* * * * *
In these adhesions it will not fail to be observed that Toombs,
Slidell, Mason, and Davis, afterwards chiefs in the Rebellion, made
themselves conspicuous by their positive and unequivocal language.
Mr. Buchanan, the Democratic candidate for the Presidency, deserves
to be added to this list. At the Commencement of Franklin and Marshall
College, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, July 23, 1856, one of the
students, W. W. Davis, of Sterling, Illinois, made an address on “The
Decline of Political Integrity,” where he described modern politicians
as “so truckling in their character and destitute of moral courage
and political integrity, that men are found who applaud the attack of
_Canine_ Brooks upon the noble Sumner for defending Freedom.” The scene
that ensued, and the remarks of Mr. Buchanan, who was present on the
stage, were given by a correspondent of the _New York Tribune_.
“During the delivery of this sentence, the whole house was
still as death, and at its close it was heartily applauded.
Mr. Davis finished his oration and retired from the front of
the stage amid thunders of applause and showers of bouquets
from his lady friends. For him it was truly a triumph. But
on retiring to his seat, next to that of Mr. Buchanan, did
he receive congratulation of the Sage of Wheatland? No, no.
Mr. Buchanan said to him, loud enough that the whole class
could hear: ‘_My young friend, you look upon the dark side of
the picture. Mr. Sumner’s speech was the most vulgar tirade
of abuse ever delivered in a deliberative body._’ To which
the young orator replied, that he ‘hoped Mr. Buchanan did
not approve of the attacks upon Mr. Sumner by Brooks and
others.’ To which Mr. Buchanan rejoined, that ‘_Mr. Brooks
was inconsiderate, but that Senator Butler was a very mild
man_.’ Mr. Davis expressed his regret at the moderation of
Mr. Buchanan’s views, and dropped the conversation. After the
close of the exercises, the friends of Mr. Davis related what
I have written. Mr. Davis himself said, he ‘did not think for
a moment that he was not in conversation with James Buchanan,’
but now learns that it was the Representative of the Cincinnati
Platform he was addressed by.”
With such words of approbation from eminent leaders of the South, it
was natural that other organs of opinion there should be stronger
in their language. The people by formal acts, and the press by a
succession of articles, signalized their adhesion.
The following extract from a letter of a young gentleman, said to be of
“high respectability,” at Charleston, South Carolina, was communicated
for publication.
“I suppose you have heard of the lambasting Mr. Brooks gave
Mr. Sumner. Well, the Charlestonians have subscribed ten cents
each and bought a splendid cane, with the words ‘_Hit him
again_’ engraved on the head; and if Mr. Sumner troubles South
Carolina or Mr. Brooks again, he will get something _engraved
on his head_ which will be very apt to make him a _grave_
subject.”
At a meeting at Martin’s Depot, South Carolina, the following
resolution was adopted.
“_Resolved_, If Northern fanatics will persist in meddling with
our private institutions, we deem it expedient that Southern
members should reply to them by the use of _gutta-percha_.”
At a meeting in Clinton, South Carolina, the following resolutions were
adopted by acclamation.
“_Resolved_, That we, as a portion of the constituents of
the Hon. Preston S. Brooks, do heartily agree with him in
chastising, coolly and deliberately, the vile and lawless
Sumner, of Massachusetts.
“_Resolved_, That, for the high respect and full appreciation
of Colonel Brooks’s conduct, we present him a cane from the
soil of his own Congressional district, with this inscription:
‘_Use knock-down arguments_’: feeling that none other can be
effectual on a perverted mind and degenerate race.”