Part 20

When Mr. Sumner entered the Senate, he found what were known as the Compromise Measures already adopted, among which was the odious Fugitive Slave Bill. These were maintained by the constant assumption that Slavery was a national institution, entitled to the protection of the Nation, while those who opposed them were denounced as Sectionalists. These words were made to play a great part. Both the old parties, Whig and Democrat, plumed themselves upon being _national_, and one of their hardest hits at a political opponent was to charge him with _sectionalism_. Mr. Sumner undertook, while showing the unconstitutionality and offensive character of the Fugitive Slave Bill, to turn these party words upon his opponents, insisting that Slavery was Sectional and Freedom National. The title of the speech embodies this fundamental idea, which was generally adopted by the opponents of Slavery.

In making this effort Mr. Sumner had against him both the old parties, fresh from their National Conventions. The Democrats had just nominated Franklin Pierce for the Presidency, and the Whigs General Scott; but the two parties concurred on the Slavery Question, and especially in support of the Fugitive Slave Bill, which was named in both platforms.

The Democrats, in their platform, declared as follows:--

"That the Democratic party will resist all attempts at renewing, in Congress or out of it, the agitation of the Slavery question, under whatever shape or color the attempt may be made."

The Whigs, in their platform, declared as follows:--

"That ... we will discountenance all efforts to continue or renew such agitation, whenever, wherever, or however the attempt may be made."

Here was nothing less than a joint gag, which would have been enforced against Mr. Sumner, as it had been a few weeks before, if he had not succeeded in planting himself on a motion clearly in order, which opened the whole question. Before speaking, he was approached by several, who asked him to give up his purpose, or at least, if he spoke, not to divide the Senate. To all he replied, that, God willing, he should speak, and would press the question to a vote, if he were left alone. A curious parallel to this incident will be found in the Life of Sir Fowell Buxton, when this eminent Abolitionist was pressed not to bring forward in the House of Commons his motion against Slavery, and especially not to divide the House. Against the entreaties of friends, personal and political, he persevered; and this firmness of purpose was the beginning of that victory by which shortly afterwards British Emancipation was secured.[102]

From the statement in the _Globe_ it appears that Mr. Sumner spoke for three hours and three quarters, when a debate ensued, in which the following Senators took part: Messrs. Clemens, of Alabama, Badger, of North Carolina, Dodge, of Iowa, Hale, of New Hampshire, Douglas, of Illinois, Weller, of California, Chase, of Ohio, Rusk, of Texas, Toucey, of Connecticut, Bradbury, of Maine, Hunter, of Virginia, James, of Rhode Island, Bright, of Indiana, Cooper, of Pennsylvania, Butler, of South Carolina, Brodhead, of Pennsylvania, Pratt, of Maryland, Mason, of Virginia, and Cass, of Michigan.

Mr. Clemens opened the debate with personal attack which is a specimen of the brutalities of Slavery; but there was no call to order. He was followed by Mr. Badger, who undertook a formal reply, but could not avoid the personalities which were so natural to speakers vindicating Slavery. He began by remarking: "I think I may say, without hazard or fear of contradiction, that the Senate of the United States never heard a more extraordinary speech than that which has just been delivered by the Senator from Massachusetts,--extraordinary in its character, and most extraordinary in the time and the occasion which the gentleman chose for its delivery.... Three hours and three quarters has the gentleman occupied, at this late period of the session, with this discussion." After considering at some length the constitutionality of the Fugitive Slave Bill, especially in answer to Mr. Sumner, he proceeded to quote from the speech at Faneuil Hall (_ante_, Vol. II. pp. 398-424) denouncing the Fugitive Slave Bill, and then said, "I shudder, when I think of these expressions." Numerous quotations followed, and he charged upon the speech a pernicious influence on the public mind, stimulating to violence. After exposing the former speech, Mr. Badger proceeded to comment again upon that just made. "This speech, Mr. President, is well calculated to stir up the people of Massachusetts. They look to the honorable Senator for direction and guidance; they consider him a 'marvellous proper man,' and, availing himself of his influence over them, he delivers himself of such a tirade of abuse upon the law of his own country--a law passed by this very Senate, in which he knows there are many gentlemen who voted for and still support that law--as is calculated, if any one lent a moment's credence to what he says, to cover us with scorn.... Does he hope to accomplish anything, except to stir up sedition at home against this law, and make the streets of Boston again the scene of disgraceful riots and lawless violence by the lawless opposers of the Constitution and laws of the United States? Never, Sir, since I have been a member of this body, has the Senate witnessed such an exhibition." Then, with a sneer at Antislavery men as of "one idea," the Senator added, that, "admitting everything they say as to the desirableness of abolishing Slavery, it is utterly impracticable."

[102] Memoirs of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, by his Son, Ch. 18.

Mr. Dodge and Mr. Douglas insisted upon the obligations under the Constitution. So did Mr. Toucey, Mr. Bradbury, Mr. Bright, and others. Mr. Cass justified his original support of the Compromise measures by his fear for the Union, saying, "To speak in ordinary language, I was almost frightened to death.... I would have voted for twenty Fugitive Slave Laws, if I had believed the safety of the Union depended upon my doing so"; and then he added: "Sir, the Fugitive Slave Law is now in force. It shall never be touched, or altered, or shaken, or repealed, by any vote of mine. That is the plain English of it."

Mr. Weller imitated Mr. Clemens and Mr. Badger in personalities. He began by a confession as follows. "I will say, Sir, at the outset, that this is the first time in the course of my life that I have listened to the whole of an Abolition speech. I did not know that it was possible that I could endure a speech for over three hours upon the subject of the Abolition of Slavery. But this oration of the Senator from Massachusetts to-day has been so handsomely embellished with poetry, both Latin and English, so full of classical allusions and rhetorical flourishes, as to make it much more palatable than I supposed it could have been made." He then proceeded to say, among other things, "If the constituents of the Senator from Massachusetts follow his direction, if they obey his counsels, murder, I repeat, is inevitable; and upon your hands, Sir, ay, upon your hands [addressing Mr. SUMNER], must rest the blood of those murdered men.... This forcible resistance is not only calculated to strike at the very foundation of our republican institutions by dissolving the Union, but to bring upon the head of the learned Senator from Massachusetts the blood of murdered men. He who counsels murder is himself a murderer." Here Mr. Weller followed the lead of Mr. Badger in misrepresenting the speech just made. Mr. Sumner interrupted him to say,

"Not one word has fallen from my lips to-day, suggesting in any way a resort to force."

Mr. Sumner was not without defenders, and what they said belongs to this history. Early in the debate Mr. Hale expressed himself strongly.

"I feel that I should be doing injustice to my own feelings, and injustice to my friend, the Senator from Massachusetts, if I were to fail at this time to express the very great gratification with which I listened to his speech. In saying that, I do not mean to pass by entirely the honorable Senator from North Carolina [Mr. BADGER], for I listened to him, as I always do, with great pleasure; but justice compels me to say that by far the best part of his speech was the extract which he read from a former speech of the honorable Senator from Massachusetts. [_Laughter._] I listened to them both with great pleasure; but, Sir, I feel bound to say to-day, that it is my deliberate conviction that the honorable Senator from Massachusetts, if he were actuated by as corrupt and selfish motives as can possibly be attributed to him, has, so far as his own personal fame and reputation are concerned, done enough by the effort he has made here to-day to place himself side by side with the first orators of antiquity, and as far ahead of any living American orator as Freedom is ahead of Slavery. I believe that he has formed to-day a new era in the history of the politics and of the eloquence of the country, and that in future generations the young men of this nation will be stimulated to effort by the record of what an American Senator has this day done, to which all the appeals drawn from ancient history would be entirely inadequate. Yes, Sir, he has to-day made a draft upon the gratitude of the friends of humanity and of liberty that will not be paid through many generations, and the memory of which shall endure as long as the English language is spoken, or the history of this Republic forms a part of the annals of the world. That, Sir, is what I believe; and if I had one other feeling, or could indulge in it, in reference to that effort, it would be a feeling of envy, that it was not in me to tread even at an humble distance in the path which he has so nobly and eloquently illustrated."

Mr. Chase adopted the argument of Mr. Sumner against the Fugitive Slave Bill, and vindicated him personally.

"The argument which my friend from Massachusetts has addressed to us to-day was not an assault upon the Constitution. It was a noble vindication of that great charter of government from the perversions of the advocates of the Fugitive Slave Act.... What has the Senator from Massachusetts asserted? That the fugitive servant clause of the Constitution is a clause of compact between the States, and confers no legislative power upon Congress. He has arrayed history and reason in support of this proposition; and I avow my conviction, now and here, that, logically and historically, his argument is impregnable, entirely impregnable....

"Let me add, Mr. President, that in my judgment the speech of my friend from Massachusetts will mark AN ERA in American history. It will distinguish the day when the advocates of that theory of governmental policy, constitutional construction, which he has so ably defended and so brilliantly illustrated, no longer content to stand on the defensive in the contest with Slavery, boldly attacked the very citadel of its power, in that doctrine of finality which two of the political parties of the country, through their national organizations, are endeavoring to establish as the impregnable defence of its usurpations."

* * * * *

On the close of the debate, the proposition of Mr. Sumner was rejected by the following vote.

YEAS,--Messrs. Chase, Hale, Sumner, and Wade,--4.

NAYS,--Messrs. Adams, Badger, Bayard, Bell, Borland, Bradbury, Bright, Brodhead, Brooke, Butler, Cass, Charlton, Clarke, Clemens, Cooper, Dawson, De Saussure, Dodge, of Iowa, Douglas, Felch, Fish, Geyer, Gwin, Hamlin, Houston, Hunter, James, Jones, of Iowa, King, Mallory, Mangum, Mason, Meriwether, Miller, Morton, Pearce, Pratt, Rusk, Shields, Smith, Soulé, Spruance, Toucey, Underwood, Upham, Walker, and Weller,--47.

Mr. Seward was absent,--probably constrained by his prominence as a supporter of General Scott.

* * * * *

This speech, when published, found an extensive echo. It was circulated not only through the press, but in large pamphlet editions, amounting to several hundred thousand. It was translated into German. Two or more editions appeared in England. In the preface to the English edition of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," Lord Carlisle associated the speech with that work, and signalized "the closeness of its logic and the masculine vigor of its eloquence." Lord Shaftesbury, in a letter to the London Times, wrote, "What noble eloquence!" Mr. Combe, the phrenologist, in a letter to a distinguished American, which was published at the time, said: "I have read every word of this speech with pleasure and with pain. The pain arose from the subject,--the pleasure from sympathy with and admiration of the speaker. I have long desired to know the merits of that most cruel and iniquitous enactment, and this speech has made them clear as day." The London Examiner said: "Apart from its noble and affecting eloquence, it is one of the closest and most convincing arguments we have ever read on the policy of the earlier and greater, as contrasted with that of the later and meaner statesmen of America." These testimonies might be accumulated. They are introduced only so far as may be important in giving an idea of the contemporaneous reception of this speech. The title had a vogue beyond the speech itself, as it became one of the countersigns of our politics.

Letters also illustrate the speech. Mr. Seward, who was not in his seat at its delivery, wrote, on reading it: "Your speech is an admirable, a great, a very great one. That is my opinion, and everybody around me, of all sorts, confesses it." Mr. Chase wrote also: "I have read, as well as heard, your truly great speech. Hundreds of thousands will read it, and everywhere it will carry conviction to all willing to be convinced, and will infuse a feeling of incertitude and a fearful looking for judgment in the minds of those who resist the light and toil in the harness of party platforms irreconcilable with justice." Mr. Wilson, who had not yet been elected to the Senate, wrote: "I have read your glorious speech. How proud I am that God gave me the power to aid in placing you in the Senate! You have exhausted the question. Hereafter all that can be said will be to repeat your speech. It will afford to any one the most complete view of the questions in dispute of anything ever published." Hon. Stephen C. Phillips, who had taken a leading part in the Free-Soil organization of Massachusetts, wrote: "I regard it as a contribution of inestimable value to our noble cause, worth all the labor, all the time, all the self-sacrifice, and all the misrepresentation it has cost you. It is statesmanlike in all its features, and does all that is necessary to place our simple and entire design in its true light before the country, and before the world, and in the records of history." Wendell Phillips, while differing on some points, wrote: "I have read your speech with envious admiration. It is admirable, both as a masterly argument and a noble testimony, and will endear you to thousands." These extracts, which might be extended, show the response to this effort.

* * * * *

SPEECH.

THURSDAY, _26th August, 1852_.--The Civil and Diplomatic Appropriation Bill being under consideration, the following amendment was moved by Mr. Hunter, of Virginia, on the recommendation of the Committee on Finance.

"That, where the ministerial officers of the United States have or shall incur extraordinary expense in executing the laws thereof, the payment of which is not specifically provided for, the President of the United States is authorized to allow the payment thereof, under the special taxation of the District or Circuit Court of the District in which the said services have been or shall be rendered, to be paid from the appropriation for defraying the expenses of the Judiciary."

MR. SUMNER seized the opportunity for which he had been waiting, and at once moved the following amendment to the amendment:--

"_Provided_, That no such allowance shall be authorized for any expenses incurred in executing the Act of September 18, 1850, for the surrender of fugitives from service or labor; which said Act is hereby repealed."

On this he took the floor, and spoke as follows.

MR. PRESIDENT,--Here is a provision for extraordinary expenses incurred in executing the laws of the United States. Extraordinary expenses! Sir, beneath these specious words lurks the very subject on which, by a solemn vote of this body, I was refused a hearing. Here it is; no longer open to the charge of being an "abstraction," but actually presented for practical legislation; not introduced by me, but by the Senator from Virginia [Mr. HUNTER], on the recommendation of an important committee of the Senate; not brought forward weeks ago, when there was ample time for discussion, but only at this moment, without any reference to the late period of the session. The amendment which I offer proposes to remove one chief occasion of these extraordinary expenses. Beyond all controversy or cavil it is strictly in order. And now, at last, among these final crowded days of our duties here, but at this earliest opportunity, I am to be heard,--not as a favor, but as a right. The graceful usages of this body may be abandoned, but the established privileges of debate cannot be abridged. Parliamentary courtesy may be forgotten, but parliamentary law must prevail. The subject is broadly before the Senate. By the blessing of God it shall be discussed.

Sir, a severe lawgiver of early Greece vainly sought to secure permanence for his imperfect institutions by providing that the citizen who at any time attempted their repeal or alteration should appear in the public assembly with a halter about his neck, ready to be drawn, if his proposition failed. A tyrannical spirit among us, in unconscious imitation of this antique and discarded barbarism, seeks to surround an offensive institution with similar safeguard. In the existing distemper of the public mind, and at this present juncture, no man can enter upon the service which I now undertake, without personal responsibility, such as can be sustained only by that sense of duty which, under God, is always our best support. That personal responsibility I accept. Before the Senate and the country let me be held accountable for this act and for every word which I utter.

With me, Sir, there is no alternative. Painfully convinced of the unutterable wrong and woe of Slavery,--profoundly believing, that, according to the true spirit of the Constitution and the sentiments of the Fathers, it can find no place under our National Government,--that it is in every respect _sectional_, and in no respect _national_,--that it is always and everywhere creature and dependant of the _States_, and never anywhere creature or dependant of the _Nation_,--and that the _Nation_ can never, by legislative or other act, impart to it any support, under the Constitution of the United States,--with these convictions I could not allow this session to reach its close without making or seizing an opportunity to declare myself openly against the usurpation, injustice, and cruelty of the late intolerable enactment for the recovery of fugitive slaves. Full well I know, Sir, the difficulties of this discussion, arising from prejudices of opinion and from adverse conclusions strong and sincere as my own. Full well I know that I am in a small minority, with few here to whom I can look for sympathy or support. Full well I know that I must utter things unwelcome to many in this body, which I cannot do without pain. Full well I know that the institution of Slavery in our country, which I now proceed to consider, is as sensitive as it is powerful, possessing a power to shake the whole land, with a sensitiveness that shrinks and trembles at the touch. But while these things may properly prompt me to caution and reserve, they cannot change my duty, or my determination to perform it. For this I willingly forget myself and all personal consequences. The favor and good-will of my fellow-citizens, of my brethren of the Senate, Sir, grateful to me as they justly are, I am ready, if required, to sacrifice. Whatever I am or may be I freely offer to this cause.

Here allow, for one moment, a reference to myself and my position. Sir, I have never been a politician. The slave of principles, I call no party master. By sentiment, education, and conviction a friend of Human Rights in their utmost expansion, I have ever most sincerely embraced the Democratic Idea,--not, indeed, as represented or professed by any party, but according to its real significance, as transfigured in the Declaration of Independence and in the injunctions of Christianity. In this idea I see no narrow advantage merely for individuals or classes, but the sovereignty of the people, and the greatest happiness of all secured by equal laws. Amidst the vicissitudes of public affairs I shall hold fast always to this idea, and to any political party which truly embraces it.

Party does not constrain me; nor is my independence lessened by any relations to the office which gives me a title to be heard on this floor. Here, Sir, I speak proudly. By no effort, by no desire of my own, I find myself a Senator of the United States. Never before have I held public office of any kind. With the ample opportunities of private life I was content. No tombstone for me could bear a fairer inscription than this: "Here lies one who, without the honors or emoluments of public station, did something for his fellow-men." From such simple aspirations I was taken away by the free choice of my native Commonwealth, and placed at this responsible post of duty, without personal obligation of any kind, beyond what was implied in my life and published words. The earnest friends by whose confidence I was first designated asked nothing from me, and throughout the long conflict which ended in my election rejoiced in the position which I most carefully guarded. To all my language was uniform: that I did not desire to be brought forward; that I would do nothing to promote the result; that I had no pledges or promises to offer; that the office should seek me, and not I the office; and that it should find me in all respects an independent man, bound to no party and to no human being, but only, according to my best judgment, to act for the good of all. Again, Sir, I speak with pride, both for myself and others, when I add that these avowals found a sympathizing response. In this spirit I have come here, and in this spirit I shall speak to-day.