“I have talked with men of all parties, (on _your_ case there
is but _one_ party worth naming,) and without a dissentient
voice they deplore your anxiety to return this session to
Washington. No man but urges me to write and make you _feel_
that you have struck _the_ blow already, and that now our
interests and that of the cause, as well as your own, and our
hearts, too, demand of you to ‘stand and wait.’ I know you can
make speeches worth dying for; but let me tell you, just now
to the nation’s heart your empty chair can make a more fervent
appeal than even you. The canvass goes well, the ‘idea’ grows.
We thank God that he has given us such texts: now make our
gratitude unalloyed by building up your strength in silence and
quiet for that fiercer struggle yet which lies before us all.
“I conjure you, as you love Freedom, save yourself: we need you
more in the future than now. You are not the best judge.”
Hon. William H. Seward wrote from Auburn, under date of September 24,
1856:--
“I wish that I could convince you that it is neither necessary
for the public nor would it be useful in any way to yourself to
speak in this canvass, even if you should find yourself able.
It belongs to others to do that work. You have suffered enough,
even if you had done nothing; and yet what you have suffered is
only a consequence of having done more than any other.
…
“I believe with you that we shall succeed in this election, and
I earnestly hope for it. It is time that Freedom should have
a decided triumph in order to commend itself to a vacillating
people.”
By such letters was Mr. Sumner somewhat soothed in the seclusion which
had become a necessity.
The same spirit animated his friends to the end, following him to
Europe, and watching with sympathy the severe medical treatment
adopted. Without their countenance he would not have ventured to remain
so long absent from his duties. He would have resigned, or have resumed
them at any hazard.
In one of his letters, received in Europe, Mr. Chase wrote as follows,
under date of June 16, 1858.
“We learn from the newspapers that you have submitted yourself
to a most trying operation, and that the physicians give good
hope of most beneficial results. Most earnestly do I hope,
in common with many thousand friends of human liberty and
progress, that their best anticipations may be fully realized.
I am anxious to hear your voice once more in the Senate, _mirum
spargens sonum_. I want to see the Oligarchs and Serviles once
more cowering under your rebukes of despotism and servility.
“It is amazing to see to what depths of baseness some of the
partisan presses in the interest of the Oligarchy will descend.
Not content with half vindications of the assassination
attempted upon you, several have had the infinite meanness to
represent you as playing a part all the while you have been
suffering from the effects of the assault. When will men learn
decency?
“Oh, if you shall be only able to take your seat again next
winter in your full vigor! There is no one who hates the wrong
of Slavery in its principle as you do: I should except Durkee.”
Mr. Wilson wrote as follows, under date of October 19, 1858.
“We are all anxious about you. Get well, if possible, and do
not trouble yourself about your duties as a Senator. Do not
attempt to take your seat, unless your health will allow you
to do it. The session will be a short one, and we can get on
without you. Take time, if you require it, and let the next
session go. Our friends will stand by you, if you do not feel
able to take your seat next session. I feel confident that
our friends desire above all things that you shall be able to
keep your seat, and they will be pleased to have you adopt the
course most conducive to the recovery of your health. If your
health will be improved by continuing in Europe for months
longer, pray take the time. This is my advice to you. I hope,
however, you will be able to return to your home and your seat
this winter, with health and vigor, able to engage once more in
the battles for the great cause for which you have suffered so
much and so long.”
Sustained by this testimony, and that of other friends, Mr. Sumner
submitted to the medical advice which postponed return to his public
duties.
* * * * *
The authentic diagnosis of the case in its early stages is here
preserved.
“CASE OF HON. CHARLES SUMNER.[155]
“Read before the Boston Society for Medical Improvement, December 15,
1856.
“BY MARSHALL S. PERRY, M. D., OF BOSTON.
“The assault was made upon Mr. Sumner in the Senate of the United
States, on Thursday, May 22d. The first blow produced insensibility.
It is not certain how many blows he received: they were many. He bled
profusely, and fell insensible on the floor. When he was removed to the
anteroom, it was thought he could not survive. His wounds were dressed
by Dr. Boyle. He had two gashes on the back of the head, one above each
ear, about two or two and a half inches in length. These gashes went
through the scalp to the bone, which was laid bare, but it is supposed
not fractured. Besides these, he had bruises on the face, on the back
of each hand, and on the arms.
“From the time of the attack until the Monday following, no serious
symptoms manifested themselves, except some pain and soreness in the
head, and nervousness. Tuesday morning he had more pain, and in the
afternoon he was quite feverish. During the night the pain became
very violent, and when I saw him, early on Wednesday, for the first
time professionally, he had a high fever, pulse 104, intense pain in
the head, eyes suffused, and extreme nervousness. The scalp above the
right ear was inflamed, having the appearance of erysipelas. This
inflammation extended to the glands of the neck, which were swollen
and tender to the touch. On examination, it was found that pus had
formed under the scalp, which escaped readily on opening the wound,
which had been closed over with collodion by Dr. Boyle. Mr. Sumner had
suffered so much during the last ten hours, that he had become very
much exhausted. He was put under the influence of opium, the wound
was poulticed, and perfect rest enjoined. For three days he was in a
critical situation. The local inflammation, the danger of poison from
the absorption of pus, and the extreme nervous exhaustion made it a
formidable case. At the end, however, of this time, he appeared to be
out of immediate danger.
“The wound on the left side of the head healed by first intention. It
was several weeks before that on the right side closed over. During
this time he was very weak, had some fever, especially when excited,
and was confined mostly to his bed. He did not at that time complain of
much pain in his head, but, as the wound healed after several weeks, he
had neuralgic pain in the back of the head, coming on in paroxysms. As
these passed away, he had a feeling of oppressive weight or pressure of
the brain, which was increased when excited or engaged in conversation.
He described it as “a fifty-six pounds weight” upon his head. At the
same time he lost flesh and strength, his appetite was irregular,
and his nights wakeful,--sometimes lying awake all night, or, when
sleeping, disturbed. He had also increased sensibility of the spinal
cord, and a sense of weakness in the small of the back. These were
developed by walking, and every step he took seemed to produce a shock
upon the brain. His walk was irregular and uncertain, and after slight
efforts he would lose almost entire control of the lower extremities.
“In this condition he was advised by Dr. Lindsly, of Washington, to
remove from that place to some more quiet spot. He accordingly came to
Philadelphia, and there called upon Dr. Wister for advice. Mountain air
and complete seclusion were recommended; but Mr. Sumner undertook first
to try the sea air, and went to Cape May. Here he was very weak, so
that he was unable to bathe, and he finally left without any sensible
improvement. On the recommendation of Dr. Wister, he went to Cresson,
in the Alleghany Mountains. While there he was in the family of Dr. R.
M. Jackson, and under his medical direction.
“The following letters, received from Drs. Wister and Jackson, describe
Mr. Sumner’s condition while under their care.
“‘PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 14, 1856.
“‘DR. M. S. PERRY:--
“‘DEAR SIR,--It gives me much pleasure to reply to your note of
inquiry concerning the health of Mr. Sumner.
“‘You are perfectly aware of the condition of Mr. Sumner when
he reached this city on the 9th of July,--a condition of
extreme nervous exhaustion, his circulation feeble, and in fact
every vital power alarmingly sunken. At that time his steps
were feeble and tottering, as in extreme old age; he complained
of constant pain in the back and lower extremities,--in the
latter it was a tired and weary sensation; and he had a sense
of constriction and pressure about the head. At that time his
pulse was quick and small, appetite languid, and his sleep
broken, disturbed, and unrefreshing. All the above conditions
were heightened by exertion, either mental or physical. I could
find no evidence of organic disease. I understood Mr. Sumner to
be in that state of extreme nervous exhaustion from which men
are months, and at times even years, in being fully restored.
“‘Mr. Sumner has done eminently well. His present state is
but a shadow of that above described; and although none of
the features of the past are lost, they are only evident when
imprudent exertion, mental or physical, shall call them up.
Within the limits of exertion of an ordinary retired gentleman,
Mr. Sumner improves daily, and all his powers improve, with a
steady progress towards perfect health. Indiscretion brings on
morbid wakefulness, and, in the recurring outline of his former
condition, admonishes him, that, though recovering, he is still
in risk.
“‘With much respect, truly yours,
“‘CASPAR WISTER.’
“LETTER FROM DR. JACKSON.[156]
“‘You ask for a brief report of the case of the Hon. Charles
Sumner, as it came under my observation during his visit and
stay on the Alleghany Mountain in Pennsylvania. Mr. Sumner came
to Cresson on the 3d of August last. On his arrival, he had the
appearance of a man who had been sick for a long time, and was
still extremely unwell. Careful observations and examinations
of the case, for some time, revealed the following appearances
and symptoms.
“‘The lips were pale, showing a watery condition of the
blood, evinced also by general pallor of the countenance
and flabbiness of the solids. The action of the heart and
arteries was weak, the pulse being slow and languid. On the
surface of the head the integuments showed a slight redness
around the cicatrices of the recently healed cuts,--also some
morbid sensibility on pressure. Efforts at walking gave a
tottering and uncertain gait, as if from partial paralysis (say
threatened paraplegia),--the steps being short and unsteady,
the muscles evidently not under the complete control of the
will, the limbs even giving way partially. The slightest
exertion was followed by lassitude quite disproportioned to the
efforts. His nights were frequently passed in a state of morbid
wakefulness and general uneasiness. The action of the brain was
always followed by a sense of weight and dull throbbing pain in
the head. This result invariably followed even the slightest
mental effort of writing a common letter of business.
“‘The entire chain of symptoms soon pointed to the head and
spine as the seat of a highly morbid condition. The contents
of the other cavities of the body seemed normal. As no regular
medical report had been given me of the case before its arrival
at the Mountain, its original condition after the assault had
to be inferred from present inspection, without the history
of its progress. From this it was clearly evident that the
brain and spinal cord had been the seat of a grave and,
formidable lesion. As the first violent symptoms had passed
off, the consequences of which, veiled and obscure, were the
only evidence by which the case could be read, it was clearly
apparent that its present pathological condition was of a most
serious character, and had been preceded by impending danger
to life. From all the facts it was evident that from the blows
upon the skull there must have been either congestion, or
concussion followed by congestion, or positive inflammation
of the brain or its investing membranes, in this case. Actual
fracture is not at all necessary to this result. In Hope’s
Pathological Anatomy we have the following statement: “In
several cases of fracture of the skull, and in some of injury
of the scalp alone (!), I have found pus, either liquid or
of a pasty consistence, between the bone and the dura mater,
and adhering to both.” Thus inflammation and its products
on the interior of the skull proceed from “_injuries of the
scalp alone_.” The injury occurring in a subject of a highly
impressible and delicate nervous temperament, at a time in
which the central organ of the nervous system was exhausted
by excessive mental tension for days and nights of severe
effort, carried with it impending destruction. The insidious
danger of the first injury was _now_ only to be estimated
by its threatening consequences at the stage of progress of
the case when it arrived at the Mountain. All too plainly
marked by fearful features the true character of the effects
of the assault in the Senate, and plainly showed their fatal
tendencies in the condition of the man. At this stage of the
case, whatever might have been or might now be the condition of
the suffering internal organs, debility and exhaustion of life
was manifestly the clearest phenomenon visible.
“‘This was accompanied with an interrupted action of the
muscles of voluntary motion, great weakness of the loins,
inability to protract beyond a few minutes any mental effort
without pain, weight and uneasiness in the head, together
with soreness in the region of the cervical vertebræ; all of
which symptoms, taken together, demonstrate a case ravaged by
severe disease in the great nervous centre, and showing in that
region still a highly pathological condition of parts. All the
symptoms being of a depressed order, exhaustion and weakness
predominating in all the functions, the clear indication
in the case was to reënergize the man in every way and by
every influence. This, it seemed, would be most effectually
secured by a judicious diet, mild tonic agents, constant
exercise in the open air on horseback or in a carriage, and
by cessation of all active efforts of the diseased parts, and
a gradual stringing up and intonation of the whole body under
the influence of mountain air, mountain water, and change of
climate. Within five weeks, the effects of this treatment
were marked and clearly visible to all. So emphatic were
they in the consciousness of Mr. Sumner, that he could not be
persuaded he was still an invalid, and not almost well and
ready for the field of active operations. He left the Mountain
prematurely, before he was hardened and his body restored to
its normal tone. This was done contrary to my urgent advice and
entreaties. It was clearly apparent, that, with one more month
of the bracing influences of the Mountain, he would have been
much better than at present, and the perfect final restoration
of the Senator’s health greatly facilitated.
“‘Yours truly,
“‘R. M. JACKSON.
“‘CRESSON, Nov. 12, 1856.’
“Since Mr. Sumner’s return to Boston, he has been gradually improving.
He has followed a rigid system of exercise in the open air, and
carefully avoided all intellectual excitement. The pressure in his
head, or sensation of weight, which formerly came on after the
slightest mental or physical exertion, and which was very oppressive,
is now felt only after great fatigue, or considerable effort of the
mind. He still complains, after sitting up for a long time, of pain in
his back; and when he rises from his bed or chair, he finds at first
some difficulty in using the muscles of the lower extremities, but
after walking a short time they become quite flexible and under the
complete control of the will. His appetite is good, he sleeps much
better than he did, and is gaining flesh and strength. I see no reason
why he may not entirely recover, unless he allows himself too soon to
enter upon his Senatorial duties. He has already assumed the external
appearance of health. Time and mental repose will do the rest.
“I think it is impossible to decide with absolute certainty what
the pathological condition of Mr. Sumner’s brain has been; but I am
inclined to the opinion of Dr. Jackson, ‘that the brain, as well as
the spinal cord, has been the seat of some serious lesion.’ The long
continued sense of weight in his head, the pain along the spine, the
partial loss of power in the lower extremities, the loss of flesh
during the first three months after the attack, and the wakefulness,
without any affection of the mind, would lead, I think, to this
conclusion. Had the patient died, a _post-mortem_ examination would
have determined conclusively the character of the injury; but we can
only make an approximation to a true appreciation of the case by a
cautious interpretation of the symptoms.”
* * * * *
This diagnosis does not extend beyond December, 1856. Subsequent
newspapers contain notices of the case. The diagnosis, at a later day,
by Dr. Brown-Séquard, has never been published.
“WHATEVER MASSACHUSETTS CAN GIVE, LET IT ALL GO TO SUFFERING KANSAS.”