"I rejoice that a man of your sympathies and sensibilities is
not here to see the Court-House again in chains, and justice
administered behind bayonets. The only retaliation at present
proposed is a petition to repeal the Fugitive Slave Act, now in the
News-Room, on its second day, with several thousand names attached.
But what is the use of petition, or polished sentences and rounded
periods, in a contest with the pirate honor of Slavery? It is like
an attempt to hew down a mountain of granite with a glass pick-axe."
The sentiments of the people, and particularly of the clergy, are
sketched by Rev. George C. Beckwith, Secretary of the Peace Society, in
a letter dated June 2, from which an extract is given.
"You will have learned ere this that the deed is done.--the deed
of shame and degradation to our good old State. I witnessed the
scene from an insurance office on State Street, and never before
felt such a sense of degradation. I am glad that so many seemed to
share it with me: for I observed a sort of funereal sadness on the
vast masses before and around me. There were groans and hisses at
even our own troops, the militia, that had come out at the call of
our mayor; but every effort to get up any counter applause proved a
failure.
"I took my pen, however, for another purpose, as you will
get from other sources a better account of this day's public
proceedings. I wish to say a word about our clerical friends,
whom you have vindicated with so much spirit and force in your
brief speech before the Senate. They met yesterday morning, almost
without notice, to the number of some four or five hundred, for
consultation on this subject. I never attended a meeting that
evinced a truer spirit or a greater amount of moral power. Little
or no effervescence on the surface, but a depth of feeling, a
calmness of conviction, and an energy of purpose, from which, I am
well satisfied, the whole country will hear in due time.
* * * * *
"I think I am still true to my peace principles, but my heart is
stirred to its lowest depths of indignation; and I say frankly to
men who applaud what our forefathers did, that _we_ have now even
_stronger_ reasons for resistance to the Slave Power than they had
to the usurpations of England."
Thomas Sherwin, late head-master of the Boston High School, and once a
tutor of Mr. Sumner at Harvard University, wrote as follows.
"You, Sir, in my opinion, command the highest respect from the
people, not only of Massachusetts, but of the entire Union. To
yourself, Chase, Giddings, Smith, Benton, and a few others, the
great majority of our people look for protection against the
machinations of politicians who would bring upon our country the
contempt of the civilized world, and upon the Government the
execration of unborn millions."
These extracts prepare the way for the next scene in the drama.