“As for rendering Mr. Sumner any assistance, I did not do it.
As to what was said, some gentleman present condemned it in
Mr. Brooks. I stated to him, or to some of my own friends,
probably, _that I approved it. That is my opinion._”
Hon. Benjamin P. Wade, of Ohio, followed.
“If the principle now announced here is to prevail, let us come
armed for the combat; and although you are four to one, I am
here to meet you. God knows a man can die in no better cause
than in vindicating the rights of debate on this floor; and
I have only to ask, that, if the principle is to be approved
by the majority, and to become part and parcel of the law of
Congress, it may be distinctly understood.”