Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 06 (of 20)

But this fivefold combination becomes yet more hateful when its _single motive_ is considered; and here Slavery paints itself finally. The Senator from Mississippi [Mr. JEFFERSO...

Nor have the Free States been backward in charity for the benefit of the Slave States. The records of Massachusetts show that as long ago as 1781, at the beginning of the Govern...

In this statement, I rely upon personal recollection of conversations with him. More than twenty years ago--as also more recently--I was in the habit of meeting the great writer...

“So many people will thank you for your timely, noble, and courageous speech that my thanks will hardly reach your ear; yet I must thank you for my own sake. Our family here spe...

“The spirit moveth me to tell you how much I admired your speech of last Monday, the rather that I see that the dishes of skim-milk that you are trying to stir to an honorable a...

And now, fellow-citizens, what is Slavery? This is no question of curiosity or philanthropy merely; for when the National Government, which you and I at the North help to consti...

Meanwhile the wretched disease must be understood, and I venture to call attention to a work just published in New York, where it is exposed with consummate ability: I refer to...

Massachusetts, anxious to obtain for her people that protection which was denied, and especially to save them from the dread penalty of being sold into Slavery, appointed a citi...

Listening to these horrors, ancient stories of Barbarism are all outdone; and the “viper broth,” which was a favorite decoction in a barbarous age, seems to be the daily drink o...

If I were disposed to shrink from this discussion, the boundless assumptions made by Senators on the other side would not allow me. The whole character of Slavery, as a pretende...

The meaning of these resolutions was not left doubtful by the mover, J. Q. A. Griffin, who, after alluding to “certain Conservative Republican newspapers, such as the _New York...

Surrounded by pernicious influences of all kinds, positive and negative, the first making him do that which he ought not to do, and the second making him leave undone that which...

If you follow Mr. Douglas in his various speeches, you cannot fail to be shocked by the heartlessness of his language. Never in history has any public man insulted human nature...

“Doubtless,” says Blackstone, “all arbitrary powers, well executed, are _the most convenient_.”[19] But _mere convenience_ is not a proper reason, under a free government, for t...

This was the only point on the route of the procession where Mr. Sumner rose to his feet. Here the kindness of these orphaned ones so touched his feelings, that he could not hel...

“To my mind, the speech will do much good; it was needed. The great mass of the people have become, or are becoming, what is now called conservative on the Slavery Question; the...

The two assumptions of Slave-Masters are answered. But this is not enough. Let the answer become a legislative act, by the admission of Kansas as a Free State. Then will the Bar...

Standing on the bent necks of an enslaved race, with four millions of human beings as the black marble Caryatides to support its power, the Slave Oligarchy erects itself into a...

The invitation you send me, coming from such a source, couched in terms so flattering, and possessing such an import, presents a temptation difficult to resist. But I am admonis...

It is difficult to treat this proposition, proceeding from a Committee of the Senate, except as you would treat a direct proposition of Atheism. “The fool hath said in his heart...

Audacious sophistry, often exposed, but still flaunting abroad, may seek to deceive you. It may foam with abuse and bristle with perversion of fact; but it cannot obscure the un...

According to the claim now made, Slavery exists under the Constitution everywhere outside the States,--in other words, Slavery is National; whereas just the contrary is true. Ev...

Mr. Rogers, the President of the Young Men’s Republican Union, nominated for chairman of the meeting Hon. Abijah Mann, Jr., which nomination was unanimously accepted. Mr. Mann,...

It hardly comports with the gravity of this debate to dwell on such an argument; and yet I cannot go wrong, if, for the sake of a much injured race, I brush it away. To justify...

MR. PRESIDENT,--I present the petition of Henry Elwell, Jr., and four hundred and fifty-five others, of Manchester, in Massachusetts, earnestly petitioning Congress to repeal th...

“The state of war continued between a lawful conqueror and a captive.” “So directly opposite to the generous temper and courage of our nation, that _’tis hardly to be conceived...

“From beginning to end it was a vehement denunciation of Slavery. The labor of four leisure years seems to have been devoted by Mr. Sumner to collecting every instance of cruelt...

DEAR SIR,--I am sorry to renounce any opportunity of doing honor to Mr. Burlingame; but my careful physician does not allow me yet to take part in the excitement of a public mee...

USURPATION OF THE SENATE IN IMPRISONING A CITIZEN. Two Speeches, on the Imprisonment of Thaddeus Hyatt for refusing to testify in the Harper’s Ferry Investigation, in the Senate...

Holders of a single slave 68,820 ” ” 1 and under 5 105,683 ” ” 5 ” ” 10 80,765 ” ” 10 ” ” 20 54,595 ” ” 20 ” ” 50 29,733 ” ” 50 ” ” 100 6,196 ” ” 100 ” ” 200 1,479 ” ” 200 ” ” 3...