Hon. HENRY WILSON, Chairman of the Committee of the Free-Soil
Members of the Legislature.
He also wrote privately to more than one leader, proposing to withdraw.
Hon. Charles Allen, who was then at Washington, said in reply: "I need
no declaration from you to assure me that you did not seek nor desire
political office. On that subject you have no secrets to communicate to
me. Your purposes and wishes have been transparent.... Though not so
tall by some inches, I believe I have kept myself about as bolt upright
as you have, and as far within the lines of the Free-Soil party. I
shall give no more heed to the suggestion of your letter. You must be
the hero of this war to the end,--the conquering hero, I trust." Hon.
Stephen C. Phillips, though not sympathizing with the "Coalition,"
gave his best wishes to Mr. Sumner, saying: "As the case now stands,
I hope you will not be disposed, and I am clear that the Free-Soil
members should not allow you, to withdraw yourself; and in view of what
may affect you personally, and of some probable or possible general
results, I rejoice in the prospect of your election."
The issue was presented, if possible, with increased distinctness by
the revival in the papers of the speech at Faneuil Hall on the eve of
the election. The editor of the _Times_, a Democratic paper in Boston,
calling on Mr. Sumner, invited him to modify his opinions, or, as was
sometimes said, to "ease off," especially with regard to his recent
speech. This Mr. Sumner declined to do, when the editor inquired how he
would like that speech reprinted in the _Times_, that it might be read
by the Legislature. Mr. Sumner replied at once, that nothing could give
him more pleasure. The speech appeared the next day, with an appeal
to the Legislature as follows. "Mr. Sumner avows that what is called
his Faneuil-Hall Speech contains his calm, deliberately formed, and
well-matured opinions,--opinions by which his action would be governed
in the event of his election to the office of United States Senator....
We hope that every Democratic member of the Legislature will read the
speech of the man for whom they are asked to vote, and then consider
whether it is not their duty to vote for some other person."[63]
[63] Boston Daily Times, January 10, 1851.
As the discussion proceeded, the _Commonwealth_ also published the
speech, introducing it with these defiant words: "We treat our
readers to-day to the noble speech of Charles Sumner at that great
'treasonable' meeting in Faneuil Hall. We are proud of it, and of the
man who made it. We give it as it was reported by Dr. Stone for the
_Traveller_, and as it was copied into the _Times_. The apologists for
Slavery have heaped abuse on Mr. Sumner for this speech, and garbled it
to serve their base purposes; but here it stands. Not a glorious word
of it can or shall be rubbed out. We ask any member of the Legislature,
whatever may be his politics or party, as a man, as a son of New
England, and as an admirer of Washington, Jefferson, Patrick Henry,
John Hancock, and Samuel Adams, to read this speech, and tell us how he
can do a better thing than to vote for its author next Wednesday. Here
you have the intellect and heart of a man,--a man for the times, a man
for Massachusetts!"[64]
[64] Daily Commonwealth, March 28, 1851.
The session wore on, with constantly recurring ballots, always
unsuccessful, when the organ of the Free-Soil party made another
appeal, in which it presented strongly the issue of principle involved.
An extract will show the character of this appeal. "Circumstances
have conspired to give extraordinary interest to this election in
Massachusetts. Not here only, but elsewhere, both North and South, it
is regarded as symbolical of the march of new opinions on an important
subject. There can be no doubt in the mind of any reasonable man that
there is gradually, but certainly, approaching that tremendous moral
conflict in politics which was early foreseen by the wise men of the
Republic as sure at some day to happen, and which no human power can
do more than to retard.... One peculiarity attending this election is,
that it involves a true issue of principle.... The question is not so
much whether Mr. Sumner or any one else is to be Senator as whether the
antislavery sentiment shall be understood as having established itself
not only in the internal and domestic policy of the Commonwealth, where
it has always been, but also in the channels through which it connects
itself with the government of the Union. Tenfold importance has been
attached to this decision from the fact of the apostasy to Freedom
lately committed by the person who for many years was considered as the
leading exponent of Massachusetts doctrines in the Senate. The election
of such a man as Charles Sumner in the room of such a man as Daniel
Webster may be construed to be quite as much a complete disavowal of
the late conduct of the one as a sanction of the system advocated by
the other. Herein it is not difficult to trace the real causes as well
of the extraordinary opposition on the one side as of the tenacious
adherence on the other."[65]
[65] Ibid., March 31, 1851.
This was followed in a few days by the annunciation of the
determination of the party. "But one course is left,--to stand by
Charles Sumner, as our first, our last, our only choice. And if we
fail, we fail in a good cause, true to our promises, true to our
faith."[66]
[66] Ibid., April 2, 1851.
On April 23d there was another ballot, when the result was announced
as follows: Whole number of votes, 387; necessary to a choice, 194;
Charles Sumner, 194; R.C. Winthrop, 167; scattering, 26. On the report
it appeared that Mr. Sumner was elected, when it was insisted that a
vote having his name printed upon it, with the name of John Mills in
pencil beneath, which had been thrown out, should be counted for Mr.
Mills, thus making one more necessary to a choice. It was also stated
that the record of the clerk showed that only 386 votes were cast,
while this count showed 388. This inconsistency was not explained.
Three other ballots were had unsuccessfully. On April 24th there was
another unsuccessful ballot, when, on motion of Sidney Bartlett, Esq.,
the eminent lawyer, and a Whig, it was ordered, that, "in the further
balloting, the ballot be placed in an envelope, and that, where two
votes for one person are found in the same envelope, one shall be
rejected, and that, where two votes for different persons are cast,
both shall be rejected; the envelopes to be of a uniform character,
furnished by the Sergeant-at-Arms." At the ballot that ensued the votes
were: Whole number, 384; necessary to a choice, 193; Charles Sumner,
193; R.C. Winthrop, 166; H.W. Bishop, 11; S.C. Phillips, 4; Caleb
Cushing, 3; Isaac Davis, 3; John Mills, 1; H.H. Childs, 1; N.P. Banks,
Jr., 1; B.F. Hallett, 1. There were also two blanks, not counted,
making 386 who had voted. The Speaker read the report of the committee,
and declared Mr. Sumner elected. The announcement was received with
applause in the galleries, which the Speaker and Sergeant-at-Arms
promptly suppressed. This was the twenty-sixth ballot.
The election had been so long in suspense, and had so much occupied the
public mind, that the final result was received with much feeling. As
the news spread, some were dejected and angry, others were joyous and
satisfied. Mr. Sumner heard of it while at the house of Hon. Charles
F. Adams, in Boston, and there received the first congratulations. A
proposition for a public demonstration at his own house in the evening
he discountenanced, saying, according to the published report, that,
while feeling grateful to friends for their kindness, he was unwilling
to do or say anything that could be construed by any one as evidence
of personal triumph,--that it was the triumph of the cause, but that
his heart dictated silence. In the evening there was a meeting for
congratulation in State Street, where speeches were made by Hon. Henry
Wilson, Joseph Lyman, and Thomas Russell. Similar meetings were held
in other towns of Massachusetts, on receiving the news. The crowd in
State Street moved to the house of Mr. Sumner, but he had left the
city; then to the house of Mr. Adams, who said that he "was glad of the
opportunity to be able to congratulate his friends upon the glorious
triumph of Liberty in the election of Mr. Sumner"; then to the house of
Richard H. Dana, Jr., who, being out of town, was represented by his
venerable father, who said that he had "kept his bed until noon through
illness, but, on learning the news of the election of Mr. Sumner, he
suddenly became better."
The language of leading journals attests the prevailing interest, and
the deep sense of the issue that had been tried. A few of these will
be mentioned, beginning with the Free-Soil organ in Boston, which thus
announced the result: "In congratulating the world on this event, we
congratulate the defeated themselves: for, if they did but know it,
there is no firm basis for property except the equal rights of man;
there can be no durable Union contrary to our immortal Declaration of
Independence and the solemn preamble of our Constitution.... Those
very men have the greatest reason to rejoice in our victory, for their
_children_, if not for themselves."[67]
[67] Daily Commonwealth, April 25, 1851.
The same organ replied to the assaults on Mr. Sumner: "No man ever
accepted office with cleaner hands than Charles Sumner. He consented
to receive the nomination with extreme reluctance. His pursuits, his
tastes, and aspirations were in a different direction. He earnestly
entreated his friends to select some other candidate. After he was
nominated, and an onslaught unprecedented for ferocity and recklessness
in political warfare had seemed to render his election impossible,
unless he would authorize some qualification of the alleged obnoxious
doctrines of his speeches, particularly of his last Faneuil-Hall
speech, Mr. Sumner refused to retract, qualify, or explain. Ten lines
from his pen--lines that a politician might have written without
even the appearance of a change of sentiment--would have secured his
election in January. No solicitation, of friends or opponents, could
extort a line. A delegation of Hunkers applied to him for a few words
to cover their retreat; in reply, he stated that he had no pledges
to give, no explanations to make; he referred them to his published
speeches for his position, and added, that he had not sought the
office, but, if it came to him, it must find him an independent man. To
another Democrat, who called on him on the same errand, he said, 'If by
walking across my office I could secure the Senatorship, I would not
take a step.' In February he placed in the hands of General Wilson a
letter authorizing that gentleman to withdraw his name, whenever, in
his judgment, the good of the cause should require it."[68]
[68] Ibid., April 28, 1851.
The _National Era_, edited by Dr. Bailey, and the organ of the
Free-Soil party at Washington, after speaking of Mr. Sumner in most
flattering terms, proceeded as follows: "When it is considered that he
is the exponent and advocate of opinions and measures which Mr. Webster
has renounced and is seeking to put down, that the whole weight of the
influence of this gentleman, with that of the cotton interest, the
Administration, and Hunker Democracy, has been brought to bear against
him, that at no time has he consented to qualify any word he has
ever written or spoken on the questions at issue between him and his
opponents, or to give a single pledge, direct or indirect, respecting
his course, his election must be regarded as one of the most brilliant,
honorable, and decisive triumphs yet achieved by the opponents of
Slavery and Conservatism."[69]
[69] National Era, May 1, 1851.
The _Tribune_ in New York, though closely allied with the Whig party,
rendered justice to Mr. Sumner. "We do not know the man who has entered
the Senate under auspices so favorable to personal independence as
Mr. Sumner. He has not sought the office, has not made an effort for
its acquisition. No pledge has he given to any party or any person
upon any question or measure. When asked as to the course he should
pursue as Senator, his answer has been a reference to his past acts and
published writings; in them were the only promises he had to offer.
Though it would have been easy for him to secure the election three
months ago by the slightest shadow of a concession to some of the
Hunker members of the Legislature, he has steadily refused to say or
do anything that could be construed in that manner. To every overture
he has replied, that, if chosen, it must be on the footing of absolute
independence,--that the Senatorship must come to him, and not he pursue
the Senatorship. Such stern adherence to what he considered the path
of duty and manliness has thus delayed his election. But it has not
prevented it, and now Mr. Sumner enters the Senate free of all trammels
whatever. This it is especially which makes us rejoice at the event. It
is a new thing in our recent politics, and the loftiest success we can
wish him in his Congressional career is an unflinching preservation of
the same spirit and conduct."[70]
[70] New York Tribune, April 25, 1851.
The London _Times_ had a leader on the election, where, among other
things, it said: "He was opposed by the Protectionists of Massachusetts
as a partisan of greater freedom of trade, and by the adherents of
the Government as an opponent of the Fugitive Slave Act. Yet such
was the strength of feeling in Massachusetts on that point alone,
that the Free-Soil party have succeeded in sending to the Senate the
most active and able representative of their cause, and Mr. Sumner
enters upon his ostensible political career under these remarkable
and flattering circumstances.... The election of Mr. Sumner to the
Senate is everywhere regarded as an emphatic declaration, on the
part of his own State, that the law is at least not to remain in its
present form unassailed. The South responds to such an election by
louder declarations of its resistance to all infractions on its local
institutions, even at the sacrifice of the integrity of the Union."[71]
[71] London Times, May 24, 1851.
Congratulations came from every quarter. They are alluded to here
only because they belong to the history of this election. Some of
them are given. One of the earliest was from Richard H. Dana, the
scholar, and father of the eminent lawyer, who wrote: "I am thankful
that Massachusetts is to speak through you in Washington,--through
one whom neither West nor South will be able to win over or to
browbeat." John G. Whittier wrote: "I rejoice, that, unpledged, free,
and without a single concession or compromise, thou art enabled to
take thy place in the Senate. I never knew such a general feeling of
real heart pleasure and satisfaction as is manifested by all except
inveterate Hunkers in view of thy election. The whole country is
electrified by it. Sick abed, I heard the guns, Quaker as I am, with
real satisfaction." William C. Bryant wrote: "I am glad that my native
State is once more worthily represented in the United States Senate."
John Bigelow, who was at the time associated with Mr. Bryant in the
_Evening Post_, wrote: "I was quite overcome when I read the despatch
which announced your election; and when the news was communicated
through the building, it gave everybody else, including printers and
clerks, almost as much pleasure as to me." Epes Sargent, who edited a
Whig paper, wrote: "My private acquaintance is a sufficient assurance
that your public course will be honorable and patriotic." Neal Dow
wrote: "I thank God Massachusetts has at last done something effectual
to redeem her character. I am sure that upon the floor of the Senate
you will not forget to assert the rights of your State, and maintain
with firmness and dignity the great principles upon which a free
government _should be_ based." Mr. Chase wrote: "_Laus Deo!_ From the
bottom of my heart I congratulate you--no, not you, but all friends of
Freedom everywhere--upon your election to the Senate." Mr. Giddings
wrote from Ohio: "A most intense interest was felt in this whole
region, and I have seen no event which has given greater joy to the
population generally." Judge Jay wrote: "May God enable you to leave
the public service with a conscience and a reputation as unsullied
as those you carry with you!" John Jay telegraphed: "Your election
has made us most happy and thankful." Elihu Burritt, who was then in
England, wrote: "My soul is gladdened to great and exceeding joy at the
news of your election to fill the place of the late Daniel Webster. It
has been hailed by the friends of human freedom and progress in this
country with exultation. There are more eyes and hearts fixed upon
your course than upon that of any man in America." Nobody expressed
himself more cordially than John Van Buren, who wrote at once: "You
will need no assurance of how delighted I was to hear that you were in
fact a Senator from Massachusetts for six years"; and in another letter
he said: "I was as much pleased with seeing your frank as I was with
the inside of your note. Independent of the fact that it proves your
election to the United States Senate, the inscription, '_Free_ Charles
Sumner,' seems to me mighty pretty reading."
This history brings us to the Letter of Acceptance addressed to the
Legislature, which was read in the two Houses,--in the Senate by Hon.
Henry Wilson, President, and in the House of Representatives by Hon.
N.P. Banks, Speaker. In addressing the Legislature directly Mr. Sumner
follows the precedent of John Quincy Adams, in 1808, resigning his seat
in the Senate.