LETTER TO THE CAPE COD ASSOCIATION OF MASSACHUSETTS, JULY 30,
1854.
Here, again, is an effort against the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave
Act.
SENATE CHAMBER, July 30, 1854.
Dear Sir,--I have been honored by the Cape Cod Association with
an invitation to unite with them in their approaching festival at
Yarmouth.
Amidst these unprecedented heats it is pleasant merely to think
of the seaside; much pleasanter would it be to taste for a day
its salt, refreshing air, especially with cherished friends, and
stirred by historical memories, in these times bracing to the soul.
But my duties will keep me here.
In that part of Massachusetts to which you invite me was born
James Otis, one of our immortal names. He early saw the beauty of
Liberty, and in those struggles which preceded the Revolution gave
his eloquent tongue to her support. To the tyrannical _Writs of
Assistance_, offspring of sovereign power, and at that day regarded
as constitutional, he offered inflexible resistance, saying, "I
will to my dying day oppose, with all the powers and faculties God
has given me, all such instruments of slavery on the one hand and
villany on the other. I cheerfully submit myself to every odious
name for conscience' sake. Let the consequences be what they will,
I am determined to proceed." And then again he declared of this
outrageous process, "It is a power that places the liberty of every
man in the hands of every petty officer." With this precision he
struck at an engine of tyranny, and with fervid eloquence exposed
it to mankind. Such a character should not be forgotten at your
commemoration. Were I there, I might ask leave to propose the
following sentiment.
_The memory of James Otis, of Barnstable, the early orator of
American Liberty._--Massachusetts cherishes the fame of her patriot
child. Let her also imitate his virtues.