SPEECH IN THE SENATE AGAINST MR. TOUCEY'S BILL, AND FOR THE REPEAL
OF THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT, FEBRUARY 23, 1855.
On the 23d of February, 1855, on motion of Mr. Toucey, of Connecticut,
the Senate proceeded to the consideration of "a bill to protect
officers and other persons acting under the authority of the United
States," by which it was provided that "suits commenced or pending in
any State Court against any officer of the United States, or other
person, for or on account of any act done under any law of the United
States, or under color thereof, or for or on account of any right,
authority, claim, or title set up by such officer or other person,
under any law of the United States," should be removed for trial to
the Circuit Court of the United States. It was seen at once that under
these words an attempt was made to oust the State Courts of cases
arising from trespasses and damages under the Fugitive Slave Act; and
the bill was pressed, as everything for Slavery was always pressed,
even on Friday, to the exclusion of the private claims to which that
day was devoted under the rules of the Senate. A debate commenced,
which was continued with much animation and feeling late into the night.
Mr. Sumner seized this opportunity to urge again his proposition to
repeal the Fugitive Slave Act. Just before the final question, he took
the floor and spoke as follows.
Mr. President,--On a former occasion, as Slavery was about to clutch
one of its triumphs, I rose to make my final opposition at midnight.
It is now the same hour. Slavery is pressing again for its accustomed
victory, which I undertake again for the moment to arrest. It is hardly
an accidental conjunction which constantly brings Slavery and midnight
together.
Since eleven o'clock this forenoon we have been in our seats, detained
by the dominant majority, which, in subservience to Slavery, refuses to
postpone this question or to adjourn. All other things are neglected.
Various public interests, at this late stage of the session, demanding
attention, are put aside. According to usage of the Senate, Friday
is devoted to private claims. I am accustomed to call it our day of
_justice_,--glad, that, since these matters are referred to us, at
least one day in the week is thus set apart. But Slavery grasps this
whole day, and changes it to a day of _injustice_. By the calendar,
which I hold in my hand, it appears that upwards of seventy-five
private bills, with which are associated hopes and fears of widows
and orphans, and of all who come to Congress for relief, are on your
table,--neglected, ay, Sir, sacrificed, to the bill now urged with so
much pertinacity. Like Juggernaut, the bill is driven over prostrate
victims. And here is another sacrifice to Slavery.
I do not adequately expose this bill, when I say it is a sacrifice to
Slavery. It is a sacrifice to Slavery in its most odious form. Bad
as Slavery is, it is not so bad as hunting slaves. There is seeming
apology for Slavery at home, in States where it prevails, founded
on difficulties in the position of the master and the relations of
personal attachment it sometimes excites; but every apology fails, when
you seek again to enslave the fugitive whom the master cannot detain
by duress or kindness, and who, by courage and intelligence, under
guidance of the North Star, can achieve a happy freedom. Sir, there is
wide difference between Slaveholder and Slave-Hunter.
But the bill before you is to aid in the chase of slaves. This is
its object. This is its "being's end and aim." And this bill, with
this object, is pressed upon the Senate by the honorable Senator from
Connecticut [Mr. TOUCEY]. Not from slave soil, but from free
soil, comes this effort. A Senator from the North, a Senator from New
England, lends himself to the work, and with unnatural zeal helps to
bind still stronger the fetter of the slave.
MR. RUSK (of Texas) [_interrupting_]. Will the honorable Senator
allow me to interrupt him?
MR. SUMNER. Certainly.
MR. RUSK. I ask him to point out the words in this bill where
Slavery is mentioned.
MR. SUMNER. I am glad the Senator from Texas asks the
question, for it brings attention at once to the true character of this
bill. I know its language well, and also its plausible title. On its
face it purports to be "a bill to protect officers and other persons
acting under the authority of the United States"; and it provides for
the transfer of certain proceedings from State Courts to the Circuit
Courts of the United States. And yet, Sir, by the admission of this
whole debate, stretching from noon to midnight, it is a bill to bolster
up the Fugitive Slave Act.
MR. RUSK. I have not listened to the debate, but I ask the Senator
to point out in the bill the place where Slavery is mentioned. If
the Constitution and laws appoint officers, and require them to
discharge duties, will he abandon them to the mob?
MR. SUMNER. The Senator asks me to point out any place in this
bill where "Slavery" is mentioned. Why, Sir, this is quite unnecessary.
I might ask the Senator to point out any place in the Constitution
of the United States where "Slavery" is mentioned, or where the word
"slave" can be found, and he could not do it.
MR. RUSK. That is evading the question. I asked the Senator to
point out in the bill the clause where Slavery is mentioned. The
bill proposes to protect officers of the United States, whom you
appoint, in discharging their duties. If they are to be left
unprotected, repeal your law.
MR. SUMNER. I respond to the Senator with all my heart,
"Repeal your law." Yes, Sir, repeal the Fugitive Act, which now
requires the support of supplementary legislation. Remove this ground
of offence. And before I sit down, I hope to make that very motion.
Meanwhile I evade no question propounded by the honorable Senator; but
I do not consider it necessary to show that "Slavery" is mentioned in
the bill. It may not be found there in name; but Slavery is the very
soul of the bill.
[Mr. RUSK rose.]
MR. SUMNER. The Senator has interrupted me several times; he
may do it more; but perhaps he had better let me go on.
MR. RUSK. I understand the Senator; but I make no boast of that
sort.
MR. SUMNER. Very well. At last I am allowed to proceed. Of
the bill in question I have little to say. Its technical character has
been exposed by various Senators, and especially by my valued friend
from Ohio [Mr. CHASE] who opened this debate. Suffice it
to say, that it is an intrusive and offensive encroachment on State
Rights, calculated to subvert the power of States in the protection
of the citizen. This consideration alone would be ample to secure
its rejection, if the attachment to State Rights, so often avowed by
Senators, were not utterly lost in stronger attachment to Slavery. But
on these things, although well worthy of attention, I do not dwell.
Objectionable as the bill may be on this ground, it becomes much more
so when regarded as an effort to bolster up the Fugitive Slave Act.
Of this Act it is difficult to speak with moderation. Conceived in
defiance of the Constitution, and in utter disregard of every sentiment
of justice and humanity, it should be treated as an outlaw. It may have
the form of legislation, but it lacks every essential element of law.
I have so often exposed its character on this floor, that I shall be
brief now.
There is an argument against it which has especial importance at this
moment, when the Fugitive Act is made the occasion of new assault on
State Rights. _This very Act is an assumption by Congress of power
not delegated to it under the Constitution, and an infraction of
rights secured to the States._ You will mark, if you please, the
double aspect of this proposition, in asserting not only an assumption
of power by Congress, but an infraction of State Rights. And this
proposition, I venture to say, defies answer or cavil. Show me, Sir,
if you can, the clause, sentence, or word in the Constitution which
gives to Congress any power to legislate on this subject. I challenge
honorable Senators to produce it. I fearlessly assert that it cannot
be found. The obligations imposed by the "fugitive" clause, _whatever
they may be_,[171] rest upon States, and not upon Congress. I do not
now undertake to say what these obligations are,--but simply, that,
whether much or little, they rest upon States. And this interpretation
is sustained by the practice of Congress on another kindred question.
The associate clause touching "privileges of citizens" is never made
a source of power. It will be in the recollection of the Senate,
that, during the last session, the Senator from Louisiana [Mr.
BENJAMIN], in answer to a question from me, openly admitted
that there were laws of the Southern States, bearing hard upon colored
citizens of the North, which were unconstitutional; but when I pressed
the honorable Senator with the question, whether he would introduce or
sustain a bill to carry out the clause of the Constitution securing to
these citizens their rights, he declined to answer.
[171] Here, as in other places, Mr. Sumner did not recognize that
the language of the Constitution was applicable to "fugitive
slaves."
MR. BENJAMIN. I think, Mr. President, I have a right to set the
record straight upon that point. I rose in the Senate on the
occasion referred to, as will be perfectly well recollected by
every Senator present, and put a respectful question to the Senator
from Massachusetts. Instead of a reply to my question, he put a
question to me, which I answered, and then I put my question.
Instead of replying to that, he again put a question to me.
Considering that as an absolute evasion of the question which I put
to him, I declined having anything further to say in the discussion.
MR. SUMNER. The Senator from Louisiana will pardon me, if
I suggest that there is an incontrovertible fact which shows that
the evasion was on his part. The record testifies not only that he
did not reply, but that I was cut off from replying by efforts and
votes of himself and his friends. Let him consult the "Congressional
Globe," and he will find it all there.[172] I can conceive that it
might be embarrassing for him to reply, since, had he declined to
carry out the clause in question, it would be awkward, at least, to
vindicate the Fugitive Slave Act, which is derived from an identical
clause in the Constitution. And yet there are Senators on this floor,
who, careless of the flagrant inconsistency, vindicate the exercise
of power by Congress under the "fugitive" clause, while their own
States at home deny any power of Congress under the associate clause,
on the "privileges of citizens," assume to themselves complete right
to determine the obligations of this clause, and then, in practical
illustration of their assumption, ruthlessly sell into Slavery colored
citizens of the North.
[172] Congressional Globe, 33d Cong. 1st Sess., July 18, 1854, Vol.
XXVIII. pp. 1790-91.
MR. BUTLER [_interrupting_]. Does the Senator allude to my State?
MR. RUSK. No,--to mine.
MR. BUTLER. If he means South Carolina, I will reply to him.
MR. SUMNER. I do allude to South Carolina, and also to other
Southern States,--but especially to South Carolina. If I allude
to these States, it is not to bring up and array the hardships of
individual instances, but simply to show the position occupied by them
on a constitutional question, identical with that in the Fugitive Act.
And now, at the risk of repetition, if I can have your attention for a
brief moment, without interruption, I will endeavor to state anew this
argument.
The rules of interpretation, applicable to the clause of the
Constitution securing to "the citizens of each State all privileges
and immunities of citizens in the several States," are equally
applicable to its associate clause, forming part of the same section,
in the same article, and providing that "persons held to service or
labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another,
shall be delivered up, on claim of the party to whom such service or
labor may be due." Of this there can be no doubt.
If one of these clauses is regarded as a compact between the States, to
be carried out by them respectively, according to their interpretation
of its obligations, without intervention of Congress, then the other
must be so regarded; nor can any legislative power be asserted of
Congress under one clause which is denied under the other. This
proposition cannot be questioned. Now mark the consequences.
Congress, in abstaining from all exercise of power under the first
clause, when required to protect the liberty of colored citizens,
while assuming power under the second clause, in order to obtain the
surrender of fugitive slaves, shows an inconsistency, which becomes
more monstrous when it is considered that in the one case the general
and commanding interests of Liberty are neglected, while in the other
the peculiar and subordinate interests of Slavery are carefully
assured; and such an exercise of power is an alarming evidence of that
influence of Slavery in the National Government which has increased, is
increasing, and ought to be overthrown.
Looking more precisely at these two clauses, we arrive at the true
conclusion. According to express words of the Constitution, in the
Tenth Amendment, "the powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to
the States respectively, or to the people"; and since no powers are
delegated to the United States in the clause relating to "privileges
and immunities of citizens," or in the associate clause of the same
section, relating to the surrender of "persons held to service or
labor," therefore all legislation by Congress, under either clause,
must be an assumption of undelegated powers, and an infraction of
rights secured to the States respectively, or to the people: and such,
I have already said, is the Fugitive Slave Act.
I might go further, and, by the example of South Carolina, vindicate
to Massachusetts, and every other State, the right to put such
interpretation upon the "fugitive" clause as it shall think proper. The
Legislature of South Carolina, in a series of resolutions adopted in
1844, asserts the following proposition:--
"_Resolved_, That free negroes and persons of color are not
citizens of the United States _within the meaning of the
Constitution_, which confers upon the citizens of one State the
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States."[173]
[173] Reports and Resolutions of the General Assembly of South
Carolina, Sess. 1844, December 5, p. 160.
Here is a distinct assumption of right to determine the _persons_ to
whom certain words of the Constitution are applicable. Now nothing
can be clearer than this: If South Carolina may determine for itself
whether the clause relating to the "privileges and immunities of
citizens" be applicable to _colored citizens_ of the several States,
and may solemnly deny its applicability, then may Massachusetts, and
every other State, determine for itself whether the other clause,
relating to the surrender of "persons held to service or labor," be
really applicable to _fugitive slaves_, and may solemnly deny its
applicability.
Mr. President, I have said enough to show the usurpation by Congress
under the "fugitive" clause of the Constitution, and to warn you
against abetting this usurpation. But I have left untouched those other
outrages, many and great, which enter into the existing Fugitive Slave
Act, among which are the denial of trial by jury, the denial of the
writ of _Habeas Corpus_, the authorization of judgment on _ex parte_
evidence without the safeguard of cross-examination, and the surrender
of the great question of Human Freedom to be determined by a mere
Commissioner, who, according to the requirement of the Constitution, is
grossly incompetent to any such service. I have also left untouched the
hateful character of this enactment, as a barefaced subversion of every
principle of humanity and justice. And now, Sir, we are asked to lend
ourselves anew to this enormity, worthy only of indignant condemnation;
we are asked to impart new life to this pretended law, this false
Act of Congress, this counterfeit enactment, this monstrosity of
legislation, which draws no life from the Constitution, as it clearly
draws no life from that Supreme Law which is the essential fountain of
life to every human law.
Sir, the bill before you may have the approval of Congress; and in yet
other ways you may seek to sustain the Fugitive Slave Act. But it will
be in vain. You undertake what no legislation can accomplish. Courts
may come forward, and lend it their sanction. All this, too, will be in
vain. I respect the learning of judges; I reverence the virtue, more
than learning, by which their lives are often adorned. Nor learning,
nor virtue, when, with mistaken force, bent to this purpose, can avail.
I assert confidently, Sir, and ask the Senate to note my assertion,
that there is no court, howsoever endowed with judicial qualities or
surrounded by public confidence, which is strong enough to lift this
Act into permanent consideration or respect. It may seem for a moment
to accomplish the feat. Its decision may be enforced, amidst tears and
agonies. A fellow-man may be reduced anew to slavery. But all will
be in vain. This Act cannot be upheld. Anything so entirely vile, so
absolutely atrocious, would drag an angel down. Sir, it must drag down
every court or judge venturing to sustain it.
And yet, Sir, in zeal for this enormity, Senators announce their
purpose to break down the recent legislation of States, calculated to
shield the liberty of the citizen. "It is difficult," says Burke, "to
frame an indictment against a whole people." But here in the Senate,
where are convened the jealous representatives of the States, we hear
whole States arraigned, as if already guilty of crime. The Senator from
Louisiana [Mr. BENJAMIN], in plaintive tones sets forth the
ground of proceeding, and more than one State is summoned to judgment.
It would be easy to show, by critical inquiry, that this whole charge
is without just foundation, and that all the legislation so much
condemned is as clearly defensible under the Constitution as it is
meritorious in purpose.
Sir, the only crime of these States is, that Liberty is placed before
Slavery. Follow the charge, point by point, and this is apparent. In
securing to every person claimed as slave the protection of trial
by jury and the _Habeas_ _Corpus_, they simply provide safeguards
strictly within the province of every State, and rendered necessary by
the usurpation of the Fugitive Act. In securing the aid of counsel to
every person claimed as slave, they but perform a kindly duty, which
no phrase or word in the Constitution can be tortured to condemn.
In visiting with severe penalties every malicious effort to reduce
a fellow-man to slavery, they respond to the best feelings of the
human heart. In prohibiting the use of county jails and buildings as
barracoons and slave-pens,--in prohibiting all public officers, holding
the commission of the State, in any capacity, whether as Chief Justice
or Justice of the Peace, whether as Governor or Constable, from any
service as slave-hunter,--in prohibiting the _volunteer militia_ of the
State, in its organized form, from any such service, the States simply
exercise a power under the Constitution, recognized by the Supreme
Court of the United States even while upholding Slavery in the fatal
_Prigg_ case, by POSITIVE PROHIBITION, to withdraw its own
officers from this offensive business.
For myself, let me say that I look with no pleasure on any possibility
of conflict between the two jurisdictions of State and Nation; but I
trust, that, if the interests of Freedom so require, the States will
not hesitate. From the beginning of this controversy, I have sought,
as I still seek, to awaken another influence, which, without the
possibility of conflict, will be mightier than any Act of Congress or
the sword of the National Government: I mean an enlightened, generous,
humane, Christian public opinion, which shall blast with contempt,
indignation, and abhorrence all who, in whatever form or under whatever
name, undertake to be agents in enslaving a fellow-man. Sir, such
an opinion you cannot bind or subdue. Against its subtile, pervasive
influence your legislation and the decrees of courts will be powerless.
Already in Massachusetts, I am proud to believe, it begins to prevail;
and the Fugitive Act there will soon be a dead letter.
Mr. President, since things are so, it were well to remove this Act
from our statute-book, that it may no longer exist as an occasion of
ill-will and a point of conflict. Let the North be relieved from this
usurpation, and the first step will be taken towards permanent harmony.
The Senator from Louisiana [Mr. BENJAMIN] has proclaimed anew
to-night, what he has before declared on this floor, "that Slavery is a
subject with which the Federal Government has nothing to do." I thank
him for teaching the Senate that word. True, most true, Sir, ours is a
Government of Freedom, having nothing to do with Slavery. This is the
doctrine which I have ever maintained, and am happy to find recognized
in form, if not in reality, by the Senator from Louisiana. The Senator
then proceeded to declare that "all that the South asks is to be let
alone." This request is moderate. And I say, for the North, that all we
ask is to be let alone. Yes, Sir, let us alone. Do not involve us in
the support of Slavery. Hug the viper to your bosoms, if you perversely
will, within your own States, until it stings you to a generous
remorse, but do not compel us to hug it too; for this, I assure you, we
can never do.
The Senator from Louisiana, with these professions on his lips,
proceeds to ask, doubtless with complete sincerity, but in strange
forgetfulness of our country's history: "Did we ever bring this
subject into Congress?" Yes, Sir, that was his inquiry,--as if there
was any moment, from the earliest days of the Republic, when the
supporters of Slavery ceased to bring this subject into Congress.
Almost from the beginning it has been here, through the exercise of
_usurped power_, nowhere given under the Constitution: for I am glad
to believe that the Constitution of my country contains no words out
of which Slavery, or the power to support Slavery, can be derived;
and this conclusion, I doubt not, will yet be affirmed by the courts.
And yet the honorable Senator asks, "Did we ever bring this subject
into Congress?" The answer shall be plain and explicit. Sir, you
brought Slavery into Congress, when, shortly after the adoption of the
Constitution, you sanctioned it in the District of Columbia, within the
national jurisdiction, and adopted that barbarous slave code, still
extant on your statute-book, which the Senator from Connecticut [Mr.
GILLETTE] so eloquently exposed to-night. You brought Slavery
into Congress, when, at the same period, you accepted the cession of
territories from North Carolina and Georgia, now constituting States
of the Union, with conditions in favor of Slavery, and thus began to
sanction Slavery in territories within the exclusive jurisdiction of
Congress. You brought Slavery into Congress, when, at different times,
you usurped a power, not given by the Constitution, over fugitive
slaves, and by most offensive legislation thrust your arms into
distant Northern homes. You brought Slavery into Congress, when, by
express legislation, you regulated the coastwise slave-trade, and thus
threw the national shield over a traffic on the coast of the United
States which on the coast of Congo you justly brand as "piracy." You
brought Slavery into Congress, when, from time to time, you sought to
introduce new States with slaveholding Constitutions into the National
Union. And, permit me to say, Sir, you brought Slavery into Congress,
when you called upon us, as you have done even at this very session, to
pay for slaves, and thus, in defiance of a cardinal principle of the
Constitution, pressed the National Government to recognize property in
man. And yet the Senator from Louisiana, with strange simplicity, says
that the South only asks to be let alone. Sir, the honorable Senator
borrows the language of the North, which, at each of these usurpations,
exclaims, "Let us alone!" And let me say, frankly, that peace can never
prevail until you do let us alone,--until this subject of Slavery
is banished from Congress by the triumph of Freedom,--until Slavery
is driven from its usurped foothold, and Freedom is made _national_
instead of _sectional_,--and until the National Government is brought
back to the precise position it occupied on the day that Washington
took his first oath as President of the United States, when there was
no Fugitive Act, and the national flag, as it floated over the national
territory within the jurisdiction of Congress, nowhere covered a single
slave.
And now, Sir, as an effort in the true direction of the Constitution,
in the hope of beginning the divorce of the National Government from
Slavery, and to remove all occasion for the proposed measure under
consideration, I shall close these remarks with a motion to repeal the
Fugitive Act. Twice already, since I have had the honor of a seat in
this chamber, I have pressed that question to a vote, and I mean to
press it again to-night. After the protracted discussion involving the
character of this enactment, such a motion belongs logically to this
occasion, and fitly closes its proceedings.
At a former session, on introducing this proposition, I discussed it
at length, in an argument which I fearlessly assert never has been
answered, and now, in this debate, I have already touched upon various
objections. There are yet other things which might be urged. I might
exhibit abuses which have occurred under the Fugitive Act,--the number
of free persons it has doomed to Slavery, the riots it has provoked,
the brutal conduct of its officers, the distress it has scattered,
the derangement of business it has caused,--interfering even with the
administration of justice, changing courthouses into barracks and
barracoons, and filling streets with armed men, amidst which law is
silent. All these things I might expose. But in these hurried moments I
forbear. Suffice it to say, that the proposition to repeal the existing
Fugitive Act stands on fundamental principles which no debate or
opposition can shake.
There are considerations belonging to the present period which give
new strength to this proposition. Public Opinion, which, under a
popular government, makes and unmakes laws, and which for a time was
passive and acquiescent, now lifts itself everywhere in the States
where the Act is sought to be enforced, and demands a change. Already
three States, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Michigan, by formal
resolutions presented to the Senate, have concurred in this demand.
Tribunals of law are joining at last with the people. The Superior
Court of Cincinnati has denied the power of Congress over this
subject. And now, almost while I speak, comes the solemn judgment of
the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, delivered after elaborate argument,
on successive occasions, before a single judge, and then before the
whole bench, declaring this Act a violation of the Constitution. In
response to public opinion, broad and general, if not universal, at
the North, swelling alike from village and city, from seaboard and
lake,--judicially attested, legislatively declared, and represented
also by numerous petitions from good men without distinction of
party,--in response to this Public Opinion, as well as in obedience
to my own fixed convictions, I deem it my duty not to lose this
opportunity of pressing the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Act once more
upon the Senate. I move, Sir, to strike out all after the enacting
clause in the pending bill, and insert instead these words:--
"That the Act of Congress, approved September 18, 1850, usually
known as the 'Fugitive Slave Act,' be, and the same is hereby,
repealed."
And on this motion I ask the yeas and nays.
On taking his seat, Mr. Sumner was followed by Mr. Butler, of South
Carolina, when the following passage occurred.
MR. BUTLER. Mr. President, I have no idea of irritating sectional
differences. If gentlemen have the opinions which it seems the
gentleman from Massachusetts entertains, be it so. I assure him
I do not intend to bandy words with him. He talks as if he was
disposed to maintain the Constitution of the United States; but if
I were to put to him a question now, I would ask him one which he,
perhaps, would not answer me honestly.
MR. SUMNER. I will answer any question.
MR. BUTLER. Then I ask you honestly now, whether, all laws of
Congress being put out of the question, you would recommend to
Massachusetts to pass a law to deliver up fugitives from slavery?
MR. SUMNER. The Senator asks me a question, and I answer, frankly,
that no temptation, no inducement, would draw me in any way to
sanction the return of any man to slavery. Others will speak for
themselves. In this respect I speak for myself.
MR. BUTLER. I do not rise now at all to question the right of the
gentleman from Massachusetts to hold his seat, under the obligation
of the Constitution of the United States, with the opinions which
he has expressed; but, if I understand him, he means, that, whether
this law or that law or any other law prevails, he disregards the
obligations of the Constitution of the United States.
MR. SUMNER. Not at all. That I never said. I recognize the
obligations of the Constitution.
MR. BUTLER. He says he recognizes the obligations of the
Constitution of the United States. I see, I know he is not a
tactician, and I shall not take advantage of the infirmity of a
man who does not know half his time exactly what he is about.
[_Laughter._] But, Sir, I will ask that gentleman one question:
If it devolved upon him as a representative of Massachusetts, all
Federal laws being put out of the way, would he recommend any law
for the delivery of a fugitive slave under the Constitution of the
United States?
MR. SUMNER. Never.
MR. BUTLER. I knew that. Now, Sir, I have got exactly what is the
truth, and what I intend shall go forth to the Southern States....
When the gentleman talks in the way he does, I choose to rebuke
him. Any man who comes up here with a philanthropy inconsistent
with what is practical justice and liberty, I do not say that I
scorn him,--I use no such word,--but by heavens[174]....
[174] Congressional Globe, 33d Cong. 2d Sess., Appendix, Vol.
XXXI. p. 246. The tone of Senator Butler on this occasion shows the
intolerable spirit of Slavery, which would not endure Mr. Sumner.
The question, being taken by yeas and nays on the amendment offered
by Mr. Sumner, resulted,--yeas 9, nays 30,--as follows.
YEAS.--Messrs. Brainerd, Chase, Cooper, Fessenden, Gillette,
Seward, Sumner, Wade, and Wilson,--9.
NAYS.--Messrs. Adams, Badger, Bayard, Bell, Benjamin, Bright,
Brown, Butler, Clay, Dawson, Douglas, Fitzpatrick, Geyer, Gwin,
Hunter, Jones, of Iowa, Jones, of Tennessee, Mallory, Mason,
Morton, Pearce, Pettit, Rusk, Sebastian, Shields, Slidell, Thomson,
of New Jersey, Toucey, Weller, and Wright,--30.
So the amendment was rejected.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Note:
We have attempted to reproduce the spelling and punctuation of the
original. Some spelling and punctuation, accents and formatting markup
have been normalized and include the following:
..."very pests in the Church and Conmowealth."
was changed to
..."very pests in the Church and Commonwealth."
...Here on my desk are remonstances
was changed to
...Here on my desk are remonstrances
...The difference is inmeasurable.
was changed to
...The difference is immeasurable.
The oe ligature has been expanded.