Part 29

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 so boldly. At the North he announces himself as “always for the white man against the nigger,” but at the South he is “for the nigger against the alligator.” It was natural that such a man, who thus mocked at a portion of God’s creation made in the Divine image, should say, “Vote Slavery up or vote it down,”--as if the idea of voting it up were not impious and never to be endured. Beyond all doubt, no majority can be permitted to vote that fellow-men shall be bought and sold like cattle. The pretension is preposterous, aggravated by knowledge on his part that under his device the settlers could only vote Slavery up, and that they were not allowed to vote it down. But this speech attests a brazen insensibility to Human Rights. Not so spoke the Fathers of the Republic, who would not let us miss an opportunity to vote Slavery down. Not so spoke Washington, who declared that to the abolition of Slavery “his suffrage should never be wanting.” Such is the whole political philosophy of this Presidential candidate. A man thus indifferent to the rights of a whole race is naturally indifferent to other things which make for justice and peace.

Again he cries out, that the Slavery agitation is in the way of public business, and that it must be removed from Congress. But who has thrust it there so incessantly as himself? Nay, who so largely as himself has been the occasion of its appearance? His complaint illustrates anew the old fable. It was the wolf above that troubled the waters, and not the lamb below. It is the Slave Propagandists--among whom the champion of Popular Sovereignty must find a place--who, from the Missouri Compromise in 1820, through all the different stages of discussion, down to the shutting out of Kansas as a Free State at the recent session, have rendered it impossible to avoid the exciting subject. By dishonest, audacious theories of Slavery, both morally and constitutionally, they have aroused a natural opposition, and put all who truly love their country on the defensive. Yes, it is in defence of the Constitution perverted, of reason insulted, and of humanity disowned, that we are obliged to speak out.

* * * * *

True, the country needs repose;--but it is the repose of Liberty, and not the repose of Despotism. And, believe me, that glad day can never come, until the mad assumptions for Slavery are all rejected, and the Government is once more brought back to the spirit of the founders. It was clearly understood at the beginning that Congress could not touch Slavery in the States; and this is the doctrine of the Republican party now. But it was also clearly understood at the beginning that Slavery everywhere else was within the jurisdiction of Congress; and this also is the doctrine of the Republican party now. With the practical acceptance of these two correlative principles the Slavery Question will cease to agitate Congress and to divide political parties. Transferred to the more tranquil domain of morals, religion, economy, and philanthropy, it must continue to occupy the attention of the good and the humane; but it will cease to be the stumbling-block of politicians. Not until then is it permitted us to expect that Sabbath of repose so much longed for.

* * * * *

The first stage in securing for our country the repose which all covet will be the election of Abraham Lincoln as President, and the election of that well-tried, faithful, and able Senator,--whom I know well,--Hannibal Hamlin, as Vice-President. I do not dwell on all that will then follow,--homesteads for actual settlers, improvement of rivers and harbors, economy and purity in the National Administration, increased means of communication, postal and commercial, with the establishment of a Pacific Railroad; nor do I dwell on the extirpation of the direful African slave-trade, now thriving anew under our national flag,--nor on our relations with foreign countries, destined to assume that character of moderation and firmness which becomes a great republic, neither menacing the weak nor stooping to the proud, and, while sympathizing with generous endeavors for Freedom everywhere, avoiding all complicity with schemes of lawless violence. Ask the eminent Boston merchant, Mr. Clark, whose avocation makes him know so well the conduct of our Government with Hayti, if there is not need of change in our course toward a humble people, in order to save ourselves from the charge of national meanness, if not of national injustice? But it is by this election that you will especially vindicate the Prohibition of Slavery in the Territories, even in the face of the Dred Scott decision, and fling your indignant answer at once at the Proslavery non-committalism of Bell, the Proslavery dogma of Breckinridge, and the Proslavery dodge of Douglas.

All this can be done, nay, will be done. But let me not beguile you. The ancient price of Liberty was vigilance; and this price has not diminished of late years, especially when surrounded by men accustomed to power and stimulated by rage. Already the news has reached us of combinations to consolidate the Opposition,--as we read that of old two inveterate parties among the Jews were reconciled. “The same day,” writes the sacred historian, “Pilate and Herod were made friends together; for before they were at enmity between themselves.” This example is too kindred not to be adopted. Already, also, we hear of devices at a distance, and even near at home, to distract our friends, by producing distrust either of our principles or of our candidate. At one time it is said that the principle of Prohibition is a mistake,--and then again, by natural consequence, that our candidate is not sufficiently moderate.

Fellow-citizens, hearken not to any of these things. Keep the Prohibition of Slavery in the Territories as the fixed and irreversible purpose of your hearts, and insist that it shall be established by Congress; for without Congress it may not be established. Old Cato procured a decree of the Roman Senate that no king should ever enter Rome, saying that “a king is a carnivorous animal.” A similar decree must be adopted by Congress against an animal more carnivorous than king. In upholding this paramount necessity, I utter nothing new. During the debate on the Nebraska Bill, my eminent colleague at that time in the Senate, Mr. Everett, now candidate for the Vice-Presidency, while approving the Prohibition, allowed himself to disparage its importance. With the convictions which are mine, I felt it my duty to reply, kindly, but most strenuously. After exhibiting the efficacy of the Prohibition, I said:--

“Surely this cannot be treated lightly. But I am unwilling to measure the exigency of the Prohibition by the number of persons, whether many or few, whom it may protect. Human rights, whether in a multitude or the solitary individual, are entitled to equal and unhesitating support. In this spirit, the flag of our country only recently became the impenetrable panoply of a homeless wanderer who claimed its protection in a distant sea; and, in this spirit, I am constrained to declare that there is no place accessible to human avarice or human lust or human force, whether the lowest valley or the loftiest mountain-top, whether the broad flower-spangled prairies or the snowy caps of the Rocky Mountains, where the Prohibition of Slavery, like the Commandments of the Decalogue, should not go.”[173]

And these words, uttered more than six years ago, are still of vital, practical force. The example of Delaware shows how little Slavery it takes to make a Slave State, giving two votes to the ascendency of the Slave Power in the Senate. Be wakeful, then, and do not disparage that enemy which for sixty years has ruled the Republic. “That man is dangerous,” exclaimed the Athenian orator, “who does not see danger in Philip.” And I now say, that man is dangerous who does not see danger in the Slave Power.

When God created man in his own image, and saw that his work was good, he did not destine his creature for endless ages to labor without wages, compelled by the lash. Such degradation we seek to arrest by careful measures under the Constitution. And this is the cause of which your candidate is the generous and noble representative. Stand by him. Let not fidelity to those principles which give dignity and glory to Massachusetts, and to our common country, be an argument against him. From the malignity of enemies, from the vacillation of timeservers, and from the weakness of friends shield him by your votes. Make him strong to commence the great work by which the Declaration of Independence shall become a living letter, and the ways of Providence shall be justified to men.

“If yet ye are not lost to common sense, Assist your patriot in your own defence; That stupid cant, ‘He went too far,’ despise, And know that to be brave is to be wise.”[174]

FOOTNOTES

[1] This account is compiled from the Boston newspapers of the day.

[2] On the balcony of his house in Beacon Street, as the procession passed, was William H. Prescott, the historian, with his family, waving their handkerchiefs. The next day Mr. Prescott called on Mr. Sumner, and said, that, had he known there would have been decorations and inscriptions on houses, he should have placed on his these words:--

“May 22, 1856.

“Then I, and you, and all of us fell down, Whilst bloody Treason flourished over us.”

[3] Wordsworth, Thought of a Briton on the Subjugation of Switzerland.

[4] Of Reformation in England, Book II.: Prose Works, ed. Symmons, Vol. I. p. 29.

[5] Howell’s State Trials, VI. 192.

[6] Odyssey, tr. Pope, Book XV. 410, 411 [450, 451].

[7] Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chap. 60.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Edinburgh Review, Vol. XLI. p. 465.

[10] Edinburgh Review, Vol. XLI. p. 481.

[11] Edinburgh Review, Vol. XLI. p. 481.

[12] Ibid., pp. 486, 487.

[13] Edinburgh Review, Vol. XLI. p. 472.

[14] Speech on the Sugar Duties, February 26, 1845: Speeches, Vol. II. pp. 126, 127.

[15] Born October 25, 1800; died December 28, 1859.

[16] Case of the witness Mrs. Clarke, in the inquiry into the conduct of the Duke of York, February 7, 1809: Hansard, Parliamentary Debates, Vol. XII. col. 436.

[17] Annals of Congress, 6th Cong. 1st Sess., p. 113, March 20, 1800.

[18] As this case was in Executive Session of the Senate, there is no public record of it. From the daily press of the time it appears, that, March 23, 1848, Nugent, a correspondent of the _New York Herald_, was arrested by order of the Senate, and committed to the Sergeant-at-Arms, for obtaining surreptitiously and publishing the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; that he remained in such custody until April 25th, and perhaps longer; that he refused to answer questions concerning the treaty; that he was twice taken before Judge Cranch, of the United States Court, by _Habeas Corpus_; that the Sergeant-at-Arms returned for answer to the writ, that he held the prisoner by virtue of a warrant of the Vice-President, in pursuance of certain proceedings of the Senate in Executive Session, which he could not divulge, and that the question gave rise to much debate in Executive Session. See especially _Baltimore Sun_, March 24, 26, 29, April 18, 1848.

[19] Commentaries, Vol. IV. p. 350.

[20] 9 Adolphus and Ellis, 1.

[21] Lord Mahon, History of England, Chap. XXXI. Vol. IV. p. 20.

[22] Privilege of Parliament, Introduction: Speeches of Henry Lord Brougham upon Questions relating to Public Rights, Duties, and Interests, Vol. IV. p. 353.

[23] Sanborn _v._ Carleton, 15 Gray, 399.

[24] Rev. Thomas Starr King.

[25] “Eadem de Republica sensisse.”--CIC., _Orat. in Pisonem_, c. 32.

[26] Mr. Brooks and Senator Butler were both dead.

[27] Speech in the Senate, February 6, 1837: Works, Vol. II. p. 632. See Miscellaneous Writings on Slavery, by William Jay, p. 509.

[28] Message to the Legislature of South Carolina, November, 1835.

[29] Speech in the Senate, March 4, 1858: Congressional Globe, 35th Cong. 1st Sess., p. 961.

[30] Speech in the Senate, February 29, 1860: Congressional Globe, 36th Cong. 1st Sess., p. 917.

[31] Speech in the Senate, March 6, 1860: Congressional Globe, 36th Cong. 1st Sess., p. 1004.

[32] Speech in the Senate, January 31, 1860: Congressional Globe, 36th Cong. 1st Sess., Appendix, pp. 104-109.

[33] Congressional Globe, 36th Cong. 1st Sess., pp. 557, 596: January 23, 26, 1860.

[34] Message to the Legislature of South Carolina, November, 1835.

[35] Statutes at Large of South Carolina, Vol. VII. p. 397, Act No. 670, sec. 1.

[36] Civil Code, Art. 35.

[37] Laws of Maryland, Acts of 1798, Ch. CI. xii. 12.

[38] Stroud, Law relating to Slavery, pp. 22, 23.

[39] Milton, Paradise Lost, Book XII., 68-71.

[40] Exodus, xxi. 16.

[41] Colossians, iv. 1.

[42] Pollok, Course of Time, Book VIII. 632-634.

[43] Clarke, E. D., Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa, (London, 1816,) Vol. I. pp. 72, 73.

[44] Rokeby, Canto I. st. 21.

[45] “_Wer dem Arbeiter seinen Lohn nicht gibt, der ist ein Bluthund._” (Cap. xxxv. 27.) Our less energetic version pictures the same enormity: “The bread of the needy is their life: he that defraudeth him thereof is a man of blood.” (Ecclesiasticus, xxxiv. 21.) The prophet Jeremiah unites in this judgment: “Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbor’s service _without wages_, and giveth him not for his work.” Chap. xxii. 13.

[46] Discours sur l’Origine de l’Inégalité parmi les Hommes, 2nde Partie: Œuvres, Tom. IV. p. 179.

[47] The Antelope, 10 Wheaton, 66.

[48] Neal _v._ Farmer, 9 Georgia Reports, 580.

[49] Wells, Life of Samuel Adams, Vol. III. pp. 138, 139.

[50] Letter to Joseph C. Cabell, Nov. 28, 1820: Writings, Vol. VII. p. 187.

[51] Letter to David Hartley, May 8, 1783: Works, ed. Sparks, Vol. IX. p. 521.

[52] Purchas’s Pilgrims, Vol. II. p. 1565.

[53] “Deseando ademas S. M. Marroqui que se borre de la memoria de los hombres el odioso nombre de esclavitud,” etc.--_Treaty between Spain and Morocco_, March 1, 1799, Art. XIII.: Martens, Recueil des Traités, 2de Édit., Tom. VI. p. 590.

[54] In Epist. ad Ephes. Homil. XXII. 2.

[55] Debates in the Federal Convention, August 22, 1787: Madison Papers, Vol. III. p. 1391.

[56] Notes on Virginia, Query XVIII.

[57] Of Government, Book II. ch. 4, Book I. ch. 1.

[58] Theory of Moral Sentiments, Part V. ch. 2.

[59] Letter to William Drummond, August 13, 1766: Boswell’s Life of Johnson, ed. Croker, (London, 1835,) Vol. III. p. 11.

[60] Condorcet, Œuvres, ed. O’Connor, Tom. I. p. 88, Décembre, 1775.

[61] Ibid., p. 98, 6 Février, 1776.

[62] Esprit des Lois, Liv. XV. ch. 5.

[63] Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Chap. XVIII.: _Situation of the Black Population_.

[64] Journey through Texas, by Frederick Law Olmsted, p. 105.

[65] The State _v._ Mann, 2 Devereux, North Carolina Reports, 266, 267.

[66] Souther _v._ The Commonwealth, 7 Grattan, 680.

[67] Amorum Lib. I. Eleg. VI. 1.

[68] Asinaria, Act. III. Sc. ii. 4, 5.

[69] Epist. XLVII.

[70] De Animi Affectuum Dignotione et Curatione, Cap. IV.: Opera, ed. Kühn, Tom. V. p. 17.

[71] Annal. Lib. XIV. capp. 42-45. See the memoir of M. de Burigny, _Sur les Esclaves Romains_: Mémoires de l’Académie des Inscriptions, 1764-1766, Tom. XXXV. pp. 328-359.

[72] In Epist. ad Ephes. Homil. XV. 3.

[73] “Memorabile quod Ulricus epistola refert, Gregorium, quum ex piscina quadam allata plus quam sex mille infantum capita vidisset, ingemuisse.”--BURTON, _Anatomy of Melancholy_, Part III. Sec. 2, Mem. 5, Subs. 5. He quotes Kemnicius, _Examen Concil. Trident., Pars III., De Cœlibatu Sacerdotum_.

[74] Life and Character of Patrick Henry, Sec. II. p. 34.

[75] Massinger, The City Madam, Act V. sc. 1.

[76] West Tennessee Democrat.

[77] Scott, Lay of the Last Minstrel, Notes, Canto V. st. 29.

[78] “Dominum ac servum nullis educationis deliciis dignoscas. Inter eadem pecora, in eadem humo degunt.”--_Germania_, c. 20.

[79] Butler, Lives of the Saints, Vol. XII. p. 114.

[80] This is a natural incident of Slavery. Bishop Warburton, in a sermon before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, recounts how “a very worthy benefactor bequeathed unto us in trust, for the propagation of the Gospel, a plantation stocked with slaves,” and he exclaims, “An odd legacy to the promulgators of the Law of Liberty!”--_Sermon XX._: Works, (London, 1811,) Vol. X. p. 58.

[81] Jortin, Life of Erasmus, A. D. 1532, Ætat. 65, Vol. II. p. 31.

[82] Louis Blanc, Histoire de la Révolution Française, Tom. V. p. 200.

[83] Grand Gulf Advertiser, June 27, 1837.

[84] New Orleans Bee, May 23, 1838.

[85] Narrative and Testimony of Sarah M. Grimké, found in the remarkable contribution to the Antislavery cause by Theodore D. Weld, American Slavery as it is, Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses, p. 22.

[86] There are two different pictures of this early scene,--one by Terburg, and the other by Adrian van Ostade,--both engraved by Suyderhoef.

[87] Letter to Thomas Percival, July 17, 1784: Works, ed. Sparks, Vol. X. p. 108.

[88] Sabine, Notes on Duels and Duelling, pp. 322, 324.

[89] Speech in the Senate, February 28, 1852: Congressional Globe, 32d Cong. 1st Sess., p. 655.

[90] L’Esclavage des Nègres, ou l’Heureux Naufrage. See Grimm, Correspondance, Tom. XVI. pp. 328, 329, Décembre, 1789.

[91] Address to the Inhabitants of New Mexico and California, by William Jay: Miscellaneous Writings, p. 536.

[92] This was the case with Mr. Sumner’s speech, “The Crime against Kansas.” More than one person found with a copy of this speech was compelled to flee.

[93] Coleridge, Fire, Famine, and Slaughter.

[94] “Quorum verba in pugnis sunt, et syllogismi in calcibus.”

[95] Southey, History of Brazil, Vol. II. ch. 27, p. 536.

[96] Journal of Thomas Chalkley, p. 274.

[97] Hon. Owen Lovejoy, who died March 25, 1864.

[98] Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia, 1831, December 26, p. 256.

[99] Report of Committee of U. S. House of Representatives, 27th Cong. 2d Sess., No. 80, January 20, 1843.

[100] Boswell’s Life of Johnson, October 2, 1773, ed. Croker, (London, 1835,) Vol. IV. p. 311. See also, anno 1768, Vol. III. pp. 41, 42.

[101] Massachusetts Senate Documents, 1845, No. 4. Acts of the General Assembly of South Carolina, 1844, December 18: Statutes at Large, Vol. XI. pp. 292, 293.

[102] Congressional Globe, 36th Cong. 1st Sess., p. 595, January 26, 1860.

[103] History of the Rebellion, Book I. Vol. I. pp. 8, 9, Oxford, 1826.

[104] See also Senate Reports, 31st Cong. 1st Sess., No. 170.

[105] Speech of Mr. Arnold, January 27, 1841: Congressional Globe, Vol. XI. p. 182. See also Address to the Inhabitants of New Mexico and California, by William Jay: Miscellaneous Writings, p. 515.

[106] Congressional Globe, 32d Cong. 1st Sess., p. 647.

[107] Ibid., 33d Cong. 1st Sess., Appendix, p. 1163.

[108] Ibid., 36th Cong. 1st Sess., p. 1686.

[109] Act of February 20, 1839: Statutes at Large, Vol. V. p. 318.

[110] Annals of Congress, 1st Cong. 2d Sess., col. 1198.

[111] History of the United States, Vol. IV. Ch. 2.

[112] Works, ed. Sparks, Vol. II. pp. 517-521.

[113] Garth, The Dispensary, Canto II. 223.

[114] Congressional Globe, 30th Cong. 1st Sess., Appendix, p. 502.

[115] Congressional Globe, 24th Cong. 1st Sess., Appendix, p. 567.

[116] Ibid., 27th Cong. 1st Sess., p. 387.

[117] Congressional Globe, 36th Cong. 1st Sess., Appendix, pp. 203-207.

[118] Thucydides, Hist. Belli Pelop., Lib. I. cap. 5. Odyssey, III. 73.

[119] “Quis tumidum guttur miratur in Alpibus?”--JUVENAL, _Sat. XIII._ 162.

[120] Murray’s Handbook for Travellers in Switzerland, 8th ed., Introduction, § 18.

[121] Milton, Comus, 73-75.

[122] La Russie et Les Russes, Tom. II. pp. 157, 158.

[123] Missionary Travels, Chap. II. p. 39.

[124] Koster, Travels in Brazil, p. 449.

[125] A considerable embassy with a numerous suite was received at Washington about this time.

[126] Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel, Part I. 301, 302.

[127] United States _v._ Fisher et als., 2 Cranch, 390.

[128] De Laudibus Legum Angliæ, Cap. XLII.

[129] Commentaries, Vol. II. p. 94.

[130] Address to the States, April 26, 1783: Journal of Congress, Vol. VIII. p. 201.

[131] Madison’s Debates in the Federal Convention, August 8, 1787.

[132] Ibid., August 22.

[133] Ibid., August 21, 22, 25.

[134] Madison’s Debates in the Federal Convention, August 25, 1787.

[135] Ibid., September 13.

[136] Goldsmith, The Traveller, 383, 384.

[137] Roscommon, Essay on Translated Verse, 87, 88.

[138] Acts of 8th Cong. 1st Sess., Ch. 38, sec. 10, March 26, 1804: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. II. p. 286.

[139] By the Republican Convention, which nominated Abraham Lincoln and adopted a platform of principles.

[140] La Guerre Civile aux États-Unis: Études Morales et Politiques, p. 259.

[141] Further testimony of Professor Francis will be found in Weiss’s _Discourse occasioned by the Death of Convers Francis, D.D._, pp. 57, 58.

[142] Horat. Carm. Lib. I. xxxiv. 9-12.

[143] Hon. Theophilus P. Chandler, who occupied an office with Mr. Andrew.

[144] Leigh Hunt, Poems: Mahmoud.

[145] 4 Devereux & Battle, 20.

[146] 1 Revised Statutes of Missouri, Art. III. Sec. 10.

[147] Code of Alabama, § 1037, p. 241.

[148] Niles’s Weekly Register, Vol. VII. p. 205, December 3, 1814.

[149] Juvenal, Sat. III., 208, 209.

[150] Anecdotes of Washington, by Rev. Henry F. Harrington: Godey’s Lady’s Book, June, 1849.

[151] Nell, Services of Colored Americans in the Wars of 1776 and 1812, pp. 23, 24.

[152] Senate Journal, 31st Cong. 1st Sess., p. 313, April 30, 1850.

[153] Mr. Schwartz was of Berks County, and had been a Democrat all his life, until he felt constrained on the Lecompton Question to take ground against his old party.

[154] “Urbem venalem et mature perituram, si emtorem invenerit.”--Sallust, Jugurtha, c. 35.

[155] The Fox, Act V. sc. 8.

[156] Politics, Book I. ch. 4.

[157] Boswell, Life of Johnson, April 6, 1772, ed. Croker (London, 1835,) Vol. III. p. 212.

[158] Anecdotes of Painting in England: _Hogarth_, p. 723.

[159] Here was the prison of the Emperor Louis Napoleon, after his defeat and surrender at Sedan, September 1, 1870.

[160] This was the special thunder of Mr. McDuffie in the debates on the Tariff during the administration of General Jackson.

[161] “MR. MANN. … I have seen the number of _actual slaveholders_ variously estimated; but the highest estimate I have ever seen is three hundred thousand.…

“MR. GAYLE, of Alabama, interrupted, and said: If the gentleman from Massachusetts has been informed that the number of slaveholders is only three hundred thousand, then I will tell him his information is utterly false.

“MR. MANN. Will the gentleman tell me how many there are?

“MR. GAYLE. Ten times as many.”

_Cong. Globe_, 30th Cong. 1st Sess., App., p. 835, June 30, 1848.

[162] Distributed according to the following table:--