might have adopted the words of Sheridan, in the British Parliament, during our Revolution, that you "could not assent to a vote that seemed to imply a recognition or approbation of the war."[195]

[195] Speech, Nov. 27, 1780: Hansard, Parl. Hist., XXI. 905.

Another apology is, that the _majority_ of the Whig party joined with you,--or, as it has been expressed, that "Mr. Winthrop voted with all the rest of the weight of moral character in Congress, from the Free States, belonging to the Whig party, _not included in the Massachusetts delegation_"; and suggestions are made in disparagement of the _fourteen_ who remained unshaken in loyalty to Truth and Peace. In the question of Right or Wrong, it is of little importance that a few fallible men, constituting what is called a majority, are all of one mind. Supple or insane majorities are found in every age to sanction injustice. It was a majority which passed the Stamp Act and Tea Tax,--which smiled upon the persecution of Galileo,--which stood about the stake of Servetus,--which administered the hemlock to Socrates,--which called for the crucifixion of our Lord. These majorities cannot make us hesitate to condemn such acts and their authors. Aloft on the throne of God, and not below in the footprints of a trampling multitude, are the sacred rules of Right, which no majorities can displace or overturn. And the question recurs, Was it _right_ to declare unjust and cowardly war, with superadded falsehood, in the cause of Slavery?

Thus do I set forth the character of your act, and the apologies by which it is shielded. I hoped that you would see the wrong, and with true magnanimity repair it. I hoped that your friends would all join in assisting you to recover the attitude of uprightness which becomes a Representative from Boston. But I am disappointed.

I add, that your course in other respects has been in disagreeable harmony with the vote on the Mexican War Bill. I cannot forget--for I sat by your side at the time--that on the Fourth of July, 1845, in Faneuil Hall, you extended the hand of fellowship to Texas, although this slaveholding community was not yet received among the States of the Union. I cannot forget the toast,[196] on the same occasion, by which you were willing to connect your name with an epigram of dishonest patriotism. I cannot forget your apathy at a later day, when many of your constituents engaged in constitutional efforts to oppose the admission of Texas _with a slaveholding constitution_,--so strangely inconsistent with your recent avowal of "uncompromising hostility to all measures for introducing new Slave States and new Slave Territories into our Union."[197] Nor can I forget the ardor with which you devoted yourself to the less important question of the Tariff,--indicating the relative value of the two in your mind. The vote on the Mexican War Bill seems to be the dark consummation of your course.

[196] "Our country,--however bounded, still our country, to be defended by all our hands."

[197] Speech at the Whig Convention in Faneuil Hall, Sept. 23, 1846.

Pardon me, if I ask you, on resuming your seat in Congress, to testify _at once_, without hesitation or delay, against the further prosecution of this war. Forget for a while Sub-Treasury, Veto, even Tariff, and remember this wicked war. With the eloquence which you command so easily, and which is your pride, call for the instant cessation of hostilities. Let your cry be that of Falkland in the Civil Wars: "Peace! Peace!" Think not of what you call in your speeches "an _honorable_ peace." There can be no peace with Mexico which will not be more honorable than this war. Every fresh victory is a fresh dishonor. "Unquestionably," you have strangely said, "we are not to forget that Mexico must be willing to negotiate."[198] No! no! Mr. Winthrop! We are not to wait for Mexico. Her consent is not needed; nor is it to be asked, while our armies are defiling her soil by their aggressive footsteps. She is _passive_. We alone are _active_. Stop the war. Withdraw our forces. In the words of Colonel Washington, RETREAT! RETREAT! So doing, we shall cease from further wrong, and peace will ensue.

[198] Speech at the Whig Convention, Sept. 23, 1846.

Let me ask you to remember in your public course the rules of Right which you obey in private life. The principles of morals are the same for nations as for individuals. Pardon me, if I suggest that you have not acted invariably according to this truth. You would not in your private capacity set your name to a falsehood; but you have done so as Representative in Congress. You would not in your private capacity countenance wrong, even in friend or child; but as Representative you have pledged yourself "not to withhold your vote from any reasonable supplies which may be called for"[199] in the prosecution of a wicked war. Do by your country as by friend or child. To neither of these would you furnish means of offence against a neighbor; do not furnish to your country any such means. Again, you would not hold slaves. I doubt not you would join with Mr. Palfrey in emancipating any who should become yours by inheritance or otherwise. But I do not hear of your effort or sympathy with those who seek to carry into our institutions that practical conscience which declares it to be as wrong in States as in individuals to sanction slavery.

[199] Speech on the Tariff, June 25, 1846: Congressional Globe, Twenty-ninth Congress, First Session, p. 970.

Let me ask you still further--and you will know if there is reason for this request--to bear testimony against the Mexican War, and all supplies for its prosecution, regardless of the minority in which you are placed. Think, Sir, of the cause, and not of your associates. Forget for a while the tactics of party, and all its subtle combinations. Emancipate yourself from its close-woven web, spun as from a spider's belly, and move in the pathway of Right. Remember that you represent the conscience of Boston, the churches of the Puritans, the city of Channing.

Meanwhile a fresh election is at hand, and you are again a candidate for the suffrages of your fellow-citizens. I shall not anticipate their verdict. Your blameless private life and well-known attainments will receive the approbation of all; but more than one of your neighbors will be obliged to say,--

"Cassio, I love thee, But nevermore be officer of mine!"

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

CHARLES SUMNER.

OCTOBER 26, 1846.

REFUSAL TO BE A CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS.

NOTICE IN THE BOSTON PAPERS, OCTOBER 31, 1846.

After the appearance of Mr. Sumner's letter to Mr. Winthrop, there was a disposition with certain persons feeling strongly on Slavery and the Mexican War to seek a candidate against the latter. Mr. Sumner again and again refused to accept a nomination. Besides his constant unwillingness to enter into public life, he would not consent that his criticism of Mr. Winthrop should be weakened by the imputation of an unworthy desire for his place. In his absence from Boston, lecturing before Lyceums in Maine, a meeting of citizens was convened at the Tremont Temple on the evening of October 29, 1846, to make what was called an "independent nomination for Congress." The meeting was called to order by Dr. S.G. Howe, and organized by the choice of the following officers: Hon. Charles F. Adams, President,--J.P. Blanchard, Samuel May, George Merrill, Dr. Walter Channing, Dr. Henry I. Bowditch, and R. I. Attwill, Vice-Presidents,--Charles G. Davis and J.H. Frevert, Secretaries. A committee was appointed to draft resolutions and nominate a candidate. This committee, by its chairman, John A. Andrew, afterwards Governor of Massachusetts, reported an elaborate series of resolutions, setting forth reasons for a separate nomination, and concluding with a resolution in the following terms.

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"_Resolved_, That we recommend to the citizens of this District as a candidate for Representative in the National Congress a man raised by his pure character above reproach, whose firmness, intelligence, distinguished ability, rational patriotism, manly independence, and glowing love of liberty and truth entitle him to the unbought confidence of his fellow-citizens,--CHARLES SUMNER, of Boston,--fitted to adorn any station, always found on the side of the Right, and especially worthy at the present crisis to represent the interests of the city and the cardinal principles of Truth, Justice, Liberty, and Peace, which have not yet died out from the hearts of her citizens."

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Mr. Andrew followed the reading of the resolutions with a speech, in which he vindicated the position of Mr. Sumner as follows.

"Mr. President, I shall have done no adequate justice to the views of the committee, to this meeting, to the distinguished friend of Peace and Liberty to whose nomination this crowded assembly has with such gratifying and enthusiastic heartiness so unequivocally responded, nor, indeed, to my own feelings, until I shall have made a single statement of fact in regard to the attitude of Mr. Sumner himself towards the act we have just felt it our duty to perform.

"This nomination, grateful as it may be to his feelings, considered as an evidence of personal attachment and respect on the part of so many of his friends and fellow-citizens, will find him wholly unprepared for its reception; more than that, as I myself do know, he will hear of it with surprise and regret. Though I am unaware that any member of the committee, other than myself, has had any immediate personal knowledge of the views likely to be entertained by him in this regard, I say, what no living man can truly dispute or honestly question, that this nomination has been made upon the entire responsibility and sense of duty of this committee,--not only without the knowledge, approbation, or consent of Mr. Sumner, but in the face of his constant, repeated, and determined refusal, at all times, to allow his name, even for a moment, to be held at the disposal of friends for such a purpose.

"A delicate and sensitive appreciation of his attitude, as one of the earliest, strongest, and most open of those opposed to the dealings of our present member of Congress with the matter of the Mexican War, determined Mr. Sumner, although looked to by--may I not say every individual who sympathizes in this present movement of opposition, as the man to bear our standard on the field of controversy?--determined him to resist every effort to draw him forth from the humblest station in our ranks.

"He would think, write, and speak as his own mind and heart were moved; but he would do nothing, he would permit nothing to be done, for himself, for his own personal promotion."

* * * * *

Mr. Andrew then proceeded to mention what induced the committee to disregard Mr. Sumner's known wishes.

The resolutions were adopted unanimously. A committee of vigilance was appointed. Mr. Sumner's letter to Mr. Winthrop, with the report of this meeting, signed by the President and Secretaries, was printed on a broad-side.

Meanwhile Mr. Sumner returned from Maine, when, on learning what had passed, he at once withdrew his name in the following notice.

Late last evening, on my return from Bangor, where I had been in pursuance of an engagement made last August, I was surprised to find myself nominated as candidate for Congress.

I have never on any occasion sought or desired public office of any kind. I do not now. My tastes are alien to official life; and I have long been accustomed to look to other fields of usefulness.

My name has been brought forward, in my absence, without any knowledge or suspicion on my part of such a purpose, and contrary to express declarations, repeatedly made, that I would not, under any circumstances, consent to be a candidate.

Grateful for the kindness of friends who have thought me worthy of political confidence, and regretting much that it is not bestowed upon some one else, who would fitly represent the idea of opposition to the longer continuance of the unjust war with Mexico, I beg leave respectfully, but explicitly, to withdraw my name from the canvass.

CHARLES SUMNER.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31.

SLAVERY AND THE MEXICAN WAR.

SPEECH AT A PUBLIC MEETING IN THE TREMONT TEMPLE, BOSTON, NOVEMBER 5, 1846.

The sentiment against Slavery and the Mexican War found expression in the independent nomination of Dr. S.G. Howe as Representative to Congress. At a meeting of citizens to support this nomination, John A. Andrew, Esq., was called to the chair. The following resolution was reported from the District Committee by John S. Eldridge, Esq.

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"_Resolved_, That in the determination of our candidate, Dr. SAMUEL G. HOWE, 'to stand and be shot at,' we recognize the spirit of a man distinguished by a life of service in various fields of humanity; and, confidently trusting in the triumph of sound principles, we heartily pledge ourselves to make, with untiring zeal, every honorable effort to secure the election of a candidate who has boldly identified himself with the cause of Truth, Peace, Justice, the Liberties of the North, and the Rights of Man."

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On this resolution Mr. Sumner made the speech given below. He was followed by Hon. C.F. Adams, who reviewed the Anti-Slavery policy pursued for several years by the Massachusetts Legislature, and the obstacles they encountered.

At the election, which took place on Monday, November 9th, the vote was as follows: Winthrop (Whig), 5,980; Howe (Anti-Slavery), 1,334; Homer (Democrat), 1,688; Whiton (Independent), 331.

Mr. Chairman,--When, in the month of July, 1830, the people of Paris rose against the arbitrary ordinances of Charles the Tenth, and, after three days of bloody contest, succeeded in that Revolution which gave the dynasty of Orléans to the throne of France, Lafayette, votary of Liberty in two hemispheres, placing himself at the head of the movement, made his way on foot to the City Hall, through streets impassable to carriages, filled with barricades, and strewn with wrecks of war. Moving along with a thin attendance, he was unexpectedly joined by a gallant Bostonian, who, though young in life, was already eminent by seven years of disinterested service in the struggle for Grecian independence against the Turks, who had listened to the whizzing of bullets, and narrowly escaped the descending scimitar. Lafayette, considerate as brave, turned to his faithful friend, and said, "Do not join me; this is a danger for Frenchmen only; reserve yourself for your own country, where you will be needed." Our fellow-citizen heeded him not, but continued by his side, sharing his perils. That Bostonian was Dr. Howe. And now the words of Lafayette are verified. He is needed by his country. At the present crisis, in our Revolution of "Three Days," he comes forward to the post of danger.

I do not disguise the satisfaction I shall feel in voting for him, beyond even the gratification of personal friendship, because he is not a politician. His life is thickly studded with labors in the best of all causes, the good of man. He is the friend of the poor, the blind, the prisoner, the slave. Wherever there is suffering, there his friendship is manifest. Generosity, disinterestedness, self-sacrifice, and courage have been his inspiring sentiments, directed by rare sagacity and intelligence; and now, wherever Humanity is regarded, wherever bosoms beat responsive to philanthropic effort, his name is cherished. Such a character reflects lustre upon the place of his birth, far more than if he had excelled only in the strife of politics or the servitude of party.

He has qualities which especially commend him at this time. He is firm, ever true, honest, determined, a lover of the Right. With a courage that charms opposition, he would not fear to stand alone against a fervid majority. Knowing war by fearful familiarity, he is an earnest defender of peace. With a singular experience of life in other countries, he now brings the stores he has garnered up, and his noble spirit, to the service of his fellow-citizens.

But we are assembled to-night less to consider his praises--grateful as these would be to me, who claim him as friend--than to examine the principles now in issue. Not names, but principles, are now in issue. Proud as we may be of our candidate, we feel, and he too feels, that his principles on the grave questions now pending are his truest recommendation.

In examining these questions, I shall regard those only which are put in issue by the Whigs. It is with the Whigs that I have heretofore acted, and may hereafter act,--always confessing loyalty to principles above any party.

The Resolutions of the recent Whig State Convention present five different questions, with the opinions of the party thereupon. These are the Veto of the President, the Sub-Treasury, the Tariff, _Slavery_, and _the Mexican War_. Now, of these five questions, it will not be disguised that the last two are the most important. Slavery is a wrong which justice and humanity alike condemn. The Mexican War is an enormity born of Slavery. Viewed as a question of dollars and cents, it overshadows the others; while the blackness of its guilt compels them to the darkness of a total eclipse. Base in object, atrocious in beginning, immoral in all its influences, vainly prodigal of treasure and life; it is a war of infamy, which must blot the pages of our history. No success, no bravery, no victory can change its character. Vainly will our flag wave in triumph over twenty fields. Shame, and not glory, will attend our footsteps, while, in the spirit of a bully, we employ superior resources of wealth and numbers in carrying death and devastation to a poor, distracted, long afflicted sister republic. Without disparaging the other questions, every just and humane person will recognize Slavery and the Mexican War as paramount to all else,--so much so, that whoever is wrong on these must be so entirely wrong as not to deserve the votes of Massachusetts men.

The Whig Convention has furnished a rule or measure of opinion. It has expressly pledged the Whigs "to promote all constitutional measures for the overthrow of Slavery, and to oppose at all times, with uncompromising zeal and firmness, any further addition of slaveholding States to this Union, out of whatever territory formed." The Mexican War it has denounced as having its origin in _an invasion of Mexico by our troops_.

Now on these subjects Dr. Howe's opinions are clear and explicit. He is an earnest, hearty, conscientious opponent of Slavery, and in his speech at your former meeting he denounced the injustice of the Mexican War, and, as a natural consequence, demanded the instant _retreat_ of General Taylor's troops to the Nueces.

And this brings me to Mr. Winthrop. Here let me carefully disclaim any sentiment except of kindness towards him as a citizen. It is of Mr. Winthrop the politician that I speak, and not of Mr. Winthrop the honorable gentleman.

And, _first_, what may we expect from him against _Slavery_? Will he promote all constitutional measures for its overthrow? Clearly one of these is the Abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia. This is within the constitutional powers of Congress, and has been called for expressly by our State. It has sometimes occurred to me that Slavery in our country is like the image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, whose feet of clay are in the District of Columbia, where they may be shivered by Congressional legislation, directed by an enlightened Northern sentiment, so that the whole image shall tumble to the earth. Other measures against Slavery are sanctioned by the Massachusetts Whigs, and by the Legislature of our State, in formal resolutions, duly transmitted to Washington. I have never heard of Mr. Winthrop's voice for any of these,--nor, judging by the past, have I any reason to believe that he will support them earnestly. On these important points he fails, if tried by Whig standards.

Will he oppose, at all times, without compromise, any further addition of slaveholding States? Here again, if we judge him by the past, he is wanting. None can forget that in 1845, on the Fourth of July, a day ever sacred to memories of Freedom, in a speech at Faneuil Hall, he volunteered, in advance of any other Northern Whig, to receive Texas with a welcome into the family of States, although on that very day she was preparing a Constitution placing Slavery beyond the reach of legislative change.

The conclusion is irresistible, that Mr. Winthrop cannot fitly represent the feeling palpitating in Massachusetts bosoms, and so often expressed by our Legislature, with regard to Slavery.